Rea: Finnish Employees’ Perspective and Thematic Analysis

Cultural and communicational challenges when working in South Ko- rea: Finnish employees’ perspective and thematic analysis

Marla Ylikortes

Bachelor’s Thesis Degree Programme in Interna- tional Sales and Marketing

Abstract

31.12.2020

Author(s) Marla Ylikortes Degree programme International sales and marketing Report/thesis title Number of pages Cultural and communicational challenges when working in South and appendix pages Korea: Finnish employees’ perspective and thematic analysis 56 + 2

This research paper aims to identify, explain, and analyse the aspects of South Korean culture which have an impact on cross-cultural communication with Finnish employees in the South Korean work environment. It investigates parts of the national culture which may influence communication. The theoretical framework is a combination of Hofstede’s cultural dimensions theory and Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner’s framework for understanding cultural differences in business and management. The data analysis is done through six dimensions picked from the theories and reflected in the context of South Korean culture. The data was gathered from 10 Finnish employees with experience of working with South Koreans in South Korea. The data was gathered as semi-structured interviews conducted in face-to-face meetings, through phone or by email. The aim was to acquire experiences and opinions about the challenges and differences employees have faced when working with South Koreans. The interviews were conducted during spring, summer and autumn 2020 in Seoul, South Korea. The results suggest that there are clear factors influencing the communication that can be traced to the national culture of South Korea. Cultural dimensions like high for power distance index, strong collectivism, and diffuse way of perceiving social relationships shape the way of communication between South Korean and Finnish employees. Almost all Finnish employees had adapted to the present organizational culture and followed the social norms and rules in some ways. Korean language played an important part in the communication and the use of it in work environment required careful consideration of the words and ways of saying things. It seemed to have a distinctive impact on how strongly the norms and expectations of the culture were followed. The research revealed important aspects that explained the challenges in cross-cultural communication. Cross-cultural communication with South Koreans and Finnish employees is highly complex and would require further studies to investigate the multiple different factors and their impact on communication and organizational culture in general. Keywords South Korea, culture, communication, Finland

Table of contents

1 Introduction ...... 1 1.1 Aim and objectives ...... 1 1.2 Purpose and motivation ...... 2 2 Theoretical framework ...... 3 2.1 Hofstede ...... 4 2.2 Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner ...... 6 2.3 Comparison of the two theories ...... 9 2.4 Criticism ...... 9 3 South Korea’s national culture ...... 10 3.1 South Korea ...... 10 3.2 History and economic growth ...... 11 3.3 Religions ...... 12 3.4 Korean language ...... 14 3.5 Contemporary work culture...... 16 4 Dimensions and Korean culture ...... 17 4.1 Hofstede’s cultural dimensions and Korean culture ...... 17 4.1.1 Power distance ...... 18 4.1.2 Individualism versus collectivism ...... 19 4.1.3 Long term orientation...... 20 4.2 Hofstede and Finland ...... 21 4.3 Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner’s dimension and Korean culture ...... 21 4.3.1 Universalism versus particularism ...... 22 4.3.2 Specific versus diffuse ...... 23 4.3.3 Sequential time versus synchronous time ...... 25 4.4 Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner and Finland ...... 25 5 Methodology ...... 26 5.1 Interview as research method ...... 26 5.1.1 Interviewees ...... 27 5.1.2 Interview questions ...... 27 5.2 Sample ...... 28 5.3 Analytical approach; thematic analysis ...... 29 5.4 Limitations ...... 31 6 Results ...... 32 6.1 Power distance ...... 32 6.2 Individualism versus collectivism ...... 33

6.3 Time orientation: long-term versus short-term and synchronous versus sequential time...... 35 6.4 Universalism versus particularism ...... 36 6.5 Specific versus diffuse ...... 37 6.6 Language and communication ...... 38 6.7 Notes and new findings ...... 40 7 Conclusion ...... 42 7.1 Discussion ...... 43 7.2 Reflection on own learning ...... 44 References ...... 47 Table of figures ...... 52 Appendices ...... 53 Appendix 1. The interview in Finnish ...... 53

1 Introduction

Globalization has led to growth of multinational corporations and workforce as well as increased job-based immigration. Diverse and multinational teams can increase creativity and offer versatile perspectives and approaches. However, with internationalization comes the collision of individuals from different cultures and customs. Meeting of cultures can produce many positive aspects and growth but also misunderstandings and complexity. Ever since birth, we all are impacted by the surrounding culture. Sometimes our values and judgements about certain things are the opposite of someone from a different national culture. Therefore, it is vital to expand knowledge and practice understanding of cultures around the world. Our individual values and ethics are impacted by our surroundings more than we can comprehend.

1.1 Aim and objectives

The aim of this research is to describe and analyse the organizational culture of South Ko- rea from Finnish employees’ perspective. The organizational culture is influenced by the national culture (Hofstede, Hofstede & Minkov 2010). Therefore, relevant aspects of the Korean culture will be introduced to help the process of achieving an understanding of the different factors influencing the way people act and communicate. To understand the differences and face the challenges, it is crucial to acknowledge the immense influence of the Korean history and language on the contemporary life and work culture.

Differences in organizational cultures has been studied by Geert Hofstede, who investigated employees’ values within different national cultures, and Fons Trompenaars and Charles Hampden-Turner who studied the theoretical behaviour of employees, which also reflects their values. Their extensive research, which lasted for years and was expanded to multiple countries. They interviewed, conducted surveys, and observed employees from various national cultures. Also, Richard Nisbett, who wrote the book “Geography of thoughts: How Asians and Westerners think differently… and Why” (2003), studied how national cultures in Asia differ from western cultures in the ways of thinking, communicating, and the understanding of life in general. Cultural differences have an impact on intercultural communication, and the understanding of its importance is essential for anyone working in an international organization and with multinational workforce.

The objectives of the thesis are to identify, describe and analyse the most common challenges Finnish employees experience in communication with their South Korean co-work-

1 ers. Based on the cultural theories and secondary data, challenges in intercultural communication are connected to differences in national cultures, therefore the study begins with an introduction to theories and a description of Korea’s national culture. The research question was:

How does Korean culture impact cross-cultural communication between Korean and Finn- ish employees?

Presumably, the readers of this research are familiar with Finnish culture and customs therefore the emphasis has been on describing and analysing Korean culture without too much consideration to its equivalent aspects in Finnish culture. The data and conclusion can be applied to other types of context since it handles the organizational culture and communication partly though national culture analysis. However, because of the limited number of interviews conducted, this study cannot draw specific conclusions, but it offers interesting issues and assumptions based on the data collected, the description of observations, and the literature review.

1.2 Purpose and motivation

The motivation for the research came from the author’s own experience of cultural differences between South Korea and Finland. Living in South Korea as a Finn for few years and studying the culture through people, language, media, literature, and observations, raised the author’s curiosity about how big of a role national culture plays in daily interac- tions. While in Finland, it was challenging to explain the differences and it seemed to require a lot of background information for people to understand the unique aspects of the Korean culture. Also, the author felt her knowledge of the influencing factors was lacking. The idea for this research was formed out of the desire to expand the knowledge, conduct own research to answer questions and motivation to spread information about a subject important to the author.

This thesis was commissioned by Quuppa, a Finnish technology company, which is considering expanding to new Asian markets and establishing offices there. This study’s aim was also to provide valuable information for Finnish companies interested in South Korea as a possible new market. Sharing the experiences of Finnish employees in local work environment and introducing Korean culture could provide useful information when establishing connections and cooperation with local partners and workforce. Through the description and analysis, the research can help to avoid common misunderstandings based on cultural differences, establish efficient communication, and overall offer a better understanding of the Korean culture.

2 Theoretical framework

Culture, be it national, group, or organizational, is at the core of human behaviour. It forms the so-called infrastructure for the way people behave and offers guidelines for the understanding of behaviour. National culture encompasses different value systems that generate from conceptions. Cultures have different standards for behaviour, traditions, and communication. Culture is also the way in which a group of people solves problems and reconciles dilemmas (Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner 1998, 6). Each culture has a certain amount of common cultural and social understanding, shared values and views and so-called, feeling rules that determine behaviour with regard to which emotions can be overtly expressed and which cannot (Setälä 2014, 40). The core of culture is formed by shared values and national cultures differ based on the value hierarchy (Hofstede 1980). The human consciousness is quite sensitive to the personal and cultural norms about to which emotions are most suited to which circumstances (Wilson 2002).

Two American sociologist in the 60’s tried to identify what problems were common to all societies. They suggested that the following issues qualify as common basic problems worldwide with consequences for the functioning of societies, of groups within those societies and of individuals within those groups:

• Relation to authority • Conception of self-in particular: - The relationship between individual and society - The individual’s concept of masculinity and femininity • Ways of dealing with conflicts, including the control of aggression and the expression of feelings (Hofstede, Hofstede & Minkov 2010, 29).

Hofstede’s cultural dimensions theory and Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner’s cultural dimensions model encompasses organizational culture and values, which can be seen as reflecting the national cultures. Both Hofstede’s and Trompenaars and Hampden-Turners theories are based on studies conducted in work environment.

2.1 Hofstede

Geert Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions are based on comprehensive research about how values in the workplace are influenced by national culture. Hofstede studied employees of an American multinational corporation in over 50 countries. The first study was conducted between 1967 and 1973. The study revealed that common problems with different solu- tions depended on the country. Hofstede found that the following areas were most de- pendable on the employee’s national culture:

• Social inequality, including the relationship with authority • The relationship between the individual and the group • Concepts of masculinity and femininity: the social and emotional implications of having been born as a boy or a girl • Ways of dealing with uncertainty and ambiguity, related to the control of aggression and the expression of emotions (Hofstede, Hofstede & Minkov 2010, 30)

Based on these findings, Hofstede categorized them as dimensions, aspects of culture that can be measured relative to other cultures. The dimensions occur in combination, regardless of whether there seems to be a logical necessity for their going together. The logic of societies is not the same as the logic of individuals inside the societies. Some aspects in some societies may go against a general trend found across most societies (Hof- stede, Hofstede & Minkov 2010, 31). Hofstede discusses culture as the collective pro- gramming of the mind (Hofstede Insights 2020).

In his most recent book about the subject, “Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind” (2010), written with his son, Gert Jan Hofstede, and Michael Minkov, cultural dimensions are categorized as follows:

• Power distance • Uncertainty Avoidance • Individualism vs. collectivism • Masculinity vs. femininity • Long-term orientation vs. short-term orientation • Indulgence vs. restraint

Power distance is related to what extend people are willing to except power inequality. Countries with high power distance, are socially hierarchical and the power is vertically positioned.

Uncertainty avoidance shows the tolerance people have in the face of the unknown future. If uncertainty is not tolerated, the society has more rules and regulations for the people.

Individualism versus collectivism measures how much importance people put on their individualism over a group or collective entity. This dimension is usually used when dis- cussing the differences between Eastern and Western cultures (Kim & Kim 2010).

Masculinity versus femininity refers to the role of gender in a society (Kim & Kim 2010). Feminine cultures are regarded as more concerned with emotions, quality of life and being modest. Masculine cultures are seen as assertive and value material success. Social democratic Nordic countries are examples of feminine countries and Japan and Germany as having more masculine cultures.

