Smart City, Songdo International City and the Incheon Free Economic Zone (IFEZ). 

Hi Don Southerton here…

It’s common for a Korean company’s leadership to decide on direction and major issues. These can range from a shift to Smart Manufacturing to greater SWP (software-based production) or a new business line. In turn, they can request a TFT (task force) and local teams to gather and prepare needed information.

Then, if approved, the dedicated staff will report back to HQ on implementation and progress.

In cases where overseas leadership and teams hope to offer an idea, new service, or program, local Korean and Western management’s role is to prepare—gathering supporting information, the reasoning behind, and ROI, then sharing it with the appropriate senior team members, who are often in Korea.

The local opinion is valued, but review and final approval may come from Korea.

My suggestion…

When conducting a meeting where a decision must be made, please know that your local Korean team(s) will have a significant say in the outcome. This may include both the operations and finance teams.  Their primary concern will be risk.. so do your best to mitigate.

Since the topic and subject matter may be new to your Korean team, I recommend you share the needed background documents (best provided in PPT format) before any meetings.

In addition, have an informal pre-meeting Q&A with the Korean team leader to brief and update them on any specifics. Note: they may need a day to review proposals and agreements, so timing is critical.

Even in the best cases, expect that the Korean team may want to postpone any decision until they can carefully review and perhaps confer with Korea. I suggest all documents and meeting PPTs be immediately forwarded to the Korean team. I’d create a sense of urgency with a timeline for execution and implementation.

Regardless, expect some delays and be patient. Over the years, I’ve found that Korean teams appreciate when their overseas co-workers recognize that the internal approval process takes time and be ready to offer as-needed supportive data or documents.

In our next edition, we will examine the 2024 Approvals. So stay tuned and follow our Newsletter and YouTube videos.

Are you engaged in high-priority projects or business proposals?

I can give you some perspective to make sure it works well. Let’s talk.

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Until next time, this is Don Southerton wishing you all the best.