Korean Society –
Low Trust Society
outside Family Relation
(Francis Fukuyama, The End of History
and The Last Man, 1992)
Family – Blood-related (혈연, 血緣)
Region-related (지연, 地緣)
School-related (학연, 學緣)
Hyung = Older brother, Nuna = Older sister
O-ppa = Older brother, Eon-ni = Older sister,
~ Ya! = Younger sister
Multinational Enterprises – Organizational Culture vs. National Culture
(Sabine Scheffknecht, 2011)
Values can be defined as broad preferences concerning appropriate courses of action
or outcomes. As such, values reflect a person’s sense of right and wrong or
what “ought” to be. “Equal rights for all”, "Excellence deserves admiration",
and “People should be treated with respect and dignity” are representative of values.
Organizational culture – influenced by national or regional culture
The advantages of being a multinational enterprise
- less dependence on the economy or political situation of one single country,
differentiated marked position, economy of scale through the sixe of the business,
use of synergies; etc)
The disadvantages of being a multinational enterprise – cultural barrier
many different nationalities and diverse cultures under one roof
Hofstede’s study on cultural differences on national level
IBM study – company internal employee attitude survey program,
executed between 1967 and 1973, with more than 116,000 responses
from 72 countries and 20 languages
Nations – Political units into which the entire world is divided and
to one of which every human being is supposed to belong. ( Hofstede,
Hofstede, & Minkov, 2010)
Cultural dimension comparison
Hofstede/
Hofstede/ Minkov
(2010)
Hall/Hall
(2011)
Trompenaars/
Hampden-Tuner
(TU Cenmnitz 2011)
GLOBE (House
2004)
Power distance
Uncertainty avoidance
Individualism vs.
collectivism
Hall/Hall
(2011)
Equality vs hierarchy
Analysing vs. integration
Individualism vs.
communitarianism
Power distance
Uncertainty avoidance
Institutional
collectivism
Inner directed vs
outer directed
Gender
egalitarianism
Masculinity vs.
feminity
Long term
Orientation
Indulgence vs
restraint
Time
Time sequence vs.
(monochromic Time synchronization
vs. polychromic)
Low vs. high
context
Humane
orientation
Universalism vs.
Particularism
Achieved status vs.
Ascribed status
Space
Future orientation
Assertiveness
Performance
orientation
Organizational level
3 perspectives
1) Integration – culture is characterised by consistency, organizational wide
consensus, and clarity through the values of people at a high level of the
organization (Shein, 1985; Collins and Porras, 2002)
2) Differentiation – views organization as composed of overlapping, nested
subcultures that coexist in relationships of intergroup harmony, conflict,
or indifference Bartune k and Moch ; Van Maanen, )
3) Fragmentation – ambiguity (multiple meanings, paradox, irony, and
inescapable contradictions) is the defining feature of cultures in organizations
(Robertson & Swan, 2003)
Is organizational culture a given fact or can it be influenced?
Integraton perspective
Deducing national differences by doing research with multinational enterprises with a certain
organizational culture is feasible
Series of Essays on Korean Cultures
by Dr. Horace H. Underwood
Professor Emeritus, Yonsei University
“In” and “Out”
incredibly polite and incredibly rude
Eastern Land of Courtesy vs. Eastern Land of Discourtesy
Host are so friendly but taxi drivers are so nasty
Restaurant manner for buying you meals vs. the people in the street
Home vs. street
Business card exchange is the start of the transferring from out to in.
No Men are Created Equal
Korean culture was hierarchical vs. it is arranged vertically!
No word for brother, “hyung” vs. “tongsaeng”
Korea is Confucian society. Everyone is Confucian, including the Christians.
Confucianism is primarily a system of ethics, not religion, and within ethics, even more a system
of social relationships. Koreans are very confused when Americans claim that someone clearly
not their own age is their “friend.”
Honesty vs Loyalty : Which is more important
Westerns – Honesty; Confucian society – Loyalty
Heredity and Environment
The case for adopting a children : the next generation and relative to succeed in the
clan register
Americans : tend to believe only in environment = they want to adop infants!
Koreans : tend to believe only in heredity
Heredity – determines much of height, aptitudes, even diseases
Environment – behavior, achievement, even diseases
삼강오륜 (The three bonds and the five moral rules in human relations)
삼강 (三綱)은 임금과 신하, 어버이와 자식, 남편과 아내 사이에 마땅히 지켜야 할 도리이다.
군위신강(君爲臣綱) : the bond between a king and a subject
부위자강(父爲子綱) : the bond between parents and children
부위부강(夫爲婦綱) : the bond between a husband and a wife
오륜 (五倫)은 오상(五常) 또는 오전(五典)이라고도 한다. 이는 《맹자(孟子)》에 나오는 부자유친 ·
군신유의·부부유별·장유유서(長幼有序) ·붕우유신(朋友有信)의 5가지로, 아버지와 아들 사이의 도
(道)는 친애(親愛)에 있으며, 임금과 신하의 도리는 의리에 있고, 부부 사이에는 서로 침범치 못할
인륜(人倫)의 구별이 있으며, 어른과 어린이 사이에는 차례와 질서가 있어야 하며, 벗의 도리는 믿
음에 있음을 뜻한다.
부자유친 (父子有親) : affection (or love) between a father and a son
군신유의 (君臣有義) : loyalty (or righteousness) between a king and a subject
부부유별 (夫婦有別) : distinction (or discrimination) between a husband and a wife
장유유서 (長幼有序) : order between adults and children
붕우유신 (朋友有信) : trust (or confidence) between friends
삼강오륜 (三綱五倫) : three fundamental principles and the five moral
disciplines in human relations.
BC 770~403; 전한의 무제 (BC 141~87);
수기(training oneself; 修己) 치인 (ruling others; 治人)
인 (benevolence, 仁), 의 (justice, righteous, 義 ),
예 (courtesy, 禮), 지 ( wisdom, 智)
전국시대 – 맹자 (내성파) 순자 (숭례파- 한비자),
한-당 – 훈고학, 경학, 송나라 - 주자학,
명나라 – 양명학; 청나라- 고증학
Earning respect! Not given!