From existing formal personnel policies in a Korean bank, a set of internally consistent career system properties are logically inferred for an organization with the strategic human resource objective of lifetime employment. It is argued that the policy emphasis accorded particular functional personnel activities is inherent in the choice of human resource utilization strategy. It is recognized, however, that certain contextual features (e.g., the legal environment, cultural norms) may either constrain or facilitate the choice.There is a considerable body of research about oriental human resource management systems, especially Japanese management (Clark