Business Case Studies & Business Publications

POSCO and "Thanks Sharing"

Mead, Jenny, Krehm...

Case

POSCO and "Thanks Sharing"

Mead, Jenny; Krehmeyer, Dean; Sisodia, Rajendra; Freeman, R. Edward

E-0397 | Published May 7, 2014 | 7 pages Case

Collection: Darden School of Business

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POSCO was a South Korean company that manufactured and sold products such as hot-rolled and cold-rolled steel, stainless steel plates, wire rods, and silicon steel sheets. POSCO management had worked hard since 2011 to infuse the company with the tenets of conscious capitalism and to make the company a "Firm of Endearment." Consequently, it came as an unhappy surprise when the New Economics Foundation (NEF) ranked South Korea 68th out of 143 countries in the NEF's "Happy Planet Index." Partially to blame, management thought, was the downside of the country's rapid economic development: greater prosperity had created currents of greed and envy within society and some of that had seeped into the POSCO culture. POSCO wanted to address this negative mindset, not only within the company but also in the broader society. But how to do so?