Culture and Uncertainty: Meanings, Reasons, and Results

Uncertainty is high in a world hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, medical emergency, and consequent social and economic disruptions. Yet, variations in levels of acceptance of and “comfortableness” with uncertainty by people, organizations and societies varies globally. Such situations require not only leadership, but also effective leaders. What this is and its ingredients are contested but can be seen as composed of leaders’ thoughts and actions influenced and shaped by key factors stemming from the local operational and situational context, an organization’s particular business culture and their individual competences and skills. We deal with uncertainty in terms of terms and meanings, then its levels and degrees, along with variations in comfortableness with it and its acceptance and how all this might be explained. We then detail some points on leadership, what it is and also effectiveness and requisite skills, end with a conclusion section.

Culture and Uncertainty: Meanings, Reasons, and Results

Uncertainty is high in a world hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, medical emergency, and consequent social and economic disruptions. Yet, variations in levels of acceptance of and “comfortableness” with uncertainty by people, organizations and societies varies globally. Such situations require not only leadership, but also effective leaders. What this is and its ingredients are contested but can be seen as composed of leaders’ thoughts and actions influenced and shaped by key factors stemming from the local operational and situational context, an organization’s particular business culture and their individual competences and skills. We deal with uncertainty in terms of terms and meanings, then its levels and degrees, along with variations in comfortableness with it and its acceptance and how all this might be explained. We then detail some points on leadership, what it is and also effectiveness and requisite skills, end with a conclusion section.

How Much does Empathy Resemble Trust? Trust Radius and Interpersonal Empathy in South Korea

This research attempts to 1) explore trust from a theoretical angle using various perspectives in the social science research literature and 2) reveal the empirical relationship between trust and empathy at the individual level. Although trust and empathy share similar characteristics when considered in the realm of theory, they have typically been probed in distinct disciplines. Hence, there is a need for interdisciplinary perspective that addresses two concepts together. Using the Social Attitude Survey for Korean Society data collected in 2021, this study conducted a correlation and multivariate analysis that examined how much trust and empathy resemble. The results show that trust radius and interpersonal empathy are highly correlated. Also, trust and empathy levels differ from individual to individual in terms of one’s socioeconomic and demographic background. From this comparison, we emphasize the importance of the macro level effect of trust and empathy.

Money or Melancholia? Dropout and Retention Rates in the K-pop Industry

The K-pop music industry is signified by a hyper-competitive training system. The aim was to examine dropout and retention rates among a representative sample of K-pop artists and groups. The dropout rates of 49 K-pop groups and 298 group members (N = 298; F = 130; M = 168), who have been active any time between 2003–2019, were 5.70%. As gender, age and other generic control factors could not explain more than a fraction of retention rates, the author interprets this as partial evidence for melancholia among some dropouts.

Culture and Hong Kong in an Existential Crisis: Is ‘One Country, Two Systems’ into a retreat?

Hong Kong’s political unrest since 2019 led to the imposition of a national security law and the revamping of its electoral system by China’s National People’s Congress. Given a preconceived perspective on communist rule and Beijing’s tightening grip on the city, gloomy views abound about its future. Amid growing anxieties and uncertainties, this article considers what sensible prediction can be made of a post-2020 Hong Kong in a changed context with different conditions and assumptions. Will Hong Kong still thrive as a global city or will it have to be resigned to becoming just another city of China?

The Ethnic Is Still Political: Collective Action in the Age of Zainichi Korean Population Decline in Contemporary Japan

This article describes where Zainichi Korean minority communities stand in contemporary Japanese society. Diverse Zainichi Korean communities struggle to reproduce and establish their legitimacy, as the narrowly defined Zainichi Korean population declines, and the levels of institutional racism based on legal status diminish. Increasing are more subtle forms of exclusion and microaggressions as well as on- and off-line hate speech. Based on the examinations of two cases of social movements involving Zainichi Koreans, I will examine how Zainichi Koreans are polarized into visible, outspoken subgroups and the invisible. A more resilient and proactive subethnicity can be seen among those who perceive continuing collective suffering and oppression. The Zainichi Korean minority’s experience attests to how ethnicity is reproduced and activated through committed collective actions, which build on coalitions with concerned Japanese and beyond.