ABSTRACT
The Relationship between Corporate Culture and PR according to the Stages of Growth in Korean Venture Companies
Paek, Keun-Hyw
Dept. of Mass Communication
The Graduate School
Yonsei University
This study examines how corporate culture and public relations practice in Korean venture companies are different according to their stage of growth and how corporate culture is related to PR model. For these the extension of Hofstede's cultural dimensions to public relations practice through the extension of Hofstede's cultural dimensions to Grunig's models of public relations with a focus on Korean venture companies.
The Research questions in this analysis are as follows:
1. Are there any differences of corporate culture according to the stages of growth in Korean venture companies.
2. Are there any differences of PR practices according to the stages of growth in Korean venture companies.
3. What corporate culture influences public relations in Korean venture companies?
Among the major variables used in the research questions above, stages of growth were classified into three steps, based on the Kazanjian(1988)'s four-stage model: conceptualization, growth, stability. And corporate culture was examined in terms of Hofstede's(1980, 1991) cultural dimensions used to explain communication across cultures: power distance(PD), uncertainty avoidance(UA), individualism, collectivism, masculinity, femininity.
In the method, I surveyed PR practitioners of information technology-based ventures registered on Small & Medium Business Administration site through online. Surveys were sent to 1345 venture, with a total response rate of 12.3%(165) and after eliminating several surveys, the data were based on N=161.
The findings in this study are summarized as follows:
The first research question explored how corporate culture of Korean ventures was different according to the stages of growth, As a result, only UA and also correlated with stage of stability. These finding show that venture companies tend to avoid ambiguity. These finding show that venture companies tend to avoid ambiguity as they grow and therefore develop a formality of organization structure, rules, procedures and responsibilities. On the contrary to this, most venture firms in the early stage of grewth prefer flexible management in order to cope with external changes and risks. In that stage, the company more closely resembles a task group then an organization. In addition, while respondents in this stage claimed to value the well-being of the collective over the needs of the individual, those in the stage of stability valued the more material aspects of work, including promotion, salary and success.
The second research question examined how public relations practice was differentiated according to the stages of ventures' growth. And to determine the models of public relations, I reformulated the questionnaire used in the International Association of Business Communication(IABC) study. According to Grunig, the tow-way, symmetrical model is the most effective and ethical model of public relations. As a result, it proved that venture companies in the stage of stability largely practiced the tow-way symmetrical model of public relations.
This finding shows that the venture in the early stage are lack of mutual understanding about publics because the primary focus of their activities is on product development and design, securing financial resources and developing a market. The stabilized ventures, develop, however, develop mutual understanding between the management of the organization and publics the organization affects by solving the conflicts. Hence I could conclude that the excellent model of public relations collaborated by Grunig was proved as true through this analysis.
Lastly, this study also examined the relationship between Hofstede's cultural variables and the models of public relations for Korean ventures. Three broad finding emerged from this study. First, power distance significantly correlated whit the one-way models of public relations. It proves that practitioners working under heavily controlled or authoritative management overwhelmingly practice one-way communication with publics. Second relationship between collectivism and femininity with the two-way models. This finding also shows that PR practitioners choose to practice the two-way models under collectivistic and feminine corporate culture which values cooperation, good relationship with co-workers and group-oriented goals.
Eventually, this corporate culture of low power distance and the organizational value of dialogue, cooperation, and mutual benefit may all contribute to the presence of two-way communication. Third, individualism also had a positive relationship with the two-way models of public relations. Individualism, in this study, means individual accomplishment and a given freedom to adopt their own approach to the job. Therefore fewer rules and constraints may give practitioners more control over their communication and negotiating relationships with publics.
In conclusion, Corporate culture is a key variable in the practice of public relations, and the results of this study support the qualitative analysis of the link between culture and the models of public relations reported by Grunig, Vasquez and Taylor. And I hopr this study helps the better understanding of corporate culture as well as public relations practice in Korean venture companies.
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