An exploratory study of how a Korean chaebol’s learning culture facilitates customer service

This paper explains how the organizational learning concept is used by managers in a global Korean company to promote group work, information sharing and an open communication style in order to produce a high level of customer service. Previously collected data from a set of in-depth personal interviews undertaken with three senior managers in a Korean electronics company were analyzed and interpreted using the grounded theory approach, and a number of propositions are put forward. The research findings show that managers in a chaebol deploy organizational learning to identify skilled and knowledgeable staff, and improve the organization’s capability by placing emphasis on developing harmonious, mutually oriented relationships that permeate throughout the organization. Top management demand that staff identify with government economic objectives and align the organization’s strategy accordingly so that the products produced are marketable. To achieve this, the organization fosters continual interaction among managers throughout the organization’s hierarchy. The chaebol’s organizational learning model encapsulates a “corollary” (continual communication) and “tools” (cultural influence and relationship management), and manifests in a unique strategy that allows management systems to evolve naturally.

Service Quality in Arts Events: Operations Management Strategies for Effective Delivery

Recent debate on the quality of arts events has concentrated on the requirement to deliver against a complex range of political, social, and cultural criteria with an emphasis on the external partnerships that are forged. Yet those aspects of quality over which event organizers have more direct control have been accorded minor examination. The authors believe that operational effectiveness is key to service quality in the cultural context, and seek to demonstrate that a balanced consideration of both process and product is vital to fully deliver quality arts events. This article identifies areas of emergent research and practice and focuses on issues in the front-of-house environment where the breakdown of service quality is a real concern, using the experience of one UK not-for-profit arts organization as a case study to illustrate potential management responses.