Introduction
Do you adore Korean culture and want to work in South Korea? Are you curious about the dynamics within South Korean workplaces? If so, you are reading the perfect guide! Like you, I am interested in the Korean language, the k-food, the landscape, K-pop, Korean history, and social values. Therefore, I plan to go on an exchange there to experience a cultural shock and see if I can imagine myself as an expatriate in the marketing industry.
With the Hallyu wave, South Korea has gained global interest in recent years, generating more tourists to visit, an economic and cultural worldwide expansion, and many expatriates’ arrival. Consequently, cross-cultural management is a critical topic because South Korea has a strong culture that seems challenging to adapt to for expatriates. So, creating a guide for foreign workers to be better prepared seemed necessary. Knowing Korea has a powerful, unique history, the following question occurred: Is today’s Korean workplace still impacted by its past, making it difficult for expatriates to integrate?
According to my research, yes. Korea is modernizing but still embraces past social Confucian values. Therefore, I will explore South Korean workplaces’ hierarchical organizational structure and relationship-based environment through Confucianism and historical perspectives. Also, challenges such as the language barrier, collectivism and hierarchy, and solutions for expatriates will be presented throughout the articles as guidance.
Methodology
I mainly searched on Google Scholar, Wiley Online Library, and Google. I focused on scholarly articles oriented towards the following keywords: Business in South Korea, Cross-Cultural Management in Korea, Confucianism in Korea, Communication in Korean Workplaces, and Expatriates in Korea. Research papers were published in various years, but many referred to articles written in the 90’s. So, I tried to take most of my information from recent papers interviewing companies and expatriates to get a portrait as close as possible to today’s business culture. The other articles I consulted were blog-type, primarily to better understand the Korean language and to provide advice and examples regarding business etiquette.
To avoid research biases, I conducted my research on different platforms, collected information from various years, observed common data, and used as my last resource blogs to get real-life examples. Also, I tried to ignore my previous knowledge and preconception of Korean workplaces to start as if I knew nothing to be able to research with an open mind.
Concepts to understand before reading
Confucianism is a philosophical and religious tradition present mainly in East Asian countries. It vehiculates values influencing the culture and behaviours of people, which will be analyzed throughout my articles.
Here are simplistic definitions of Confucian values:
- Face-saving: It is being sensitive to your surroundings, people’s image and dignity. It ensures that people are perceived positively and that their social status and position are maintained. It is avoiding shaming someone socially or making them lose face with your words and actions.
- Humility: It is feeling a sense of community and group. It is seeing the world through others’ perspectives and working on yourself to adapt and respect the people surrounding you.
- Group Orientation: It is the sense of belongness, of being part of a group or an organization. It favours cooperation and teamwork over individuality.
- Hierarchy: An organizational structure that distributes power inequality to support social orders and organization. It is respecting and accepting authority and power distance.
- Reciprocity: It is an interpersonal relationship of supporting harmoniously and exchanging favours among people in, for instance, business and politics. In other words, it is helping each other.
*Notice that all values are interconnected; the combination of all of these creates a functional and flourishing society according to Confucius’s philosophy.
Articles to Read
*More to come; Language basic business vocabulary, do’s and don’ts, …
Conclusion
The previous findings show that South Korean workplaces are still under the influence of its past, mainly through Confucianism, making it difficult for expatriates to understand and integrate. Indeed, the organization’s hierarchical structure inspired by Confucius’s values can intimidate expatriates with its strict seniority, respect, high context communication, and male dominance. The same goes for relationships among colleagues, ruled by group-oriented Confucian values in a diffuse collectivist business culture that requires foreigners to adapt to ‘fit in’ and work efficiently and respectfully with others.
Overall, expatriates must use their cultural intelligence skills to learn about the culture with their observational and conversational skills, apply the learning through their behaviours and adapt. They need to take risks and be comfortable with making mistakes and being vulnerable. They should try their best to think positively about cultural differences instead of using comparison to qualify which culture is better than the other.
Right now, Asian countries are starting to gain attention globally and economically. Therefore, we can expect an increase in cross-cultural management through international businesses. For them to work efficiently with foreign cultures, guides like this about a particular country’s workplace are necessary, knowing that many companies do not offer cross-cultural training to their employees. People should be prepared to work in diverse environments to expand their cultural knowledge, creativity and open-mindedness and change their prejudices. These are essential values that, in today’s societies, we are slowly losing through wars and limitations to freedom of speech.
For me, open-mindedness is a synonym for being a better human who can adapt, better understand others, judge less and treat others with respect and humility. My main takeaways from this project are how predominant our cultural background is through our perception of a foreign culture and how complex cross-cultural communication is. Communication is beyond sharing words; it is through hidden meanings, gestures, behaviours, unconscious habits and many more.
References
Froese, F. J., Peltokorpi, V., & Ko, K. A. (2012). The influence of intercultural communication on cross-cultural adjustment and work attitudes: Foreign workers in South Korea. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 36(3), 331-342.
Horak, S., & Yang, I. (2019). Whither seniority? Career progression and performance orientation in South Korea. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 30(9), 1419-1447.
Moon, MJ, Khaltar, O, Lee, J, Hwang, C, Yim, G. (2020). Public Entrepreneurship and organizational performance in Asia: Do entrepreneurial leadership, ethical climate and Confucian values matter in Korea and China. Aust J Publ Admin. 79: 330–350. https://doi-org.proxy3.library.mcgill.ca/10.1111/1467-8500.12426