Long-term versus short-term orientation is related to how a society value the past, present and future in decision making. Short-term orientated put more emphasis on past and present, long-term oriented are more concerned with future. The dimension was also given the name Confucian dynamism, since it was found while surveying Chinese employees’ values (Kim & Kim 2010).

Being one of the most well-known theories about cultural differences, the dimensions theory has been applied to countless studies about the cultural differences in work related environment. One study used the dimensions to explain the success of “chaebol” management culture in South Korean firms, and how it affected the increased foreign workforce turnover in big companies like Samsung. The differences in the leadership and management style of chaebol culture versus the western, where flat leadership is often practiced, was analysed through the Hofstede’s cultural values and four Trompenaars dimensions (Kim 2013). Sallamaari Janhunen conducted in 2015 a study where South Korea’s corporate culture was compared to Finnish corporate culture by sing the Hofstede dimensions. This study examined the trust building processes of both cultures and how they dif- ferentiate in the context of B2B process.

Hofstede’s cultural dimensions theory is well suited for a qualitative study since it provides easily distinguishable aspects of national cultures that are visible in organizations. The dimensions are already measured, and the country specific scores are available on Hof- stede Insights webpage (https://www.hofstede-insights.com/country-comparison/). Alt- hough the dimensions overlap and there are, without doubt, exceptions, it offers a well- functioning theoretical framework for qualitative study about cultural differences within organizations.

In this study, the dimensions of power distance index, individualism versus collectivism and long-term orientation versus short orientation were chosen to be used in the data analysis. The reasons for using these specific dimensions will be explained in chapter 4 ‘Cultural aspects and Theory’.

2.2 Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner

Fons Trompenaars and Charles Hampden-Turner have created a framework for cross-cultural communication in business and management based on broad managerial surveys in more than 40 countries. Their first results were published 1997 in their book “Riding the Waves of Culture: Understanding Diversity in Global Business”. The research was conducted with questions about how employees dealt with different dilemmas in business set- tings and during free time. The theory is usually referred as Trompenaars cultural dimensions. The first five dimensions are about human relationships, one deals with the issue of time and the last one is concerned about the possibility to use the environment for own purposes.

• Universalism versus Particularism • Individualism versus Communitarianism • Neutral versus Emotional • Specific versus Diffuse • Achievement versus Ascription • Sequential versus Synchronous time • Internal direction versus External direction

Universalism versus particularism dimension is how people put importance on universal rules versus circumstances and relationships as situational factors. In universalism cultures, it is believed that there is clear distinction between right and wrong. Same rules apply to everyone regardless of their origin, status, or personal connections. Particular

6 cultures’ personal relationships and obligations have more impact on decisions and circumstances determine what is ethical.

Individualism versus communitarianism is the perception of how people view themselves as part of groups. Individualism sees humans as their own entities, relatively loose from groups. Communitarianism sees them as part of actors inside groups. Individualism is frequently linked to western cultures and communitarianism is common in many Asian cultures.

Neutral versus emotional is to what degree feelings and emotions are expressed. In cultures regarded as neutral, emotions are controlled and suppressed. This means that emotions should not be expressed openly in public, for example, laughing loudly. In emotional, affective, cultures it is socially acceptable to talk loudly and show enthusiasm as well as express distress. Japan is an example of a neutral culture whereas Spain of an emotional culture.

Specific versus diffuse is how people understand the division between private or public in addition to what extent they involve themselves in these areas. Individuals share a large public space shared with others in specific cultures, but there is also a small private space shared only with close associates. They make a clear distinction between work and personal life. They also believe that business can be conducted without having good relationships (Mindtools 2020). Diffuse cultures do not make a distinction between their public and private lives, but they overlap each other. Good relationships are vital while conducting business. While doing business with people from diffuse cultures, there should be a great emphasis on first building a solid and harmonious relationship before concentrating on business objectives (Mindtools 2020). They also value formality.

Achievement versus ascription dimension is about how people evaluate performance over personality characteristics. Cultures concerned with achievements determine a person’s worth based on their performance in given tasks. Rewards and recognition are given according to the person’s actions and achievements which are separate from personality and status. Colleagues are respected based on their knowledge and previous achievements. Ascription-oriented cultures are more concerned on who the person is and what is his or her position in the given context. Importance is put on their age, gender, title and place in hierarchy system. The roles dictate how one should act. Reliance and obedience towards authority is strong.

Sequential versus synchronous time is about how do people perceive time as things happen in a chronological order or past, present, and future as overlapping periods. Se- quential time orientation values punctuality, efficient planning and sticking to the schedule (Mindtools 2020). “Time is money” is a good descriptive statement of a sequential time- oriented culture. In synchronous time orientation events and time periods are seeing overlapping and time is regarded more abstract. There might be several projects people are working on at the same time. Distribution of time and commitments is flexible but may result in uncompleted tasks due to multitasking.

Internal direction versus outer direction is about how the people experience their environment. Outer-directed cultures perceive the environment as something we are not able to control and it is common to think in these cultures that we should live in harmony with the nature. Instead of trying to change the environment, one should adapt to external circumstances. At work conflicts are dealt with quietly and subtly, people require positive re- inforcement through feedback and encouragement. Harmony is maintained even at high cost. Outer direction orientation is common in East Asian cultures. In internal-directed cultures people believe they have dominance over the environment and have the power to change it through their own actions. Constructive conflicts and open discussion are al- lowed in internal-directed organizations and developing individual skills and learning is encouraged.

This cultural framework was utilized by Dastmalchian, Lee and Ng (2000) in their analysis of management differences between South Korean and Canadian companies. The dimensions were used as a framework to examine the interaction between national and corporate culture (Dastmalchian, Lee & Ng 2000). Also, four of the dimensions were used in a study examining the “chaebol” management culture in South Korean companies and its impact on foreign workforce turnover (Kim 2013).

Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner created the model to show how to manage complexity in a heterogeneous environment and provide tools for managers and leaders working in international environments. They wanted to show how reconciling cultural differences can lead to competitive advantage (UKEssays 2018). Like Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner’s framework for understanding cultural differences is suitable for this kind of qualitative study where you describe, analyse, and draw conclusion from.

From Trompenaars and Hamden-Turner’s model, the dimensions universalism versus particularism, specific versus diffuse and sequential versus synchronous time were used

8 in data analysis. As with Hofstede’s dimensions, the reasons for choosing these specific dimensions will be explained in chapter 4.

2.3 Comparison of the two theories

The aim of Hofstede’s research was to evaluate the work values present in the individuals and how it affects their behaviour. Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner in the other hand surveyed the preferred behaviour of employees in different situation, both at work and during leisure time. Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner’s theory studied the framework of behaviour and relationships and showed how choice and manner impacted the actions (UKEssays 2018).

Some of the dimensions in both theories measure and analyse similar aspects of corporate culture. Hofstede’s individualism versus collectivism is comparable with Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner’s individualism versus communitarianism. There are similarities in Hofstede’s power distance and Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner’s achievement versus ascription. Both measure the tolerance for large power distance and for hierarchy. How- ever, Hofstede’s dimension is more concerned of deeper impact of the power distance tolerance in social interaction in general. Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner examine the effective management style in achievement or ascription-oriented cultures and the impact of status in relationships. Long-term versus short term orientation of Hofstede share similarities with Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner’s sequential versus synchronous time. Short-term oriented cultures tend to have a sequential time perception. In these kinds of cultures, time is perceived to pass in intervals and the present moment is heavily impacted by the past and has only limited control over the future. Long-term oriented, synchronous time cultures view the time periods as interconnected. Changes are viewed as something unavoidable and therefore flexibility and ability to adapt is the key to preserva- tion and flourishing in the future.

2.4 Criticism

Hofstede’s cultural dimension theory has been widely criticized for being too narrow and insufficient to present the national cultural values. The data was collected among only one multinational corporations’ employees. However, it is argued that although the model cannot state the absolute, it explains relative measures of value in cultures (Kim & Kim 2010). Also, it is criticized that Hofstede’s perception of culture as a static characteristic of societies and their representatives can eventually be outdated and does not take into consider-

9 ation the cultural drift which is observed as time passes (UKEssays 2018). The first research and the generated data from it, published in the 70s, has been updated but could possibly still be flawed and vague due to the globalization and changes in cultures. Same implies to Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner. Findings which are reasonable and precise description about the cultures at the moment may become obsolesced after few years (UKEssays 2018). Both of the theories should be interpreted with consideration of varia- tions between individuals, and different meaning and cultural characteristics can exist within one culture simultaneously (Kim & Kim 2010).

3 South Korea’s national culture

The cultural aspects of South Korea which may have an impact on intercultural communication with Koreans, will be introduced in this chapter. In the process of helping to understand the culture, a brief history of Korea, the religious background, the structure of the language and the contemporary work culture are presented. There might be other aspects that have influence on the cross-cultural communication, but the following aspects have played a major role in shaping the state and the culture to its current standing.

3.1 South Korea

South Korea is located in Eastern Asia and covers the southern part of the Korean peninsula. It shares a land border with North Korea. Japan is located on the east side, across the East sea and China on the west side, across the Yellow sea (CIA 2020). South Korea has a population of little over 51 million (World Bank 2020) and it is one of the most densely populated countries in the world. The nation’s terrain is mostly mountainous and less than half of it is inhabitable. The capital Seoul, located on the northern part of the country, has over 10 million inhabitants. In the city’s metropolitan area live 25 million people, half of the whole population (CIA 2020). Other big cities are Busan, Daegu, and In- cheon, where the country’s busiest international airport is. South Korea is a presidential representative democratic republic. In 2019, the gross domestic product (GDP) was 2,32 trillion international dollars (Statista 2020). The currency is the Korean won. Today South Korea is globally known for its music industry, K-pop, technology and automotive industry giants Samsung, LG, Hyundai, and Kia. In the past years, also the cosmetics industry has grown enormously and become more internationalized (International Trade Administration 2020).

3.2 History and economic growth

The history of Korea began thousands of years ago but it was poorly recorded before the rise of Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) (Cumings 2005, 47). The peninsula has been ruled by many different kingdoms during the years and was heavily influenced by the dynasties of China, more or less willingly. The last kingdom of Korea ended in 1910 when Korea was occupied by Japanese armed forces. During the time of occupation, it was prohibited to speak Korean at school and in universities, many Koreans were forced to manual labour, even sent to Japan to work, and were forced to show loyalty to the Japanese em- peror (Blakemore 2020). During recent years, the dark history of “comfort women”, Korean and other South East Asian women forced to work as prostitutes in military brothels for Japanese soldiers, has been brought to discussion (Kumagai 2020). The colonization ended in 1945 when the World War II ended in the defeat of Japan.

After the end of World War II, Korea was divided into two political entities in 1948, North Korea and South Korea. The separation was orchestrated by the Soviet Union and US, creating the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in the north, led by the former communist guerrilla Kim Il Sung, and democratic south, led by strongly anti-communist Syngman Rhee (Pruitt 2019). Only a few years after, the Korean war (1950-53) began when North Korea, supported by the Soviet Union, attacked the south. The United Nations and the United States supported South Korea in the war and assisted with military forces. The war ended in an armistice between the Koreas which has been kept until this day. Be- tween the two Korea’s lays now the most tightly patrolled boarder, demilitarized zone (DMZ) (Choe 2019). The tension and problems have also remained through the years. There are continuous threats and disputes between North Korea and other countries in addition to South Korea which raises concern all over the world. The presence of a hostile power near has strengthened the nationalism in South Korea (Jung, K. 15.12.2020). Also, due to the history of foreign power ruling and occupying, Koreans have developed a proud and strong sense of national identity (Kim 2013).

