Skip to main content

The Current Status of Korean Corporate Sustainability Management

  • Chapter
  • First Online:

Part of the book series: Eco-Efficiency in Industry and Science ((ECOE,volume 31))

Abstract

This chapter provides key findings and particularities of the Korean Corporate Sustainability Barometer survey. The majority of companies in the Korean sample are large-sized and belong to the manufacturing sector. As external drivers, NGOs and the media/public are the stakeholders most strongly impacting corporate sustainability implementation. Furthermore, top management commitment and legislation are found to be important factors promoting sustainability implementation. Notably, Korean companies indicate that the local community is also a strong driver. Korean companies consider legislation and lack of financial capacities to be major barriers to the implementation of corporate sustainability management. With regard to the integration of sustainability into the core business and organisation, the majority of Korean companies show that they connect sustainability to most or all segments of their core business. This indicates a high level of sustainability integration into the core business and organisation of Korean companies. Driven by formal and informal institutional forces, Korean companies are aware of the importance of sustainability, and they actively adopt sustainability management tools and approaches to implement corporate sustainability management.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Buying options

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD   109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

References

  • Cheng B, Ioannou I, Serafeim G (2014) Corporate social responsibility and access to finance. Strateg Manag J 35(1):1–23

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Committee GG (2009) Green growth national strategy. Green Growth Committee, Seoul

    Google Scholar 

  • Eccles R, Serafeim G (2013) The performance frontier. Harv Bus Rev 91(5):50–60

    Google Scholar 

  • FKI (The Federation of Korean Industries) (2011) Corporate community relations. White book. FKI, Seoul

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoffman AJ, Woody JG (2008) Climate change: what’s your business strategy? Harvard Business School, Boston

    Google Scholar 

  • IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) (2007) Climate change 2007: mitigation of climate change. Working group III contribution to the fourth assessment report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge/New York

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Lacy P, Cooper T, Hayward R, Neuberger L (2010) A new era of sustainability. CEO reflections on progress to date, challenges ahead and the impact of the journey toward a sustainable economy. http://www.accenture.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/PDF/Accenture_A_New_Era_of_Sustainability_CEO_Study.pdf. Accessed 8 May 2014

  • Lee K-H (2012a) Editorial for the special issue ‘business case for sustainability: rhetoric or reality?’. Int J Innov Sustainable Dev 6(2):91–94

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lee K-H (2012b) Linking stakeholders and corporate reputation towards corporate sustainability. Int J Innov Sustainable Dev 6(2):219–235

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee K-H (2013) Green supply chain management: implications for SMEs. In: Ndubisi N, Nwankwo S (eds) Enterprise development in SMEs and entrepreneurial firms. IGI Global, Hershey, pp 197–213

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee K-H, Kim C-H (2014) Corporate social responsibility (CSR) practice and implementation within the institutional context: the case of the Republic of Korea. In: Low P, Idowu S, Liong A (eds) Corporate social responsibility in Asia: practice and experience. Springer, Amsterdam, pp 65–82

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • McKinsey (2008) How companies think about climate change: a McKinsey global survey. McKinsey Quarterly, February 2008

    Google Scholar 

  • OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) (2012) OECD Korea survey. OECD, Paris

    Google Scholar 

  • Porter M, Kramer MR (2006) Strategy & Society: the link between competitive advantage and corporate social responsibility. Harv Bus Rev 84(12):78–92

    Google Scholar 

  • Porter M, Kramer MR (2011) Creating shared value. Harv Bus Rev 89(1/2):62–77

    Google Scholar 

  • Porter M, van der Linde C (1995) Toward a new conception of the environment-competitiveness relationship. J Econ Perspect 9(4):97–118

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schaltegger S, Lüdeke-Freund F, Hansen E (2012) Business cases for sustainability. The role of business model innovation for corporate sustainability. Int J Innov Sustainable Dev 6(2):95–119

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schaltegger S, Harms D, Hörisch J, Windolph SE, Burritt R, Carter A, Truran S, Crutzen N, Ben Rhouma A, Csutora M, Tabi A, Kokubu K, Kitada H, Haider MB, Kim J-D, Lee K-H, Moneva JM, Ortas E, Álvarez-Etxeberria I, Daub C-H, Schmidt J, Herzig C, Morelli J (2013) International corporate sustainability barometer: a comparative study of 11 countries. Centre for Sustainability Management, Lüneburg

    Google Scholar 

  • SGERC (Samsung Global Environment Research Center) (2012) Biodiversity conservation and role of corporations. SGERC, Seoul

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the participating Korean companies for devoting their time and effort to the International Corporate Sustainability Barometer 2012 Survey. Ki-Hoon Lee would like to acknowledge financial support from Griffith University (International Travel Fellowship 2013 and NRG 2011/12).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ki-Hoon Lee .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2014 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Kim, JD., Lee, KH. (2014). The Current Status of Korean Corporate Sustainability Management. In: Schaltegger, S., Windolph, S., Harms, D., Hörisch, J. (eds) Corporate Sustainability in International Comparison. Eco-Efficiency in Industry and Science, vol 31. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-06227-3_10

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics