The Gwangju People's Uprising and the Construction of Collective Identity: A Study on the Fighters' Bulletin

This paper explores the Fighters' Bulletin (Tusahoebo) , which was initially published by a student organization during the Gwangju People's Uprising and later became a kind of official newspaper of the struggle headquarters. Through an analysis of the contents of the Fighters' Bulletin , this study reconstructs the trajectory of the collective identity construction. The Fighters' Bulletin informed Gwangju citizens of the meaning and development of the Uprising and earnestly devoted itself to construct the collective identity of "we," defining the object and the subject of the resistance and guidelines for action. Concentrated on constructing the collective identity at the beginning, it tried to resist the stigmatic framing of the dominant discourses, to highlight the true meaning of the struggle. In the later stage of struggle, it devoted itself to investing in the emotional framing through the participants' willingness to sacrifice their lives for the struggle. It concludes that, even though the Gwangju Uprising was a failed 10-day long revolution, its collective identity, which was constructed and manifested through the Fighters' Bulletin, has been appropriated as a major framework for subsequent political struggles in South Korea.     

Economic crisis,downsizing and “layoff survivor's syndrome”

This article deals with layoff survivor's syndrome following the 1997 economic crisis in South Korea. South Korea has been credited with quickly recovering from its economic crisis by implementing policies aimed at economic restructuring. However, researchers have discovered that, in addition to those directly affected by a lay-off, layoff survivors as well suffer from impacts on their mental health — hence the name, layoff survivors' syndrome. The present research focuses on the socio-psychological impact of downsizing on layoff survivors on the basis of a nationwide survey. The findings reveal a significant difference in work attitudes after downsizing, as well as a significant impact on survivors' mental health. The study concludes that these negative impacts may negatively influence organizational productivity, and thus downsizing as a blanket strategy for organizational renewal needs to be reconsidered.     

Organizing K-Pop: Emergence and Market Making of Large Korean Entertainment Houses, 1980–2010

This paper studies the connection between the emergence and market making activities of the large Korean entertainment houses and the global level success of “K-pop,” an increasingly popular type of Korean popular music. We review a set of conventional explanations, respectively pointing to cultural factors, government support, and technological development as core factors that led to the global success of K-pop. We find all three explanations unsatisfactory and, alternatively, building on studies of market intermediaries, argue that the roles of three large entertainment houses—SM Entertainment, YG Entertainment, and JYP Entertainment—have been the most crucial in the development and success of K-pop. Through combining data from Korean music charts, newspaper articles, and revenue data, we trace the increasingly systematic musical production strategies of the entertainment houses and the macro-consequences of their organizational activities.     

Creating a new organizational culture: the key to total quality management in the public sector

Total Quality Management (TQM) as a business strategy has been recognized by managers in the public sector since the late 1980s. While much has been written about the need for TQM and its strategies such as quantitative measurement and statistical analysis, team work and worker participation, few empirical and theoretical studies have been carried out or published on the connection of organizational culture to the implementation of TQM. Many leaders in the field have asserted that significant organizational cultural change will be required to ensure the success of TQM. This paper examines the changes that may be required in the process, and presents a synopsis of the need to (perhaps) reexamine the definition of organizational culture and the perspective of management, public or private, to make the culture of an organization more compatible with desired values.     

Al Qaeda Confronts Hamas: Divisions in the Sunni Jihadist Movement and its Implications for U.S. Policy

Almost eight years after the September 2001 attacks, U.S. counterterrorism strategy would benefit from a clearer definition of its adversaries. Some have suggested that U.S. counterterrorism policy focus primarily on Sunni jihadists. This term would account for groups such as Al Qaeda and the Abu Sayyaf Group in the Philippines, but not Shi'ite militias in Iraq or Hizbullah. Although any attempt to narrow the scope of U.S. counterterrorism strategy has merit, it is worth noting that important distinctions exist between the various groups. To explore these distinctions, this article examines the different historical trajectories and current arguments between two of the most well-known Sunni jihadists: Al Qaeda and Hamas.     

Impeachment and presidential politics in new democracies

Research on presidentialism has long assumed that presidential impeachment is a rare event, made difficult by design in order to enhance government stability. However, the experience of Third Wave democracies suggests that more presidents have been targets of impeachment attempts than the literature might lead us to expect. In this article I seek to identify the factors that make directly elected presidents more or less vulnerable to impeachment attempts in Third Wave presidential democracies from 1974 to 2003. I find several factors that mobilize deputies against the president: presidential involvement in political scandal, strong presidential powers, and a hostile civil society. Presidents are more likely to fend off such efforts when their party commands a higher share of seats. I also find that popular protest against a president helps to prompt a congressional impeachment drive. Frequent efforts to resolve presidential crises via such legal procedures may explain in part why extra-constitutional means of conflict resolution have become a less attractive option in new democracies.     

The political origins of South Korea's economic crisis: Is democratization to blame?

Different explanations have been presented regarding the recent economic crisis in South Korea. After critically evaluating these explanations, the article modifies and refines the dominant model, the mea culpa paradigm, to develop a political, interactive and integrative explanation of the crisis. The economic breakdown during the Kim Young Sam regime in Korea (1993–98) was mainly due to the Kim government's failure to carry out its well‐intended economic reforms, particularly chaebol reforms. The reasons for the failure of the economic reforms, in turn, consist of a set of political factors, including President Kim's distinctive leadership style encapsulated by ‘decretistic populism’, the chaebôl's effective cultural strategies of agenda denial and an anti‐reform campaign by conservative social forces. In this respect, the economic crisis in Korea is also a political crisis. The article refutes a popular interpretation within Korea that blames democracy for the economic crisis, demonstrating that there is at best a very tenuous relationship between the democratization in the country since 1987 and the economic crisis. To overcome the crisis, the current Kim Dae Jung government in Korea should avoid decretistic populism, forge and maintain a constructive alliance with civil society groups and develop a solid coalition for economic reform.     

Licensing versus selling in transactions for exploiting patented technological knowledge assets in the markets for technology

This paper examines the determinants of the types of technology transactions in the markets for technology. On the basis of the relationship between the characteristics of a firm’s patents and the firm’s decision on whether to license out or sell these patented technologies, we empirically analyze the determinants of the decision. We employ interlocked patent data from the representative Korean market for technology, the National Technology Bank, using a bivariate probit regression model in a theoretical framework that includes the option and transaction cost perspectives. Overall, the results show that the relationship between licensing and selling, the major alternatives in technology transactions, is strongly substitutive. The major finding of this study is that firms in markets for technology tend to prefer licensing their patents when uncertainty is low or transaction cost is high, whereas they tend to prefer selling their patents under opposite conditions.     

On Justification Work: How Compromising Enables Public Managers to Deal with Conflicting Values

In the public administration literature, a variety of responses to value conflicts have been described, such as trade‐offs, decoupling values, and incrementalism. Yet little attention has been paid to the possibility of constructive compromises that enable public managers to deal with conflicting values simultaneously rather than separately. The authors use Luc Boltanski and Laurent Thévenot's theory of justification to extend current conceptualizations of management of conflicting values. On the basis of a qualitative study of daily practices of Dutch health care managers (executives and middle managers), they show how compromises are constructed and justified to significant others. Because compromises are fragile and open to criticism, managers have to perform continuous “justification work” that entails not only the use of rhetoric but also the adaption of behavior and material objects. By inscribing compromises into objects and behavior, managers are able to solidify compromises, thereby creating temporary stability in times of public sector change.