Hierarchy is one of the most distinguishing characteristics of Korean culture. In turn, the Korean workplace is deeply rooted in hierarchy. Reaching back to Korea's Neo- Confucian past, social stratification is very apparent in many of Korea's top companies. Even I am a Korean, I cannot deny this statement. First, most of Koreans have to go to military which is totally hierarchy. Also, neo Confucianism has set up the hierarchy of jobs, this is still existing in the Korean society. Therefore, the hierarchy system blocks communication among workers in the company and it is hard to apply all employees’ opinions and thoughts into company’s vision and policy. In addition, this has procrastinated the Korean economy’s development for a long time. To solve this problem, as I have experienced, I firmly believe that a leader has to have specific kinds of leadership as below.
First of all, for effective leadership, a leader must know how to communicate each other and listen to other’s saying.
For two months, I did an internship in SIMENS Korea. The job was to review the company assets with a tracking system for the branch headquarter office and the factories in Korea and offer office supplies with the intranet application. This was a great opportunity for me to experience western culture and customs in a foreign branch company. For example, one day I was in the elevator with my superior. Later, one president got on the elevator too. I was shocked when he said hi with a wave of his hand to the president. This situation would never happen in a traditional Korean company because Korea is still conservative and a hierarchical society. In contrast, at my father’s company, every morning each subordinate has to bow to the upper ranks’ workers. My father always stays in his private office and if a worker has business with him, he has to knock on the door that is his only connection linked to other employees. In my opinion, it seems that this way severs