Changes and continuities in South Korean HRM

The operating context of South Korean human resource management (HRM) has undergone radical shifts since we wrote our first piece in 1997 for a similar collection to this. This has undoubtedly influenced the practice of HRM. Therefore, the focus of this piece is to compare the current situation with the past and delineate the amount and type of such change vis-à-vis continuity in HRM. The contextual factors and issues, political and economic background, labour market situation, the 1997 Asian financial crisis and ramifications, are analysed. Then future possible scenarios and key issues are outlined.     

从YOULI银行的案例研究韩国的金融改革

受1997年亚洲金融危机的影响,韩国经济遭受巨大损失。韩国政府为化解金融危机所暴露出的经济问题,采取了许多积极应对措施,取得了很好的效果。金融改革的成功极大地促进了韩国经济的恢复进程。为了解韩国的金融改革以YOULI银行为案例从侧面研究韩国金融改革过程及效果,并对中韩金融合作的途径进行探讨。     

The Effect of Outside Board Members on Energy Efficiency in Korea

Drawing largely upon the stakeholder theory and the resource dependence literature, this article examines the relationship between corporate governance structure and sustainability measured by energy efficiency. The model uses data from South Korean (Korean hereafter) firms that have relied heavily on energy-intensive industry for economic growth and have experienced major changes in their corporate governance structure since the 1997 Asian financial crisis. Estimation results show that a corporate governance structure that includes the appointment of heterogeneous outside directors, given other conditions, leads to an increase in energy efficiency and thus sustainability.     

Financial Liberalisation and the South Korean Financial Crisis: An Analysis of Expert Opinion

This paper provides a novel analysis of the South Korean financial crisis drawing on the findings of a unique survey of IMF/World Bank and South Korean experts. The survey reveals that over‐optimism and inadequate recognition of financial risks inadvertently led to excessive risk‐taking by Korean financial intermediaries. It also indicates that the sources of over‐optimistic assessments of East Asian economies were mainly to be found outside East Asia and included the Bretton Woods Institutions themselves, Western media and analysts. In Korea, weaknesses in risk management were the result of (i) lack of expertise in relation to handling the risks associated with capital flows, and (ii) disincentives to manage risks emanating from a relatively successful history of government‐provided safety nets for both industry and banking. Financial liberalisation widened risk‐taking opportunities, by allowing Korean financial institutions to both borrow from and lend to institutions outside Korea. It also created additional disincentives for managing risk by intensifying competition and eroding bank franchise values. Weaknesses in prudential regulation allowed bank portfolios to become riskier, especially in terms of increased liquidity risk as a result of maturity mismatches between dollar‐denominated assets and liabilities. The liquidity crisis, which followed the re‐assessment of the South Korean economy by international lenders in late 1997, triggered a full‐blown financial crisis because of the absence of an effective international lender of last resort.     

The post-Asian financial crisis: changes in HRM in Taiwanese enterprises

The changes in the macro-economic environment, due to the recent Asian crisis, have been an important stimulus to organizational and human resource management (HRM) changes in Taiwanese enterprises. This essay tackles these responses by looking at individual firms, using a case study approach. The pattern of organizational responses introduced in these companies has exhibited a variety of different characteristics. Most have implemented strategies towards enhancing the individual firms' competitiveness. The situation has changed since Chen's research in 1997, marked by differences between a period of economic boom and a period of economic recession. Consequently, key economic indicators and labour market conditions have changed, so HRM practices have evolved too. Generally speaking, the adoption of international standardized HRM practices is one such move that is now becoming more general in Taiwan.     

Restructuring FDI policy in emerging economies: The republic of Korea case

This article presents several frameworks for examining the effect of a national financial crisis as a stimulus for economic reform and applies them to the Korean case 1997–2001. The author lists significant dimensions of reform and restructuring, presents a schema showing macro reform measures and some possible micro ramifications regarding a country's policies toward incoming foreign direct investment, and extends the schema to the concept of a trade‐off between macro and micro determinants of a country's attractiveness to foreign direct investment. There is also a chart highlighting the extent of government allowance of foreign equity participation. The author uses all these concepts to analyze the Republic of Korea's response to the financial crisis of 1997–1999. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Organizational characteristics and the CRM adoption process