The separation and war have shaped the perception Koreans have of themselves and about foreign powers. Before the Korean war, all the way from Joseon Dynasty, China was considered an ideal role model. Old generations of Koreans admired the rich and deep history of China and imported and copied aspects of their culture and political system. However, since the US supported South Korea a lot during and after the Korean war, South Koreans considered US as someone who protected them from socialism and poverty. The younger generation has not been impacted as much as the people who lived or were born during the 50’s and 60’s. They do not have as strong emotional attachment and

11 opinions about North Korea, but South Koreans, young and old, have looked up to US in many ways (Jung, K. 15.12.2020).

South Korea suffered greatly because of the war and was in poverty during the years that followed the war. The war had destroyed most of the big cities and there was shortage of necessities. In the 60’s its GDP per capita was comparable with the poorest countries in the world (CIA 2020). With the assistance of the United Nations and the United States, the country slowly started rebuilding itself again. The government under the president Chung- hee Park, started a strong promotion to import raw materials and technology, encouraged saving and investment instead of consumption, wages were kept low and sources were directed to export-oriented industries. The procedures were successful as the economy started to grow fast and gradually moderated in the 90’s, reaching the rank of advanced economies of the OECD by 1997 (CIA 2020). Thanks to the government controlled, but privately executed industrialization leading to rapid economic growth (Vesterinen, Janhunen & Huotari 2000, 217) there also emerged family-managed chaebol conglomer- ates such as Hyundai and Samsung. They flourished under these policies and still play a vital role in the economy of South Korea today (CIA 2020). The enormous growth in economy is referred the Miracle of the Han river (huge river flowing through the capital Seoul).

3.3 Religions

According to the 2015 statistics, only 44% of Korean have a religion, majority are Chris- tians, followed by Buddhism (Korea.net 2020). Confucianism and Buddhism have influenced Korean over centuries, Christianity only for a short while. Although over half of South Koreans do not have an official religion, rituals, practices and beliefs from all of the above and few other religions, are still widely practiced and present in contemporary life of Koreans (Vesterinen, Janhunen & Huotari 2000, 45). There are hundreds of Buddhist tem- ples and sanctuaries located all around the country and in the cities, it is hard not to see Christian churches located in every neighbourhood.

Korea and Japan have been heavily influenced by the Chinese philosophies, Buddhism and Confucianism. Harmony, holism and everything being interconnected and influencing others is deeply rooted in the cultures (Nisbett 2003). Out of the three East Asian countries, only China can be regarded as a culturally independent entity (Vesterinen, Janhunen & Huotari 2000, 253). Confucianism originated from China and spread throughout the whole East Asia and has been rooted in the culture of Japan and South Korea. Also, Bud- dhism was brought to South Korea by monks who had learned about it in China. Both

Confucianism and Buddhism were integrated into the Korean political system and rooted into the whole culture.

Confucianism had a strong influence on the development of state and society in Korea. Confucianism was adopted fast after it was introduced since as a state ideology, it served the ruler and nobility; emphasis on filial piety, respect for the ruler, social ethics and moral philosophy. Confucianism expects moral, manners, and examples of them portrayed by the authorities. Most important moral rules are humaneness, respect for parents, loyalty and sense of duty. Confucianism bloomed especially during the Joseon period (1392- 1897). Although Confucianism is not an official ideology anymore, the principles are still followed in Korean personal life and in society in general. (Läänemets 2014). Status is de- termined by age, gender, family background, education, wealth, occupation, and political ideology (Lee 2012). Social contacts and background determine how people are treated in the hierarchy and dictate possibilities and success in life. There is a strong emphasis on group ties, and individuals are expected to take into consideration the interests of the group or community they belong to (Lee 2012). Overall, there is a huge importance in preserving the harmony and living harmoniously in different “families” with others.

Buddhism was adopted as the state religion around 600 CE for the same reasons as Con- fucianism as the state ideology. Buddhism was beneficial for the ruling class since there was a single object of worship, Buddha, and therefore supported the respect and obedience of one single ruler as the object of authority (Asia Society 2020).

Christianity came to Korea through missionaries in the 1600 but started to spread widely later in 1800 and 1900. During and after the Korean war, the number of Catholic organizations and groups increased (Asia Society 2020). It could be assumed that the Western troops who assisted South and admiration towards the US, resulting to the increased number of Koreans turning into Christianity. In the modern day 40% of Koreans are Chris- tians. After US, Korea sends most missionaries in the world. (Läänemets 2014).

Due to the religious history of Korea, and the fact that Christianity has been present for only a short time, it lacks an axiom, which is present in some Western cultures with long roots in Christianity. Eastern logic does not exclude other beliefs and seek an ultimate truth, but rather virtue. It allows a pragmatic integration of morals and practices. Koreans see no problem in adopting elements from different religions and practicing them at the same time (Hofstede, Hofstede & Minkov 2010, 233). The introduction of Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism, did not wipe out the traditional practice of shamanism. All the religions and ideologies assimilated and have been coexisting peacefully (Asia Society

2020). In countries with a philosophical background in virtue concerned religions and practices (Korea, Japan and China), a practical nonreligious ethical system like Confu- cianism can become a cornerstone of society. In the west however, where the religion is more concerned on the one absolute truth, ethical rules rend to be derived from religion (Hofstede, Hofstede & Minkov 2010, 249).

Although South Korea has been heavily influenced by the western culture through US and other western countries after the Korean war, even more than China and Japan, it remains eastern in a cognitive sense (Nisbett 2013, 224). Countries preserve individualist and collective values from their history. Although equal levels of per capita income, East Asian societies such as Japan and Korea do conserve distinctive collectivist elements in their family, school, and work sphere (Hofstede, Hofstede & Minkov 2010, 134). The Con- fucius’s disciplines adaptiveness and respect for tradition (Hofstede, Hofstede & Minkov 2010, 244), could explain why and how East Asian societies have been able to maintain their collective culture but also accept and harness the Western technological innovations. Japan is famous for succeeding in taking in foreign inventions while maintaining their unique management and national culture (Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner 2012, 229).

3.4 Korean language

Language reflects the everyday reality and offers a perspective in which to view things (Setälä 2014, 24). Language has a strong impact on the thinking processes. Also, languages are so different that they form worldviews that are very distinctive from each other (Raatikainen 2004). Language influences thoughts when the language is associated with a system of representation. Even cognitive processes can be modified by living for a time in another culture (Nisbett 2003, 89). There are three interdependent functions of language that are essential for interpretation of meaning: ideational (content), textual (how something is said) and interpersonal (role of the speaker and listener) (Halliday 1973, 13). In Korean language, every interdependent factor affects the sentence building. If any factor changes, the whole sentence must change. In Korean language even some substan- tives have different synonyms based on honorifics depending on who is the subject of the sentence, and in what kind of situation it is said. It is easy for non-natives to experience hardship in jumping into conversations since contextual clues are often used to convey information and things are said indirectly (Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner 2012, 125). This is common for cultures which are more diffuse than specific in their communication and interaction processes.

Korean is a highly contextual language (Nisbett 2003, 57). Although the written form may not be the same, the pronunciation of some words is so similar that you must know the context before understanding the meaning and function of the word in the sentence. The language has seven different speech levels. Most often levels informal, standard, and formal are used in daily communication. The endings of the verbs demonstrate the formality of a situation. The informal level is used between friends, typically between people the same age. Although you consider yourself a close friend of someone who is older than you, most Koreans use the standard level to be polite. When speaking to someone considerably older or who is positioned higher in hierarchy, or some types of formal situation, you use the formal level.

Korean honorifics are used to show the respect between the speaker and the listener. They communicate relative positions in a hierarchy, typically to show respect and demonstrate the social hierarchy (90 Days Korean). In addition to levels of speech in verbs, honorifics can be also special words (nouns, pronouns). Korean often want to know quickly how old you are and a possible position to examine how they should address you. Based on the information, they position you in the hierarchy and choose which speech level to use. Always when meeting someone new, honorifics and polite (standard) level of speech is used. On the contrary, lack of honorifics and informal speech indicate how close you are with someone, but in another situations, you may come off as rude.

The social hierarchy is deeply rooted in the Korean language and culture, Languages spo- ken in individualistic cultures tend to require the use of pronoun “I” more than in the ones that score low in the individualism dimension. Countries and cultures which are more collective, often have languages that allows or prescribes dropping the pronoun. In Korea, claims that describe the actions done by the speaker, do not require the pronoun. Also, when the speaker is talking about something of theirs or related to them, for example their mother, Koreans often say “Our mother” not “my mother”. The word “uri” in Korean is translated to “us” but is often used instead “my” or “I”. This could be seen as an aspect of the collectivism and particularism of Korean culture. Referring to oneself as part of a group although there is no clear in-group identified from the sentence. Some of the key differences between individualistic and collective societies are that children learn to think in terms of “we” in collective societies compared to learning to think “I” in individualistic ones (Hofstede, Hofstede & Minkov 2010).

3.5 Contemporary work culture

The contemporary work culture of South Korea is characterized by collective dynamism, in-group harmony (inwha), progressiveness, and hierarchical principals (Kim & Bae 2017). The progressiveness is the result of rapid advancement (referred as pallipalli in Korean meaning hurry hurry), competition between out-groups and common practice of sacrificing one’s personal and family life to stay efficient. The South Korean work culture is infamous for its long work hours. The in-group harmony generates internal cohesiveness, loyalty and commitment to the organization and authority, involves personal sacrifices for the inner circle and collective goals. The harmony does not expand beyond the group bounda- ries (Kim & Bae 2017). Also, in-group members have more advantages than outsiders (Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner 2004, 89).

The management culture is a hierarchical, family oriented and more personal than task oriented; it is more important who you are than what you do (Trompenaars & Hampden- Turner 2004, 88). The fast development of economy can be seen partly as the result of Korea’s unique conglomerate management. The conglomerate, referred to as chaebol in Korean, culture consists of unique structure of ownership of the companies, family-orientation, top-down decision making, personal loyalty, and seniority-based compensation and merit ranking (Lee 2012). The paternalistic management style is shaped by Confucian ethics, paternalistic leadership, and centralized control (Kim 2013).

In many places in the world, corruption is linked to an unstable state and is generally growth-reducing. However, in East Asia, it has proven actually to be growth-enhancing (Rock 2017). With the collusion of the powerful business class and the coherent state, there can be collective benefits for each group included (Kang 2002). South Korea has been generally successful in controlling corruption, but there remains a problem with the legacy of authoritarian rule and the undermining of state autonomy through the concentra- tion of economic power (Kalinowski 2016). One of the side effects of the causality running from corruption to economic growth (Huang 2016) is the rise and rule of the chaebol con- glomerates. The history of illegitimate ties between businesses and government runs deep (Rock 2017).

After the instate of democracy, on several occasion presidents of South Korea have been tangled in corruption scandals. One of the latest and biggest incidents was when former president Park Geun-Hye was exposed to a problematic friendship with Choi Soon-sil, the daughter of a religious cult leader. There were allegations about cult activities, bribes, influence-peddling and leaking of classified information. Also, several huge conglomerate

16 companies were investigated for giving donations to a non-profit foundation managed by Choi. Samsung was one of these companies and the disclosure resulted in imprisonment of company’s de facto head (BBC 2018).

