ABSTRACT
Chairmen of Korean business groups and companies are well known for their public statements. Their declarations have an enormous meaning for their companies’ employees and for the Korean public in general, as they are powerful and respected leaders of the country’s business community. They reveal beliefs and attitudes that sometimes do not look particularly coherent, or are even conflicting on the surface. They expect obedience from the people working for them. At times, they show a caring and communitarian face which seems typical for leaders in collectivistic East Asian countries. At other occasions, they emphasize a Western style focus on individual efforts and performance. In reality, all these facets are complementing each other in the peculiar Korean management style. As will be shown in this chapter, Tiger Management has, in fact, very diverse origins.
