ABSTRACT
The South Korean Chaebol is comprised of two Korean words, wealth and clan, which sums up the term quite precisely. The top five Chaebols' revenues from sales are worth over half of the entire Republic of Korea (ROK) economy and are basically owned by a few family clan groups. Decision-making that has impacted on how investment is made, innovation and IPR organised within the Chaebols has taken a number of forms. The first form of management decision-making is still practised by a number of Chaebols and is linked to the Japanese Zaibatsu and traditional forms of Chinese Confucianist, patriarchal management style. Samsung, which is the leading Chaebol in terms of earnings and world-class innovative products such as the Samsung Galaxy smartphone S8, a direct competitor of Apple iPhone, has experienced serious ructions emanating from the scandal-hit administration of former President Park Geun-hye and her corrupt confidante Choi Soon-sil.
