Abstract
Yuhan is a small-and-medium-size pharmaceutical manufacturing company in South Korea (Korea). It is well known in the industry as a paragon of credibility and sustainability. Concerning the small-but-powerful firm’s remarkable triumph, over the past two decades, a number of academics and researchers have examined the model of management within the context of business management. Yet the firm’s corporatist management in terms of validity should be considered beyond the area of business administration. Unlike previous academic works, this paper assesses the Yuhan experiments within the context of corporate corporatism. The chief argument of this new approach is that corporatism and solidarity grounded Yuhan campaign (stark contrast concepts of neoliberal management) may offer meaningful lessons for the neoliberalism embedded Korean commercial society. While infrastructural conditions of both the public and private sectors are feeble to upheld corporatism, Yuhan style corporate corporatism, as a harbinger of social democratic corporatism, could be an alternative model to supplement such weakness. In rivalry with neoliberal campaigns that persistently creates social polarization and disunity; the solidarism-based Yuhan model would work a solution to overcome threadbare safety net for working and lower middle class in Korean society.
Highlights
Yuhan Corp., a typical small-and-medium size pharmaceutical firm, has been a champion in the Korean pharmaceutical markets and for a long time has been known in industry as a paragon of credibility among Korean society as well as for its sustainability
As far as social responsibility and social credit are concerned, in 2003, Yuhan Kimberly ranked 6th for most favored working company in Asia according to the Asian Wall Street Journal
In 2004, it was awarded the golden prize for Corporate Ethics by Korean Association of Business Ethics (KAOBE)
Summary
Yuhan Corp. (hereafter, Yuhan), a typical small-and-medium size pharmaceutical firm, has been a champion in the Korean pharmaceutical markets and for a long time has been known in industry as a paragon of credibility among Korean society as well as for its sustainability. It can be conceptualized essary conditions for economic democracy in cor- in Moon’s understanding on the life-long learning porate corporatism, the crucial limitation of the program that ‘our knowledgeable workers will conpossibility of Yuhan style corporatist practices to tribute to increase productivity and solidarity in expand the Korean society is a lack of power bal- the inside company’ The two leaders of Yuhan, this means (profit) / ends (interest) formulation Yu Il-han and Moon Kook-hyun are close to social becomes a doctrine, “self-regulating market or democratic means of corporatism This dogmatic and illogical mantra rate level) due mainly to the fact that their manage- has dominated many industrialized economies rial philosophy and relevant practices are rooted in since the 1980s, and the common consequences sociality and solidarity, known as the core elements are vanished market vitality and social polarizaof social democratic corporatism. Cating employees (lay off pressure vs. labor welfare) (Moon Guk-hyun & Cho Dong-sung, 2005)
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