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

Korean business and talking points. American holidays allow me to step back, see what I may be missing, take a deep breath and uncover the best solutions to current challenges. My goal is to provide frank insights and pro-active recommendations. Below are a couple of helpful talking points.

Talking Point #1
As with all individuals, no two of us are alike—and the same goes for westerners and Koreans …. Each has his or her unique cultural workplace strengths, skills, and experiences.

That said, one topic I constantly revisit is the assumption that executives and teams engaged in Korea facing business will simply “get it” and “learn as they go.” Without ongoing coaching, this common default seldom works. More damaging is that some team members without support and mentoring may “never get it.”

Arguments that such support can wait often come with a price tag—missteps along the way, poor productivity, and miscommunications.

Push back attributed to the costs for support is often cited, too, as well as what appears to be dismissing or delaying any action until there is a real unavoidable need. The later, can range from denial with hopes that things will work out—to concealing these issues because they might reflect poorly on some in local management. Again, regardless such hopes to dismiss and not engage fail to recognize what I see as decades of history to the contrary.

Talking Point #2
Most non-Korean executives employed to run Korean business divisions are veterans of their industry. They know the business. They are experts. Sadly, they can know little of Korean business and/or feel their past work knowledge is sufficient.

Even more significant, I found that some feel that given time, they will get Koreans to do business their way following the model and methods they polished and acquired working for other firms—often Japanese or German.

Contrary to this hope and recognizing the considerable work practices and corporate structure changes underway in Korea, such as dress codes, fewer hierarchical titles, and a more balanced workday, I do not see Korean firms changing much in their core and deeply rooted business values and processes. More so, American, German, or Japanese business practices like Korean are rooted in their own respective intrinsic cultures.

My suggestion for division executives eager to bring change is to first become fully versed in Korean methods. Learn about the company and their partners. Learn how Koreans manage. Drill deep.

This learning does not occur without considerable insight, mentoring and coaching. In turn, once this ground work is completed, I have found and can offer some sound approaches for introducing new business methods and practices without push back.

In both cases…
Ongoing support of non-Korean management is a must for all Korea facing organizations. Mentoring and coaching is the key. Experience and skills vary, so support must be tailored to address individual needs.

More significant, mentoring requires a deep mutual understanding of both Korean and western business, not to mention the specific Western and Korea-based firms and the industry in general.

I look forward to answering any questions and providing recommendations.

Don https://www.bridgingculture.com

Hit the target 2019. A week does not go by without a colleague or client expressing deep concern for what seems an overarching and singular need for their company to reach their sales numbers.   

To most, despite a number of vital business initiatives, they feel the monthly demand to meet “Plan” matters most.  

I can recall a few years ago while mentoring a new American divisional vice president being pulled aside by his Korean expatriate counterpart, an Executive Coordinator. The Korean who I was also coaching seemed troubled and obviously under duress. The Korean manager knew I understood the company as well as Seoul HQ expectations.  The Korean asked passionately for me to stress to the new American VP they needed to “Hit the Target.”  He repeating the phase, 3 times so to ensure I got it… then patting me on the back and sending me over to the adjacent office with the VP to share the message.  

Frankly, as long as I have been working with Korea facing global business it has been the driven force.   

In another case, I was a speaker at LG’s Mobile Phone National Sales Meeting.  Capping the upbeat and motivating event, the Korean CEO with a huge graph projected behind him shared their amazing unit sales growth over for the years. He then added the next year’s “stretch goal” as a hush came over the room.  The new goal a huge bump over past years, which had pushed teams and the organization to their limits.  

 To be fair, this model is not unique to Korean business. But it has been the subject of frequent discussion in Korea.   

However, South Korea’s modern economy was once rooted in a state-run export-driven model—the government fixing private industries and well as the nation’s overall production and sales quotas in many sectors.   

Today despite leading international as well as Korean economic experts arguing the old model is dated and need to move more to the service sector…   the export production model still remains a driving force… In part with so much of the Korean economy and jobs tied to export production the Groups are under pressure to continue to seek growth each year— and push their teams even harder.   

 So what’s the solution?  

First, we need to accept this has long been the foundation of Korean business.   Change is underway but will take time.  It’s part of their Culture and a still a norm accepted by many.   In turn, others do hope and argue for Korea to re-invent and redefine itself, less focused on growth numbers and more on a being a leader in new technology and innovation. 

Here as always, and actively interested in new and challenging projects.  https://www.bridgingculture.com mailto:dsoutherton@bridgingculture.com