Employee engagement for social mission realization : case studies on social enterprises in South Korea

Abstract

Abstract of thesis entitled “Employee Engagement for Social Mission Realization: Case Studies on Social Enterprises in South Korea”

Submitted by

KIM, Jungsu

for the degree of Master of Philosophy at The University of Hong Kong in June 2019

Today, worldwide expansion of neoliberalism and the opening up of global markets present significantly increasing new social risks, such as a widening of the gap between the wealthy and poor, and conflicts between classes. With all these issues, social enterprise (SE) is becoming a possible solution. However, in South Korea, SE has mainly been studied in the form of residual welfare. Little research has been conducted to consider it as a form of social economy. Moreover, it can appear that there is a lack of theoretical, empirical, and practical explanations of its potential to organize employees’ engagement in pursuit of a social mission. This study is designed to fill this research gap. The aim of this study is to address whether the experiences of employees can really contribute to the formation and development of civil society in Korea, according to the following subsidiary questions: 1) What is the nature of the experience for employees who engage in the pursuit of SE missions in Korea? and 2) What factors are associated with the engagement of employees in pursuing Korean SE missions? The relationship between employee engagement and social missions has been signified by “employee engagement theory”. This theory helps to assume the theory that micro-personal experiences can affect the macro level of impact on civil society. Applying this theory, three social enterprises from South Korea have been selected to illustrate how they have evolved over the past ten years, leading to the development of civil society through the realization of a social mission. From these selected social enterprises, 15 participant interviews were conducted. Interviews took between 45 and 90 min, and with agreement of the respondents, all interviews were audiotaped for data quality assurance. Data analysis was conducted using a qualitative research methodology to understand the meaning and the nature of the research participants’ experience. Using Giorgi’s interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA), the main objective is to describe the participants’ language and to translate academic terms into a general structure. Through this analysis, the participants’ individual experiences could be visualized as a general structure to comprehend the nature of their experience of working in SE. This analysis suggests a framework that improves the engagement of employees to pursue social missions. This framework adds the importance of 1) sense of community, 2) self-esteem, 3) interest in work, 4) satisfaction with working environment, 5) the effect on education, 6) participation in democratic decision-making and 7) changes in attitude of people around to the theory of existing SE employees and civil society. By examining Korean experiences of SE, this study suggests new possibilities of developing future civil society through SE. The findings that the experience of employees in SEs is contributing to the formation and development of Korean civil society without staying on a personal level might also be applied to other Asian countries with a similar historical and cultural background to South Korea.

Keywords: social enterprise, social mission, employee engagement, social economy, South Korea