Synopsis: Geu-rae is uneasy when Oh chooses a risky project at a team meeting. Young-yi is ordered to get approval for a project that Finance already rejected.
A deep and dark side of working in a Korean office has shown in Episode 7. A tough lesson has to be learned for all the interns in One International. Sometimes hard work is not enough. To make hard work become acknowledged and get along with higher levels are necessary in a workplace. In South Korean society, authority is traditionally concentrated at the higher levels in the hierarchy and authoritarian styles are generally accepted (Chen 2004). Limitations are set by the hierarchy of the company and how much power you have.
As a senior manager, when Sales Team 3 reports a risky project to him, Mr. Kim orders manager Mr. Oh to take his name off of the report. He tries to wipe his hands clean and doesn’t want to get in any trouble if the project fails. After Mr. Oh finds a new way to make the project more realistic, both Sales Team 2 and the executive director want to take Mr. Oh’s idea and grabs this project. Everyone realizes it is a good project and will get an outstanding achievement only after Sales Team 3 have made a huge effort on that. Not only the senior manager but also the executive director tries to take subordinates’ good work as their own. In the end, Mr. Oh and Dong-shik have to swallow their disappointment and sadness. According to Kim (2007, 23), compared with the Chinese and Japanese, Koreans are more likely to use a more compromising style in solving interpersonal conflict with their supervisors. Subordinates are less likely to contradict their superior in public.
This deep side of hierarchy in the workplace has been revealed in this episode. South Korea is a country with high power distance and hierarchy (Lee 2012, 184). People or groups are ranked one above the other according to status, authority and job titles. Just like when we talk about the Korean government, it has different levels—president, prime minister and minister for each kind of subjects. Hierarchy helps a system to manage well and classifies things according to relative importance. However, this rigid hierarchy in Korea leads to unfairness and a lot of bullying at all levels. Pressure and obstructs brought by the superiors make for a much more challenging and ineffective working environment.
In Episode 7, Young-yi is ordered to get approval for a project that the Finance Team already rejected. From the show, we can see that Young-yi’s manage often yells at her, throws the papers in her face and gives her assignments which he even doesn’t how to deal with. After Young-yi finishes her project, her manage gets annoyed because she actually pulled this off. It is irritating to see her team has some misogynists who fear that she might actually be competent. Even though they are in the same group, the managers won’t help her and even try to make her life tough. This working environment is depressing and ineffective which made by these “high levels” who behave arrogant and jealous facing a capable newbie. Managers are fighting for their own achievement and fighting for write which one’s name on her report to get the credit rather than working together to achieve the goal.
On the contrary, Mr. Oh acts so different with his rest coworkers. Mr. Oh tried to push a grade-B product rather than a safe grade-A one regardless of the risks. He believes B will bring in more profit even though the grade-A product is more stable. “A salary man has nothing besides paychecks and promotions.” Many of the Korean workers in the office would do anything to keep their jobs and be promoted. But that’s not the case for Mr. Oh. He approaches his salaryman life with passion, loyalty, and sincerity. These choices may give him a low achievement but he proceeds without hesitation. He thinks salesman as a romantic dream and put lots of care and effort into it. It is a wasted talent if upper-management doesn’t recognise its value and they even put more pressure on him. Viewers feel pathetic to see a company which is not with one heart.
One of the reasons why Korea attaches importance to hierarchy is due to their history. Confucianism influences South Korean society very much in many different ways, such as the status, social contacts, relationships with others, etc. (Lee 2012, 184). Korean management style is quite different from that in the United States or other many Western countries, which has lower power distance. This K-Type management consists of top down decision-making, paternalistic leadership, personal loyalty and high mobility of workers (Lee 2012, 184). The organization structure of companies are highly centralized and formalized with authority concentrated in senior levels. The power is distributed unequally and represents the inequality in Korean company (Lee 2014, 33).
Through reflection of this episode, we see the oppression from superiors under different stories. This tough Korean hierarchy culture is a unique and species lesson to teach youngsters to show the respect to people who older than them and who have higher level. This episode also makes us think whether it is a good idea to keep this company hierarchy. True respect and deference need to be earned through wise actions and admirable behaviour, not simply given based on a person’s age or position. A harmonious environment is needed for people to keep a good mood and do effective works.
Question:
Mr. Oh has kept his passion and loyalty to his job for many years. Is this passion unnecessary in such an infighting company?
What are some other reasons that Koreans think hierarchy in a company is so important? What are the differences between western companies and Korean companies in this aspect?
Photos are screenshots from the drama, no copyright infringement is intended.
Bibliography:
Chen, Min. Asian Management Systems: Chinese, Japanese and Korean Styles of Business. Cengage Learning EMEA, 2004.
Lee, Choong Y. “Korean culture and its influence on business practice in South Korea.” The Journal of International Management Studies 7, no. 2 (2012): 184-191.
Lee, Choong Y., and Jennifer Y. Lee. “South Korean corporate culture and its lessons for building corporate culture in China.” The Journal of International Management Studies 9, no. 2 (2014): 33-42.
Kim, Tae-Yeol, Chongwei Wang, Mari Kondo, and Tae-Hyun Kim. “Conflict Management Styles: The Differences among the Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans.” International Journal of Conflict Management 18, no. 1 (2007): 23-41.
1) If Mr. Oh is a rational person, then his passion is unnecessary. The reason is that his passion has costed him many opportunities to rise in the corporate ladder. The competition is high in the company and his passion has stopped him from advancing into higher positions where he can earn more money. This is irrational since he is not thinking for himself, rather, thinking for the company instead. This is not good as it does not benefit Mr. Oh in his career.
