Industrialization and Korean Blue-Collar Workers (Automobile Industry, Hyundai)
Bae, Kyu Han
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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/71003
Description
Title
Industrialization and Korean Blue-Collar Workers (Automobile Industry, Hyundai)
Author(s)
Bae, Kyu Han
Issue Date
1985
Department of Study
Sociology
Discipline
Sociology
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
Social Work
Abstract
This dissertation describes the characteristics of Korean blue-collar workers, and compares them with auto workers in four other countries to evaluate the applicability of three theories (convergence, dependency, and cultural) dealing with the effects of industrialization upon these workers. This study embraced the developmental interpretation of convergence theory and five derived hypotheses dealing with the differential adaptation of rural- and urban-origin workers to industry, the impact of the job on social interaction, the extent of job-conscious unionism, the spillover effects of in-plant relations to out-plant activities, and the impact of technological stratification on worker adaptation and societal orientations.
A sample of 299 workers who differed in their relations to technology were randomly selected from departments in the Hyundai Automobile factory. The interview was modeled on William H. Form's (1976) study of automobile workers in India, Argentina, Italy, and the United States of America in order to make the results comparable. A two-stage strategy was used to test the hypotheses: first, their fit in the Korean context, and second, their fit in cross-national comparison.
The data revealed that social backgrounds of workers were not significantly associated with occupational adaptation. These results lended support to the convergence hypothesis. However, variations in exposure to technology affected workers' patterns of social interaction at work, job satisfaction, social system involvements, and social beliefs.
The cross-national comparisons revealed that the Korean case departed little from the pattern displayed by the other four factories. Workers in the five plants who were socially and culturally different but similar in their technological exposure, displayed almost the same patterns of social behavior, work adaptation, and societal orientations.
These findings suggest that industry makes certain common demands on its workers everywhere and that they respond, more or less, in the same way. Yet certain distinctive features of industrial organization in each country affect some areas such as the payment for skill, industrial relations, and disposition toward managerial authority.
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