Korean Managers Research Articles

Does Leaders’ Impression Management Help or Hurt? It Depends on the Perspective of the Follower

To contribute to the debate on whether leaders’ use of impression management is helpful or not, we examine the role of follower perceptions. We argue that followers who share a similar perspective as their leader about the value of impression management, as evidenced by their own use of these behaviors, come to identify with their leader and see them as having greater consistency between their words and actions, even though leaders’ impression management likely creates noticeable word-deed misalignments. In turn, the greater word-deed consistency attributed to the leader, also known as behavioral integrity, helps followers perform better. Our empirical test of these ideas confirms our reasoning and includes a multi-source field study with 89 triads of Korean managers, associate managers, and employees, a construct validation study with multi-source data (employees N = 160; manager N = 149), and an experimental study involving 189 American employees. Specifically, we found that leaders' use of impression management positively relates to followers’ attributions of their leaders' behavioral integrity which boosts follower performance but only for those followers who also engage in impression management. We confirm that when both followers and leaders engage in impression management, followers identify with their leader and thus view them as having behavioral integrity. These results demonstrate robustness across different research methodologies, different measures and tactics of impression management, and populations. We discuss the implications of this research to the fields of leadership, impression management and behavioral integrity.

Gender Differences in Managerial Turnover in the Context of Family Business: Evidence from Korea

This study investigates gender differences in managerial turnover among top managers in South Korea. While there is a growing literature on the gender diversity in corporate management, we still have little understanding on the gender gap in workplace in the family business context. We address this research gap by examining the Korean corporate context in which the family plays a crucial role in corporate decision making. We argue that the gender gap in managerial turnover for Korean managers is different for family managers and non-family managers and is dependent upon gender composition of the management. We test our predictions using data from senior managers in Korean firms for the period of 2014-2019. The findings show lower exit rates for female managers compared to male managers, especially when they belong to the family (via either kinship or marital ties) of the ultimate firm owner. In addition, we find that lower exit rates by female managers are subject to gender composition among family managers. By empirically documenting gender difference in managerial turnover in the family business context, our study contributes to the research about gender and management and suggest that firms make strategic decisions in their response to the social pressure of gender diversity by keeping female family members in top management.

코로나19(COVID-19) 팬데믹과 이주민 공동체의 변화

The purpose of this study is to examine the changes and response activities of Gwangju Goryeoin Village before and after the outbreak of COVID-19 in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to achieve this goal, interviews were conducted with representatives of foreign workers’ human resources companies, Goryeoin living in Gwangju Goryeoin Village, and officials from the migrant support center. The main research results are as follows. First, the number of Goryeoins and foreign workers living in Gwangju Goryeoin Village is decreasing, and the effort and cost required for visa renewal has increased. In addition, there is a problem of replenishment of labor for Korean managers of industrial complexes near Goryeoin Village, who used foreign labor to run companies or factories. Second, due to the transition from face-to-face education to non-face-to-face education, many problems are appearing because parents as well as children are not accustomed to online classes. Third, opportunities for social support and support for Goryeoins and foreign migrants were closed, and exchange and communication between indigenous peoples and migrants became difficult. Above all, this phenomenon has resulted in further aggravation of discrimination and exclusion against migrants. Lastly, in order for Goryeoins and migrants to settle stably in the local community, it is necessary to find ways to further solidarity with indigenous peoples in order to overcome the COVID-19 infectious disease, and create a policy alternative that embraces them.

Reconstructing Attitudes towards Work from Home during COVID-19: A Survey of South Korean Managers.

This article explores how after almost two years of government-imposed work from home (WFH) for the purpose of curbing the spread of COVID-19, South Korean managers’ general attitudes towards WFH may have been reconstructed and if this change influenced their expectations that WFH would persist for the long run. Before COVID-19, WFH was rare, and the country was well known for having one of the most hierarchical and rigid work cultures, with long hours at the office being the norm. The results of this study are based on survey responses from 229 South Korean managers and executives. Using means comparisons and hierarchical linear multiple regression models to answer three research questions, the present study evaluates theorized predictors of WFH take-up, general attitudes towards WFH, and the likelihood that WFH will continue post-COVID-19. The results indicate that forced WFH adoption during COVID-19 had statistically significant positive effects on the attitudes of South Korean managers and their intentions to continue working from home in the future. This study has practical implications for companies and governments that are interested in taking advantage of WFH and implementing it more permanently. It provides interesting findings on how managers from a country with minimal WFH prior to COVID-19 perceive the benefits of WFH and how they respond to its mandated adoption.

