Part 1: In this part, the reader would be able to understand certain aspects of the Korean culture specifically the organizational culture of a Chaebol company: Samsung.
South Korea belongs to the East Asian region. The countries of the region are: China, Hong Kong, Japan, Macau, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. These countries have cultural similarities because they share religion beliefs (Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Shinto) and also the geographical proximity makes them share cultural aspects.
Image taken from: Getty Images
In South Korea the government has given special support and revenues to successful exporters, which gives to the firms the opportunity to grow much faster and became part of the large business group called Chaebols. Some companies that belong to this group are: Samsung, Hyundai, LG, Kia, Daewoo. The Chaebols and the government have a very close relation and because of that bribes play an important role in the relation. The government create pro-Chaebols laws that constitutes a gap between small companies and Chaebol companies
Because of the strong support that the government has given to the chaebols, during 1990´s, large companies said they were “too big to fail”, so they had an irresponsible growth, supported non profitable firms and acquire high debts having low liquidity.
As a consequence of the Asian crises, chaebols realized that they were not too big to fail, and many companies were in bankruptcy. The conglomerates started being under government supervision and apply some principles: transparency based on international standards; in the accounting, it was necessary to protect the rights of minority shareholders; finally, it was established monitoring mechanisms.
One example of a Chaebol company that made important changes after the Asian crises is Samsung. Samsung is a widely diversify conglomerate that started in 1930 and represent growth, national pride but also abusive behavior towards smaller companies, lack of government laws for the company and a huge presence in many sectors of the economy (cell-phones, electro domestics, computers, credit cards and amusement park.
Image taken from: Advance Technology
The company knew that change was necessary because the company realized the importance of diversity in the organization in order to have talented employees that introduce new ideas. Therefore, the company changed from centralized to non centralized and starts working in a horizontal way were also affiliates work together. As a result, the corporate culture built was more creative, flexible and respect diversity.
As a conclusion, Samsung as a chaebol company worked very hard to change aspects of its culture because the corporate culture is high related with the national culture. But changes were necessary for the company in order to face challenges (as crises or global competition, among many others) and build strategies based on the creativity that comes with the diversity and the horizontal and non-centralized structure.
Part 2: According to the text: What Makes Management Style Similar and Distinct Across Borders? Growth, Experience and Culture in Korean and Japanese Firms. By Lee, Jangho, Thomas W. Roehl, & Soonkyoo Choe, it would be listed the main similarities and differences of Japanese and Korean management styles.
It is important to understand the background of the relations between Korea and Japan: in 1910 Korea was starting the modernization of the society and Japan annexed Korea as a colony until 1945. During all the years of occupation, Japan had a great influence on the development of the managerial style in South Korea. Although the Japanese invasion influences the Korean management system, there are strong differences and similarities in the managerial style of Japan and Korea.
The similarities between Japanese and Korean managerial styles are based on the cultural heritage of Confucianism and Buddhism. Both countries share Confucianism teaching about benevolence, humanity and personal integrity, having an emphasis on the ethics of social relationships between superiors and inferiors, in this case, professional relations based on virtues, between top management and low level employees. In Buddhism, Japan and Korea have learned the importance of wisdom, meditation and the right conduct, which are also apply in organizations as important aspects of behavior.
Another similarity is the use of the Korean word: “Inwa”; and the Japanese Word: “Wa”. Both words refers to the group harmony, which is an important principle applied in the organizations.
The differences between the Japanese and Korean managerial styles are:
Employees working in Japanese firms tend to stay working in the same firm during all their life, but in Korean firms there are more layoffs than in Japanese firms, which make that employees tend to change jobs more often.
Japanese firms consider important the participation of workers and middle management in company´s important decisions; by the contrary, Korean organizations are more authoritarian and the top managers are the ones who make the most important decisions.
Many Chaebol Korean firms are managed by families that continue managing the organization that the founder, who is a member of the family, created. In the other hand, Japanese firms are managed mainly by external managers that are not part of the family of the founder.
For Japanese management an important principle is the group loyalty and the building of consensus. Korean management is more individualistic than Japanese management, for example the Korean word “Inwa” does not refers to the same principles that the Japanese word “Wa” have: group loyalty and consensus.
In conclusion, in the similarities between Japanese and Korean managerial style, it can be seen the importance of spirituality in some cultural believes, such as harmony, humanity, respect, personal integrity, which are principles that are part of the national culture and also are an important part of the organizations. There are also important differences between both managerial styles that demonstrate the powerful force of differentiation that each country has.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Advance Technology, “India’s First 8 megapixel touch screen camera mobile now available”, [Online] Permanent URL: http://advancetechnology.today.com/2009/03/05/. Last accessed: March 6, 2010
Getty Images, “East Asia”, [Online] Permanent URL: http://www.gettyimages.com/Search/Search.aspx?contractUrl=2&language=en-US&family=creative&assetType=image&p=East%20asia#. Last accessed: March 6, 2010
Lee, Jangho, Thomas W. Roehl, & Soonkyoo Choe. 2000. What Makes Management Style Similar and Distinct Across Borders? Growth, Experience and Culture in Korean and Japanese Firms. Journal of International Business Studies, 31(4): 631-52.
No comments:
Post a Comment