Korean Organizations Research Articles

Cultivating “good work”: validating organizational culture profile in South Korea

Purpose This study aims to validate the Korean version of the organizational culture profile instrument (Korean OCP) and examine its relationship with creative behavior, work−life balance and thriving at work in South Korean organizations. Design/methodology/approach This study took a three-stage approach to validate the Korean OCP based on classical test theory and item response theory. In the first stage, the authors performed factor analyses and reliability tests using two separate samples for exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, respectively. In the second stage, the authors tested the rating scale model of the Korean OCP. Lastly, in the third stage, they assessed the convergent, discriminant and criterion validity of the OCP dimensions with “good work” constructs such as creative behavior, work−life balance and thriving at work. Findings The findings validate the Korean OCP, and indicate that its dimensions are differentially related to creative behavior, work−life balance and thriving at work. Originality/value This study offers a reliable measurement to assess organizational culture in Korean contexts, connecting dimensions with creative behavior, work−life balance and thriving at work.

Reconstructing Identities amid Cold War and Postcolonial Politics

This article examines the role Zainichi Korean (literally, “Koreans in Japan”) scientists and engineers played in the social and political dynamics of scientific collaboration between South Korea and Japan from the early 1950s to the early 1970s. It argues that the contributions of Zainichi researchers have often been overlooked in the history of South Korean science due to the complexity of their identity politics for South Korea, as they sought to navigate the political risks caused by the Cold War and postcolonial context. Facing ethnic discrimination in the Japanese labor market from the late 1950s onward, many Zainichi Koreans with science and engineering degrees sought jobs in South Korea. However, their ties to pro–North Korean organizations raised suspicions about their loyalty. Further, they were often seen as representatives of new Japanese economic and cultural imperialism, particularly after the normalization of relations between Japan and South Korea in 1965. To navigate these challenges, Zainichi researchers often downplayed their “Zainichi” identity, presenting themselves as “Korean students abroad.” Those lacking the necessary cultural capital to do so faced greater difficulties adapting to South Korea, with their contributions frequently ignored due to fears of potential links to North Korea. By highlighting the New Korea Academic Research Society and two Zainichi researchers, Park Bong-ryol (1926–2001) and Kim Chul-woo (1926–2013), this article sheds light on the self-fashioning strategies used by Zainichi scientists and the political factors that led to their marginalization in the history of scientific interactions between Japan and South Korea.

A Case Study of Korean Diaspora in Austria

The purpose of this study is to examine the Korean community in Austria, which began forming in the 1970s. Currently, there are about twenty known Korean organizations in Austria. This study specifically focuses on the Korean Literature-Friends-Club in Austria to gain a deeper understanding of the transnational experiences of people with Korean roots living in Austria. The findings are based on in-depth interviews, direct observation, published materials, social media, and previous research. Established in 2012, the Korean Literature-Friends-Club was formed by individuals interested in literature and writing, reflecting on their experiences in Korea as well as their immigration to and early years in Austria. Key members of the group are Koreans who emigrated to Europe in the 1960s and 1970s as nurses. Since publishing its first issue in 2013, the group has continued to release a collection of works every two years and organize literary events, serving as a cultural bridge between their host and home countries.

The Dark Sides of Artificial Intelligence Implementation: Examining How Corporate Social Responsibility Buffers the Impact of Artificial Intelligence‐Induced Job Insecurity on Pro‐Environmental Behavior Through Meaningfulness of Work

ABSTRACTThis study investigates the complex relationships between artificial intelligence (AI)‐induced job insecurity, meaningfulness of work (MOW), pro‐environmental behavior at work (PEBW), and corporate social responsibility (CSR) in South Korean organizations. As AI technologies increasingly permeate the workplace, understanding their impact on employee attitudes and behaviors becomes crucial for organizational sustainability efforts. Drawing on several theories, we propose and test a moderated mediation model using a three‐wave time‐lagged design with 392 employees from various South Korean corporations. Our findings reveal that AI‐induced job insecurity negatively influences PEBW through the mediating role of MOW. Contrary to initial expectations, no direct relationship was found between AI‐induced job insecurity and PEBW. Instead, AI‐induced job insecurity decreases employees' MOW, which in turn reduces their engagement in PEBW. Furthermore, we found that CSR moderates the AI‐induced job insecurity‐MOW link, such that strong CSR buffers the negative influence of AI‐induced job insecurity. These results may contribute to the literature on organizational behavior, environmental sustainability, and technological change by elucidating the psychological mechanisms linking AI‐induced job insecurity to PEBW. Our study emphasizes the crucial role of MOW in this relationship. Also, it demonstrates how CSR can function as a strategic tool to weaken the potential negative impacts of AI implementation on employee attitudes and behaviors. The findings offer meaningful implications for managers and policymakers navigating the challenges of AI integration while promoting environmental sustainability at work. By maintaining employee MOW and leveraging CSR initiatives, organizations may be better equipped to foster PEBW in the face of technological changes.

Development and validation of career sustainability scale for mid-career employees.

A sustainability perspective on careers builds a resilient career system by simultaneously considering individual's current career needs and long-term career outcomes. The individual career agent's strategy for achieving a sustainable career is a powerful approach to career development in an environment where an individual's proactive career competencies are emphasized. Mid-career individuals, especially those facing career transitions, need to increase their sustainability by maintaining, renewing, and developing their current careers. To support sustainable career development for mid-career employees, a tool is needed to objectively diagnose the level of career sustainability, taking into account the characteristics of their career transitions. The purpose of this study is to develop and validate a mid-career employee career sustainability scale. The research methodology comprised four systematic scale development processes. First, an integrated literature review was conducted to develop a conceptual model of mid-career career sustainability. Second, an initial pool of career sustainability items was developed and subjected to expert content validation. Third, an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted on 257 participants to verify the reliability and validity of the preliminary items. Finally, a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted on 534 participants to finalize the final items. The participants were all mid-career employees aged 40-55 currently employed in Korean organizations. The new scale reliably and validly measured mid-career career sustainability across four dimensions: meaning perception of career sustainability, skill acquisition for career sustainability, relationship building for career sustainability, environmental awareness for career sustainability.

Effects of social impact and task variety on innovative work behavior: the mediating role of work meaningfulness

PurposeBased on the conservation of resources (COR) theory, we investigate antecedents and consequences of work meaningfulness.Design/methodology/approachWe used survey data from employees in various South Korean organizations and applied Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and a bootstrapping procedure to test our proposed model.FindingsWe found that employees’ perceptions of their jobs’ social impact and task variety are positively related to work meaningfulness, which leads to higher levels of innovative behavior. We found that work meaningfulness mediates the effects of employees’ perceived social impact and task variety on their innovative behaviors.Originality/valueOur study contributes to the positive psychology literature by identifying work meaningfulness as a critical underlying mechanism in explaining the relationship between task variety, perceived social impact, and innovative behavior.

마이크로 매니지먼트 측정도구 타당화 연구

The purpose of this study is to validate the micromanagement measurement developed by Sulphey and Upadhyay (2019). We translated the micromanagement measurement for validation and conducted content validity analysis. The preliminary study has showed that the subfactor structure of the instrument items was verified. In the main study with 392 individuals from Korean employees. Our analysis included factor analysis, reliability analysis, and Rasch model. The results indicated that one item with a low factor loading was removed, leaving the measurement of 14 items in four factors. The study revealed a significant association between micromanagement and organizational silence, as well as passive aggression in Korean organizations. We discuss the expected interpretations, practical applications and theoretical implications. Based on the findings, theoretical and practical implications were further discussed.

한국직장인의 상사지원인식과 자발적 ESG 행동 간에 자기결정성 욕구의 매개효과에 관한 연구

The purpose of the study is to empirically test whether Korean employees’ perceived organizational support has positive influences on their self-determination needs (relatedness, autonomy and competence) and autonomous Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) behaviors at work place. Specifically, we examined the impact of perceived supervisor support (PSS) on voluntary ESG behavior and the mediating role of self-determination needs (relatedness, competence, and autonomy). After collecting survey data from Korean employees in Seoul, Gyeonggi and Busan areas, one hundred thirty responses were included for hypotheses testing using SPSS 23.0. The results of the study are summarized as follows. First, Korean employees’ PSS showed a statistically significantly positive influence on autonomous ESG behaviors at work place. Second, there was a significantly positive relationship between Korean employees’ perceived supervisor support and their self-determination needs. Third, their needs for self-determination have been found to be positively related to autonomous ESG behaviors at work place. Last, it has been detected that employees’ self-determination needs mediate the relationship between PSS and their autonomous ESG behaviors at work place. While defining the characteristics of employee ESG behaviors in Korean organizations, ESG internalization process and relevant factors in Korean organizational culture have been suggested.

The Impacts of Leaders' Influence Tactics on Teleworkers' Job Stress and Performance: The Moderating Role of Organizational Support in COVID-19.

