Koreans have come a long way, at the end of the Korean war they were a very poor people.  Now you have well known brands like Hyundai, LG and Samsung (although I think most people don’t know they are Korean brands).

Organizational Loyalty

Koreans have a very rigorous work schedule, some start at 8:30 am and end by 8:30 pm.  Even wives sometimes tell their husbands to work more if other husbands around the neighborhood do more.  It’s a social norm for an employee to seemingly dedicate their life to their company.

Koreans have a word for this idea of loyalty to a company, it’s called 인화 (human-loyalty).   Because of this, and perhaps many other factors, the rate of absenteeism in Korea is only one percent while it is five percent in the United States.

Founder’s Conviction

Since Korean companies are so young, they still have the entrepreneurial spirit that their founders had only one generation ago.  Many of the companies today are being run by the sons of the founder, who try to emulate the spirit which brought the companies from nothing to strong multi-national organizations in seemingly no time.

Paternalism

One of the big differences between Korean and Western companies is that Korean companies run like a family.  While Western companies frown on such activities, Koreans see it as a mutual relationship.  They hire on to a company expecting to have a secure job and have their family taken well care of.  In return, the company expects the employee to work as hard as they can and be loyal to the company.

Hierarchical Organization

Korean companies are organized very much like the military, employees respect those in higher positions very much and those in higher positions expect those lower than them to obey with no questions asked.  This is very much like the Korean society, which is very much a age-based hierarchy.

‘Carrot and Stick’

Employees of many companies get two things, rewards and punishments.  This idea (신상필벌) comes from the people responding to stimuli for better or for worse.

Group Orientation

Like the Japanese, Koreans are very group-oriented.  Rather than make some decisions as individuals, many decisions are made as a group so as to build comradeship and cohesiveness.

Promotion or Termination

Many older workers are involuntarily retired before age fifty-five.  Some companies even have an unwritten rule to not renew ten percent of contracts of executive contracts every year.  This type of policy is counter-balanced by the strong Korean custom of children taking care of their parents.  Unlike the United States, in Korea children are expected to take complete care of their parents until they pass away.  There is a much higher percentage of families who live with their parents/grand-parents than in the Western society.

Fear and Loathing in Departmental Politics

Since Korean middle-management has a fear of being laid off, many of the managers feel like they should not consult other departments because it will be seen as a weakness of skills.  Therefore, it seems that many departments are headed by people with more general skills rather than a special skill-set.  In Western culture, it is completely acceptable to ask just about anything to other departments but in Korea it is regarded as an admission of incompetence.

If something is needed, managers will send the request up to higher management who is over both departments which will trickle down to the other department and then back the same route.  This can add a lot of extra time which some Western cultures may see as wasted.

Along the same lines of trying to present an air of how one’s self is important, requests for information and demands for modification that go through the department are always commented on or some action done.  If they don’t do much, their department may be seen as something that is not needed.

Government

There is a huge tie between the Korean government and the industries it has helped start.  With such limited resources, Korea felt it was to their advantage to consolidate resources and help individual entities.  Many people call it “Korea, Inc.”  The one major example I heard of this was the huge role the government had in jump starting the steel industry in the south.

Next chapter, Getting a Handle on Information or select a chapter.