본 논문은 조직문화 측면에서 한국 대기업의 성장 동력을 탐색하는 연구를 수행하였다. 한국 기업문화에 관한 선행연구문헌과 조직문화와 성과간 선행연구문헌을 비판적 입장에서고찰하고, 성장동력을 설명할 수 있는 개념적 모형으로 조직문화적 역량모형과 공유가치DNA구조를 제안한 후, 이를 통해 조직문화측면에서 한국기업의 성장동력 메커니즘을 고찰하였다. 연구결과 글로벌 기업으로 고속성장한 한국의 대기업들은 ‘최고를 향한 집단적 에너지’가 조직내 형성되고 발산되도록 하는 조직문화적 역량을 축적해 왔다고 결론지을 수있었다. 한국기업의 조직문화적 역량은 목표설정방식에서 ‘일등주의 지향’, 일하는방식에서 ‘헝그리정신에 기반한 필사적인 업무수행’과 ‘빨리빨리로 상징되는 속도전식업무수행’, 관계설정방식에서 ‘수직적 협력에 의한 비공식집단 라인(줄)간 경쟁’, 학습변화혁신방식에서 ‘세계1등 선진기업 캐치업 벤치마킹 및 재혁신형 모방학습’, 경영관리방식에서 ‘우수 인재확보육성 및 신상필벌의 평가보상’, 리더십 방식에서 ‘카리스마를지닌 본업충실의 현장지향적 솔선형 경영리더십’, 대외환경대응방식에서 ‘핵심경영요소중시와 대외환경변화에 대한 신속한 적응’으로 집약할 수 있다. 그리고 본 연구는 한국기업의 조직문화적 역량의 행동패턴을 작동시키는 행동가치(파생가치)들과 기저가치들을 탐색하였다. 한국기업 조직구성원들의 행동패턴과 그 행동패턴들의 바탕을 이루는 행동가치들은 능력주의, 성과주의, 독립정신, 헝그리정신, 신상필벌, 소수정예주의, 변화혁신지향, 개방성, 상명하복, 도전정신 등을 들 수 있다. 그리고행동가치를 파생시키는 기저가치들로는 위계적 서열주의, 평등주의, 집단주의, 개인주의, 합리주의, 인본주의, 급진주의, 실질주의(실용주의), 명분주의, 민족주의, 진보주의,낙관주의, 다원주의, 사해동포주의 등을 들 수 있다. 기저가치는 파생가치(행동가치)에비해 상위의 개념이며 다른 기저가치와 접변(acculturation)되어 파생가치를 형성할수 있다. 본 연구에서 파생가치는 행동가치와 지칭하는 바가 동일한 용어로서 가시적인행동패턴을 작동시키는 행동준칙으로서의 기능을 한다. 한국기업의 조직문화에서 작동하고 있는 가장 핵심적인 기저가치는 ‘위계적 서열주의’라고 할 수 있다. 서열주의가 한국 기업문화의 특징으로 작동하고 있음을 신유근(1992)과조영호(1995)도 주장한 바 있어 한국 기업의 문화적 DNA라고 할 수 있다. 20년 전에도위계적 서열주의가 중심적인 역할을 하고 있었다면, 오늘날에도 위계적 서열주의는계속 조직내에서 복제․전이되면서 한국 기업문화의 특징적 형질을 발현시키도록 하는문화적 유전자로서 기능하고 있는 것이다. 성취욕구, 승부근성과 같은 기질적 성향이나집단적 낙관주의, 급진주의와 같은 기저가치들도 문화적 유전자로서 기능하고 있다. 본 연구는 공유가치DNA구조도를 도시하고 삼성그룹, 현대그룹, SK그룹, LG그룹을포지셔닝 하였다. 공유가치DNA구조도를 통해 대기업들간에 조직문화적 형질이 왜공통적으로 발현되는지에 대한 이해를 할 수 있는 시각을 제시할 수 있었으며, 왜조직문화적 형질의 차이가 발생하는가를 설명할 수 있었다. 본 연구가 조직문화적측면에서 한국 기업들의 성장동력 탐색이라는 거대 담론적 연구주제에 대한 답을 얻기위한 막대한 노력을 기울였음에도 불구하고, 많은 부분 미진한 점과 한계점들을 갖고있어 추후 지속적인 후속연구의 필요성을 제기하였다.