With the outbreak of COVID-19, organizations have increased non-face-to-face work. This study aims to examine how leaders' influence tactics affect employees' psychological state and job performance in a non-face-to-face work (telework) setting. Moreover, based on substitutes for leadership theory, the study proposes that teleworkers' perceived organizational support moderates the relationship between leaders' influence tactics and their job stress in telework settings. We collected data via time-lagged surveys among 208 full-time employees in South Korean organizations that began teleworking after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The results showed that leaders' soft tactics (i.e., behaviors used to elicit the followers' voluntary acceptance of a request) and rational tactics (i.e., behaviors that exert influence by providing empirical evidence based on reason or logic) significantly reduced teleworkers' job stress, which in turn lowered their turnover intention and increased their task performance. Moreover, these tactics and teleworkers' perceived organizational support interact to influence the workers' job stress. By examining how leaders' influence tactics affect teleworkers' psychological stress, task performance, and turnover intention in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, this study theoretically broadens the influence tactics literature, which previously focused primarily on face-to-face workers. The study concludes with a discussion about the implications of findings and limitations, along with areas for future research.

Employee goal orientation and knowledge sharing: the moderating effect of leader boundary spanning behavior

PurposeThe research aims to examine the impacts of two different types of goal orientation, i.e. leaning goal orientation (LGO) and performance-prove goal orientation (PPGO), on employee knowledge sharing, and whether these relationships are altered by leaders' boundary spanning behavior (BSB).Design/methodology/approachA sample of 170 employees and 93 leaders were collected from South Korean organizations. Data were analyzed using path analysis.FindingsThe results demonstrated that employees with a high LGO are more likely to engage in knowledge sharing, while employees with a high PPGO are less likely to show knowledge sharing. Moreover, the findings showed that highly learning oriented employees tend to engage in knowledge sharing when they are under leaders who show active BSB.Practical implicationsTo encourage knowledge sharing between employees, organizations need to promote a mastery-structured work environment to help employees develop a stronger LGO. Also, organizations could benefit from implementing training programs for leaders that promote their BSB.Originality/valueThe research aims to provide a more articulate account for how LGO and PPGO affect employee knowledge sharing in opposite ways. More importantly, this research provides new insights regarding the role of leaders' BSB as a contextual factor in promoting employee knowledge sharing. Using social learning theory as a theoretical framework, this study indicates how employees with a high LGO learn the behaviors of boundary spanning leaders and are more willing to engage in knowledge sharing.

지원적 리더십과 근로자 창의성에 관한 연구

In the modern organizational context, creativity is a key factor for organizational competitiveness, and leaders play a crucial role in promoting employee creativity. While previous research has shown that positive impact of constructive leader behaviors on employee creativity, there have been inconsistent results regarding the implications of supportive leadership on creativity. To address the limitation, integrating the notion of leadership, creativity, and the dominance complementarity theory, we examine the interactive effect of supportive leadership and employee creative process engagement on employee creativity. Specifically, first, we expect a positive relationship between leader coaching and employee creativity, with considering leader coaching as a form of supportive leadership. Second, we further posit that this relationship varies depending on the level of employee creative process engagement. In particular, we expect that the association will become an inverted U-shaped relationship, meaning that beyond a certain level, leader coaching may hinder employee creativity. To examine the above hypotheses, we collected the survey data from 187 leader-follower dyads of employees who work in Korean organizations; we found that all hypotheses were supported. With this study, we intend to contribute to the advancement of research on creativity, leadership, and the theory of dominance complementarity.

Exploring a Pathway to Sustainable Organizational Performance of South Korea in the Digital Age: The Effect of Digital Leadership on IT Capabilities and Organizational Learning

In the age of Industry 4.0, the emergence of new technologies is compelling organizations to search for new methods for sustainability. In particular, IT capabilities and organizational learning competencies with digital leadership play crucial roles in managing environmental dynamism, which are profoundly related to sustainable organizational performance in the digital age. This study explored sustainable organizational performance from the perspective of digital leadership (DL) and the role of IT capabilities (IT infrastructure, IT business spanning, IT-proactive stance), as well as organizational learning in sustainable organizational performance. For this research, data from 173 employees from South Korean organizations were collected using an online survey on digital leadership, IT capabilities, organizational learning, and sustainable organizational performance (SOP). Here, an SPSS- and AMOS-based structural equation modeling technique was used to examine the outcomes for analysis. The results confirmed that digital leadership significantly directly affected SOP. Moreover, there was no mediating effect of IT infrastructure and IT business spanning; however, an IT-proactive stance and organizational learning fully mediated the relationship between DL and SOP. This research will aid leadership behavior alongside other knowledge-based studies that empirically tested the role of digital leadership, IT capabilities, organizational learning, and SOP. As digital leadership competencies demand is surging for managing digital challenges alongside the verification of digital leadership behavior and knowledge-based theory, the important role of DL regarding IT capabilities and organizational learning in SOP needs to be prudently considered in the South Korean context.

