Over half of Korean firms in poor corporate health

(THE CHOSUNILBO)Fifty two out of 100 Korean companies are in poor corporate health, and 25 were barely average, the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry said Tuesday.

The KCCI asked McKinsey to survey 100 companies and 40,000 executives and staff last year to measure their organizational health index.

It evaluated companies in nine categories -- accountability, capability, coordination and control, direction, environment and values, external orientation, innovation, leadership, and motivation.

Mid-sized firms performed especially poorly, with 91 percent scoring below the global average.

The KCCI said the culture of habitual overtime clearly needs to change. Koreans work beyond normal working hours for an average of 2.3 days per week, while a whopping 43 percent work overtime at least three days a week.

But enforced conviviality in the form of compulsory after-work drinking appears to have greatly eased in the last few years, with workers awarding 77 approval points to out-of-office socializing.