Camaraderie and Conflict: Intercultural Communication and Workplace Interactions in South Korean Companies in Bình Dương Province, Vietnam

Rapid expansion of South Korean investment in Asia and Africa highlights a need to understand how local staff manage intercultural communication, particularly involving conflict with their superiors. South Korea is Vietnam’s largest investor and the Southern Key Economic Zone hosts the majority of 1252 projects and 70,000–80,000 South Koreans working in Vietnam. This paper reports on a mixed methods data set comprising 356 survey responses and nine in-depth interviews of Vietnamese workers at South Korean companies in Bình Dương province. According to workers, the main causes of conflict in workplace interactions with Korean managers are ‘differences in working culture’ – especially about workplace time use – and ‘attitude differences’. The most popular solution from both sides is to apologise. However, workers report frequently remaining silent when they are verbally abused. This research shows that intercultural communication is an ongoing and dynamic interpersonal process that is influenced by social, contextual and individual factors.

The Relationship Between Cultural Intelligence and Job Contribution and Turnover Intention of Vietnamese Employees (Based on the Mediation Effect of LMX)

본 연구는 베트남에 진출해 있는 한국기업 중 한국인 상사 아래 있는 베트남 직원의 문화지능이 LMX와 직무헌신, 이직의도에 어떠한 영향을 미치는지 실증 연구하였다. 또한 문화지능이 LMX를 매개로 직무헌신과 이직의도에 어떤 영향을 미치는지 파악하였다. 이를 위해 호찌민 소재 한국기업 15개의 베트남 직원 400명을 대상으로 설문을 실시하였고, 최종 277부가 구조방정식 분석에 활용되었다. 본 연구의 결과, 베트남 직원의 문화지능이 LMX, 직무헌신에 긍정적인 영향을 주고 있었으나, 이직 의도와는 통계적으로 유의한 관계가 없었다. 즉 문화지능은 낯선 한국인 상사와의 개별적 관계 형성에 도움이 되며 직무헌신이 향상되도록 하였다. 하지만 문화지능은 이직의도에는 유의미한 영향을 미치지 않는 것으로 나타났다. 이는 한국기업의 근무 조건이 베트남 기업에 비해 우수하기 때문으로 유추해볼 수 있다. 하지만, 문화지능은 LMX를 매개로 이직의도에 간접적 영향을 주는 것으로 나타났다.This study investigated the structural relationships between cultural intelligence, LMX(Leader-Member Exchange), job dedication, and the turnover intention of Vietnamese employees under Korean managers near Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam. 277 of 400 responses were used for structural equation modeling analysis. From the results of the study, cultural intelligence was statistically significant influential on both LMX and job dedication. This could imply that the higher culturally intelligent Vietnamese employees were building more positive relationships with their Korean managers and dedicating enthusiasm in their jobs. However, there was no significant relationship between cultural intelligence and turnover intention. This could be explained by that, in general, Korean companies in Vietnam pay better than local ones. Conversely, cultural intelligence was shown to affect turnover intention as mediated by LMX.

Korean-style leadership: a comparative perspective

Leadership is possibly the least understood aspect of managing people, because it is at the same time personal, institutional, and cultural. Martin Hemmert’s new volume illustrates this point by highlighting both similarities and differences in leadership patterns across Korean companies all operating in the same cultural environment. Comparing Korean leadership processes to those found in other countries, like Japan as illustrated here, adds additional clarity and depth to this anslysis. The lesson for foreign firms here is not to try to emulate Korean-style management, but rather to study Korean ways so we can be more astute when working with Korean companies and managers. The issue here is understanding, not imitation.