The effect of unstable job on employee's turnover intention: The importance of coaching leadership.

Swift social and economic environmental changes such as COVID-19 pandemic have led to increased job insecurity. The current study examines the intermediating mechanism (i.e., mediator) and its contingent factor (i.e., moderator) in the association between job insecurity and employee's turnover intention, especially from the perspective of positive psychology. By establishing a moderated mediation model, this research hypothesizes that the degree of employee meaningfulness in work may mediate the relationship between job insecurity and turnover intention. In addition, coaching leadership may play a buffering role to positively moderate the harmful impact of job insecurity on meaningfulness of work. With three-wave time-lagged data that was collected from 372 employees in South Korean organizations, the current study not only demonstrated that meaningfulness of work mediates the job insecurity-turnover intention relationship, but also that coaching leadership functions as a buffering factor in reducing the harmful influence of job insecurity on meaningfulness of work. The results of this research suggest that the level of meaningfulness of work (as a mediator) as well as coaching leadership (as a moderator) are the underlying processes and the contingent factor in the job insecurity-turnover intention link.

Job insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic and counterproductive work behavior: The sequential mediation effects of job stress and organizational identification and the buffering role of corporate social responsibility.

Swift social and economic environmental changes such as those associated with the COVID-19 pandemic have led to decreased job security. Although numerous previous studies have examined the influence of job insecurity on employee perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors, the link between job insecurity and negative behavior and its underlying or intermediating mechanisms remain underexplored. The significance of an organization's positive behaviors, which fall under the umbrella of corporate social responsibility (CSR), also deserves more attention. To address these gaps, we examined both the mediator and the moderator in the association between job insecurity and negative employee behavior by establishing a moderated sequential mediation model. We hypothesized that the levels of employee job stress and organizational identification sequentially mediate the relationship between job insecurity and counterproductive work behavior as a representative negative behavior. We also hypothesized that CSR activities play a buffering role that moderates the influence of job insecurity on job stress. We used three-wave time-lagged data collected from 348 employees in South Korean organizations to demonstrate that job stress and organizational identification sequentially mediate the relationship between job insecurity and counterproductive work behavior, and that CSR activities function as a buffering factor that decreases the influence of job insecurity on job stress. The results of this research suggest that the levels of job stress and organizational identification (as sequential mediators) as well as CSR activities (as a moderator) are underlying mechanisms in the link between job insecurity and counterproductive work behavior.

Sustainability and Organizational Performance in South Korea: The Effect of Digital Leadership on Digital Culture and Employees’ Digital Capabilities

In the era of digital transformation, organizations are making efforts towards sustainability. In particular, leadership is transforming into digital leadership according to changes in management environments, which are deeply related to organizational performance. In this study, we focus on organizational performance and sustainability management and clarify the role of digital culture and employees’ digital capabilities in perspectives on digital leadership. We collected data from 149 employees who work in South Korean organizations using a survey based on digital leadership, digital culture, employees’ digital capabilities, and organizational performance, and we tested our hypotheses using structural equation modeling. The results show that digital leadership has a positive direct and indirect effect on organizational performance. Moreover, digital culture and employees’ digital capabilities partially mediate the relationship between digital leadership and sustainable organizational performance in South Korea. This study contributes to leadership and resource-based view (RBV) research by providing evidence for the role of digital leadership in sustainable organizational performance. As leadership continues to extend alongside verification of the RBV theory, the crucial role of digital leadership is changing, and the role of employees’ digital capabilities in organizational performance in South Korea needs to be considered.

Interorganizational and International Networks For Digital Diplomacy Outreach: A Comparative Study of South Korea and China

This study introduced an analytical framework for assessing the inter-organizational network system and the web impacts of public diplomacy organizations’ sites through the cases of South Korea and China. This study compared interorganizational collaboration networks, the impact of the government agencies’ websites, and the sectoral and geographic distribution of information resources offered by the agencies on the web. Social network analysis was employed, and it indicated that the Chinese public diplomacy organizations constructed denser and more strongly connected networks than the Korean public diplomacy agencies. Furthermore, the results suggested that .com was the most popular generic top-level domain, followed by .org, .net, and .edu, for both Korean and Chinese organizations. The source sites that sent links to Korean organizations originated mostly from East Asian (Korea, Indonesia, and Japan) and European countries (Germany and Russia). Information about Chinese culture was spread more widely across diverse countries, including East Asian (China and Japan), North American (Canada), European (United Kingdom, France), and Oceanian (Australia) countries. For both Korea and China, domestic audiences played key roles as information hubs in each network, which illuminates a networked and cooperative form of digital diplomacy outreach in these countries.

