Assignment 4:
HRM and Culture

Angina A. Blakney
Dr. Geri Puleo
Strategic Human Resource Management, HRM 530
September 4, 2012

Introduction The minicase “Cracks in a Particularly Thick Glass Ceiling,” discusses how women in South Korea are conflicted when it comes to their careers. Although, the women of South Korea are slowly changing the corporate culture there are some men who are resistance to change. They’re use to the educated women of South Korea choosing the traditional career path, careers in the fields of education. But due to the Asian financial crisis in 1998 where thousands of men lost their jobs or took pay cuts, and their wives had to assist financially. Due to this situation women started small businesses and worked part-time job, and a couple of years later the Korean government banned gender discrimination in the workplace, requiring businesses with 500 employees to provide child-care facilities, creating additional opportunities for women. This minicase shares a story about a Korean women name Choi Dong Hee who worked for SK research arm she was the only woman who’d worked for the company. Choi believed that the company didn’t recognize nor did they utilize her talent. So, Choi demonstrated her talent by creating and conducting a yearlong study recommending the company to modify their policy permitting subscribers to use any wireless portal. Choi proposal was denied, but she didn’t give up she was consistent, dedicated to her vision, and convincing. In the end SK adopted Choi’s policy, and SK quickly recognized that the women’s viewpoint can assist SK with serving its customers (McGraw-Hill, 2012).

SK’s Business Strategy Since 2003, SK Telecom has been organizing various Business Relationship (BR)-strengthening programs to foster trust-based Win-Win Partnerships with our business partners. Business Relationship (BR) management became one of the basic "New Value Management" concepts in the SK Group's SKMS management philosophy in March 2004. In 2005, with the establishment of the "SK 3 Sang-Saeng Principles," BR management became part of the core enterprise management strategy. Under the BR Management approach, SK Telecom operates a variety of programs for business partners, such as financial, R&D and training support, Two-way Communication program, Benefit Sharing program, and others. Another financial support programs is the "Small and Medium-sized Enterprise Priority Settlement System" for SMEs requiring immediate cash settlements, the "Partner Finance Support System," the "Network Loan System" and others. * SK Telecom provides R&D support in the form of the NATE Business Center and other test-bed facilities, as well as R&D funding through the Collaborative R&D Program (CRP). * Training is provided via online and offline courses that seek to enhance the competitiveness and future competencies of SK Telecom’s business partners. In 2006, the nation’s first permanent education center, "SK Sang-saeng Academy," was established for our partners' management and staff. * The Two-way Communication program fosters shared vision and strategies through regular offline meetings among business partners at the Partner On Camp. We directly visit our partner companies to hear their suggestions and problems through one-on-one meetings. * Under the Benefit Sharing program, SK Telecom awards the "Partner Prize" each year to outstanding business partners and conducts other activities aimed at promoting shared benefits. * Additionally, SK Telecom is expanding its presence in the global marketplace, including the U.S, and Vietnam, in close cooperation with our business partners. SK aim is to increase these alliances in new business areas through the "Open Idea Festival" where these partners are encouraged to propose new business ideas and models.
SK Telecom will continue to expand and deepen the Win-Win Partnership model, sharing with our business partners’ knowledge and enterprise culture and strengthening mutual sustainability (www.sktelecom.com).
SK’s Business Strategy Employee Policies and HRM The objectives of SK Telecom’s HR policies are to maximize productivity per capita by procuring excellent talent through training and optimal use of its employees, and to become the world’s leading telecommunication company by strengthening the competitiveness of individual staff. SK Telecom’s foremost HR policy objectives are : ensuring a talent pool to achieve business goals, implementing a compensation system that produces high performance, and creating a speedy and flexible organization (www.sktelecom.com). According to SK’s business strategies I believe SK human resource management supports their business strategy. In order for SK Telecom to grow and succeed in the global business market they have to consistently recruit, develop, and retain extraordinary talent by making optimal use of their human resources. When employees feel appreciated, receive adequate development and training, and leadership is effective then productivity is at an all time high.
Promotion of Women Increases the Competitive Advantage The strategic competitive advantage of hiring more women and promoting them provides a better diverse workforce that provides different ideas from the other sex point of view. Most women provide views that men don’t present. These new ideas present a distinct competitive advantage over another Korean company who does not possess a female present. Promoting women helps break the barrier that exists in the Korean culture. These women provide needed knowledge and show they know the business, can influence the culture and make a positive change happen within the organization and help effectively help measure the terms of business competitiveness (Stewart & Brown, 2011). South Korea may be technologically advanced, but when it comes to the status of working women, the country is stuck in the slow lane. Only two years ago, when the economy hit the skids, tens of thousands of female workers were sacked. Nowadays, under the banner of restructuring, women are still first on the firing line. The government is elated that unemployment has fallen from a record of nearly 10% two years ago to less than 5% now, but the situation for women in the workforce ''is getting worse,'' declares Kang Sun Mii, a researcher at the Center for Women's Studies at Ewha Women's University (Veale, 2000).