2) Koreans think of the hierarchy as important due to their Confucius roots. They are a society which thinks that elders should always be respected. Because of this, the hierarchy in the corporate world is crucial, as the higher rank or the seniors should be well respected. This is different from the western countries, where people value results more than their position. If a person is able to exceed the goals of the company in the western corporate, then they are respected. It does not matter whether they are seniors or elders. This difference is largely due to their ideology from their roots.
Hi Yutian,
I enjoyed reading your post on work hierarchy, which explains the many problems that companies face to do the right thing or the opposite.
To answer your questions:
1) I totally agree with Martin that Mr. Oh’s character (written for this drama) is structured in a way that represents what every other viewer or worker “wants” or “should” do, but comes at a price – his position to move up. The corporate world is a harsh place that does not always allow for justice to happen. At the end of the day, it is always about money. If his character was written the other way around, then we, as viewers wouldn’t have one voice representing us all and his passion would just be gone to dust. Viewers can see how there are problems with Mr. Oh’s unconventional approach to earning money and reputation for his company, if he keeps his passion alive and thinks only for himself – just like the rest of his coworkers.
2) While I do respect the idea of paying respect to elders, etc., that is culturally embedded from Korean Confucian values, shaping Korean’s consciousness, behaviour and attitudes based on one’s age and position. However, I find this cultural emphasis so difficult and troubling to work around with in the workplace, when the higher up’s are unfair or reluctant and stubborn to listen to the workers; compared to gaining respect – as Yutian puts it – through wise actions and admirable behaviour. Western companies and values may be more or less the same compared to Korean companies, to listen to your higher ups to proceed further action, but more so on the outcome and if you can get the job done well.
Good article, Yutian Xia! Episode 7 really was darker.
To answer your questions:
Question #3
I think Mr. Oh’s passion is what allows him to be such a great team leader. However, I think that too many people with the same passion as Mr. Oh would be an issue. As it may lead into bad sales due to taking risky ventures. Also his style upsets the hierarchy at his work which in both a good and bad way messes with the way work flows in the company. For instance, Mr. Oh will go against ideas of his boss in favour of going with his gut. But this isn’t always the right choice and can cause issues with other employees who see it as disrespectful. But it also means Mr. Oh is willing to stand up and let his boss know the truth instead of trying to suck up.
Question #2
a) Koreans like the hierarchy because the structure gives a sense of protection (job security) for those in high level positions. If they are getting old they can’t simply be fired or demoted for a younger recruit to take his place. He has seniority.
b) There is still a hierarchy in western companies like Korean companies. However it varies depending on what kind of job it is. For example, one company that is based off of app design will probably have investors and company presidents at the top like korean companies. But the people below will be not always the most senior employees. Instead they might focus on the skill set of an employee or maybe the ideas that employee produces. A more creative approach might give you a higher position. However there are still jobs similar to Korean companies that are based on seniority, only.
Hi Yutian, I really enjoyed reading your article. It brought up problems of status and hierarchy in Korea that is so depressing to live in, let alone hear about it. Because of the company’s lack of treatment to those that help the company greatly, Mr. Oh’s passion and loyalty to his job will not help him get promoted unless he puts his numbers up. However, he gains great respect from those that knows of his great dedication to One International. Therefore, his passion and loyalty does not go so much to waste in a sense. I believe you made a lot of valid reasons in which Koreans think hierarchy in a company is so important already. Maybe another one could just be the way companies naturally run in such a competitive society. The idea of having a title is much more important to people than it is in western society, since a title sadly determines one’s worth in South Korea. Western societies tend to have more freedom and are not defined by their job title.
Thanks YuTian for your post.
I think that passion for the job is what keeps you healthy and alert when working in the same environment for decades. With only competition and stress in the work place, with no hope and something to look forward to, one is simply wasting away with no meaning in life.
Koreans think hierarchy is very important, especially with age. One year age difference places you so much higher above younger folk, and you receive so many benefits like being spoken with honorific, being poured drinks, people bowing to you and being treated with respect, etc. Just the way people treat you and talk to you in Korean society is different than western societies, and prevent a truly ‘equal’ experience in the workplace. Yes people in Western societies treat their elderly differently, but a few years age gap is not a significant difference, and people of different age cohorts can even be friends and hang out casually with your boss and older coworkers, that is not common in Korea. The only exception to the age rule is higher standing in job status, or mutual formal speech. Koreans think respect to elders is very important, and that is the biggest difference between Koreans and Westerners.
Mr. Oh has kept his passion and loyalty to his job for many years. Is this passion unnecessary in such an infighting company?
I think passion is necessary as it would keep any individual motivated. It would give individuals meanings to the things that they do at their workplace. However, too much would be a problem.
What are some other reasons that Koreans think hierarchy in a company is so important? What are the differences between western companies and Korean companies in this aspect?
hierarchy probably is considered important since Korean society still has its Confucianism values rooted deeply within it. it also is considered as effective when making decisions as it would consume less time than other structure, horizontal structure for example.
However, it is important to note that age and position in company do not supersede everything. As less experienced worker is capable of providing valid opinions, one should not be ignored simply he/she is young and holds a low position.
Chen, Min. Asian Management Systems: Chinese, Japanese and Korean Styles of Business. Cengage Learning EMEA, 2004.
–> Can you also add the publishing city? (if can’t find one, then that’s ok)
I’ll come back again for feedback on your essay.