Whither seniority? Career progression and performance orientation in South Korea
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. DOI: 10.1080/09585192.2017.1362659
Link:
https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2017.1362659
Abstract
Framed by institutional theory, this study reassesses the influence of seniority
on human resource management (HRM) in South Korea today. We analyze first the
overall influence of seniority in business, second its significance for career
progression (i.e. promotion), and third its relation to individual performance
orientation. By conducting in-depth interviews among local and expatriate
managers, we find that the role of seniority is still pronounced.
Seniority-based promotion remains significant, and individual performance
evaluation systems, as are typically found in Western countries, hardly fit the
cultural environment and tend to be ineffective. By contributing to the extant
theories on institutional dynamics and the convergence–divergence–hybridization
debate alike, our results strengthen the culturalist approaches, holding that
informal institutions persist and do not disappear quickly. Further, rather than
moving towards global convergence, we see the Korean HRM system as being in a
state of hybridization caused by coercive isomorphism resulting from
experimentation with foreign best-practice systems. As a result, some HRM
practices are dysfunctional. We recommend that firms should reinterpret their
valuation of individual performance towards team achievements and pay more
attention to the optimal team composition.
Keywords
Seniority, South Korea, HRM systems, isomorphism, performance evaluation,
promotion