Roles of dynamic capabilities and knowledge management strategies on organizational performance

The theoretical and practical impact of dynamic capabilities on organizational performance remains elusive. This study investigates the mediating role of a firm’s dynamic capabilities, measured by IT capability and environmental scanning. In addition, by proposing that knowledge management (KM) strategies play a crucial moderating role in the relationships between entrepreneurial orientation (EO), dynamic capabilities, and organizational performance, this study highlights the need for effective KM strategies to maximize organizational performance. A questionnaire was administered to Korean managers who understand and can answer overall characteristics of their organizations. Our study found that dynamic capabilities partially mediated the relationship between EO and organizational performance. In addition, our findings show that the relationship between EO and organizational performance is stronger when firms emphasize personalization KM strategies, while the firms focusing on codification KM strategies demonstrate a stronger relationship between IT capability and organizational performance.

Enhancing firm performance through intra-group managerial experience: Evidence from group-affiliated firms in Korea

Although business groups often benefit from tangible and intangible resource sharing across member firms, little is known about whether and how sharing managers’ human capital within a business group can contribute to the performance of group-affiliated firms. Combining the strategic human capital perspective and studies of business groups, we argue that a business group-affiliated firm can enhance its economic performance by acquiring experience-based human capital from managers from other affiliates within the same group, as such intra-group managerial experience provides a source of strategic benefit that is distinct from either internal (i.e., within the focal firm) or external (i.e., outside the business group) experience. Our analyses of South Korean managers’ career data suggest that managerial experience acquired from other affiliated firms within a business group has a significant and positive effect on the focal firm’s performance. We also show that such intra-group managerial experience is particularly beneficial for firms with weak resources, firms in less diversified groups, and firms in less stable environments.

Translating Culture in the Global Workplace: Language, Communication, and Diversity Management

In the highly multicultural workplace of today’s multinational corporations (MNCs), translating across different cultures becomes a crucial issue. But what precisely counts as culture in the global workplace of the MNC? What does it exactly mean to be able to translate across cultures under the regimes of evaluation adopted by MNCs? In this article, I consider these questions through a discussion of the corporate discourse of diversity management, in which the cultural diversity of the workforce is understood as a resource for maximizing profit. Based on a critical review of diversity management literature and a study on Korean managers working for non-Korean MNCs in Singapore, I first show how diversity management’s claim of openness and inclusivity actually works to reproduce unequal relations in the workplace. I then argue that attention to the politics of translation, where the ideological nature of evaluations of cultural (in)commensurability is highlighted, is needed for applied linguists’ engagement with language and communication in the multicultural workplace.

The acculturative stress of host country managers working at MNC subsidiaries: Determinants and effects

This paper introduces the concept of acculturative stress to indicate a distinct psychological difficulty faced by host country managers working at multinational corporation (MNC) subsidiaries. Drawing on the social identity and self-verification theories, we suggest that host country managers are exposed to acculturative stress due to the challenges they face in verifying their national cultural identity. We identify the perceived cultural incongruence and the lower relative standing of host country managers as proximal determinants of acculturative stress and examine its negative impact on their work engagement. The analysis results of a sample of 643 Korean managers working at 60 MNC subsidiaries in Korea support our hypotheses on the determinants and effects of acculturative stress.

Globalization and Corporate Elites in South Korea: Education and Career Mobility

Mainstream globalization literature has maintained that a rapidly globalizing economy and neo-liberal reforms will lead to the emergence of a transnational business elite. The South Korean economy has implemented neo-liberal policies and reforms since the Asian financial crisis and has rapidly integrated into the global economy; these developments have occurred simultaneously with the globalization and growth of the Korean economy. Have these transitions led to the transnationalization of the corporate elite in South Korea? Using life-course data for top Korean managers from the top 100 industrial enterprises in 2010 and 2015, including information on educational background, career and mobility patterns, and the share of globally recruited top managers, we explore the evidence for the emergence of a transnational business elite in Korea. Our analysis indicates that nationally recruited company men – not global job- and company-hoppers – are still predominant in the South Korean economy.

