Competition traces between Confucianism and market institutional logics in South Korean management style: A research on the development of South Korean management style

South Korea has become a global manufacturing hub in just over half a century, and today Korean companies show remarkable competitiveness in the global market. As a result, interest in Korean companies and their management features is increasing. This interest raises questions about how Korean companies could grow so fast and what is the hidden background of their growth. As a response to these questions, this study first explains what the management style of Korean companies is, and then tries to capture the effects of Confucianism institutional logic and market institutional logic in their management style and the relationship between the two competing logics. This research is a qualitative study designed based on secondary literature. The institutional logic perspective was used as a conceptual framework to capture the formation process and change of the Korean management style. The institutional logic perspective accepts the mutual influence of society and actors on institutions, while dealing with both symbolic and material elements of institutions. Institutional logics are consequences of cummulative historical events, so it is necessary to explain institutional formation and change with historical context. Therefore, this study first tried to capture the competing relationship between Confucianism logic and market logic at the macro level of Korean society by examining the modern history of Korea. In this process, the contents of the two institutional logics were reviewed, and then the parameters to be used to match the contents of the Korean management style were presented. Then, Korea's management style is discussed in five dimensions as organizational value, management strategy, ownership structure and governance, features of organizing and human resources management, with its characteristics. Finally, the parameters of the two institutional logics were matched with the contents of the Korean management style and analyzed. In analysis, symbolic meaning and material practices, which are the main two dimensions of institutional logic, are mainly considered. As an important result of this study, it has been acknowledged that Koream management style contains Confucianism logic substantially and that Confucianism logic exists in coalition with the market logic. In particular, it has been shown that the ownership structure and governance dimension among the five dimensions of Korean management style seriously reflect Confucianism logic. It was also shown that the high growth desire of Korean companies was supported by both Confucianism logic and the market logic. Also, from a historical point of view, it was shown that the market logic grew very rapidly as the Confucianism logic, which was the most dominant logic in traditional Korean society, rapidly lost its influence. However, despite the fact that Confucianism logic has lost its dominant position in the past, it was confirmed that the influence of Confucianism logic is still at a level that cannot be ignored.