Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education and Training

The problem and the solution. This issue was initiated to discover how human resource development (HRD) was being used as national policy in various countries throughout the world and what the findings would mean to our understanding of HRD. As suggested in recent exploratory research, the concept of HRD as national policy is a reality throughout the world. As we continue to explore HRD in our coursework and research, the articles in this issue will require us to think more expansively about what HRD is and how we need to partner with many other change agents to be successful in our national human resource development (NHRD) efforts.

A retrospective study was carried out in 114 unoperated and 197 operated patients having left main coronary artery (LMCA) stenosis greater than or equal to 50%. Including the operative mortality of 9.1%, survival at seven years was significantly greater following pure aortocoronary bypass graft surgery, 77.5% as compared to 48.5% for the unoperated patients (P less than 0.01). The surgical mortality was significantly less during the last five years (1972-1976), 6.2% as compared to 17% during 1969-1971 (P less than 0.025). The three year survival in patients operated since 1972 was 90.2% as compared to 60.4% for unoperated patients. Survival remained significantly higher in the operated patients when studied as subsets on the basis of the severity of the LMCA stenosis (less than 70% as opposed to greater than or equal to 70%), and on the extent of associated obstructive disease of major coronary arteries (0-1 versus 2-3 arteries). It was significantly higher, however, only in operated patients with associated stenosis greater than or equal to 70% of the right coronary artery. Survival was higher following surgery only when the ejection fraction was at least 0.45, or the left ventricular end-diastolic pressure below 20 mm Hg.

Comparison of aortocoronary saphenous vein graft status at two weeks and at one year was made in two series of patients. The early postoperative evaluation includes 122 patients of the first 138 operated in our institution (182 grafts) and 83 subjects from a second series of 100 patients operated after modifications of surgical techniques (184 grafts). The one-year follow-up study was obtained in 105 patients of the first series (154 grafts) and in 67 of the second (152 grafts). The patency rate at two weeks was not significantly different between the two groups: 86.3% vx. 91.8%. A marked decrease of steonses noted early at anastomotic sites was observed: 15% to 5.5% (P less than 0.025). The patency rate at one year improved from 67% to 85,5% (P less than 0.0005). Grafts having flows at operation of at least 50 ml/min had patency rates of 90% in both series. The patency in grafts with initial flows below 50 ml/min increased from 28% to 73% (P less than 0.005). The incidence of late localized graft stenoses greater than 40% decreased from 16.5% to 6% (P less than 0.025), and diffuse narrowing greater than 40% was found in only 12% of the patent grafts at one year in the second series as compared to 31% in the first (P less than 0.001). These improved results do not appear to have been influenced by selection favoring better distal run-off in grafted arteries nor by the introduction of sequential grafts to multiple coronary arteries in the second group. Modified surgical techniques may explain the improved results.

Purpose In line with emerging conceptualizations of humility in organizations, the purpose of this paper is to examine how leader humility and distance-based factors (i.e. power distance orientation (PDO) and hierarchical distance) interact to predict follower psychological empowerment. Design/methodology/approach The authors tested the hypotheses using a sample of 294 employees in South Korea. Moderated regression and bootstrapping analyses were conducted to test for direct and moderated relationships. Findings Results indicated that leader humility positively predicted follower psychological empowerment, and followers’ PDO positively moderated this relationship. Results of a three-way interaction indicated that the impact of leader humility on follower psychological empowerment was strongest when both followers’ levels of PDO and hierarchical distance were high. Practical implications Humility can provide a new lens through which to understand the leadership process. Beyond anecdotal accounts, this study provided strong evidence for the value of humility on the list of qualities essential for successful leadership. Originality/value This is the first study to provide empirical evidence for the moderating effect of PDO and hierarchical distance on the relationship between leader humility and follower empowerment. The findings highlight the benefits of understanding the roles of followers’ cultural value orientation and hierarchical position in the effectiveness of leader humility.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the moderated mediation model in which the effect of perceived organizational support (POS) on knowledge sharing intention is mediated by levels of individual affective commitment to the organization, while the relationship between POS and affective commitment is moderated by organizational tenure. Design/methodology/approach Hypotheses on mediation, moderation and moderated mediation were tested with data collected from Korean for-profit organizations. Conditional process analyses with bootstrapping supported all three hypotheses. Findings The findings demonstrate that the relationship between POS and knowledge sharing intention is mediated by affective organizational commitment. In addition, the mediation effect is strengthened when an individual’s organizational tenure is low. Theoretical and practical implications and directions for future research are followed. Originality/value This study contributes to the literature on knowledge sharing by providing a basis for understanding the mediating mechanism through which POS influences knowledge sharing intention, and, ultimately, organizational functioning via individual affective attitude. This is the first attempt examining the role of organizational tenure as a key contingency factor in knowledge sharing. By investigating the underlying logic of individual intention to share knowledge, this study expands the current spectrum for knowledge management.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between organizational and task factors and the effectiveness of two types of informal learning: peer interaction and learning by doing via own task. The data examined were secondary data derived from the Human Capital Corporate Panel data in 2007, organized and collected by the Korea Research Institute of Vocational Education and Skill Training (KRIVET). A hierarchical multi-regression analysis was applied to data in this study. Study results supported the belief that top management leadership in human resource development (HRD) as well as open communications positively affected the effectiveness of informal learning. However, innovation culture did not have a statistically significant relationship with the effectiveness of informal learning. Further, this study showed that new task and task satisfaction positively influenced this effectiveness. Effectiveness increased when employees recognized that knowledge and skills obtained from current tasks were also useful to other organizations. Implications for practice and recommendations for further research are discussed.