In the particularism versus universalism dimension, a study was presented where more particularistic culture representatives would help their friend more when the seriousness of the accident they caused, increased. Agreements that result in benefits for all the parties included, could be speculated to be one of the cultural aspects of the corruption in South Korea. Universalists, who put emphasis on clear distinction between right and wrong and truth, would see this situation and particularistic actions in it, as a form of corruption (Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner 2012). Another study, conducted through question- naires among Chinese businessmen in China and overseas Chinese, living or working in Australia, revealed that even after being exposed to the western culture, Confucian dynamism was the main cultural value to foster self-enhancement and most work value (Jaw, Ling, Wang & Chang 2007). Although the influence of westernisation on organizational culture has increased over the last decades enormously, East Asian countries and their people, have retained their deep roots in old traditions, customs, and beliefs. South Korea is one of the most internationalized Asian countries, but old traditional culture and its practices impact the process of doing business even today (Lee 2012).

4 Dimensions and Korean culture

In the previous chapter, relevant parts of the Korean culture for the study were introduced in a general manner to explicate how they may have influenced the formation of the contemporary culture of South Korea. In this chapter, the dimensions chosen for the analysis from Hofstede’s cultural theory and Trompenaars and Hampdens-Turner’s cultural framework will be introduced in detail and described in their occurrence in the context of Korean culture.

4.1 Hofstede’s cultural dimensions and Korean culture

Hofstede (1980) separates the national culture from the organizational culture but believes that national culture is reflected in the work environment, in the values of employees.

Figure 1. Finland (the left, blue) South Korea (the right, purple) (Hofstede Insights 2020)

In figure 1, you can see the scores for each dimension for South Korea and Finland. Based on these, South Korea and Finland have the largest differences in power distance, individualism, uncertainty avoidance, particularly in long-term orientation and indulgence dimensions. Based on these scores, power distance, individualism and long-term orientation were chosen to be used in the result analysis since they were easy to detect and dif- ferentiate from communication and interaction in work environment.

It can be assumed that some aspects of national culture have a strong impact on these scores which reflect work values. The chaebol management culture is strongly hierarchical and long-term oriented. Overall, the cultural values, born under the influence of Confucianism, form an essential component of the social philosophy (Kim & Kim 2010) and naturally are portrayed in different aspects of life in the Korean society.

4.1.1 Power distance

Power distance measures to what degree people accept differences in power and authority. In countries with high power distance, members of the society consent to power inequality and that some people are entitled to special benefits because of it. In low power distance countries, members of the society are perceived equal and no one should hold notably more power over others (Hofstede 1980, 54). According to Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner (1998, 164) there is more pressure on moral and social than financial and legal issues. The political system, religious life and philosophical and ideological thinking in various countries show differences which are interpreted as consequences of power distance, but which feed back into the norm and support it (Hofstede 1980, 66).

South Korea has been heavily impacted by Confucianism and its principles and given social frame. Consequently, respect towards age and authority is deeply rooted in the Ko- rean culture and language (Power 2012). South Korea scores notably higher in the power distance index compared to Finland. Although both countries have democracy as the form of government, the old traditions and value system from Confucianism are still impacting the social life of Koreans. Through the rapid changes in history, from feudalism to industri- alism, many feudal traditions remained. The chaebol management culture is an example of a family-style culture and corporate structure. Filial piety can still be seen in the contemporary life, in the form of respect towards teachers and authority (Levi 2013). Moral education is essential in Confucianism. To be able to live virtuously, one must share the values and morals of a virtuous man (Vesterinen, Ilmarinen & Janhunen 2000, 97). One of the basic relationships of Confucianism, ruler to subject, supports the acceptance of power distance. A great leader is virtuous, and therefore the subject respects and obeys the ruler. Power distance can be noticed also in the levels of speech in Korean language, as mentioned in the previous chapter.

4.1.2 Individualism versus collectivism

Individualism versus collectivism considers how broad the in-groups are within a society and how strong the ties are. In individualist societies there is less importance in other outside of the core family. People are expected to take interest only in their own or immediate close ones. In collectivist societies the groups tend to be larger and interpersonal connec- tion are stronger. They also take interest in in-group members’ wellbeing. In collective societies, nature of the relationship between the employee and the organization is more co- dependent than in individualistic societies. There is a greater emotional dependence of the organization’s members and the organization, in equilibrium, should return the dedica- tion with taking responsibility of the members (Hofstede 1980, 152). Individualism versus collectivism is corresponding to Trompenaars and Hampden-Turners individualism versus communitarianism.

In South Korea, people develop a sense of identity through their relationships and social connections, putting enormous value on interdependence (Ahn 2011). Koreans also develop a strong sense of empathy from young age (Nisbett 2003, 125). Concepts like kibun, nunchi and inwha, are examples of the importance Koreans put on the ability to read and sense feeling, to maintain the harmony and harmonious social ambiance.

Kibun does not have a direct English translation, but it could be described as to sense the feelings of others. Taking into consideration the circumstances and the feelings of others,

Koreans try to maintain the social harmony. This could simply mean to avoid declining or telling bad news in an unfavorable situation. It is about the respect for others, their feelings and opinions by avoiding one’s kibun harming actions. In business context, it means to preserve the face of employees and show respect. Criticizing in public is one way to damage employee’s kibun. Therefore, Koreans have a tendency to express their different opinions and feelings by positive or ambiguous answers. Reading non-verbal communication and body language may provide the real answer (Lee 2012).

Nunchi means ‘eye measure’. It is the ability to determine a person’s feeling by looking at them. This includes detecting it from non-verbal communication and body language, also from the voice tones, what the person is feeling or wants to say (Lee 2012). An example of a situation where kibun and nunchi are used could be: An employee is hungry and asks his or her coworker “Have you eaten lunch?”. The employee really wants to express that he or she is hungry and wants to go eat. The coworker is expected to answer “Yes, let’s go eat lunch”, even though he or she might have already eaten or is busy. Declining would harm, presumably not too much, the other employee’s kibun.

Inwha means harmony, specifically the harmony between a ruler and a subject. It originated from Confucianism and highlights the importance of consensus and agreeableness in preserving harmony. Deriving from the old days, when the ruler acted as an authority and a paragon to the citizens, the loyalty was owned to the ruler. The same loyalty one had for the ruler, turned into a form of loyalty and respect towards the superior or employer. In contemporary work culture, it means that the superior should refrain from criticizing and blaming subordinates, especially in front of others. And the superior, or employer, is expected to be concerned over the wellbeing of the employees and take care of them as a ruler would over his people.

4.1.3 Long term orientation

Long-term versus short-term orientation is about how a society evaluates the importance of past, present and future in decision making processes and dealing with challenges. Cultures that are short-term oriented, sometimes referred to as normative, prefer to maintain traditions and norms. They also view changes with suspicion. Past and present have more impact, political and economic decisions usually aim for immediate stability or short- term growth. Short-term individualism understands that only near future can be impacted with personal actions and there is no effect on distant future (Trompenaars & Hampden- Turner 1998, 94). Short-time orientation is more common with Western countries (UKEssays 2018). Long-term oriented cultures, also referred to as pragmatic, are more

20 concerned with future and preparation for it. People’s behaviour is more driven by values like perseverance, thrift, and shame. High score in long-term orientation is more common among Asian countries than Westerns. Long-term oriented ask the question “what” and “how”, short-term oriented “why” (UKEssays 2018).

South Korea has the highest possible score on this dimension. It is regarded as one of the most pragmatic countries in the world, valuing modesty and thriftiness. This is linked to Confucianism, people live guided by virtues, examples, and social obligations. In the business world, Korean companies invest into steady growth of market share and aim to serve the stake holders and society at large for upcoming generations (Hofstede Insights 2020). Leisure time is not seen as important in long-term oriented countries (Hofstede, Hofstede & Minkov 2010, 60), which could possibly be linked with the common practice of doing payless overwork which is motivated by social obligations.

4.2 Hofstede and Finland

Finland scores higher on individualism, low on power distance and significantly lower on long-term orientation than South Korea. Interestingly, people in individualistic cultures often feel the need to communicate orally and social conversations are seen even as com- pulsory. However, Finns are famous for being quiet. In collective cultures being together is sufficient and there is no need for forced small talk (Hofstede, Hofsted & Minkov 2010, 108). Finnish people are also known for being direct, trustworthy, and tolerant (Going- Global 2019). All these characteristics are linked to individualistic cultures (Hofstede, Hof- stede & Minkov 2010, 83). Also, Nordic societies are less built on hierarchy and rules. They are perceived more feminine since they are social democratic countries where the state takes care of the members of the society. Although Finland is more short-term oriented, it is not particularly religious nor nationalistic, what is typical for short-term oriented cultures (Mindtools 2020). South Korean society is more built on traditions and customs deriving from Confucianism. South Koreans also possess stronger in-group thinking than Finnish people and see foreigners as outsiders.

4.3 Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner’s dimension and Korean culture

Different countries and national cultures do not have specific scores in the Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner’s cultural model, but based on the survey results and comparison, South Korea’s organizational culture leans more towards particularism in the universalism versus particularism scale and to diffuse in the specific versus diffuse scale (Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner 1998, 98).

According to Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner, South Korea has a strong family-oriented culture. Differences in status and social hierarchy are seen as normal, power is ex- ercised through the members acting in accord with one another. It is also a high context culture; large amount of information and cultural content is taken for granted by the members. As a diffuse culture, for example, a person in a higher position has influence in all situations which are not directly related to the position and whether they have knowledge of the problem, or not. General happiness of employees and welfare is a concern of a family-type corporation. They may even assist in an issue related to the employees’ housing and worry whether the wages are sufficient to support one’s family (Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner 2012, 90).

4.3.1 Universalism versus particularism

According to Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner, in their book “Riding the waves of culture: understanding diversity in global business” (2012), this dimension is complimented by the individualism versus communitarianism dimension (individualism versus collectivism in Hofstede’s dimensions). In individual cultures it as commonly thought that there are universal laws which apply to every human being. They are absolute and do not change depending on circumstantial factors. Communitarianism underlines the importance of groups and relationships inside them. In particularistic cultures, relationships are valued over rules generally, and individual’s actions are seen to have an impact on your social circle and even in larger context.

Particularistic view of people is looking them through the interpersonal relationships they have. My friend, my brother, my coworker, my child etc. and having a unique importance to the subject with special claims on one’s feelings. Therefore sustaining, protecting, and discounting this person should be done no matter what rules say (Trompenaars & Hamp- den-Turner 2012, 42). Also, the self-view is context based, Koreans and Asians in general, tend to describe themselves through references to their social roles more than in individualistic countries like the US (Nisbett, 2003, 53).

A survey conducted by Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner (2012) offers an example where universalism and particularism were measured. Respondents were asked to choose to testify truthfully or falsely. The dilemma was about a theoretical situation where respondents and a friend were driving over the speed limit and hit a pedestrian. There were no witnesses. Then the respondent was asked would he or she testify under oath that the friend had been driving over or according to the speed limit. The latter answer

22 would save him or her from serious consequences. Based on the results, in more univer- salistic cultures, for example, the US, Sweden and Switzerland, as the seriousness of the pedestrian’s injuries increased, the more the respondents were eager to testify that the friend drove over the speed limit. On the contrary, in particularistic cultures, Venezuela, Russia, China and South Korea, respondents would hold even more to the false testimony that the friend drove according to the limit as the injuries caused by the hit increased. The assumed reasoning was that since the friend is likely to end up even in bigger problems if the truth is revealed, the more the respondents felt obligated to be there for their friend and support them (Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner 2012, 46).

