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Wonhyuk Cho

Ewha Womans University · Social Sciences

About the Lab

Professor Wonhyuk Cho's research lab focuses on public administration, organizational innovation, and digital governance in the public sector. The lab explores the implementation and impact of data-driven decision-making, such as HR analytics and smart government initiatives, particularly in contexts of bureaucratic reform and institutional change. It also investigates workplace dynamics under stress, including the effects of crises like the pandemic, and the role of citizen engagement through social media and coproduction. A central theme is understanding how organizational structures, autonomy, and technological adoption influence government performance and public service delivery.

public administrationdigital governanceorganizational innovationHR analyticssmart government

Research Overview

Papers
83
Total Citations
1,396
Papers (5y)
17
Primary Field
Social Sciences

Research Output Trend

Figures are computed from collected data and may differ slightly.

Publications per year (5y)
17total
2022
2023
2024
2025
2026
Citations per year (5y)
150total
20222023202420252026

Selected Papers

15
1
Article|169 citations·2019
Does citizen coproduction lead to better urban services in smart cities projects? An empirical study on e-participation in a mobile big data platform
Bárbara Allen, Louise E. Tamindael, Sarah Bickerton, Wonhyuk Cho
SJR Q1Government Information Quarterly
Political Science and International RelationsSocial Sciences
2
Article|68 citations·2023
Human Resources Analytics for Public Personnel Management: Concepts, Cases, and Caveats
Wonhyuk Cho, Seeyoung Choi, Hemin Choi
SJR Q2Administrative SciencesOA

The advancement of data technology such as machine learning and artificial intelligence has broadened the scope of human resources (HR) analytics, commonly referred to as “people analytics.” This field has seen significant growth in recent years as organizations increasingly rely on algorithm-based predictive tools for HR-related decision making. However, its application in the public sector is not yet fully understood. This study examined the concepts and practices of HR analytics through a the

Organizational Behavior and Human Resource ManagementBusiness, Management and Accounting
3
Article|50 citations·2019
The “Smart Work” Myth: How Bureaucratic Inertia and Workplace Culture Stymied Digital Transformation in the Relocation of South Korea’s Capital
Joon-Young Hur, Wonhyuk Cho, Geon Lee, Sarah Bickerton
SJR Q1Asian Studies Review

Starting in 2012, the South Korean government has implemented a large-scale relocation of its central government agencies, which are now split between the existing capital city (Seoul) and a new administrative-capital city (Sejong). One of the most controversial aspects of the relocation has been the bureaucratic inefficiency caused by its split nature. ICT-enabled solutions, dubbed “Smart Work”, were adopted to deal with this challenge, but have not been effective in avoiding inefficiency. In t

Political Science and International RelationsSocial Sciences
4
Article|43 citations·2022
Workplace Disruption in the Public Sector and HRM Practices to Enhance Employee Resilience
Phil Kim, Wonhyuk Cho, In Yang
SJR Q1Review of Public Personnel AdministrationOA

This article aims to analyze workplace dynamics in the public sector under highly disruptive environments. Survey data collected from 1,430 public employees in South Korea reveal that workload and work intensity have increased 13% to 15% on average compared to pre-pandemic conditions. Yet this impact on working conditions seems to be unevenly distributed across the public sector; the proportion of pandemic-affected workforce in each public organization ranged from 10% to 80%. More than 70% repor

General Health ProfessionsHealth Professions
5
Article|43 citations·2013
A Cross-Country Study of the Relationship between Weberian Bureaucracy and Government Performance
Wonhyuk Cho, Tobin Im, Gregory A. Porumbescu, Hyunkuk Lee, Jung Ho Park
SJR Q2International Review of Public AdministrationOA

This paper challenges the long-term criticism of the efficiency of the Weberian model of bureaucracy, on the hypothesis that its performance or competitiveness might be context specific, as what works best in some bureaucratic settings is unlikely to work to the same degree in others. To perform this assessment, this study analyzes relationships between characteristics of the Weberian model of bureaucracy and government performance in nations possessing different levels of democratic development

Sociology and Political ScienceSocial Sciences
6
Article|43 citations·2021
Citizen Coproduction and Social Media Communication: Delivering a Municipal Government’s Urban Services through Digital Participation
Wonhyuk Cho, Winda Dwi Melisa
SJR Q2Administrative SciencesOA

This study investigated how social media is used by a municipal government agency for communication of citizen coproduction initiatives, through social media content analysis of the government’s official Twitter account. This article identified that the dominant form of social media coproduction in the Bandung municipal government in Indonesia is government-to-citizen (G2C) interaction, focused primarily on informing and nudging (86.62%) citizens, as well as some limited elements of citizen-to-g

Political Science and International RelationsSocial Sciences
7
Article|35 citations·2014
Agencification and Performance: The Impact of Autonomy and Result-Control on the Performance of Executive Agencies in Korea
Nan-young Kim, Wonhyuk Cho
SJR Q1Public Performance & Management ReviewOA

