| The purpose of this study is to shed light on whether and how power relations in Korean organizations influence the way that people learn in organizations in ways that enable them and the organization to become more active in their discourse; as well as whether and how the result of learning through their discourse influences the nature of power operating in the organization.; In this research, Foucault's two power concepts, sovereign power and disciplinary power, were used. This is a qualitative multiple case study of the perceptions of people about power relations, learning, and discourse; and communicative interactions in two Korean organizations. The research sample includes nineteen members of the two organizations. The first organization is ITCOR (pseudonym), an information technology venture company. The second organization is a project group of Educom (pseudonym), an educational service providing company. A number of data collection methods were used: discourse and document reviews, demographic data survey, observation and interview. For data analysis, this study used a set of coding schemes, including power theme analysis, semantics analysis and rhetorical vision analysis. Comparison between the two organizations helped construct a more general Korean model of power and learning in organizations.; Sovereign power in non-reciprocal language usage and disciplinary power in discursive interactions were identified. Sovereign power was hierarchically distributed by age, position title and gender. The hierarchy of sovereign power was situation dependent in terms of issue and importance. Disciplinary power was pervasive and influential when rhetorical vision was associated with people's life and they were engaged in its development. Sovereign power played the role of gate keeper for participation in discourse. The quality of discourse is affected by the extent to which an organization clearly presents a rhetorical vision and the extent to which people construct that vision and share its meaning.; Learning was critical for successful transformation from a hierarchical to a team structure. In making recommendations, the researcher developed a model showing how power should be addressed to maximize learning in Korean organizations. |