Recently, the fast growth and global success of Korean firms has become a hot topic of managementresearch. Prior research has focused on vertical integration and operational efficiency in explainingthis rapid rise, while others suggest that Korean Chaebuls have adopted digital technology-basedinnovations faster than other global firms such as SONY or Motorola in making their ascentto the global leader board of companies. This study focuses on organizational culture in its investigation into Korean firms’ fast growth. In particular, this study attempts to explain the collective behavioral patterns and particular setof values common in Korean firms. Like an operating system for a computer that can run a varietyof software programs, the authors view organizational culture as the core mechanism behind thevarious operational tools and instruments previously cited in the rapid rise of Korean Chaebuls. This study develops two conceptual models to describe Korean firm organizational culture:‘Organizational cultural capabilities’ and ‘Shared values DNA structure’. One is a new conceptualmodel of organizational cultural capabilities that combines organizational culture theories, theResource-based view, organizational competence, dynamic capabilities, and motivation theories. The second model is also a new conceptual model of Shared values DNA structure, and it combinesorganizational culture theories and a DNA model. These two conceptual models together providea more powerful way to understand the culture-based growth engine mechanism behind KoreanChaebuls’ fast growth. This study evaluates extant research on Korean Management style and relationships betweenorganizational culture and organizational performance. Most of prior studies on the Korean corporate culture have confirmation bias to find some characteristics based on Korean traditional culture, such as Confucian values, familism, paternalism, collectivism, communalism, anthropocentric,assiduousness, obedience, whole-man education centric, Shinbaram, business field oriented leadership,externalism, short-term performance oriented, need for first class in the world, centralism, controloriented, stubbornness of seniors, bureaucracies, order-directed, only being a winner, conservatism,future-oriented etc. In contrast, the work of Shin, Yoo Keun (1992) suggests a comprehensive list of characteristicsof Korean corporate culture. Those are ‘Anthropocentric and paternalistic corporate culture’,‘collectivism and moral obligation-based behaviors’, ‘hierarchical order centric behaviors’. Cho,Young Ho (1995) and Cho et al.(2014) suggested that ‘dynamic collectivism’ is a common characteristicfactor among large Korean companies. Cho, Kim and Kim(2007) investigated whether Koreancorporate culture has changed with the influence of western culture subsequent to the Asian FinancialCrisis in 1997. However, Shin (1992), Cho (1995), and Cho et al.(2014; 2007) did not try toclarify the mechanism of the Korean corporate culture contributing to the Chaebuls fast growthand global top player. This study introduces a new model ‘Organizational cultural capabilities’ to explain the mechanismof the corporate culture contributing to the organizational growth. The Cultural capabilities isdefined as behavioral patterns operated by fundamental and behavioral values set to be relevantto organizational performance. The Organizational cultural capabilities model includes sevenstyles(ways), such as goal setting style, working style, social competition style, organizationallearning and change management style, managing people style, leadership style, boundary spanning,and inputs management style. This study suggests that the mechanism used by Korean Chaebuls in their period of fast growthto be global top players can be described as ‘mobilizing the collective energies of the workforceto work for global excellence and top position’. This study finds 8 cultural capabilities. Thoseare ‘orientation to be the number one player’(goal setting strategy), ‘extreme hard working witha hungry spirit’(working style), ‘working style focused on speed: “Ppali Ppali” (working style),‘strong competition among informal groups with strong collaboration between seniors and juniors’(social competition style), ‘benchmarking and catch-up strategy and then reverse engineering orreinventing strategy’ (organizational learning and change management style), ‘recruiting and fosteringtalents and core employee and performance-based appraisal-compensation’ (managing people style),‘charismatic, transformational and exemplary managerial leadership of owner-CEO’ (leadershipstyle), ‘identify and innovate management of technology innovation, quality innovation, designinnovation, customer satisfaction innovation, government relationship management’ (boundaryspanning and inputs management style). In addition to the review of current literature, the authors conducted exploratory research toidentify fundamental values and operating behavioral values. The fundamental values are definedas some ideology which most people believe as common values and beliefs, and operating behavioralvalues are defined some rules or standards with which people select a particular behavior. Thefundamental values produce behavioral values (operating behavior values), and behavioral valuesmake visible behavioral patterns. Some of the operating behavioral values identified include performance-based, competence-based,independence-based, openness, desperate motivation with hungry spirit, core top talent-based, stronglearning orientation, senior order first, challenge orientation etc. The fundamental values includehierarchical order first thinking way, non-dominated relationship, pragmatism, collectivism,individualism, rationalism, managerial humanism, radicalism, nationalism, optimism, pluralism,cosmopolitanism. In addition, it is taboo in Korean corporate culture for any individual to negativelyinfluence organizational performance or employee motivation and morale. There are several Taboossuch as factional conflict based on regional, school, family relations or background, corruptionand unethical working behavior, non-capability based turn by turn even distribution, non-capabilitybased seniority, organizational cynicism, no action before supervisor’s order,DNA perspective could be adopted to explain organizational culture. A DNA model providesa longitudinal way to explain and understand corporate culture. Like DNA, shared values andbehavioral patterns could reproduce and duplicate, show individual variation, and shift from spaceto space and generation to generation. Shared values are invisible and embedded at once. Alsoshared values could be reproduced and duplicated with acculturation between or among fundamentalvalues. Corporate culture will change continuously because of social pressure and inflow of newcomers who comprise a firm’s human resource. This study analyzes the relationship among fundamental values and behavioral values and constructsa model of Shared values DNA structures. And this study concludes that the most importantfundamental value enabling Korean firms’ growth is the ‘hierarchical order first thinking way’and ‘Radicalism’. Also, this study finds several aspects of cultural DNA such as collective highachievement needs, high competition orientation, openness, and collective optimism. This studyanalyzes the cultural DNA structure of Samsung, Hyundai, LG, and SK.

Organizational culture, Korean Corporate culture, Cultural DNA, Organizational cultural capabilities model, Shared values DNA structure