Agencification, the practice of creating semi-autonomous public bodies based on a contractual relationship with a parent government, has spread across the industrialized and developing world. The main principles of this NPM-based reform are autonomy and result control. This study uses regression analysis with data from forty-four executive agencies in Korea to examine the effect of these factors on organizational performance. The results show that both human resource management autonomy and fina

Public AdministrationSocial Sciences
8
Article|33 citations·2018
Does neighborhood crime matter? A multi-year survey study on perceptions of race, victimization, and public safety
Wonhyuk Cho, Alfred Tat‐Kei Ho
SJR Q2International journal of law, crime and justiceOA

Using multiple large datasets over time from Kansas City, Missouri, hypotheses drawn from theories of racial stereotype amplification, violence desensitization, and dissimilar group threat are tested. The results show that White Americans that live in Black or Hispanic neighborhoods tend to feel less satisfied with public safety, even after controlling for actual crime rates, physical signs of disorder, and a neighborhood's socioeconomic context. However, racial minority residents living in Whit

Sociology and Political ScienceSocial Sciences
9
Article|32 citations·2021
Cross-platform comparison of framed topics in Twitter and Weibo: machine learning approaches to social media text mining
Yi Yang, Jia‐Huey Hsu, Karl Löfgren, Wonhyuk Cho
SJR Q1Social Network Analysis and MiningOA
CommunicationSocial Sciences
10
Article|23 citations·2021
Local Government's Resource Commitment to Environmental Sustainability: Capacity, Conservatism, and Contractual Dynamics
Wonhyuk Cho, Dave Kim, Angela Park
SJR Q1Urban Affairs ReviewOA

Local governments are leading sustainability efforts through a range of initiatives, often voluntarily. While a spate of research exists to explain what drives these voluntary decisions, we are still limited in understanding how localities follow through with the resources to implement their adopted plans. This is particularly the case for environment and climate protection programs that are transboundary in nature and thus require more innovative and longer-term approaches than those that are r

Political Science and International RelationsSocial Sciences
11
Article|23 citations·2021
Who is leading China's family planning policy discourse in Weibo? A social media text mining analysis
Wen Deng, Jia‐Huey Hsu, Karl Löfgren, Wonhyuk Cho
SJR Q1Policy & Internet

The advent of digital social media in China has altered our understanding of who sets the policy agenda and forms public opinion. Using text mining analysis of more than 74,000 Weibo user comments (over 4 million words) on 6 years' worth of The People's Daily media coverage, this study investigates social media interactions on family planning policy issues between the state-run news media and individual users in China. Our analysis demonstrates that Weibo postings about the topic by government-r

Gender StudiesSocial Sciences
12
Preprint|22 citations·2021
Does citizen coproduction lead to better urban services in smart cities projects? An empirical study on e-participation in a mobile big data platform
Bárbara Allen, LE Tamindael, Sarah Bickerton, Wonhyuk Cho
OA

With contemporary development of digital technology and smart cities initiatives, citizen co-production has created a new government-citizen interface. However, it remains inconclusive whether such citizen-government collaboration has achieved the fundamental goal of improving service quality for citizens. In this research, we tested the relationship between e-participation as a form of co-production and service performance, using multiple large longitudinal datasets from a smart city mobile pla

Political Science and International RelationsSocial Sciences
13
Article|21 citations·2020
Sustainability of social economy organizations (SEOs): An analysis of the conditions for surviving and thriving
Daewook Kim, Wonhyuk Cho, Barbara Allen
SJR Q2The Social Science Journal

Social economy organizations (SEOs), designed to do good for society, have been attracting significant attention as an alternative to purely profit-driven businesses. However, the sustainability of these hybrid organizations has been questioned due to the challenges in meeting the dual bottom-lines of financial performance and social purpose. This article takes a causal-process tracing (CPT) case study approach and analyzes eight SEOs to investigate the common characteristics of sustainable SEOs

FinanceEconomics, Econometrics and Finance
14
Article|16 citations·2023
Employee Voice Opportunities Enhance Organizational Performance When Faced With Competing Demands
Taeyeon Kim, Wonhyuk Cho
SJR Q1Review of Public Personnel AdministrationOA

Public personnel management should strive to balance the needs of employees, employers, and society, but there is insufficient empirical research to conclude whether such goals conflict or coincide. Using longitudinal data from multiple independent sources, this study analyzes the relationship between employee voice opportunity in personnel management (employee rights), organizational performance (employer interest), and competing demands from citizens (societal objectives). The results showed t

Public AdministrationSocial Sciences
15
Article|12 citations·2017
Change and Continuity in Police Organizations: Institution, Legitimacy, and Democratization*
Wonhyuk Cho
The Korean Journal of Policy Studies

This article analyzes how institutional pressures have allowed for continuities as well as brought about changes in modern police organizations in Korea. When facing a legitimacy crisis, the Korean law enforcement system has typically responded with organizational restructuring. Strong myth-building patterns compensate for the lack of moral legitimacy of the police, particularly under authoritarian-military regimes that suppress democratization movements in Korea. Even after seemingly radical or

Cultural StudiesSocial Sciences

Research Areas

Political Science and International RelationsSociology and Political ScienceEconomics and EconometricsFinanceAerospace EngineeringInformation Systems

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