Traditionally, Korean leadership has been perceived as hierarchically authoritative, paternalistic,
nationalistic and as having group consciousness. Unlike western societies which promotes freedom
and human rights, Korean society has been dominated by values of obligation, duty and group
harmony. By focusing on the role of national leadership and Korean entrepreneurship, this paper
examines how the collectivist values have been incorporated into the national ideology, governance
principles as well as Korean management system. Park Chung Hee’s leadership and Korean chaebol
founders are the main subjects of discussion in this paper, since they have laid the foundations
of Korean industries as well as are well known for their collectivist characteristics. This study
shows that the collectivist values worked very well in the early industrialization process of Korea,
Korean industrial players were able to produce goods and services through relatively lower costs,
Korean economy entered into the stage of innovation-driven, the rigidity of the collectivist culture
began to undermine economic performance. In sum, collectivism worked well in the initial stages
of industrialization; however it has not guaranteed better innovation as what had been enjoyed in
western individualist cultures.