Culture and Innovation : Development of EDI Systems in the Korean Automotive Industryv

This paper presents research linking national culture and innovation. The research identifies how key features of Korean culture, collectivism and hierarchical authoritarianism, affect technological innovation. This perspective casts new light on cultural research that, while generally confirming national culture-innovation ties at the organization level, has had less success accounting for culture barriers to innovation in collectivist nations, especially at the interorganizational level. The data for this study was obtained from interviews and written sources. The paper introduces the concept of the social shaping of technology, with which the influence of culture on technological innovation is analyzed, and highlights the development of EDI systems in the collectivist Korean society. It draws attention to the interorganizational basis of collectivism and authoritarianism in the technology innovation process. Finally, Korean innovation systems are questioned, and some negative effects of the collectivist Korean culture at the interorganizational level are discussed.