ABSTRACT
The role of human resources (HR) and HR management (HRM) was important to management, business and the post-1960s ‘economic miracle’ in South Korea (‘Korea’ hereinafter). However, while HRM remains important, its practice and ‘face’ has undergone some change, moving from ‘seniorityism’ towards more ‘flexibility’ in its key practices. Indicative of this is the following story. In September 1998, after the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis and its Korean variant, ten young Korean HRM scholars gathered at the Korean Labor Institute (in Seoul) to discuss the future direction of Korean HRM in the twenty-first century. After analysing HRM using cases and surveys they concluded that traditional practices were inappropriate for the changing global environment. The mismatch was criticised and presented as one important reason that Korean firms were now so seemingly vulnerable. This point was very much consistent with the results of a survey of 107 HRM professionals, including HRM executives, consultants and private researchers in Korea (Korea Labor Institute, 2000). These HR opinion leaders described the traditional Korean HRM system as ‘paternalistic’, ‘seniority-based’, ‘authoritarian’ and ‘functional-oriented’.