The purpose of this study is to identify the status of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) adoption and explore the influence of organizational characteristics on the CRM adoption process in the Korean fashion industry. Using Rogers' [Rogers EM. Diffusion of innovation. New York: Free Press; 1995] innovation decision process model as the conceptual basis, this study surveyed 94 Korean fashion companies to investigate the persuasion, decision, and implementation stages of CRM adoption. Organizational variables included firm characteristics (size, strategy, maturity of information system), product characteristics (category, fashion position, seasonality), and CEO characteristics (age, education). The most frequently used CRM technology is the development of a customer database, whereas the mostly frequently mentioned benefits of CRM are encouraging repurchase. Moreover, respondents' perceptions of CRM benefits affect CRM adoption, influencing the use of various CRM technologies. Organizational strategy, maturity of information system, and product category all significantly influence the adoption process. Empirical findings provide further support for the innovation decision process model developed by Rogers [Rogers EM. Diffusion of innovation. New York: Free Press; 1995] and the CRM adoption model can be used when fashion companies do strategic planning and evaluate the possibility of adopting CRM strategies.     

Factors influencing buying behavior of Lebanese consumers towards fashion brands during economic crisis: A qualitative study

The purpose of this article is to contribute to an understanding of the impact of the Lebanese economic crisis on fashion buying behavior. It uses a qualitative approach by conducting semi-structured interviews with 29 Lebanese consumers. The study reveals that consumer fashion purchases are motivated by emotional, social, and functional drivers. It also indicates that subjective norms, such as societal and cultural values dictate buying behaviors. The findings provide further insights into social media and highlight its influence on shaping trends and making fashion products desirable. The article concludes that Lebanese consumers exhibit impulsive buying behavior, and explains how fashion brands can remain relevant amidst a wrenching economic crisis.     

From Shop Floor to Boardroom: The Historical Evolution of Australian Management Consulting, 1940s to 1980s

This article traces the historical development of management consulting in Australia. While some observers have argued the origins of management consulting involved primarily executive and board-level advice over corporate strategy and structure, as was the case in the United Kingdom, Australian management consulting began with a dominantly Taylorist focus on shop-floor productivity before diversifying into the broader range of general management services. It is argued that while economic and technological changes have played a role in such diversification, of equal importance has been the ability of consultancies to reinvent themselves and create demand amongst clinet organisations for an ever increasing range of services. The article concludes by arguing that modern management consulting is a diverse and segmented industry that has been involved as much in the provision of advice and expertise over shop-floor efficiencies, as it has in boardroom strategy.     

Web Adoption and Firm Performance in the Fashion Industry: The Moderating Role of Social and Economic Rational Managerial Perceptions

This article draws on an integrated perspective of institutional theory and the resource-based view of the firm by studying the causal relationships among Web technology adoption, social and economic rational managerial perceptions, and firm results. It does so in the context of the fashion industry. The article suggests that both resource-based view and institutional factors may better explain firm performance. Isomorphic rationality as institutional forces of firm homogeneity are proposed as determinants of rent potential that complement and extend resource-based explanations of firm success variation and sustainable competitive advantage in the fashion industry.     

Recent Changes in Korea's Business Environment: Views of Foreign Business People in Korea

This article attempts to assess changes in the Korean business environment after the 1997 financial crisis from a foreign perspective. To this end, a comprehensive survey has been conducted of foreign business people in Korea. Although Korea has undertaken various policy measures and all-out efforts to improve its business environment in the recent past, the present study shows that foreign business people have in general a negative view on the progress. It further shows that there is substantial room for improvement in numerous areas. Not only should excessive government regulations and bureaucratic power be removed, but unfair advantages bestowed on domestic firms, inflexibility in the labour market and living conditions of foreign expatriates should also be improved. Korean people need to become more open and amicable to foreigners and foreign business operations in Korea.     

Effects of Family Socialization in the Organizational Commitment of the Family Firms from the Moral Economy Perspective

South Korean industrial conglomerates (chaebols) are discussed in the context of value-based management (VBM). Recent economics and finance literature on the diversion of corporate resources from the firm to the controlling shareholders (tunneling), for which chaebols are notoriously known, is discussed. Chaebols have engaged in empire building and expropriation of minority shareholders, distorting the process of efficient resource allocation in South Korea, and became the root cause of the 1997 financial crisis. We argue that the 1997 crisis should be viewed as a consequence of chaebols’ systematic deviation from the guiding principles of VBM. We use tunneling within chaebols as an example of the need to directly address prohibition of the expropriation of minority shareholders as a primary postulate of VBM. We argue that VBM should require that the value generated by the firm not be expropriated from minorities, or any stakeholders, by dominant shareholders. We also examine moral and ethical considerations and present explanations as to why the unethical practice of tunneling has been tolerated by the South Korean public. We show that public opinion on tunneling is changing and that the treatment of minority shareholders by chaebols’ controlling families is becoming increasingly unacceptable to South Koreans.     

