Korean Managers Research Articles

The evolution of business ethics in Japan and Korea over the last decade

Both Japan and Korea have suffered painful economic recession and a series of corporate misconducts and scandals over the last decade. In the meantime, people's interests in business ethics and corporate social responsibility have remarkably increased. This study examines (1) Japanese and Korean managers' perceptions of business ethics, (2) the similarities and differences between the two countries in comparison with the US, and (3) the evolution of business ethics over the ten-year period. The study reveals that Japanese and Korean companies have made remarkable progress in making systematic measures to establish corporate ethics, but the managers' perceptions of ethics in both countries have not changed significantly over the last decade. The study also shows that Korean managers' way of perceiving ethics is a specific mixture of those of the US and Japanese managers.

Avoidance as the First Choice of Default Management: Challenges in Overseas Korean Organizations

Avoidance becomes the default management style for dealing with cross‐cultural conflict in overseas Korean organizations rather than a collaborative style. We argue in this conceptual paper, this is due to the absence of personalized informal social ties that are utilized in domestic Korean organizations to progress information sharing and conflict resolution, and to the absence of a structured and transparent conflict resolution mechanism understood and accepted by both Korean managers and overseas workers.

Worlds colliding: the translation of modern management practices within a UK based subsidiary of a Korean-owned MNC

This paper explores the factors that served to dislodge an espoused strategy of quality management with ‘soft’ HRM within a British subsidiary of a Korean owned multinational company. Accounts from British and Korean managers revealed competing sets of tensions at three levels: external organizational, intra-organizational, and internal workplace. The case is important for a number of reasons. First, research on UK based subsidiaries tends to have focused upon American and Japanese owned companies, with less evidence from MNCs from later industrialized economies. Second, evidence suggests that MNCs from Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore have been experimenting with Western influenced high-performance work systems – but there is less evidence about how these are actually translated into the workplace. Third, there is a growing literature that suggests that the transfer of management practices in MNCs can be partly understood as a ‘negotiated process’, and disagreements may emerge between organisational actors in respect of the meaning and function of such practices. This article offers further support for this contention and offers insights into how these processes affected day-to-day management of the workplace and undermined the espoused strategy.

Sources of and Responses to the Liability of Foreignness: The Case of Korean Companies in the Netherlands

This study aims to investigate the liability of foreignness, or the additional difficulties of foreign companies compared to their local competitors. Past studies have found fair amount of empirical evidences for the liability of foreignness. The present study attempts to take one step further by addressing two questions: what are the sources of such disadvantages and what are the solutions sought by the companies? To do this, we conducted a field study exploring the on-going dynamics of foreign multinationals. Specifically, we collected primary data through interviews with Dutch and Korean managers of Korean multinational companies. Through the interviews, we found evidence for the existence of such disadvantages. We identified four sources of the liability of foreignness—cross-border transfer, interaction with the local government, local discrimination, and interaction within the multinational—and two ways in which these companies actively reduced their exposure to the problem—localization and unfamiliarity reduction. This study should be useful to both practitioners and theorists in international business with an interest in disadvantages connected to the foreign status of a company.

Perceptions of Managerial Performance Dimensions in Korea.

This article explores how cultural differences may affect the question of dimension choice for developmental assessment centers. A survey of over 300 Korean managers was used to investigate Korean perceptions of 20 dimensions commonly used in U.S. assessment centers. Factors included the importance of the dimensions, their perceived developability, Korean managers' interest in developing the dimensions, and the availability of opportunities to develop each dimension. Managers' free-response lists of important dimensions were also considered, exploring whether dimension models developed in the United States were likely to be adequate for Korean managers. Results indicate moderate but not perfect agreement with a previous study of U.S. managers (Gibbons, Rupp, Snyder, Holub, & Woo, this issue, p. 99). Korean managers indicated considerable interest in developing the dimensions but reported few opportunities to do so.

‘They are more like us’: The salience of ethnicity in the global workplace of Korean transnational ­corporations

This article examines how ethnicity becomes salient in the new global workplace and the ways in which co-ethnic ties can have contradictory consequences in the context of global capitalism. Specifically, I look at the workplace relationships between Korean immigrant, white-collar employees and their Korean national managers in Korean transnational corporations [TNCs] in the United States. My findings indicate that, while globalization unites Koreans and Korean Americans and promotes solidarity between them, it also fosters a workplace environment where distinctions between the two groups are more sharply drawn than in other settings. In workplaces where the hierarchy is built on ethnicity and managers and workers share the same ethnic culture, ethnicity is used to interpret work practices, including biased organizational practices. I describe aspects of the corporate structure that lead to a focus on ethnicity rather than on other qualities. I demonstrate how ethnicity becomes not only the basis for the construction of difference in this context but also the rationale for biased organizational practices and limited opportunities for advancement.