Abstract Although the importance of workplace learning has been recognized in research and practice, there is little empirical support that describes how workplace learning, including both formal and informal learning, is linked to organizational performance. This study investigated the influence of investment in workplace learning on learning outcomes and organizational performance using the 2005 and 2007 Human Capital Corporate Panel survey of South Korean companies. The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The study found that investment in workplace learning influences organizational performance through the outcomes of workplace learning. Implications for human resource development research and practice are discussed.

The purpose of this collaborative qualitative study was to investigate the lived experience of women leaders in South Korean companies who manage their work and life and develop their leadership in the face of organizational and cultural constraints. Critical to this investigation was the understanding of three concepts represented in the literature on women in leadership: cultural context, work‐life balance, and leadership development. A team of eight researchers conducted a collaborative qualitative study to interview 50 women leaders using a purposeful and snowball sampling method. As a result, we found that women leaders experience difficulties in work‐life balance and leadership development largely due to a gendered workplace. By gendered workplace we mean frequent drinking after work, the exclusion of women leaders from informal networking, and a lack of developmental opportunities. The gendered workplace forced them to sacrifice their personal lives in order to work long hours and develop their own strategies for work‐life balance. We also found that there were noticeable differences in their narratives by position (28 team leaders and 22 executives) and marital status (37 married and 13 singles) concerning family support, major challenges, definitions of success, leadership styles, and mentors. Based on the study findings, we provided implications for research and practice and the study limitations.

Despite the recent policy proclamations urging state and local educators to implement integrated science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) curricula, relatively little is known about the role and impact of pre-college engineering courses within these initiatives. When combined with appropriate mathematics and science courses, high school engineering and engineering technology (E&ET) courses may have the potential to provide students with pre-college learning experiences that encourage them to pursue STEM college majors. Our central research question was: What is the nature and extent of any relationship between high school E&ET course completion and subsequent selection of a STEM major in a two-year or four-year college? Using the first and second follow-up datasets of the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002, we examined the direction and magnitude of the association between E&ET course-taking in high school and postsecondary STEM program enrollment. We controlled for a wide array of factors identified in the literature as being associated with college major selection, allowing us to better isolate the association between high school E&ET course-taking and college major selection. Overall, students who earned three credits in E&ET courses were 1.60 times more likely to enroll in STEM majors in four-year institutions than students who did not earn high school E&ET credits. This positive, significant association persisted even after controlling for students’ social backgrounds, academic preparation and attitudes during high school, college choice considerations, and early postsecondary education experiences. In combination with a high school college readiness curriculum, E&ET courses potentially contribute in multiple ways to informing students’ selection of engineering and STEM college majors.

Using a predictive research design with data collected at three different time points over a four-year period from 277 firms in South Korea, we investigated how and when investment in employee training leads to improved organizational outcomes. The results showed that employee commitment and competence mediated the relationship between training investment and organizational outcomes. The moderated mediation analyses further revealed that the mediated relationship between training investment and organizational outcomes via employee commitment and competence was stronger when the human resources (HR) function within an organization was highly strategically oriented. Based on the results, implications for strategic HR research and practice were provided.