Mediating effects of the meaningfulness of work between organizational support and subjective career success

This study investigated mediating effects on the structural relation among human resources (HR) policy and practices, supervisor support, and subjective career success for female Korean managers in industries including manufacturing, wholesale and retail, finance, and service. The study utilized the fifth Korean Women Manager Panel dataset (N = 1627). Results indicate a positive association between HR policy and practices and supervisor support and work meaningfulness and subjective career success. Work meaningfulness was also positively related to subjective career success. Finally, work meaningfulness mediated the relation among HR policy and practices, supervisor support, and subjective career success.

Management of Revenue and Earnings in Korean Firms Influenced by Cognitive Reference Points

We investigate how Korean officers manage revenue and earnings to achieve cognitive reference points (round up). In Korea, revenue has traditionally served as one of the key financial statement figures. Thus, we study revenue management around cognitive reference points both in isolation and to influence earnings around cognitive reference points through a chain effect. Our study compares the distributions of the second (from the left) and first digits in revenue and various proxies for earnings with their corresponding Benford distributions (Benford, 1938). Also, we perform a logistic regression analysis and compute probabilities based on this analysis. The results show that revenue observations have more first digit 1’s and second digit 0’s and fewer first and second digits 9’s than under a Benford distribution. Korean managers appear to round up revenues with high second digits to improve first digits. In addition, we document that revenue observations with second digits of 0 are associated with higher proportions of positive earnings (gross margin and earnings from operations) with second digits of 0. This suggests that Korean firms simultaneously convert the second digits of revenue and earnings to improve the first digits of those numbers. Results from additional tests convey more upward management of the second digit of revenue for firms that have characteristics that indicate higher ex ante benefits and stronger ex post effects from revenue management.

A multigroup SEM analysis of moderating role of task uncertainty on budgetary participation-performance relationship: Evidence from Korea

This study examines the effects of motivational and cognitive factors of budgetary participation on performance concurrently under different conditions of task uncertainty. Drawing upon prior literature, goal acceptance and job-relevant information were identified as mediators conveying the motivational and cognitive influence of participation to performance, while task uncertainty as a moderator conditioning such mediated relationships. Multigroup structural equation modeling on survey data collected from 229 Korean managers revealed that the motivational and cognitive effects of participation on performance vary significantly between high and low task uncertainty conditions. When there was low task uncertainty, the motivational factor was more important than the cognitive factor in determining performance. When there was high task uncertainty, however, both motivational and cognitive factors were important determinants of performance. In addition, the intervening role of these two factors, in general, appeared more significant under high than low task uncertainty conditions.

Investigating the effects of work-family spillovers, gender, and formal mentoring on career goal of managers

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify whether work-family spillovers significantly affect company managers’ determination of career goals by examining the importance of gender and formal mentoring to these managers.Design/methodology/approachThe study sample consisted of 4,222 Korean managers compiled from a large-scale data set (Korean Women Manager Panel) that was collected by the Korea Women Development Institution in two waves (2009 and 2011).FindingsPositive work-family spillover is positively related to managers’ career goals, whereas negative work-family spillover is negatively related to such goals. In the presence of positive work-family spillover, formal mentoring is more effective in helping male managers establish and develop career goals.Research limitations/implicationsThe mentoring programs company managers are willing to engage in should be consistent with the gender role. Mentoring programs for female managers are moderately related to the importance of positive work experiences in establishing and developing their career goals. Therefore, to promote the career success of female managers, companies and societies must take actions to change the female managers’ perceptions of their management potentials.Originality/valueGender and formal mentoring programs influence the salience of company managers’ work and family roles, which determines the relationship between positive and negative work-family spillovers and career goals.