South Korean companies in transition: an evolving strategic management style

Abstract South Korea has a unique socio‐cultural identity that results in the development of mutually oriented business relationships. South Korean managers are loyal and respectful but are gradually learning to develop a risk‐oriented approach to decision‐making. Although employees of South Korean companies are known for their ability to work in groups, they are becoming independent thinkers and more individualistic. In the future, South Korean managers are likely to develop a more competitive nature to business as company growth and survival become priorities. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Exploring the missing point of view in international advertising management: local managers in global advertising agencies

In the decades-long debates about whether standardised or adapted strategies are better for global brands, and whether centralised or decentralised international communications planning is more effective, little attention has been given to the perspective of local managers in the subsidiaries of global agencies. This paper reports on the experiences and opinions of account managers and creative directors in Korean subsidiaries, with regard to the international advertising policies of their agencies and clients. The authors find less centralisation than prior research has reported and yet more negative experiences with standardised global advertising. Creativity is a key consideration for the Korean managers, especially for products, be they consumer or industrial, that have universal demand. The perspective of subsidiary managers in multinational corporations should be considered in the advertising planning process in order to avoid conflict which could decrease the effectiveness of global campaigns.

Labor Control and Labor Relations in the Maquiladora Industry: A Study of Korean Maquiladora Firms

Although the protracted labor dispute in Hanyong attracted public attention, labor relations in Korean maquiladora firms have been relatively unexamined thus far. This study identifies labor relations in the Korean maquiladora firms as a typical despotic mode of domination, which is closer to the West coast type than to the Mexican gulf type. To explain the selection and reproduction of the despotic mode of domination, this study analyzes everyday practices of labor control on the shop floor. Korean managers exercise various types of labor control: the consensual type, mobilizing consent on the part of workers; the remunerative type, mobilizing the sense of rewarding; and the repressive type, mobilizing the fear of oppression and retaliation. None of the three types of labor control work effectively and workers remain dissatisfied with the labor conditions and the way labor control is exercised. What the Korean firms choose to do is to oppress worker discontent and prevent it from developing into mass mobilization and upheaval. This is why the despotic mode of labor relations takes shape and reproduces itself in the Korean maquiladora firms.

The Effect of Moral Philosophy and Ethnocentrism on Quality-of-Life Orientation in International Marketing: A Cross-Culturaal Comparison

This paper examines the effects of moral philosophy and ethnocentrism on quality of life orientation in international marketing. It also provides a cross-cultural comparison of ethical values between Koreans and Americans. International quality-of-life (IQOL) orientation refers to marketers' disposition to make decisions to enhance the well-being of consumers in foreign markets while preserving the well-being of other stakeholders. It is hypothesized that marketers' moral philosophy and ethnocentrism influence the development of marketers' IQOL. Specifically, the higher the IQOL orientation of international managers, the higher their moral idealism, the higher their moral relativism, and the lower their ethnocentrism. Also, it is hypothesized that American managers are likely to score higher on moral relativism but lower on moral idealism compared to their Korean counterparts. Also, Korean managers are expected to be more ethnocentric than American managers. Data were collected from business professionals who enrolled in professional MBA courses both from the U.S. and Korea. The results provided support for the hypothesized relationships. Managerial implications of these relationships are discussed.

Awareness of Social Responsibility by Korean Managers in Marketing Practices

Awareness of Social Responsibility by Korean Managers in Marketing Practices

Korean Business Letters: Strategies for Effective Complaints in Cross-Cultural Communication

This case study examines international business letters of complaint written in English by US. managers whose first language (L1) is English and by Korean managers for whom English is a second lang...

Selecting partners for successful international alliances: Examination of U.S. and Korean firms

Managers have found strategic alliances to be useful in entering international markets. Nonetheless, recent history suggests that international strategic alliances have a high likelihood of failure. To decrease this probability, managers must prepare their firm to collaborate. This requires understanding their partners' objectives as well as the criteria used by their partners in selecting collaborators. We examine partner selection criteria employed by managers from U.S. and Korean firms. We find significant differences and similarities in the characteristics sought for alliance partners between U.S. and Korean managers. Understanding these criteria prior to alliance formation can increase the likelihood of alliance success.