We conducted a survey-based study on the meaning of work of some 1500 mid-level professional employees in private and public organizations in eight countries. Using the country clustering described in the GLOBE series of studies and the theoretical framework of the Meaning of Work study, five hypotheses were tested. The study found support for the universal valuation of work and family as major life domains and the relative importance of leisure, religion, and community involvement. Work centrality was related in differentiated ways to performance orientation, assertiveness, and humane orientation indices. Extrinsic and intrinsic work goals differed and were related to country clustering. The report concludes with implications for the theory and practice of human resource development and offers suggestions for further research.

Purpose Global gender diversity and equality indexes have been developed to promote gender diversity and equality at the country level, but it is difficult to see how those indexes are applied to organizations on a daily basis. The purpose of this study is to examine the application of environmental, social and governance (ESG) measures for gender diversity and equality at the organizational level in a Korean context. Design/methodology/approach Based on the institutional theory, the authors reviewed ESG measures for gender diversity and equality of women funds in four countries (USA, Canada, UK and Japan) and examined The Women Fund in Korea through document analysis and interviews. Findings ESG measures in four countries’ women funds mainly assessed the percentage of women in the workforce, on boards and in leadership positions. In The Women Fund , gender diversity indicators consider the ratio of female to male employees, while gender equality indicators take into account gaps of male and female salaries and positions. This study’s impact analysis indicates that the companies invested in by The Women Fund had higher return on assets and return on equity than those without the fund. Research limitations/implications Although women funds explored in this study exemplify the use of ESG measures to apply global gender diversity and equality indexes at the organizational level, research is needed to examine ESG measures and women funds and their associations. Possible topics include what needs to be measured in ESG, who should be involved, how ESG measures should be applied, what outcomes of using ESG measures would ensue in organizations and how ESG measures relate to regional and global gender diversity. Practical implications In promoting ESG measures that apply global gender diversity and equality at the organizational level, human resource development practitioners, as change agents, can help organizations develop socially responsible and ethical behaviors and transform organizational culture, practice and systems, which may influence organizations’ long-term survival and development as well as financial performance. Social implications As the government’s support and policies guide and drive firms to develop and implement initiatives and programs, the launch and implementation of gender diversity and equality at the organizational level in the form of women funds require a certain level of collaboration between the government and the private sector. Originality/value This study on the application of ESG measures for global gender diversity and equality at the organizational level in the form of women funds is timely to engage organizations in dialogue regarding what needs to be done to promote women’s participation and leadership roles in organizations in Korea and other countries.

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of students’ self-regulation, co-regulation and behavioral engagement on their performance in flipped learning environments in higher education. Design/methodology/approach The subjects were college students taking an education course offered at a 4-year university in South Korea. Structural equation modeling was adopted to analyze 221 student responses. Findings The findings indicated that the more students self-regulated, the more likely they were to engage in co-regulation with other students in the class. Students’ self-regulation and co-regulation also significantly affected their behavioral engagement. Finally, students’ self-regulation positively affected their academic performance, while co-regulation and behavioral engagement did not affect their performance. Originality/value Based on these findings, this study provides meaningful implications for scholars and practitioners on how to select and use more appropriate instructional and evaluation strategies to improve students’ positive behavior, engagement and performance in a flipped learning environment.

Abstract The aim of this study is to examine the influence of humble and empowering leader behaviors on the prosocial voice of subordinates. We also investigate subordinate power distance orientation as a possible moderator of this relationship and subordinate psychological empowerment as the underlying mechanism behind this moderated effect. Findings from 306 employees of a Korean business conglomerate indicated that humble and empowering leadership were positively related to the prosocial voice of subordinates, and the moderation effects of subordinates’ power distance orientation between these two types of leader behaviors and subordinates’ prosocial voice were fully mediated by the extent to which they felt psychologically empowered. Our findings indicated that the moderation for the main effect between leadership and voice was caused by the significant moderating effect in the indirect path between two main variables via psychological empowerment. We conclude by highlighting implications for management practice and identifying avenues for future research.

