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

Hi Don Southerton here

In this week’s Newsletter and YouTube, I look at Korean Business and ”Similar but Different Norms.”

Global business requires colleagues of different cultures to work together daily.

How we see each other culturally is often based on differences, like language, and similarities, such as shared values like family.

I like to focus on the latter, as differences can pull us apart, and similarities bring us together.

Particularly for Western teams engaged in all ways with Korean operations, I believe in the importance of deep learning about the workplace in Korea — the 2024 norms, practices, and day-to-day life.

They do change, and most often, we can fixate on what could have been tainted by hearsay or an altogether lack of understanding.

The same learning goes for Korean global teams assigned to support overseas operations. They must become savvy learners in the wide range of local overseas practices. Expecting global teams to bend to Korean business norms rarely works, too. It just leads to delays and stalled projects.

As I noted above, recognizing similarities is one of the most potent cross-cultural bridges.

In other words, how can you relate to the nuances in communications and day-to-day life? This requires identifying the local beliefs, values, expectations, traditions, and culture. These insights allow us better to understand our mutual teams’ thoughts and expectations.

Outcomes

Although there is bound to be friction between home and host country cultural values, a successful model accomplishes:

1. Awareness and appreciation of both the home and host country with the ability to gain an insight into one’s own personal traits, strengths, weaknesses, attitudes, and interests.

2. Realization of shared values, along with an awareness of and respect for cultural differences.

Call to Action

So, how do you see this applying to you and your experiences working with teams from another culture?

This brings me to recall a recent C-level meeting where I chatted with the local subsidiary’s Korean CEO. He asked if I’d shared with his team how the company in Korea and the U.S. differed from the Group’s many sister firms—many Westerners wrongly assumed high conformity across the Group.

I assured him that “yes,” and, in mentoring, I shared that I, too, had experienced each company’s unique culture within the group.

Not only did sister companies differ, but in some cases, the Koreans recruited and worked in different ways at companies within the group.

On parting, the CEO pointed out another key point to be shared: Over time, Koreans dispatched to support the division’s overseas operation came to see things differently than domestic Korea-based teams.

He ended having come to “See things differently, too.”

Question? Comment?