Patterns of Cultural and Budgetary Controls in International Joint Ventures in South Korea

This study, conducted in a field setting, examines the pattern of budget and cultural controls across Korean firms and Korean joint ventures with U.S. and European firms in South Korea—a nation with a dominant Confucian philosophy divergent from the modern capitalist philosophy that dominates Anglo‐American approaches to control. The empirical results provide support for the hypothesis that differences exist in the pattern of controls between U.S. and European joint ventures. While European joint ventures exhibited stronger forms of budget control, U.S. joint ventures exhibited a stronger form of cultural controls. Cultural controls were evidenced by lower levels of power distance exhibited by the presence of younger, higher educated Korean managers who have been in a joint venture for a longer period of time. Interview data was used to further examine aspects of control. The education and experience of Korean managers and (self‐) selection were found to facilitate the adoption of foreign parent controls. Accordingly, this paper provides a contribution to theory development on the transfer of parent company management control practices to joint ventures in a specific Asian nation context.

Manufacturing Strategy: Testing the Cumulative Model in a Multiple Country Context*

This study statistically tests the cumulative model for the building of manufacturing capabilities by comparing and contrasting the manufacturing strategies of 265 North. American, 129 European, and 167 Korean factories by region. The cumulative model suggests that better performing competitors build one manufacturing capability upon another in a sequential, cumulative fashion—starting first with quality, followed by dependability, delivery, cost efficiency, flexibility, and lastly, innovation.The primary findings of this exploratory study are as follows: (1) the data yielded some evidence for the cumulative model, with the Korean data being the most supportive of the model; (2) North American, European, and Korean managers take different approaches to improved competitiveness; and (3) rather than focusing on one or two capabilities, better performing firms generally compete on the basis of multiple capabilities. That quality is not only at the base of the cumulative model but is often among the multiple capabilities shows the importance of quality management globally.

BASES OF LEADER POWER, SUBORDINATE COMPLIANCE, AND SATISFACTION WITH SUPERVISION: A CROSS‐CULTURAL STUDY OF MANAGERS IN THE U.S. AND S. KOREA

This study compared the dimensionality and possession of the bases of supervisory power and their relationships to compliance and satisfaction with supervision between the U.S. (n = 459) and S. Korean (n = 625) managers. Results indicate that the factor structure of the power bases in the S. Korean sample was remarkably similar to those found in the U.S. sample; but whereas the U.S. managers reported relatively more position than personal power base, S. Korean managers reported relatively more personal than position power base. Similarities in the relationships of coercive, legitimate, and referent power bases to compliance, satisfaction, and dissimilarities in the relationships of expert and reward power bases to the criterion variables in the two samples are noted.

The Problem of Appropriateness of the Rokeach Value Survey in Korea

Rokeach's (1973) Value Survey has been widely used in recent years, but little attempt has been made to examine the extent to which the RVS samples are relevant to all cultures, especially in East Asian societies. This research attempts to investigate the appropriateness of RVS in the Korean setting through two separate studies: a) a value analysis of Korean school textbooks; and b) a value survey of Korean managers. Whereas the RVS provides many important values that are relevant to Korean culture, it does not involve the facets of Confucian group‐oriented values such as filial piety, harmony and unity with others, co‐operation, and loyalty. Further areas not measured in the RVS are frugality, initiative, and aggressiveness. The findings are discussed in relation with other recent studies. Lastly, the implications of these findings for using the RVS in cross‐cultural studies are also examined.

Organization size as an influence on perceived organizational goals: A comparative study among American, Japanese, and Korean managers

This study examined the influence of organizational size on perceived organizational goals in management jobs. Data from over 1400 American, Japanese, and Korean managers are presented. A comparative analysis of the three country data shows that there is a general trend of increasing behavioral relevance scores of organizational goals from small to large companies.

Organizational Goals and Expected Behavior among American, Japanese and Korean Managers—A Comparative Study

Empirical evidence is presented about organizational goals as viewed by samples of over 1,600 American, Japanese, and Korean managers. Comparative analyses of organizational goal perceptions and ex...

Organizational Goals and Expected Behavior among American, Japanese and Korean Managers--A Comparative Study.

Empirical evidence is presented about organizational goals as viewed by samples of over 1,600 American, Japanese, and Korean managers. Comparative analyses of organizational goal perceptions and ex...