韩国公司文化走到十字路口

    去年五月，韩国最大的乳业公司之一南阳乳业（Namyang）因为不当行为而遭到谴责。公司一位管理人员威胁一位小经销商购买他无力承担的过期产品，结果通话录音被曝光。这起事件演变成了现代版的大卫与歌利亚。最终，南阳乳业公司道歉并支付了罚款，但至今依然面临广泛的抵制和抗议。

    闵赵熙京表示，公司不当行为在韩国仍然非常普遍。她是第一个公开讨论这一现状的人。闵是韩国排在第14位的企业集团希杰集团（CJ Corporation）执行副总裁。她表示，韩国的等级制度有时候会导致滥用职权，或以增加利润和取悦上司为借口的不良行为。

    闵正在推动韩国公司文化进行一次意义深远的转变——即专注于为所有利益相关者创造价值，而不仅仅是股东。闵相信，未来，类似于南阳乳业遭遇的灾难是可以避免的。

    闵说：“股东并不是经济活动中的主要角色。除了股东，一家公司还会涉及许多人，例如员工、客户和我们服务的社区等。”

    闵表示，希杰集团在韩国开创了先河，专门成立了一个致力于“创造共享价值”（CSV）的部门。作为希杰集团全球共享价值计划的负责人，闵在上周于纽约召开的共享价值峰会上接受了《财富》杂志（Fortune）的采访。她目前正在与公司其他部门合作（包括韩国最大的食品生产商和最大的家庭购物网络），在为股东创造利润的同时，也将公司经营对消费者与周围社区的影响作为工作重点。

    2011年，哈佛大学（Harvard）教授迈克尔•波特与马克•克雷默提出了“创造共享价值”这一理念，旨在鼓励公司更多考虑他们对整个社会的影响。两位教授指出，一家公司可能在股票市场风光无限，但却会因为社会、环境和经济问题而备受诟病。

    闵认为，不同于公司的社会责任，CSV的目的是创造能够增强公司竞争优势的新商业机遇。

    闵说：“这种理念是授人以渔，而非授人以鱼，之后所有人便可以一起享受钓鱼的乐趣。而公司的社会责任则属于后者。”

    她表示，CSV计划启动仅仅一年，希杰集团就体会到了这项计划对公司财务状况的实质影响。例如，与中小型食品公司的合作不仅增加了希杰集团的产品类别，同时也扶持了当地农民，创造了更多的就业机会。此外，希杰集团同样致力于越南的农村发展。希捷集团在越南采购农产品，如辣椒等。通过为社区提供更先进的农业技术，以及兴建学校和卫生间。闵预计，明年，当地农民的工作效率将提高约200%。

    众所周知，韩国公司有一种针对女性的不合理的工作文化。希杰集团正在努力打破这种传统。如果女性因为成立新家庭或其他任何原因离开工作超过一年时间，许多韩国公司会拒绝她重新回到工作岗位，连参加额外考试的机会也没有。结果导致韩国女性劳动力参与率远远低于规模类似的其他经济体。为了解决这个问题，希杰集团针对离开工作两年或以上的女性启动了“回归”计划。这项计划包括灵活的工作时间，导师指导和管理人员的特殊培训。

    闵承认，要达到其他国家的企业在CSV方面的成绩，希杰集团和其他韩国企业集团还有更长的路要走。哥伦比亚商学院（Columbia Business School）毕业的闵回忆称，她2000年代中期参加领导力会议时，辉瑞（Pfizer）、强生（Johnson & Johnson）等公司为确保周边社区与员工能从公司的成功中获益时所采取的举措给她留下了深刻印象。闵表示，韩国公司要迎头赶上，必须牢记平衡的重要性，这一点非常重要。

    闵笑着说：“之前，我会非常骄傲地说，我从来没有在晚上十点半之前离开过办公室。但现在我们不需要员工这么做。这是一种持续的平衡，如果你想创造共享价值，不能只靠自己。必须调动社区和员工共同参与进来。”（财富中文网）

    译者：刘进龙/汪皓

    Last May, one of South Korea's largest dairy companies, Namyang, came under fire for corporate malpractice. A company official was caught on tape threatening a small distributor into buying expired products that he couldn't afford. The issue turned into a modern-day version of David and Goliath. The dairy giant issued an apology and paid a fine, but it continues to face widespread boycotts and protests.

    Heekyung Jo Min will be the first to tell you that corporate misconduct is still quite common in South Korea. As an executive vice president for CJ Corporation, the 14th-largest Korean conglomerate, Min says that the country's hierarchal system can sometimes lead to abuses of power or bad behavior in the name of expanding profits and pleasing higher-ups.

    Min is championing a profound shift in Korean corporate culture. By focusing on creating value for all stakeholders -- not just shareholders , Min believes disasters like Namyang's can be avoided in the future.

    "The shareholders alone are not the main players of the economy," Min says. "There are more people involved than just shareholders, like our employees, our customers, and the communities that we serve."

    Min says CJ is the first company to launch a department committed to "Common Shared Value" -- or CSV -- in Korea, spearheading a call to action for sustainable business management. As the head of CJ's Global CSV program, Min, who spoke with Fortune while in New York this week for a shared value summit, is working with the company's divisions (which include the largest food manufacturer and the largest home shopping network in Korea) to focus not only on driving profits for shareholders, but also on how business practices can impact customers and the surrounding communities.

    The term CSV was coined in 2011 by Harvard professors Michael Porter and Mark Kramer to encourage companies to think more about the impact their businesses have on society at large. The professors point out that companies may be prospering in the stock market, but can still be to blame for major social, environment, and economic problems.

    Unlike corporate social responsibility, CSV is about creating new business opportunities that can strengthen a company's competitive positioning, according to Min.

    "It not just teaching people to fish, but it is making a fisherman, and then we all catch more fish together," says Min. "With corporate social responsibility, you just give away the fish."

    In just one year since launching the CSV program, CJ has already seen a tangible impact on its bottom line, she says. A partnership with small and medium-sized food businesses, for example, has increased CJ's product offerings while supporting local farmers and creating new job opportunities. CJ is also working on rural development in Vietnam where it sources many agricultural products like chili peppers. By providing communities with more advanced farming technologies as well as building schools and proper bathrooms, Min forecasts that local farmers will be roughly 200% more productive next year.

    CJ is also working internally to combat Korea's notoriously unsustainable work culture for women. If a woman leaves her job for more than a year to start a family or any other reason, many Korean corporations will not allow her to even take the entrance exam to get back into the workforce. As a result, Korea's labor force participation rate for women is much lower than similar-sized economies. To tackle this problem, CJ created a "returnship" program targeted at women who have been out of work for two or more years. The program includes flexible hours, mentoring, and special training from managers.

    Min acknowledges that CJ and her peer conglomerates have a long way to go to match CSV effort she has seen outside of Korea. The Columbia Business School graduate recalls going to leadership conferences in the mid-2000s and being impressed by initiatives by Pfizer (PFE), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), and others to ensure the surrounding communities and employees benefits from the companies' success. As South Korea plays catch-up, Min says it's important that corporations keep in mind the importance of balance.

    "It used to be that I would proudly say that I never left the office before 10:30 at night. But we don't have to work our employees that way anymore," Min says with a laugh. "It is a constant balance, and if you want to have common shared value, you cannot do it alone. You have to involve the community and your employees."