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Learning from others: what South Korean technology policy can teach the U.S.

Article Excerpt
In what follows, I will list some of the many ways that America, particularly Mississippi, can learn from South Korean ingenuity with respect to the economy and technology use. The first section to follow will discuss the strength and growth of the South Korean economy. Next, I will examine the importance of vision as a component of leadership. I hope to show the philosophical elements of intelligent leadership, which call for holistic vision, rather than the compartmentalization of problems. South Korea has exhibited soaring success at least in part given the substantive, complex vision that its leadership has assembled. As a representative of one of the poorest states in the U.S., Mississippi, I will conclude with some suggested steps that it can take in emulating the clear and artfully crafted vision which Korean leaders have employed in fashioning an exceptionally intelligent and integrated set of policies. Capitalist societies should not be so fearful of government involvement in business, given the great support government action can offer to the growth of industry.

"The Century of Pacific Asia" and South Korea's Might

Rosalie L. Tung has called the 21st century the "Century of Pacific Asia" (Tung, 1994). When we consider the economic growth of countries like Japan, Germany, and South Korea after World War II, we find much reason to be impressed. Indeed, according to M. Tina Dacin, Michael A. Hitt, and Edward Levitas, the 1980's saw "a burgeoning amount of cross-cultural research focused on Japan," given its remarkable economic growth since W.W.II. Also studied, but less so, is the incredible success of South Korea, which A.H. Amsden has called "Asia's Next Giant" (Amsden, 1989).

South Korea's economic growth has been so "miraculous" that Robert E. Lucas (1993, p. 252) has argued that, as Stephen L. Parente and Edward C. Prescott have summarized, "a theory of economic development must be consistent with a development miracle occurring in South Korea, but not in the Philippines, which appeared to be a very similar economy in 1960" (Parente & Prescott, 1994, 318). (1) According to Parente and Prescott, a significant portion of South Korean success can be attributed to "technology adoption investment" (1994, 318).

Philosophical Change for Economic Growth

There are two related, fundamental differences in approach of the leadership in South Korea from what we find in the United States, particularly in Mississippi. Although theirs is a capitalist society, Korea's government is deeply supportive of and involved in its industries in a way that is less common in the United States. According to Dacin, Hitt, and Levitas,

Economic behavior in Korea is embedded in a vast network of institutionally defined relationships between business and government. A system of state-run capitalism is prevalent (Hamilton and Biggart, 1994). Coupled with the communitarian culture and the need to effectively manage...