At the Korean Academic Society of Business Administration (KASBA) Best Business Practice Awards held at the Korea Chamber of Commerce in Seoul on April 26, Handok won the grand prize for ethical management, chosen by the expert members of the KASBA.

Founded in 1956, the KASBA is the largest professional society dedicated to business administration and management in Korea. Since 2013, it has held the annual KASBA Best Business Practice Awards based on expert member review and recommendations.

Lauded for its proactive approach to ethical management and for setting an example for other companies by successfully internalizing transparency and other principles of ethical management in corporate culture, Handok became the first winner in the ethical management category.

Commitment to transparency and ethics are the two core values that inform Handok’s business philosophy. Over the last six decades, these principles have shaped and guided the entire organizational culture, working processes, and communications. Handok took its company public in 1976 in an effort to enhance the transparency of its management. In 1997, it became one of the first Korean companies to adopt an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system to systematize finances and accounting, management, sales, inventories and procurement, and production control. In 2000, Handok assembled an auditing board, even though there was no legal requirement for companies with assets valued at less than KRW 2 trillion to do so. The company also adopted an internal accounting control program before Korean lawmakers made it mandatory.

Handok is renowned for being an example of ethical management in the Korean pharmaceutical industry. Since 1998, all sales expenses of the company have been paid for with corporate credit cards. The company also introduced the Clean Card Program in 2008 to end bribery and unfairness. Having adopted an ethics charter in 2007, the company took the initiative to adopt a compliance program on its own. The Handok Transparency Management Center enables anyone, including executives and employees, to report, anonymously, on unfair practices, corruption and wrongdoing. The CEO was appointed the Compliance Officer in 2014 and a compliance organization set up under his supervision to ensure active and systematic implementation of ethical management and its principles.