Comparing two Korean Ministries from a Time Perspective

Abstract

This paper proposes a new approach to organizational studies that places greater empahsis upon the temporal dimension. Time is seen to be a key variable to explain the observed differences in organizational effectiveness. To explore the relationship between a ministry's core function and its internal operation, this study examines two polar cases for the Republic of Korea: the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF), and the Ministry of Information and Communication (MIC). The hypothesis is that the time span required by the core fucntions of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry is greater than that of the Ministry of Information and Communication. In order to test this hypothesis, this study administered questionnaires to high-ranking civil servants in both ministries. From their responses, we find that the hypothesis is rejected. Indeed, the opposite hypothesis is supported with a statistical significance of 0.10. This finding can be explained by the uniform standard operating procedures used by Korean ministries in areas such as planning, decision-making procedure, career system, etc. To interpret this pshenomenon from a time perspective, we argue that there is a discrepancy betwen task time and sequential time and the role of politics in the bureaucracy. This paper proposes to consider time variable as important in the sense that to become more effective, each ministry must differentiate between its organizational structures and internal operational principles with explicit reference to the temporal characteristics of the ministry's core function.