Corporate Governance and Innovation under Demand Uncertainty: A Panel Study of Korean Firms

Existing literature has identified the effects of competition and firms’ ownership and management structure on firms’ decisions to invest in innovation. We extend this literature by examining the role of market-demand uncertainty on the relationship between firm ownership, management structure and management turnover, on the one hand, and firms’ innovation on the other hand. We evaluate the effects of firms’ competitiveness, concentration of firms’ ownership, presence of foreigners among owners and on owner-appointed corporate boards of directors, management independence, and management turnover rates on firms’ patent applications under varying degrees of demand uncertainty. The validity of alternative hypotheses about management motivation - lazy manager, career concerns, prospect theory, and special East-Asian institutional constraints hypotheses - is evaluated, controlling for firms’ prior investment in innovation and firm characteristics. Unique data for 711 Korean firms and nine years, 2003-2011, are used (4,339 records). We find support for the lazy-manager hypothesis by identifying substitutability between competitive pressures and owner-manager separation in driving managers’ effort to pursue innovation. Demand uncertainty raises managers’ incentives to innovate, by increasing the potential stake from innovation and increasing the risk of default if firms fail to innovate. There is little evidence that Korean managers pursue innovation to ease their career concerns or to meet an expected performance yardstick, or that they follow an idiosyncratic East-Asian pattern. Management turnover has little effect on innovation, and firms’ existing performance increases innovation. Foreign ownership and direction, and the share of the largest firm owner have little effect on firms’ innovation.

The effects of supervisor gender and supervisory mentoring on women managers’ promotability

The objective of this study is to examine the importance of supervisory gender and mentoring in determining promotion probabilities of Korean women managers. With a 2,272 Korean women manager sampl...

Convergence in International Business Ethics? A Comparative Study of Ethical Philosophies, Thinking Style, and Ethical Decision-Making Between US and Korean Managers

This study investigates the relationship among ethical philosophy, thinking style, and managerial ethical decision-making. Based on the premise that business ethics is a function of culture and time, we attempt to explore two important questions as to whether the national differences in managerial ethical philosophies remain over time and whether the relationship between thinking style and ethical decision-making is consistent across different national contexts. We conducted a survey on Korean managers’ ethical decision-making and thinking style and made a cross-cultural, cross-temporal comparison with the results presented by previous studies that surveyed Korean and US managers with the same questionnaire at different points in time. Our analysis revealed that Korean managers have become more reliant on rule utilitarianism for ethical decision-making over the last two decades, which is dominantly used by US managers, corroborating our convergence hypothesis built on social contracts theory. However, as opposed to previous research, we found that managers with a balanced linear and nonlinear thinking style do not necessarily make more ethical decisions compared to those with a predominantly linear or nonlinear thinking style. This study contributes to international business ethics literature by presenting a theoretical framework that may explain the convergence of ethical philosophies employed by managers in different national contexts over time, and that the relationship between thinking style and managerial ethical decision-making may not be universal, but contingent on contextual factors.

Management of income statement variables to report small positive earnings numbers

PurposeCharting the earnings numbers reported by Korean firms produces a bell curve, but for a sharp discontinuity in the area surrounding zero. The purpose of this paper is to investigate if and how a large segment of Korean managers might manage accounting numbers to produce the observed result.Design/methodology/approachThis study adopts an empirical research method using Korean listed firms as a sample. The primary focus of investigation is on major income statement variables that might produce the observed results in earnings from operations and net income.FindingsManagers of Korean firms opportunistically use almost all income statement variables to influence earnings numbers. They manage revenues and selling, general & administrative expenses to report small positive earnings from operations, but manage non-operating gains (losses) to report small positive net income.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper does not answer several questions related to loss avoidance. First, the paper did not examine which actions, such as discretionary accruals, opportunistic business decisions, or bogus transactions, were employed to affect line items on the income statement. Second, the paper did not investigate what specific incentives trigger Korean managers to report small positive earnings. Korean firms have traditionally raised capital by borrowing funds from creditors and governmental agencies. Thus, they may be concerned that reporting losses would reduce their borrowing capacity. Finally, corporate governance, such as CEO tenure and option grants may influence the extent of earnings management to avoid losses, but most corporate governance data for Korean companies must be manually collected. Accordingly, these subjects are left for future studies as well.Originality/valueThis study contributes to accounting literature by reporting how managers of Korean firms artificially coordinate major income statement variables and report small positive earnings figures, noting the differences between earnings management investigating methodology and ones used in previous studies.