Hyundai Promises Fairness, No Embezzlement, to Suppliers
Hyundai appears to be drawing up its own version of a constitution. The first on the list was “Quality shall be paramount” (moderately successful) and the second on the list is now “We shall work together with suppliers”. Hyundai’s corporate mothership has announced that it has signed a “fair trade agreement” with its 2368 suppliers. “The deal has paved the way for Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group to establish a fair trade order with partner companies and promote mutual growth through co-existence and cooperation,” said a company spokesperson. They also added that this is the first time a single company has agreed on a fair trade pact such a large number of firms. Before we break out the record books, which the “fair trade” aspect might possibly be fresh, the notion of positive, longstanding closely-knit relationships between industrial firms in Asia are a big part of the region’s manufacturing history. While I commend Hyundai for some serious long-term planning, how much of this was ethically motivated and how much was damage control? Sure Hyundai is promising transparency now. After their chairman stole $100 million for a secret bribery slush fund, and then received a pardon from the South Korean president, a former Hyundai executive.
More by Cammy Corrigan
Comments
Join the conversation
................a crook is a crook, illegal is illegal no matter how you put it.
I don't agree that "a crook is a crook". The government official who accepts a bribe for his own personal gain is a much bigger crook than the CEO who offers it. The CEO is (sort of) doing his job, using company resources to advance the company's competitive position in the most efficient manner possible. The government official, however, is the one breaking his own rules and violating the public trust he was paid to protect, purely for his own personal gain. There is no comparison.
????? I really don't see how this is hard to understand, this guy "stole $100 million for a secret bribery slush fund". He stole and he got caught. That makes him a crook. I don't see how politely looking the other way and making excuses for it is helping anyone.
There is no denying what Chung Mong-Koo did, but we need to shine some light on the other side of this transaction too; the government officials who took the bribes. As a South Korean taxpayer I would be a helluva lot more angry about that than about how Hyundai's money was used (or misused) to advance Hyundai's interests. The latter is a problem for Hyundai shareholders, who frankly have little to complain about compared to shareholders of Toyota, or General "Look out Below" Motors. Maybe that's the real reason this whole thing is being allowed to blow over; to save the government some embarrassment.