In the business context, the particularistic view is to do more than the contract requires. It can be in the form of catering, socializing and overall investing more time and effort into the relationship. In general, individuals in particularistic cultures seek gratification through social connections. There is a greater commitment between the employer and the employee as the particularistic view increases (Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner 1998, 41). Universalists may undermine the importance of relationships while doing business with particularistic cultures (Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner 1998, 40).

In South Korea, there is a concept called “yongoism” which refers to kinship among people from the same university, school, region etc. (Kim & Bae 2017). This creates an in- group among people who share these kinds of ties. According to Hofstede, Hofstede and Minkov (2010), in collective cultures an employer does not hire just an individual but someone who belongs to an in-group. There is a belief that someone from an in-group, for example an employee, is expected and will act according to the interest of the in-group, even when it coincides with their personal interest. Interpersonal relationships play a huge role in the Korean culture and Koreans assort themselves quickly to different in-groups where kinship plays a more important of a role than universal rules and equality.

4.3.2 Specific versus diffuse

This dimension is about whether to show emotions in dealing with other people and the degree to which we engage others in specific areas of life and single levels of personality. In specific cultures people keep their work and personal lives separate. Relationships are kept professional at work and they do not overlap with private life. Good work can be done without having a good relationship (Mindtools 2020). In diffuse cultures, people see an overlap between work and personal life. Social relationships are the same whether people are met at work or during leisure time. More time outside of work is spent with coworkers and business clients. Communication happens diffusely in multiple areas of life and at

23 several levels of personality at the same time (Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner 2012, 180).

Specific and diffuse cultures are also called low and high context cultures. It means how much do you need to know before effective communication can occur, how much shared knowledge is taken for granted, and how much reference there is to tacit common ground. In low-context cultures, like Finland and the US, it is believed that the fewer initial struc- tures there are, the better. Low-context cultures tend to more adaptable and flexible. A stranger will not have too much trouble to join the communication. As mentioned in the chapter about Korean language, it is highly contextual. Contextual countries tend to be rich and subtle but carry a lot of baggage and may never really be comfortable for foreigners who are not fully assimilated (Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner 2012, 95). You can never be fully inside if you are not born and raised into the culture.

In specific cultures, where small areas of private life are clearly separated from public life, there is considerably more freedom of direct speech (Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner 2012, 107). In diffuse culture, direct confrontation could be an insult and resulting in losing face (kibun). It happens when something that is considered as private, is made public. These kinds of situations can happen unintentionally when individuals from specific cultures do business with people from diffuse cultures. To avoid this from happening, things should be said by taking time, going around, and not directly confront. This lessens the impact of it be taken personally in a work context (Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner 2012, 91)

As well as in the universalism versus particularism dimension, specific versus diffuse are concerned with how far people get involved. In particularistic cultures people do more than the contract requires, diffuse culture people also involve themselves more than is expected in specific cultures (Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner 2012, 85). For example, in a survey conducted by Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner (1998), 65% of South Korean respondents agreed that the company should assist in housing search or even provide a house. Finland was not included in the survey, but among Swedish and Danish respondents, about 85% disagreed and firmly believed that the employee should manage the issue by themselves (Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner 2012, 115). In a family-oriented company, employers are expected to look after their employees and occasionally go beyond the work sphere.

4.3.3 Sequential time versus synchronous time

Sequential people stick to the premade schedule and value punctuality. Time is divided between slots and actions are usually performed in a clear order. Any changes or disturb- ance in a sequence will make a sequential person more uncertain. Time is built as of a line of events passing people in regular intervals. The future can be directed by personal achievement and inner-directed effort only in the short-term and does not have an impact to distant future. Time can be also conceived as cyclical and repetitive in sequential cultures (Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner 2012, 151). Synchronic cultures on the other hand see the past, present, and future as interwoven periods. Koreans, according to the study of Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner, put more importance on the future, and least to the past, but they see all the time periods overlapping each other (2012). They carry their past through the present into the future and will refuse to consider changing unless convinced that their heritage is safe (Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner 2012, 164). Re- spect is shown towards ancestors, predecessors, and older people. At work, sequential people often work on several projects at once, and view plans and commitments as flexible. Punctuality and deadlines are underlined only if they are the key to meeting objectives. In contrast to sequential organizational cultures, where promotions and pay raises are made after assessing the past performance of the employee, in more synchronic organizations the employer may be favorably assessed and promoted for the positive relationship established with the supervisor. It is seen to be developed over time, accumulat- ing knowledge and mutuality (Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner 2012, 163).

4.4 Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner and Finland

In Finland people tend and want to keep their personal life separated from work life. Free time is valued greatly, and most people keep strict working hours and do not stay overtime if not especially needed. Overtime work is usually compensated, and organizations strictly follow regulations and people respect the law. However, Finnish people are not as specific in communication as Americans but disapprove overt emotions (Trompenaars & Hamp- den-Turner 1998, 99). When doing business, Finnish people respect manners and enjoy catering especially foreign partners. They might even take them to sauna and like to intro- duce the local culture. As well as in many other western countries, time is perceived sequential. There is a clear order in tasks and events, deadlines are strict, but flexible if needed. Planning and scheduling is perceived important in order to make progress.

5 Methodology

The aim of this research was to find and explain the communication challenges through experiences of Finnish employees in the South Korean work environment. It was expected that there could be reoccurring patterns that would be identified and explained. To be able to identify, analyse and describe experiences, qualitative research methodology was chosen since it is suitable for in-depth analysis. To acquire information about behaviour, opinions and feelings, qualitative research methods would serve the aim of the study best and provide information about culture and communication suitable for in-depth analysis. Inter- views are the most common data collection method in qualitative research. It is considered suitable when the researcher wants to investigate a new field of study or intends to ascertain and theorize issues. Most common types of qualitative research methods are interviewing and observation (Jamshed 2015).

The research began from Hofstede’s cultural theory which inspired the author to study more profoundly the communication with Koreans and national culture’s impact on it. The main themes of the interview questions were chosen based on the author’s experience and assumptions of the main challenges related to cultural differences with the basis on cultural theory. To add diversity to the analysis, by the instructor’s suggestion, another culture theory, Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner’s theoretical framework for understanding cultural differences, was chosen alongside Hofstede’s dimensions. The two theories share core similarities, and both are based on cultural differences within organizations. They measure different aspects of organizational culture, which also reflect employees’ national culture.

5.1 Interview as research method

Interviews are an effective way to collect in-depth data from a small number of people. Based on the structure, interviews help to acquire information about behaviour, opinions, attitudes, feelings, and knowledge. The data helps to explain, understand, and explore (Virginia Tech 2018). Interviews can be structured, providing specific information about the topic in question. Semi-structuring keeps the interview in the topic but with open- ended questions, allows the respondent to explain and describe more freely their opinions and experiences. Having a light structure helped to keep the interview in the desired topic. Unstructured interviews resemble more a controlled conversation, leaving the interviewer to guide and direct the “conversation” with follow-up questions. (Jamshed 2014).

5.1.1 Interviewees

Half of the interviewees were found through the Facebook group “Finns in Korea”. It is a private group for Finns to share information regarding Korea, for example housing, related news, help in other issues etc. The author published a post in the group asking for volun- teers to participate in the interview. The other half were the author’s acquaintances from the years she spent living in South Korea. The communication between the interviewees took place through Facebook Messenger, Kakaotalk (Korean messaging application) or email. The interviews were conducted during spring, summer, and autumn 2020. Most of them were conducted face to face in South Korea, Seoul and in a café or a similar public place. Two interviews were answered by email and one was done as a phone interview. A total of 10 interviews took place.

The interviews were conducted in Finnish and the interview questions were in Finnish to ensure smooth and relaxed communication between the author and the interviewees. The interviews were transcribed and translated to English afterwards.

5.1.2 Interview questions

The interview began with basic information about the interviewee, name and age, how long they have been working in Korea, in what kind of industry and was the company Ko- rean, do they speak Korean and do they use Korean as their main communication language at work. The questions which followed were formed based on the dimensions of the theories with special consideration to the context of Korean culture. The questions should enable accurate answers and possibly also encourage the interviewees to share personal experiences. The questions acted as a frame of the semi-structured interview. The interviewer asked follow-up questions if the interviewee did not understand the question as meant by the author, additional information was needed, or the interviewee seemed to have interesting explanations and experiences to share.

Each dimension, or theme, included two to three questions. The time orientation theme included questions that aimed to provide answers to long-term orientation index and synchronous versus sequential time perception. Here are the interview questions categorized under dimensions and translated into English:

Power distance index • What is your relationship with co-workers who are in a higher position or are older?

• Is their age or position visible in their behaviour towards others and you? • Is your work environment hierarchical? If you feel it is, how does it show?

Individualism versus collectivism • Do you feel pressure to conform to the opinions of the majority at your workplace? • In what kind of situations do you feel pressure? • Do you feel you can express your opinions and give criticism to your co-workers? How about to the ones in a higher position?

Universalism versus particularism • Are social relationships and harmony more important than rules and regulations at your workplace? • Do you believe, for example, in recruitment or considering a pay raise or promotion, relationships matter more than labour input?

Specific versus diffuse • How close do you feel to your co-workers and workplace? • Are there any differences in this between you/Finns and Korean employees?

Time orientation • How important are deadlines and are they followed? • Have you noticed any differences between Finns and Korean in the conception of deadlines? • Are multiple projects running at the same time in your workplace? • If so, how are they managed and focused equally over time?

5.2 Sample

The participants were mostly female, 8 out of 10, and age between 23 to 32. Two of the participants were male, age between 29 to 35. They worked in multiple industries, IT, business and marketing, translation, tourism, media, entertainment, as an entrepreneur, and one as an intern. What was common between all of them was that they worked in an office or similar environment, the job required an academic education, minimum a bachelor’s degree, excluding the translation and entertainment industry. All of them hold a bachelor’s degree or higher. Among the participants, 8 out of 10, had been working and living in Korea for more than a year. Only one used English as the main work language, others were fluent in Korean and used it on daily basis at work.

5.3 Analytical approach; thematic analysis

Content and thematic analysis are usually used for qualitative data analysis. Content analysis is a systematic coding and categorizing approach used for exploring large amounts of textual information to determine trends and patterns of words used, also their frequency, relationships and the structure and discourse of communication. Thematic analysis as an independent qualitative descriptive approach is mainly described as a method for identifying, analysing, and reporting patterns, or themes, within the data. Both content and thematic analysis share the same aim of analytically examining and breaking the text into relatively small units of content and going through them in a descriptive manner. Thematic analysis provides versatile and detailed, yet complex, data. It involves search and identifi- cation of reoccurring themes across an interview or set of them (Vaismoradi, Turunen & Bondas 2000).

Thematic analysis is useful when research questions are concerned with how people perceive and experience phenomena, what opinions or ideas they have, or how specific issues are constructed according to them. To provide answers to these questions, collection of data from relevant participants follows. Thematic analysis allows flexibility in interpreting the data and helps in sorting out the relevant themes. One of the weaknesses of thematic analysis is that it is usually subjective and relies mostly on the researcher’s judgement and interpretation (Caulfield 2020).

