AHP Analysis of Cross-Cultural Experiences by Italian Expats Working for Korean Organizations

Martina Pizzinato; KIM， Jung Ho

doi:10.18107/japs.2020.27.4.005

This paper examines cross-cultural experiences of Italian professionals living in Korea and working for Korean organizations. Aimed at understanding whether cultural differences between Koreans and Italians can be found and how these influence the experience of Italian expats, it analyzes the dimensions of Decision-making Process, Leadership Style, and Team Environment in an organizational context. Considering the increasing number of Italians living in Korea and the highly relevant trade partnership between Italy and Korea, this research wants to fill in the current gap in the cross-cultural management literature between such countries and individuals. By using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), which transforms intangible judgments into consistent and tangible data, responses from the surveyed experts were ranked to see which criteria and sub-criteria are more important to Italian expats. After comparing the current literature and the results obtained from the AHP analysis, similarities in the studied dimensions were found. In particular, Italians have shown similar collectivistic and hierarchical values to Koreans at work. Nevertheless, an important variance in communication style has been discovered and linked to the average-low satisfaction levels among Italian expats. From a practical point of view, by depicting such similarities and differences, this paper wants to help both Italians and Koreans at better understanding each other and, therefore, at maximizing the outcomes of their businesses. Moreover, it wants to be a foundation for further research on cross-cultural management between Italians and Koreans.

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* 2021년 이후 발행 논문의 참고문헌은 현재 구축 중입니다.

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