중소기업에서 경영자의 배려와 용서가 학습조직 활동과 조직성과에 미치는 영향

Effects of Executive Compassion and Forgiving Behavior on Organizational Activities and Performance

Purpose – Currently, strengthening small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) in terms of competitiveness is a key economic issue. However, the problem is that many SMEs lack the internal competence required to cope with a rapidly changing market structure. Such problems can act as an obstacle to economic development, yet most SMEs in Korea are dealing with this problem today. A company's source of competitive advantage is changing from quantity to quality, facility to knowledge, and hardwork to creativity. Under such circumstances, a company should place learning and sharing of knowledge and continuously creating new knowledge as its priority. This study aims to identify the effect of a chief executive officer’s (CEO) compassion and forgiveness – positive factors in organizational emotion – on learning organization activities and organizational performance, through a theoretical comparison. Research design, data, and methodology – For this study, SMEs based in Daejeon and Chungcheong area were selected. To secure credibility of the data, the subjects were selected among those who have been working at the business for six months or longer. The survey was conducted for 30 days from March 5, 2015 to April 5, 2015. Both offline and online surveys were conducted. Fifty companies were chosen and 700 questionnaires were distributed, with 506 used for analysis. Fifty sub-ject companies (25 from Daejeon, 10 from Chungnam, 10 from Chungbuk, and five from Sejong) were selected and the objective, target, and survey content were explained to a manager at each company either face-to-face or on the phone. Of the total of 700 questionnaires distributed via mail or e-mail, 78.6% or 550 copies were returned. Excluding 44 insufficient questionnaires, the remainder, 506 questionnaires, were used for analysis. Results – This study analyzed how the CEO’s compassion and forgiveness affects learning organization activities and organizational performanc