An English Teacher in South Korea

Description

Bert took a position to teach English in South Korea after graduating with his business degree from a Canadian university. It was his second time teaching English in South Korea, and because he had a fantastic experience the first time, he took a second position without doing a lot of due diligence before arrival. Soon, however, he realized that a city tax was being deducted from his pay, and he had suspicions that his boss was making up the city tax, in order to deduct money from the English teachers’ pay. Since Bert’s visa to stay in the country was tied to his employer, he could not look for a new employer, nor could he effectively find legal recourse against his employer, because foreign teachers had few rights in South Korea.

Learning Objective

This case was designed to be used in an undergraduate organizational behaviour, business ethics, or international management course. The main character is only a few years older than the students in a typical undergraduate classroom, so many of them will relate to his experiences in this situation.

Keywords

ethical issues Expatriates International management Organizational culture South Korea Teachers