Question

What are some recommendations to international firms that are planning on managing in South Korea about organizational behavior specificities of that country that should be important when creating policies about that country.

Answer 1

Some recommendations to international firms are:

1. Cultural differences make significant impact on the organizational behavior. South Korean society believes in Confucian values such as respect authority, collectivism; live moderately, avoidance of extremes etc. South Koreans believe in maintaining harmony due to which they refrain from confronting upfront rather they communicate indirectly. E.g. To deny or say no. International companies can make use of these values to develop their policies
2. South Koreans gives importance to relationships and hence it is very important for international firms to create policies which helps in building good working relationship and trust amongst people. South Korean society is a collectivist society
3. Hierarchy plays an important role in South Korean business. Introduce policies that give importance to hierarchy and ranks. South Korea has a high power distance score of 60 which means there is greater inequality between societal levels
4. South Korea has a low level of tolerance for uncertainty which means they are not comfortable with risk and feel threatened or insecure when there is uncertainty. To address this International firm should focus on developing rules and regulations.
5. South Korean society is more masculine as compared to feminine which means there is a gap in men and women's values. This factor needs to be addressed in policies to be able to function well.
6. Thrift and perseverance are given high importance in South Korea.