For effective flipped learning, beyond simply switching the sequence of lectures and homework, it is important to understand and implement the fundamental design principles of flipped learning. A new notion is proposed called flipped learning design fidelity, defined as the degree to which a class is faithfully designed to be close to an ideal flipped learning class operationalised with four proxy indicators of the F-L-I-P™ model (flexible environment, learning culture, intentional content, and professional educator). This study empirically examines the effect of both learner-related factor (self-regulated learning) and design-related factor (design fidelity) on learning outcomes (satisfaction, continuance intention) in a university flipped course. We hypothesised that flipped learning design fidelity and self-regulated learning affect student satisfaction and intention to continue participating in a flipped learning course. The participants were 134 Korean students of a university course taught in a flipped learning mode. The results revealed that the level of flipped learning design fidelity had a significant effect on satisfaction, but did not affect continuance intention. In addition, the level of self-regulated learning had a significant effect on satisfaction and continuance intention. Drawn from the key findings, we suggest implications for the design of flipped learning courses in a university context.

The diagnosis of acute kidney disease (AKI) has been examined mainly by histology, immunohistochemistry and western blot. Though these approaches are widely accepted in the field, it has an inherent limitation due to the lack of high-throughput and quantitative information. For a better understanding of prognosis in AKI, we present a new approach using quantitative phase imaging combined with a wide-field scanning platform. Through the phase-delay information from the tissue, we were able to predict a stage of AKI based on various optical properties such as light scattering coefficient and anisotropy. These optical parameters quantify the deterioration process of the AKI model of tissue. Our device would be a very useful tool when it is required to deliver fast feedback of tissue pathology or when diseases are related to mechanical properties such as fibrosis.

Technology transfer (or sharing) is a common way to share external sources. There have been many studies on the relationship of self-R&D and technology transfer regarding its theoretical background and its efficiency. This present research has been developed by examining how a concrete measure of a company or a firm's real performance (increased sales ratio; growth rate) is related to the variables of resources and capabilities using the resource-based theory and open innovation model. The approach of this research is unique in that it examines a sample comprising of licensing-in and technological cooperation variables, categorizes forms according to industry, and looks at such unique variables as a "process" (the ratio of CEO's and related-person's stocks). The data on 361 Korean firms was gathered from Korea's Data Analysis, Retrieval, and Transfer System and Worldwide Intellectual Property Search. Findings show that human, technology, and fixed assets are related positively to financial performance, and searching, absorbing, and openness capabilities as a control effect is related positively to a firm's increased sales ratio. Strategic plans for technology transfer companies are also included in this research.

Based in identity theory and the depletion hypothesis in the work-life literature, this study investigated dimensions of the meaning of work and work stress among mid-level managers in the United States, Brazil, and Korea. Findings include a high salience of work as a central life concern but a primacy of family involvement in each country. The importance of religious involvement, leisure activities, and community involvement was rated low. Intrinsic and extrinsic orientations to working were related to increased levels of work stress, but in each country the dimensions of work stress were associated with meaning of work aspects in different combinations and affected different demographic groups in different ways. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings imply the need for a differentiated understanding of the meaning of work dimensions in international settings and the awareness that increased levels of work stress can results from higher levels of work centrality and intrinsic and economic work orientations.

This study examined the role of acculturation to the host culture, acculturation to the home culture, and dispositional hope in career decision self-efficacy (CDSE) in a sample of 213 Korean international undergraduate students enrolled in U.S. universities. The findings revealed that hope and acculturation to the host culture uniquely and positively predicted CDSE. Acculturation to the home culture was positively related to CDSE but did not account for unique variance in CDSE beyond that accounted for by hope. Hope was the strongest predictor of CDSE. As expected, acculturation to the host culture and acculturation to the home culture were not significantly related, suggesting that one does not necessarily require sacrifice of the other. No interaction effects were found between hope and acculturation variables on CDSE. Limitations of this study and implications for future research and practice are discussed.

Abstract We analyse job‐training effects on Korean women for the period January 1999 to March 2000, using a large data set of size about 52,000. We employ a number of estimation techniques: Weibull MLE and accelerated failure time approach, which are both parametric; Cox partial likelihood estimator, which is semiparametric; and two pair‐matching estimators, which are in essence nonparametric. All of these methods gave the common conclusion that job training for Korean women increased their unemployment duration. The trainings were not cost‐effective in the sense that they took too much time ‘locking in’ the trainees during the training span, compared with the time they took to place the trainees afterwards. Despite this negative finding, some sub‐groups had positive effects: white‐collar workers trained for finance/insurance or information/communication. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.