Here are a few examples of women trying to crack the glass ceiling in South Korea: Park Myung Soon is in charge of business development at SK had to prove herself by achieving 120% more than her male counterparts, and prove she could fit in with the guys in order to be recognized. Choi Dong Hee an employee at SK research arm had to create her own major project in order to distinguish herself as an asset to the company. Although Hee put in a lot of hard work in the end her policy wasn’t adopted. Sonia Kim, who is in charge of TV marketing at Samsung Electronics took a big risk and hard work to persuade her manager to allow her to develop a promotional campaign, only to later have the decision overturned (McGraw-Hill, 2012). Mi Hae is gloomy about her career prospects. ''I'll probably never get a promotion,'' says the 29-year-old communications worker, who does not want her company identified. ''No women in this company have, at least beyond assistant general level.'' There are a couple hundred general managers, the next grade up, she estimates, but ''I can't think of a single woman at that level. Management doesn't want to give women any real responsibilities, but they say they can't promote women because they haven't been tested.'' Most women at her company, she says, end up quitting and don't even think about a long-term career. The Internet boom, however, has been a godsend for women in Korea. While only 3% of some 6,500 high-tech companies were founded by women, employees say tech companies care less about gender. ''When my company hired me, they only wanted to know what skills I had. They didn't seem to care that I was a woman,'' says Kim Ki Hyang, a manager at M2 Community, a digital marketing outfit. Adds Kim e-Sook, who founded an Internet business consulting company, e-Corporation, 18 months ago: ''What matters to clients is whether you can solve their problems.'' Young female college graduates, consequently, are flocking to high-tech startups. And Kim Dae Jung's government has coughed up about $100,000 to help women with high-tech dreams. That's not a lot of money--but for Korea, it's a start (Veale, 2000).
Recruitment & Retention Plan Targeting Women 1. Determine if and how the HRM practices align with the company's business strategy.
Two companies were mentioned in the minicase (S&K Holdings and Samsung 2. Electronics -- 2 companies that are not related according to my research). Therefore, focus on S&K Holdings (since they were discussed more frequently than Samsung by doing the following: * Research SK Holdings business strategy. * Find information on S&K's corporate website regarding their employee policies and HRM. * Then critically determine if the HRM supports or undermines the strategy. 3. Discuss how hiring more women and promoting them could improve the competitive advantage of this company. * Again, focus on S&K Holdings. * You may want to consider researching the growth of women in the South Korean workplace. * Refer to examples in the minicase. * Research markets for S&K and then discuss how having more women in the workplace could offer the company a unique perspective that can lead to a competitive advantage. 4. Prepare a recruitment & retention plan for this company that specifically targets women employees. * Research South Korea's Gender Equality Ministry (mentioned in the minicase). * Create a recruitment & retention plan for S&K Holdings that targets women AND is in compliance with the Gender Equality Ministry's guidelines, policies, etc. 5. List 3 potential obstacles that this company could face in its quest to diversify its workforce in this particular culture. * Research South Korean culture, assumptions, biases, etc. * You may want to also consider the culture of S&K Holdings. 6. Recommend 2 HRM strategies that this company could enforce to improve the visibility of its women employees. * Check out Exhibit 12.1 in the supplement. * Also read paragraph 1 on the same page as Exhibit 12.1; it lists the 5 HR areas of recruitment/retention, performance evaluation, compliance, training/development, and labor relations.
Hope this helps -- I'm sorry that it was so confusing. Remember you have until Tuesday at 11:59 PM to upload this report.
I've been swamped this week with work projects, but will be spending Friday-Sunday catching up on all the grading. I'm planning on grading Report #3 tomorrow, so you'll get my feedback then. I'm sorry for this delay in grading -- I just haven't found out how to clone myself!
If you have any questions or need more clarification, please don't hesitate to call me at 412.722.1020 EST before 7 PM including this weekend.
Regards,
Dr. Geri Puleo, SPHR
412.722.1020 EST Before 7 PM

References
McGraw-Hill. (2011). Strategic Human Resource MGT International HRM Supplement. New York, NY:
McGraw-Hill.

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Veale, J. (2000). It's Tough to Be a Working Woman...But the Web Is a Bright Spot. Business Week Online.