코로나19 펜데믹 시기 한국기업 근로자의 재택근무에 관한 적응 경험 연구

Although work from home (WFH) programs have been recognized as beneficial for both employees and organizations, they had not caught the attention of Korean organizations because, culturally, it was unusual for Korean employees to perform their tasks outside of the workplace. However, the COVID-19 pandemic inevitably forced Korean organizations to implement WFH programs, and thus many employees experienced such programs for the first time during COVID-19. This study aims to explore the adaptive experiences of Korean employees to new WFH programs by analyzing the adaptation process based on a grounded theory approach. To this end, we interviewed 20 Korean employees working in the business sector. Our findings show that although at first the participants felt anxious about the uncontrollable situation, they tried to adapt quickly to the new non-face-to-face working style. They developed their own individual strategies (i.e., self-management and self-leadership) to maintain work resources and to separate work from family in the process of adaptation in order to achieve and provide evidence for superior job performance. Based on these findings, we suggest some theoretical and practical implications for human resource development and discuss recommendations for further research.

High performance work systems and employee mental health: The roles of psychological empowerment, work role overload, and organizational identification

AbstractEmployee mental health is a central issue in today's global workplace. This paper analyzes the effect of high performance work systems (HPWSs) on employee mental health. We integrate HPWS concepts with job demands‐resources (JD‐R) theory to examine competing theoretical perspectives—a positive HPWS influence and a negative HPWS influence on employee mental health. We examine employees' perceptions of psychological empowerment as an indicator of the motivational pathway of the JD‐R and work‐role overload as an indicator of the strain pathway to explain the differential effect of HPWSs on mental health. We also incorporate organizational identification theory to demonstrate how one's identification with the organization can either accentuate or attenuate feelings of both psychological empowerment and work‐role overload. Findings from a study of 999 employees in 174 South Korean organizations indicate that HPWSs are positively associated with employee mental health via employee perceptions of empowerment and that HPWSs are negatively associated with employee mental health through perceptions of work‐role overload. Furthermore, the study finds that organizational identification attenuates the relationship between HPWS and both empowerment and overload. Practice‐level post hoc analyses also reveal that the job design characteristics, pay level, and participative decision‐making are linked to empowerment. In addition, participative decision‐making is most strongly associated with work overload.

The Effects of Merit Pay Increases via Organization-Based Self-Esteem

Although merit pay increase is a pay-for-performance practice that organizations popularly use, its effectiveness has often been questioned. Prior studies have primarily explored merit pay increase outcomes by adopting the idea that merit pay is a form of compensation that makes employees see a conspicuous link between pay and performance. Diverting from this approach, we investigate merit pay increase’s effect on employee satisfaction and motivation using organization-based self-esteem as a key mechanism. We conducted two empirical studies that investigated the interactive indirect effect of merit pay increase and perceived pay dispersion on satisfaction and motivation via organization-based self-esteem. Study 1 analyzed 131 employee observations from two South Korean organizations. Results showed that merit pay positively affects satisfaction and motivation via organization-based self-esteem when perceived pay dispersion is low. In Study 2, 818 employee observations from six Finnish organizations were analyzed, and the findings were comparable to Study 1.

Employee’s intention to share knowledge: the impacts of learning organization culture and learning goal orientation

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine employees' perceived influence of the learning organization culture and learning goal orientation on their knowledge sharing attitude and intention across multiple industries. In connecting these concepts, the researchers incorporated theories of the knowledge-based firm, goal orientation and reasoned action.Design/methodology/approachA survey was used to collect data from a total of 323 responses from eight South Korean organizations to examine the influence of organizational and individual learning factors on employees' knowledge sharing. Structural equation modeling showed that the proposed research model was supported by item internal consistency and model-fits.FindingsResults indicated that employees' learning goal orientation, knowledge sharing attitude and learning organization culture positively influence employees' knowledge sharing intention. This study highlights that those employees are more likely to share knowledge when employees with high learning goal orientation form a positive attitude toward knowledge sharing in a learning supportive culture and structure.Originality/valueThis study added to the literature of learning organizations by identifying a strong positive connection between the learning organization culture and employees' knowledge sharing. The theoretical contribution of this study lies in which the important roles were extended that the learning goal orientation exerts on employee behaviors when they perceive the organization valuing learning.