The aim of the research was to identify, describe and understand the cultural aspects that affect the communication. Thematic analysis offers a theoretically flexible method to handle qualitative information. The goal was not to create new themes or theories, but describe, analyse, and report themes that were present in the data. The results are categorized based on the main themes, or dimensions as referred in the theoretical framework. In thematic analysis, the aim is to bring into light different opinions inside the themes.

The process of analysing the data in a thematic approach can be conducted in the following manner, an approach developed by Braun & Clarke (2008):

1. Familiarization: get to know the data, to get an overview before analysing details. For example, transcribing interviews, and going through the theoretical frameworks 2. Coding: highlighting sections in the text, phrases and sentences, based on themes, coming up codes to describe the content. Highlighting everything relevant or potentially interesting. Finding reoccurring themes and key points

3. Generating themes: going through the created codes, finding themes and identifying patterns, coming up possibly new themes to describe new findings, combin- ing codes under themes. Codes that are too vague or irrelevant can be dis- charged. 4. Reviewing themes: making sure the themes are useful and accurate representation of data. Returning to the data and contemplating could something be changed to make the themes work better. If problems with themes, creating new ones, com- bining, to make them accurate and useful. 5. Defining and naming themes: describing the themes and figuring how it will help to understand the data 6. Writing up: writing up the analysis of data

To analyse the data collected from the interviews, the two cultural theories’ dimensions were used in the form of deductive analysis. To understand the dimensions in the context of Korean culture, they were described and identified based on their incidence in the culture. The theories and analysing the culture, gave an idea what themes were expected to be found in the data. There were also a mix of semantic and latent approach. Interest in the opinions (semantic) of the interviewees but also to see was there anything in their assumptions (latent) or social context relevant for the study. The aim was to create a dialogue between the cultural dimensions as themes and the collected data.

The study’s thematic analysis was conducted as follows:

1. Interviews were transcribed and translated into English. The theoretical framework and detailed description of the dimensions in the context of Korean culture was written to ease the process of identifying themes. 2. The relevant or interesting data from transcriptions were highlighted and categorized. 3. The interview questions were organized under each dimension as themes. The relevant data was identified form the transcriptions and new, possibly interesting, findings were themed in separate categories. Themes which seemed to occur frequently in several different interviews were highlighted. 4. The themes and direct quotes were written down in the thesis and arranged based on the relevance under each dimension. Some of the findings could be considered belonging to several theme since the dimensions overlap each other. The long- term versus short-term orientation and synchronous versus sequential time dimensions were combined since the data suggested they were highly interrelated and

easier to analyse together. It was noted that Hofstede’s uncertainty avoidance index was not included in the interview questions as one theme, but some of the findings seemed to be explained by Korea’s high score in this index. Therefore, it was included in the results ‘Notes and new findings’-section. The importance of the language was greater than expected therefore a chapter of the Korean language was added in the theoretical part and included in the results as a separate theme. 5. The references to the Korean culture were added and combined with the data to explain and describe the relevance of the findings. For the new findings from the data, themes were created to describe them and their references to the Korean culture. 6. Lastly the analysis of the findings was written clean and the dialogue between the theoretical framework, Korean culture and primary data was created.

5.4 Limitations

In qualitative research, interviews are suitable to gather data for in-depth analysis. Face to face interviews are the most suitable for this purpose, especially if they are unstructured or semi-structured because the interviewer is able to lead with spontaneous follow-up questions if something new and interesting arises in during the interview. The interview process began when the global COVID-19 pandemic started, South Korea becoming the next infectious cluster after China in February 2020. Depending on the possibilities, the interviews were attempted to conduct face to face, but few had to be cancelled due to the concern over the spread of the virus. Also, few possible interviewees did not respond after trying to reach them to arrange another time or method to conduct the interview. Few interviewees were not physically reachable for face-to-face interview, or they were too busy to fit a meeting. One interview was done through phone and two through email. Therefore, the data might be significantly limited and superficial compared to the data gathered from face-to-face interviews.

In the sample, females were overrepresented, and the age group was limited from 23 to 35 years. Balance in the gender of respondents and age distribution could had generated more versatile responses and data for analysis.

The amount of Finnish people who have worked or are currently working in South Korea is limited, possibly only few thousand or less. The results based on 10 interviews cannot be generalized to reflect the opinions and experiences of the whole group. However, there were many experiences shared among several interviewees which indicates that there are common factors influencing the intercultural communication with Koreans.

The interview questions were formed solely based on the two theories and the author’s own assumptions how Korean culture is visible in the work environment. The questions did not undergo pilot testing which could have helped in the process of forming better, open ended questions which would have provided even more accurate answers and data concerning the themes.

6 Results

The collected data was themed based on the dimensions of two cultural theories. Many findings were linked to more than one dimensions and were categorized based on the author’s judgement about the relevance of them in each dimension. In the language and communication part, the impact on language is presented and described. The last part, notes and new findings, include new interesting discoveries from the data and deeper analysis on some findings.

6.1 Power distance

There was a clear split on how strongly the interviewees experienced the hierarchy and power distance while working in Korean companies. Most had worked for small and me- dium sized companies where the hierarchy was mostly experienced through the level of respect in the form of speech or lack of power on decision making. The positions in hierarchy system were more dictated by the role in the company and experience instead of age. All but one of the interviewees used Korean as the main working language and expressed the need to consider carefully how to say things and address coworkers and managers. One had experienced all of her workplaces as being highly hierarchical. Working as a translator, she felt like she never had the power to say anything but only to follow the com- mands and described it as having a “pecking order”. She depicted her experience as follows: “As a translator I did not have any say in anything. All the work environments I have been were highly hierarchical. The orders come from above and others follow without ob- jection.” Only two told that there was no hierarchy at their workplace, an entrepreneur and an intern who also was the one using English at work. Interestingly, the same respondent felt that hierarchy was stronger in Finnish companies compared to Korean ones. Many told that the atmosphere was rather relaxed and power distance was not that visible, possibly because of the size of the companies. There was speculation that bigger companies have more strict structure and clearer hierarchy system. One mentioned that her foreign colleague from Samsung, one of the biggest companies in the country, has not seen the department boss more than twice while working there. There was few who thought it was

32 strongly present in smaller organizations. At one workplace employees had to stand up and bow when the boss came in. The same respondent had noticed a difference between male and female dominated work environments. Male dominant workplaces were more conservative and followed social traditions, female dominant more democratic and equal but had more indirect speech.

Language seems to have strong implications on power distance. “I know I have to be careful with words and address the higher ups with honorifics on all occasions” told one employee in IT industry. Few shared their experience that when they chose the wrong level of speech, they were criticized of using it in a situation that required the formal level. One of them told that she was speaking to her team leader and was using standard level. The team leader told her nicely that she does not mind it but to other leaders and higher ups, she should use the formal level. Also, one interviewee shared an experience when as an intern she used standard level with a company’s client, in an attempt to practice her Korean, was met with an earnest comment that she should not speak so informally to a client. One interviewee had been in situations where she has been addressed with lower levels than what should have been used. She thought it could be due to her young-like looks or foreigner status.

Many thought that they were exempted from the traditional hierarchy system that prevails in Korean companies for being a foreigner. Several mentioned the “foreigner free pass” that is given to them because they are not seeing as belonging to the in-group of Koreans. Customs and traditions do not apply as strongly to foreigners as to Koreans, who are expected to follow and punished if they do not.

Several respondents stated that it depended on the person how much the hierarchy affected the relationship. It seemed that there were a lot of open and casual work environments but also in the other end, very traditional and conservative. One employee described her experience of the traditional culture at her work: “Although Korean workers were interested in learning about Finnish culture, Korean etiquette was followed and expected to be followed like Koreans do. Age, and more importantly, position was visible in many things. And as the maknae (Korean word for the youngest in-group member with least experienced) in the group, I had to do everything that was expected from a maknae”.

6.2 Individualism versus collectivism

Collectivism, or more of the restriction of individualism, were present at most workplaces. When respondents were asked could they give direct criticism to their coworkers, all of

33 them answered no. They would rather say nothing or do it in a private situation where others were not present. This could be linked with the concept of kibun and losing one’s face when something private is made public. It can also be damaging to the collective harmony. Seems also that when criticizing one’s actions, the criticism is taken personally and possibly as an insult. Korean language being more diffuse and higher context than English and Finnish, it brings more aspects to consider when speaking and especially for a non- native Korean speaker.

Several mentioned the intolerance for new ideas and contradicting opinions. If they wanted to present a new idea or approach, the way of expressing had to be carefully thought. Almost all said that there was pressure to conform to the majority and inability to express their personal opinions in a public situation. When asked about having pressure to conform, a respondent shortly summarized: “Yes, if you want to be accepted”. Interest- ingly, the same person said that she felt like she had to decide of whether to follow the Korean social norms or not. Referred as the “Korean game”, meaning the hierarchy and collective obligations which are imposed to employees in the present work culture. She phrased: “--- from the beginning I made clear that I do not want to be part of it and do not accept it”. Her decision of not to follow them, also expressing disapproval towards them, led to disfavor from her Korean coworkers. By taking this stand, she was not expected to come to work during weekends, when many of her colleagues would collectively choose to go and “suffer together”. She also felt that she could go straight to her supervisor when there was any issues or questions what seemed to be an issue for her Korean coworkers who would not go against the boss in a case of disagreement but would not act according to instruction afterwards. Taking a stand seemed to have generated her a special position where she was able to dodge the expectations and cultural norms. Also, she felt that everyone could be collective at work, sharing same language and culture, but outside of work she was left outside of the in-group formed at work.

Mentioned also by several other Finns, the existence of a “foreign free pass” was commonly used to avoid or ignore the cultural norms. It could be explained as a form of lenience Koreans show towards people who they do not consider part of the in-group which members are bound to follow the social rules. Making mistakes or breaking the cultural norms can be overlooked and explained by the ignorance of an ignorant outsider.

One mentioned the openness that some Korean companies show when recruiting a foreigner. They wanted to get new fresh ideas and different kind of points of view, but in real life, it did not come true. Decision making happens from top to down manner. However, at the tourism industry where one interviewee was working, she was encouraged to state her

34 opinion and overall, there was favourable environment for sharing thoughts without too much pressure to conform to the majority.

6.3 Time orientation: long-term versus short-term and synchronous versus sequential time

Based on the data provided through the interviews, the time orientation dimensions from both Hofstede and Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner were combined in the results since they were strongly interrelated. The synchronous time orientation is about the perception of time as multidimensional and holistic. Long-term orientation is linked with Confucian- ism, which also emphasizes synchronous time perception. All of the aspects seem to be interconnected in the answers.

In the interviews few key words were repeatedly mentioned. Rush, deadlines, overwork, and chaos seemed to be shared by almost all respondents. Everyone had been working over hours on multiple occasions. It seemed to be more of a standard than an exception and Korea is famous for its long work hours. Payless overwork was mentioned at least by three interviewees. Some compared it to Finland where job agreements usually involve regulations, that are followed, about overwork and compensation for it. One referred paid overwork as a “luxury” which they do not have in Korea. It definitely seems that long work hours are a cultural aspect, possibly related to Confucian dynamism and social obligations employees fell they have towards their company and supervisor.

