PARK Chulsoon, Dean of College of Business Administration
SNU College of Business Administration (CBA) is launching a new center that conducts research and evaluation regarding corporate legitimacy. The objective of this research center is to provide business strategies that are socially just.
The recent corporate corruption issues in the news have damaged the image of the corporation in the eyes of the public, leading to a decline in corporate activity, a situation that some argue would heighten the risk of economic recession. The new center is envisioned as an objective organization that can both support and criticize corporations. According to Park Chulsoon, the dean of CBA leading the efforts to establish the new center, “maximizing profit does not serve as the only objective of a corporation; corporations are also responsible for creating optimum value through their products or services.”
The center’s aim is to find the causes for the deteriorating image of Korean corporations and to provide solutions based on empirical evidence. For example, if a conflict between franchisors and franchisees should arise, the center would conduct research and provide an alternative business model regarding socially just franchise relationships. Furthermore, the center would evaluate corporations based on how fair they are in their business activities, and accordingly provide a ranking of “socially just corporations.”
As an educator, Dean Park also announced his plan to strengthen business ethics in the CBA curriculum. The research center, equipped with a wealth of resources and expertise, will provide the students with a proper curriculum. “As prospective SNU CBA graduates, students will most likely rise to ranks above that of the manager level,” he says. “Therefore, educating them about business ethics is very important.”
Source: http://news.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2017/11/30/2017113000245.html?rsMobile=false
Written by Chae Hyun Kim, SNU English Editor, michelle25@snu.ac.kr
Reviewed by Professor Travis Smith, Department of Asian Languages and Civilizations, tlsmith@snu.ac.kr