For more than ten years, the Marriott School and LG, Korea’s third largest company, have exchanged students and knowledge. In September, the company honored two Marriott School faculty members for their integral role in building this relationship. Ned C. Hill, dean of the Marriott School and Chris Meek, associate professor of organizational behavior, were recognized for their support in educating LG managers in organizational effectiveness.
Besides LG general managers coming to the Marriott School to study in its Master of Organizational Behavior (MOB) program, a number of Marriott School professors have traveled to Korea to lecture to the company’s human resource managers. In addition, more than 150 BYU students have completed internships at LG.
“It’s a wonderful interaction between the two countries and institutions,” Meek said. “There is a relationship of respect and support between LG and the Marriott School.”
The relationship between LG and the Marriott School began in 1987 when Meek traveled to Korea to conduct research on the role of Korean culture in the country’s business environment. Accompanied by then graduate student, Young-Hack Song, Meek and Song met with LG and were able to interview its managers.“LG’s willingness to help with our research stems from their interest in training professionals on facilitating organizational change,” Meek said.
Because of the Marriott School’s strong MOB program and friendship with Meek, LG sent one of the company’s general managers to BYU in 1993. Young-Kee Kim, general manager of human resources for the company’s chairman, came to study public management and organizational effectiveness—focusing on how to manage relations with labor unions.
“Since Kim’s arrival in 1993, eight other LG general managers have come to earn MOB degrees,” Meek said. “The Marriott School has also hosted a number of weekend training sessions for LG managers including one last month.”
The school’s MOB program is dedicated to creating compatibility between human values and organizational goals. Emphasizing the applied behavioral sciences, this highly selective, two-year program prepares competent and ethical specialists to take positions in the fields of organizational development, management training or human resource management. The curriculum is designed to equip students with theoretical, analytical, diagnostic and “change agent” skills. The program also offers MBA students the opportunity to specialize in organizational behavior.
Writer: Carrie Beckstead (801) 378-1512