Several mentioned unreasonable times given to complete tasks, in addition to the first thing, another or third is given and all of them expected to be done in the same time frame. The entrepreneur noted that Korean clients tend to ask additional work which was not discussed in the beginning, and the incapability to argue and hurdle to discuss with the clients, leads to useless extra work.

The perception of time and time orientation seems to be in a big contradiction among Ko- reans. They are influenced by the Confucian dynamism and long-term orientation can be seen to happen when looking at the broad picture and Korea as a whole society. How- ever, they seem to have inefficient combination of sequential and synchronous time perception. This is experienced and mentioned as “chaos” according to one interviewee. The feeling of chaos can be also felt through the responses of several interviewees. Deadlines seem to be extremely strict and important at Korean workplaces, but they are not given enough time to complete the tasks in question. As one of the Finnish employees accu- rately verbalized the experience: “I have a plate of food, agreed that I have to eat it in 5

35 minutes. Then the boss brings another plate, and which also has to be eaten in 5 minutes”. This simply means twice as much work in the same time limit of one task. And the phenomenon of workload increasing unexpectedly was also a reoccurring theme. Quantity and promptness were valued over quality generating from systematic and reflec- tive development. Another employee compared her experiences as follows: “Unrealistic work hours to complete tasks. Even tasks that were given only a few hours prior to the deadline. I do not believe even Koreans could had met them. I think Finnish people are more realistic in times given to complete tasks and projects.” And although Koreans think they do teamwork for the company, they may work on multiple tasks at the same time for longer period compared to Finns who are efficient for shorter time and concentrating on one task at a time. This is a simplification but seems to be a common phenomenon.

6.4 Universalism versus particularism

Opinion about the importance of social relationships over rules and regulation was divided but none disagreed with the importance of relationships in Korean work culture. The work culture can seem as bureaucratic and rule oriented from the outside, but on the inside, power and rules are dictated by hierarchy and connections. Good relationships between coworkers were regarded as very important and as a vital factor in creating a harmonious work environment. One comprehended hierarchy as part of the rules in a social context. If this was the case, rules do come before work environment and good relationships, which are valued more in Finland according to the respondent. One told that as long as the boss is pleased, rules can be flexible. Another interviewee agreed: “--- as long as the authority is pleased, we do as they say, even if it breaks the rules or is bad for the brand.” Power that can overrule regulations and law was discussed in the chapter about corruption as a unique aspect of Korean culture.

Good chemistry between employees mattered a lot at one workplace and collective atmosphere was actively created. At one company, the boss prioritized good chemistry so much that she openly criticized when the employees did not show characteristics that were considered appropriate, for example not showing enough enthusiasm and extrover- sion. “I heard the boss complaining a lot to the division boss about employees’ personal things and preferences.” The Finnish employee felt that the boss concentrated on wrong things in her try to improve the community spirit. The afterwork culture, usually going for a meals and drinks after work with coworkers and boss, called “hwesik” in Korean (words ‘company’ and ‘restaurant’ combined into a noun), is very common. At her first day of work, one interviewee was taken to dinner after work. She felt like it was intended as a possibility to form good relationships and an attempt to show how close people were at

36 work. This experience reinforced her assumption of the importance of relationships at work.

A good point was stated by one interviewee. According to her, the whole society of Korea is based on social relationships. The concept of “yongoism” explained in the universalism versus particularism chapter, highlights how much importance Koreans put on kinship. Sharing a past or having already existing connections, will help Koreans to progress in their career or be recruited. None of the respondents had experience on how much the kinship impacts recruitment or getting a pay raise or promotion. One mentioned that foreigners do not get promoted in Korean firms that much. Several speculated that there is an importance put on social relationships when considering one of the latter, but merits are considered, maybe more than they were used to. However, almost all agreed that good connections and relationships will further one’s chances in the job market. One even said: “--- with social relationships you can basically make your way anywhere and be promoted. And it will make your life easier at work.”

6.5 Specific versus diffuse

The same interviewee who was imposed with the question of “playing the Korean game” felt like the experience of Koreans coming to do extra work on weekends, made them closer like “army comrades”. Suffering together brought them closer and defined the in- groups. She also continued about differences in expectations between Koreans and foreigners: “This also depends on how you view work. The boss may demand different things depending on this attitude. Koreans are asked to overwork although they get the same pay as the foreigners. Many foreigners just end up to this situation where they are not asked to overwork, we have been taught since young what are our rights.” The entrepreneur felt like her Korean co-worker stressed more about work in general. Another witnessed her Korean colleagues experiencing a lot of pressure since they could not say no to extra work that was asked from team. They felt responsibility to deliver what is asked from them, even to the extent of spending the night and sleeping at work because there was no time to go home.

When asked about drawing a line between work and private life, most had made a clear distinction between them. One believed it was a habit he adopted while working in Finland before moving to Korea. He also saw a difference between him and Korean employees, who were expected to be always available. This was speculated to be due to the expecta- tion which varies between cultures. If this is the case, it is therefore easier for Finns and possibly other foreigners also, to draw the line.

Some were able to make closer connections between their colleagues and enjoyed spending time with them during free time. One told she had more direct and closer relationships with her supervisor than coworkers. Easier to speak directly without rambling. She could ask directly the supervisor if the pay was late or when dissenting opinion, she could tell it, but Koreans would not ask about the pay even if it was very late and, in a disagreement, they would just agree but not do anything differently or according to the new instructions.

Only few felt they could hang out with their coworkers during leisure time. Others either wanted to keep these areas of life separated, or felt they were not able to create closer relationships due to being a foreigner and therefore having hard time in connecting in a personal level. Forming closer relationship with other foreigners, at work or during free time, was thought to be easier. “There is less stress on who is right and wrong, and who to lis- ten to. With foreigners it feels more free. In Korea you will always be an outsider therefore all the foreigners are outsiders, and it makes a group out of them, easier to create a bond” summed up one interviewee.

One interviewee thought that Koreans were more prone to connect person’s actions to their personality rather to the circumstances, which is called the fundamental attribution error. Disagreeing in a meeting or challenging the common way, may lead to stigmatizing as a difficult person. One interviewee pondered such a situation: “Feels like if in that kind of situation, I would had disagreed openly, I would get a stigma of being hard to work with and a difficult person in general. In Korea people shy away from different opinions and people”. This could be a sign of the diffuse way of thinking, work and personal lives are mixed as well as the personalities present in these situations. Also, one employee felt that since she did not comply with her Korean coworkers who had decided not to like their boss due to boss’s actions at work, she was left outside. There seemed to be a connec- tion between collectivity and diffuse way of thinking in this case.

6.6 Language and communication

Several felt that the use of Korean language was an obstacle to create an open work environment where people could talk in a relaxed manner. “You need to put more energy to think how to say things and how to ask something” described one about using Korean at work. He continued that you should think in what position you put Koreans when you ask them to do something. If they need to explain something to the supervisor, it is important that the situation does not include the risk of losing face. Naturally, there are aspects to

38 consider while using any language, still many felt the use of Korean was more complex than using Finnish or English.

The language impacts even the communication between foreigners if they use Korean. It automatically creates a distance between the speakers if standard or formal level is used. Two respondents felt that distance between Finns and Koreans is automatically larger than between foreigners from other western countries. One interviewee was amazed how the feeling changed when she learned that one of the coworkers had lived in the US. She became instantly more relaxed in the person’s presence although they used Korean when communicating. Several interviewees also speculated that if they perceived their work environment less hierarchical, open, and even progressive, it was because there were Kore- ans who had lived somewhere else than Korea at some point of their lives. This experience of having invisible distance between Finns and Koreans, is seen as decreasing if a Korean is exposed to western culture in a more profound way. Finns who are familiar with the Korean culture understand that Koreans are heavily influenced by their national culture and traditions and customs that come with it. They have simply learned to act within it and voluntarily follow or do not follow the norms.

Few speculated that the Korean language created an invisible wall between them and Ko- reans. It was hard to become close if the standard level of speech was used. One said that she felt like her company became like a family, but there could be differences in subjective experiences. Also, this respondent used English at work. The level of speech was so important to one employee that she thought she could not become close with her coworkers because they were required to use standard level. She wanted to be able to use the informal level with friends. One explained the hardship of becoming close as follows: “Because of the structure of the language, it is hard to feel close to coworkers. Emotions are left outside when you use polite levels.” None of the Korean speakers mentioned that they had achieved such a close relationship with their coworkers to address them in the informal level. This may be due to the work environment where it is expected to use the standard level at least

Korean is a high context language and speakers rely a lot on pre-existing knowledge when communicating. None of the respondents were native in Korean, but almost all spoke it fluently. However, there still was a language barrier and it created slowness and experienced by one respondent, resulted in being left outside of the work community.

6.7 Notes and new findings

This chapter discusses the new findings from the data.

One interesting finding was about the experience Finnish employees had with who had worked in international firms or lived in another western country. It was mentioned before that one Finnish employee felt more relaxed after hearing her co-worker had been living in the US. One said she could see a difference in the work quality, which was better among Koreans who have worked or lived somewhere else than Korea, they were also more open and flexible, and had more “outside of the box-way of thinking”.

The interviews revealed that foreigners in general seemed to have a special status that came with unique features. The “foreign free pass” is known among almost everyone who has worked with Koreans in Korea. There also seems to be impressions among Korean about foreigners receiving higher salary, giving general lenience to them, and automatically categorizing them as outsiders, considered as “special rights person” by one Finnish employee. Few Finns construed the decreased amount of overwork compared to Korean employees by Finns and some foreigner to be brought up in knowing their rights and asking reasonable treatment from the beginning. The expectations and demands are different compared to Korean employees. Although some of the interviewees have been in the country and culture for long enough to be expected to know the unwritten rules, they were not required or punished for not following them. However, it seemed to reinforce the idea of mental image Koreans have that foreigners are privileged compared to Korean employees. Even someone said that it is common knowledge that foreigners earn more as Eng- lish teachers or because they are usually employed to professional positions.

Acting according to the cultural norms is a choice to be made according to few interviewees. If you assimilate yourself in the local cultural expectations from the beginning, they start to impact you also and Koreans will treat you the same way as other Koreans. Based on the results, this seemed rather a complex decision but only choosing to act like a foreigner, you would be able to bypass some of the unpleasant expectations and social norms.

The concern of using an appropriate level of speech at both work and personal life which raised problems in forming closer relationships between Finns and Koreans could be an issue among Koreans also. Diffuse of specific areas of life and language’s implication to it could be studied more. This would require interviewing individuals who were brought up in the culture and to the language while comparing their experiences to individuals who have

40 experienced and lived-in cultures of low-context languages and possibly which gave less power distance. At one company, the supervisor talked to Korean employees differently than towards Finnish employees. She used more direct and commanding way with Kore- ans, and more suggesting with Finns. It could be speculated that if one sees the other as part of the in-group, in this case being a Korean, justifies the rude way of talking, from outsider’s perspective.

