Florence Leou Tac Fong Lisa Potrawiak Japan and South Korea Florence Leou Tac Fong Lisa Potrawiak

Summary Introduction Contexts : Economic Political Cultural The main trends of labour market The Typical features Managment policies Organizational structure and behaviour The main policies and pratices of human resource managment Recruitment and selection Training and development Rewards and remuneration Employee relations Conclusion

Introduction Located in Western Asia Similar culture based on the Confucius spirit Economy based on the same industries, prosperous thanks to the quality of their human resources managment and the quality of their managment system. Differ in their economic growth (-5,3% for Japan and 0,3% for South Korea) and in their labour movements and labour organization. South Korea is more recent and had experienced an economic growth, whereas Japan has been a powerful country for a long time

Contexts Economics : Known as the largest and most technologically advanced producers and expoters of automobiles, computers, wireless telecommunications equipment Both are limited in raw materials During the WWII, Japan developped a strong manufacturing base but nowadays they tend to develop the services industry South Korea was an agricultural country but shifts into an industrialized nation The first investor in South Korea are the US (50%), followed by Japan (20%)

Political : Japan : a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary government, leads by the Prime Minister South Korea : democratic republican state leads by an elected president, since violent civilian protests in the 1990s. South Korean government plays a central part in employee relations and has a significant consequence on the policy and practice of managment Civilian protests : due to a succession of military leaders seized power

Culture : Influenced by Conciusanism : values of harmony, conformity, avoiding conflict, and maintaining long-term relationships Human relationships organized vertically : hierarchy of duties and responsabilities from the gorvernment down to the simple person Strong importance to the role of the group rather than that of the individual : powerful influence on employee relations, business operations and managment practices Vertically : way to talk to someone according to their age, status, gender, qualification, rank Role of the group : someone who works on his own is seen as an outcast

The main trends of labour market Strong, skilled, loyal and hardworking worforce especially in industry and services Work more than any other country (46 hours/week for Japan, more than 40 hours/weeks) Japan : loyal to their company rather than to owners or managers which is not the case in South Korea Decrease in employment in the agricultural sector Rise in the services sector Asian Cultures : despite of their loyalty, their are not alwaoys satisfied with their company because personal desires do not interfere with company loyalty

A low level of unemployment 2 roles in employment : men are the breadwinners and women are the home and family caretakers. Female employment : most of women are not employed or do not want to be employed because of their role in the family People live long and there are more and more elders so we can see an increase of the proportion of 55-year-working people. Moving from full-time employment to flexible employment

The typical features Managment policies : Quality Having clear mechanisms for consultation, communication and decison- makings (the ringi system) Paternalistic leadership style Relative job security

Organizational structure and behaviour : Almost all the companies are conglomerates which are generally transmitted from father to son. When they talk to eachother, they are really formal according to their rank, but they consider the team workers family.

Policies and pratices of HRM Recruitment and selection They hire generalists rather than specialists like friends, family through word of mouth (more common in South Korea) Most of the managers of the larges companies are members of one family or they come from the same region. They prefer non-experienced people because they are adaptable They also recruit through universities and colleges (examinations and interviews) They look for their personnality (sincerity, diligence and determination) but also through their educational background

Training and development : They trained the new employees to acquire the knowledge and skills to do the job They attend continuous trainings to learn the company values, history and culture, but also the rules (3-6 months for SK) And they do job rotations, so they can pratice under the supervision of more experienced and older employees They do not learn a specific job but company-specific skills, because they are expected to stay with one employ Many large organizations have their own training centres They see all the trainings as a quality improvment and a good investment rather than a cost Employees want to develop themselves, so they attend evening courses But now withe international trades, they tends to look for skilled employees rather than generalist

Rewards and remuneration : Japan : wages are determined at the oragnizational level as agreed between the managment and the company union South Korea : wages are determined at the national and organizational levels Minimum wage in Japan : varies accprding to industry and region Minimum wage in South Korea : national and is revised annually by taking into consideration the price index. But most of them do not work for minimum wage because the average hourly rate is higher tahn the minimum one. Rewards vary according to the size, industry an type of employment They have bonus due to their seniority and to the related performance (zero-sum, plus- sum) which is not completly applied because of the culturally anchored seniority-based pay The companies want to adopt the performance appraisal methods but managers do not want to give bad companies

Employee relations – Trade Unions Japan : constitutional right to organize trade unions, to bargain with managment for better pay and working conditions, and to go on strike when necessary South Korea : all employee relations are stated codes of practice and statutes. The Government uses those laws to control labour organization ans operations. Enterprise Unions : Majority of trade unions are enterprise-based Have a limited role ahd has little influence in descision-making

Collective negociation : Japan : Happens during the spring When agreements are reached, they last for three years Plays a small role in Japan South Korea : Widely practised Deal acceptable valid for 2 years

Strikes : Japan : South Korea : Very rare because of the costs, the culture, the long time the courts take to settle a dispute South Korea : Strikes are widespread But there are many conditions : ir has to be voted, the administraive authorities have to be informed, it has to improve workind condition or the income level, and they are not supposed to be violent

Conclusion Way of working very similar because of their culture Work as a group Seniority importance Gender inequality Commited to their companies or managers