Post-Soviet Russian Film and the Trauma of Globalization

In this paper the author discusses how in post-Soviet times, after years of communal property and existence, Russia has reacted and adjusted itself toward the global expansion of Western capital with all the consequences of that process. The analysis focuses on three films, Mikhalkov’s The Barber of Siberia (1999), Fruntov’s All That of Which We’ve Dreamed So Long (1997), and Balabanov’s Of Freaks and Men (1998), which in different, very desperate ways illustrate Russia’s economic and cultural ambivalence towards Western economic and cultural growth. The paper pursues the cultural manifestations of the cost of a psychological crisis exacted at the level of both society and the individual.     

论全球金融危机对韩国的影响

金球金融危机对韩国的影响,主要是对韩国经济和金融市场的影响,具体表现在韩国股市、汇市下跌速度明显加快.韩国经济战缓等方面.虽然韩国政府采取了诸如干预汇市,支持股市,援助银行业,刺激经济计划、央行减息等一些列救援措施,但从总体上看,如果2009年上半年全球金融危机没有得到显著缓解,韩国经济将继续面对国内需求严重萎缩以及出口急速下降的双重打击.韩元的疲软走势将持续,可能导致其国内经济大幅下滑.     

HRM in Thailand: a post-1997 update

This essay updates an earlier study of human resource management (HRM) practices in Thailand, focusing specifically on HRM in the post-1997 Asian financial crisis. HRM in Thailand has undergone gradual, but significant, change, with movement away from more traditional styles of HRM and management rooted in personalism and social relationships, toward more flexible employment systems in which employment opportunities are based on merit and performance rather than connections and personal characteristics. These changes are clearly more pronounced in subsidiaries of multinational corporations, particularly those based in Western countries.     

Fiscal stimulus and its effects in the European Union

In the wake of the financial and economic crisis Keynesian macroeconomic management has once again come into the spotlight. The following article takes a critical look at the practice of expansionary fiscal policy in the EU’s old member states between 1980 and 2005 in order to answer the question whether fiscal stimulus can be a successful response to the current crisis in both the short and the long run.     

Indonesia

Indonesia's long stability of over three decades came to a sudden end after the regional economic crisis of 1997–1998. The economic crisis not only shattered the Indonesian economy but also resulted in political turmoil. The national leadership has changed three times over the last five years. In such conditions, the confidence of foreign investors is very low. The present government has initiated a number of steps to restore political stability and economic recovery. This article provides useful information on the complex business environment, aimed to help foreign investors to develop a good understanding on key background knowledge for being successful in Indonesia. It reviews Indonesian historical development, political structure and climate, regional relations, and economy and foreign trade. Indonesia's infrastructure, legal framework, sociocultural setup, as well as market structure and potential, are also analyzed. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

金融危机的新变化与中国应对之策

当代金融危机已经摆脱了经济周期性和意识形态的时空限制。金融市场将经济危机延缓到未来,并首先以金融危机形式集中释放,西方发达国家又向世界转嫁危机。我国当前的大量外汇储备受到了金融危机的冲击,因此应适度调整对外经济政策和外汇储备策略。此外,我国需要通过扩大内需和完善金融市场体系而从根本上推动国民经济协调发展。     

Nonroutine CEO Turnover in Korean Chaebols

This study seeks to assess the relationship between firm performance and nonroutine CEO turnover in Korean conglomerates known as chaebols. Utilizing data collected from a period following the 1997 Asian financial crisis, findings indicate a negative relationship between performance and nonroutine CEO turnover. However, the status of CEOs as chaebol founding family members is also negatively correlated with nonroutine turnover. This research suggests areas where managerial accountability has been improved in chaebol and areas where further improvements are needed. The unique contribution of this study is that it considers corporate governance in chaebols after postfinancial crisis reforms and looks at CEO family membership as a factor.     

Introduction: the icarus paradox in Korean business and management

Some writers argue that modern history reveals that countries pass through ‘cycles’ in economic leadership. The ‘forerunners’ of industrialization used inventions and innovations as the major sources of their growth. On the other hand, newly industrializing countries, labelled ‘latecomers’ vis-à-vis the first groups, relied more on imitating, borrowing, or learning advanced technological and organizational capabilities to achieve national industrialization and eventually to gain national competitiveness. For some time, many have viewed such economies, especially the ‘Asian Tigers’, as a major force that will lead future world economic growth. However, such expectations have diminished with the recent financial crisis and contagion in Asia. The subject matter covered here includes the sources of economic growth and industrialization, the ‘catch-up’ strategies of firms, and foreign investment. The causes of the recent financial crisis, and future possibilities for the Korean model of business and management, are also analysed.