Although uncertainty avoidance dimension was not included in the analysis as one themes, it is worth to mention that South Korea scores quite high in this index, 85 out of 100. High scores on this dimension implies to lower toleration to risks and preference of structured over unstructured situations. There is also lower level of tolerance for new ideas, thoughts, and beliefs. To minimize the level of uncertainty and ambiguity, rules, laws, policies, and regulations are implemented. Changes are not readily accepted (Self & Self 2009, 10). Societies with low tolerance for uncertainty are prone to extremism and re- pression of it (Hofstede, Hofstede & Minkov 2010, 273). Original ideas are not considered, and innovations in general are approached with caution. This can be linked to low individualism in form of not exercising direct speech and presenting contracting opinions to preserve the harmony. The results about the pressure to conform to the majority and difficulty in presenting personal opinions was described in the individualism part of the results. This leads to one observation made by an employee in the IT industry. She had noticed the strength of Korean companies in creating simple softwares for manufacturing purposes. They are very efficient when the process is straight forward and goes according to clear instructions or framework. But when it comes to agile software development, continuous improving and modifying based on frequent feedback, they lack adaptability and innova- tion power. “Startup companies have noticed this, and they are becoming more agile, but things are very different in bigger companies ---. They are deadline oriented and result based, form over function. The process and learning, and does it really work and is it good quality, are not important, but does it look good, especially in the eyes off bosses.” Some interviewees shared their experiences that Koreans seemed a bit more disoriented, and the working style was more of a multitasking chaos instead of logical order of tasks being completed in sequences. Koreans lack the ability of reasonable thinking according to one interviewee. “They may seem a bit confused, disoriented and all over the place, maybe because the lack of sleep?” she suggested half jokingly. But there could be something true in her proposition. Long work hours, pressure for completing tasks on tight schedules, collective pressure, and inability to express discontent, could really explain this feeling of “chaos”.

Preserving the harmony and saving one’s face are essential aspects in Korean culture. However, one respondent told she had heard or seen a situation where a boss had humili- ated an employee in front of everyone for making a mistake. And the employee had taken the criticism without raising gaze and had remained quiet. This can be seen as an ex- treme example where power distance and inner hierarchy is used to show dominance and to humiliate a subordinate. This would be considered very rude or even be taken forward to be investigated external conciliator in Finland and in western culture in general. The same responded also mentioned lack of giving feedback and exercising open discussion. There have been occasions when an employee has returned a task, or a project and the supervisor has not approved it. The employee was sent to redo the task without any im- provement suggestions or feedback in general. These situations however are not personal experiences of any of the Finns interviewed but something they have witnessed happening among in Korean companies. They still prove that expectations of behaviour within a society of specific cultural factors and norms, do not actualize in real life.

7 Conclusion

Based on the cultural theories’ dimensions, Korea could be thought as a dynamic society, changes are fast, and Koreans can adapt to new situations fast. This might be one of the reasons for the rapid economic development. However, according to the synchronous time perception, traditions and heritage is regarded as very important and something to be preserved, even in the face of development. Based on the interviews, generally it could be said that Koreans have kept their traditions, hierarchy and social obligation and the Confu- cian past still guides people in their daily actions. Few interviewees mentioned the lack of the infamous hierarchy. However, this was only mentioned by the employee who spoke English with Korean co-workers and the entrepreneur. The ones who had worked in traditional office environments, were conscious of the social hierarchy present at their workplace. Maybe it could be concluded that Koreans are open to changes and future oriented, portraying the Confucian dynamism. But they still hold tightly to old customs. Since the younger generation of Koreans has been more exposed to western influence through social media and with the number of foreign residents or foreigners visiting Korea increasing every year, the collective, family-oriented, hierarchical work culture is slowly changing towards a more flat-leadership. However, Koreans most likely will not easily abandon their collective and diffuse aspects.

The data was able to provide answers to the research question ‘How does Korean culture impact cross-cultural communication between Korean and Finnish employees?’. Several

42 factors were identified, many of them were identified already based on the theoretical framework, literature review and secondary data. However, since the researched data was limited, and results revealed new interesting and important factors influencing the communication, adding variety would be required in further studies. In future studies, there should be more emphasis on the language which is used in the work environment and adding diversity to sources should be considered. Variety in interviews and interviewees, and possibly adding other qualitative research methods, would provide extensive data which could answer the research question more profoundly.

7.1 Discussion

One new finding related to the start-up companies and their comparison to bigger technology companies. One interviewee working in the IT industry mentioned how inflexible and rigid the big companies can be. High score in uncertainty avoidance index, respect for traditions, hierarchy in organizations, low tolerance and caution towards new ideas and rigid social system raises questions how innovative start-ups can flourish in the current environment. The traditional work environment of South Korea does not seem to provide favourable starting point for start-up companies which are commonly successful because their ability to be flexible, agile, having more of a flat leadership and open communication. This raises question of how much the national culture and communication impact start-ups and their prosperity in South Korean work environment. The city of Seoul has actively im- proved the city’s start-up ecosystem and is aiming to become one of the best hubs for start-ups (Hak 2020; John 2020; Startup Genome 2020). However, the national culture with its deeply rooted traditions and norms, may create delays and obstacles in the inno- vation process. It would require further studies to investigate the impact of social culture and communication to the development of start-ups and to the process of creating a favourable environment for them to succeed.

If Korean language is used as the main work language and between co-workers, Korean culture has a significantly stronger impact on the cross-cultural communication. There also seems to be an impact depending on how long the Finnish employee has lived in Korea and has been immersed into the culture and if they have chosen to “follow” the present cultural behavioural expectations. There seems to be something more to investigate in the impact of language on intercultural communication. Only one interviewee used English as work language. This seemed to have shaped her whole experience on working in a Ko- rean company. She was one of the two who did not experience hierarchy and distinctive power distance at work. Using English versus Korean seems to generate different experi-

43 ences and feeling from intercultural communication based on the research findings. How- ever, the sample size is too small to draw any distinctive conclusions, but language as one of the main influencers in cross cultural communication, could be studied in the future.

Most of the Finnish employees interviewed had been living in Korea for some time and spoke the language. Most of them seemed to have adopted the local culture norms and appropriate behaviour to maintain the social culture related harmony. Almost all of them expressed drastic differences between Finnish and Korean working environments and communication. They were able to describe the key differences easily. Being exposed to the Korean culture seemed to have changed some of their behaviour, or adapted to the norms, but they kept on respecting and reflecting the Finnish work culture and communication ways.

7.2 Reflection on own learning

Conducting interviews, meeting the Finnish employees, and hearing their experiences was rewarding and one of the best things in the research process. I feel lucky that I was able to study a subject which feels important and interesting to me. Also, having the possibility to do the field research in South Korea was great. Studying the culture through the culture theories revealed new issues and explained many other things which I had been wondering during the time I have been in contact with South Korea and its culture. There are so many things I want to learn more about and understand better. It feels like an end- less source of motivation to study the culture and the people in it.

I learned to do qualitative research and learned about the differences in research methods. Especially in interviews, there are several ways to conduct them depending on the purpose and type of data to be acquired. Creating interview questions which serve the purpose of the study was harder than expected. Afterwards I realized that I should had put them through pilot testing before using them in the actual interviews. Good questions in a semi-structure interview cannot be answered with one word, but they encourage the respondents to share more about their experiences and provide versatile and detailed information in the best case. During the interviews I noticed how important it is to ask follow-up questions when it seems that the interviewees might have something more to share or the main question was not understood as meant. The interviewer plays an active role and is responsible for creating a favourable environment for the interview. It can help to encourage the interviewees to talk more about their experiences in a relaxed mood.

The hardest part of the process was the beginning of the writing part. Creating a frame and naming the chapters gave an idea of the structure, but when it came to the actual writing of the chapters, it was very challenging to put words on the paper. There was a rough idea in my mind on how I wished the research paper to be, but putting it into words was hard. To overcome this, I started to write only words, sentences, and ideas to almost every chapter. Eventually the dialogue between the theories’ dimensions and the South Korean culture started to form and it was easier to write whole, coherent chapters. Look- ing at the table of content helped in creating a flowing and logical text where different chapters supported each other.

At some point it seemed that there was too much information available from literary and online sources and it felt overwhelming. There were many interesting things that I wanted to mention but it was not relevant for the research. Having a passion towards the subject it is not only a benefit but can lead to drifting away from the actual topic. The aim was to keep the content relevant for the topic, logical and well-articulated. When it felt like the part at hand was out of content, I briefly summarized the part in question and explained the relevance from my perspective to someone and asked their opinion. Having an outsider’s opinion can give valuable perspective since the writer herself can become blind to some things while intensively working with the research. My thesis coordinator gave me a good advice; I can put almost anything I want on paper as long as I can justify its relevance to the research. This was relieving to hear because I had a lot of doubt about what was relevant and what was not.

Writing up the theoretical framework and methodology was slightly frustrating, but it was necessary for the research. I wanted to concentrate more on the analysis of the culture and the data. The methodology part did not interest me at first but after getting to know the different research and analysis methods for qualitative study, I started to get excited about how I can use new approaches in future studies.

After ending this research and writing process, I want to thank my thesis coordinator Yücel Ger for all his help and inspiration. His courses about leadership, where I first learned about Hofstede’s theory, and encouragement for self-reflection after group projects, inspired me to do a research about communication. Especially the impact of individuals as members of social groups and their interaction raised the question about how much their background does, the culture they have been brought up in, influence their behaviour and way of communicating.

I also want to thank all the interviewees who agreed to participate. The insights, experiences, and opinions they shared with me, were the core of this study. In the future, I hope to meet some of them again, maybe while working in South Korea.

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Table of figures

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Appendices

Appendix 1. The interview in Finnish

Perustiedot:

Nimi ja ikä:

Ala jolla työskentelet/olet työskennellyt Koreassa:

Kauan olet työskennellyt Koreassa ja onko/oliko firma korealainen?:

Onko suurin osa työkavereistasi korealaisia?

Puhutko koreaa?

Jos puhut, käytätkö sitä yleisessä kommunikaatiossa työpaikallasi?

Valtaetäisyys

Millainen suhde sinulla on korkeampiarvoisiin tai vanhempiin työkavereihisi?

Näkyykö ikä tai asema heidän käytöksessään muita ja sinua kohtaan?

Onko työympäristö hierarkkinen? Jos koet että on, miten se näkyy?

Yksilöllisyys vs. kollektiivisuus (Toiminta ryhmänä tai yksilönä)

Koetko painetta mukautua enemmistön mielipiteisiin työpaikallasi?

Millaisissa tilanteissa koet painetta?

Koetko voivasi ilmaista mielipiteesi sekä antaa kritiikkiä työkavereillesi? Entä korkeam- massa asemassa oleville?

Universalismi vs. partikularismi (Sääntöjen ja suhteiden arvotus)

Ovatko sosiaaliset suhteet ja harmonia tärkeämpiä kuin säännöt ja käytännöt työpaikal- lasi?

Uskotko että esim. palkkauksessa tai harkittaessa ylennyksen/palkankorotuksen anta- mista, suhteet merkitsevät enemmän kuin työpanos?

Spesifi vs. diffuusi (Kuinka syvällisesti ajatellaan)

Kuinka läheiseksi koet työkaverisi ja työpaikkasi?

Onko tässä eroja sinun/suomalaisten ja korealaisten työntekijöiden välillä?

Aikaorientaatio

Kuinka tärkeitä määräajat (työtehtävien, projektien yms. deadlinet) ovat ja noudatetaanko niitä?

Oletko huomannut eroja suomalaisten ja korealaisten käsityksessä määräajoista?

Onko työpaikallasi useampi projekti käynnissä samaan aikaan?

Jos on, niin kuinka niitä hallinnoidaan ja keskitytäänkö niihin ajallisesti tasavertaisesti?