Korean Business with Don Southerton
For most of my career I have worked with Korean teams—many based in Korea, many in local overseas operations. I find both exchanges rewarding, but very different and require a varying set of skills. I’d like to offer some best practices.
To begin
We find with Korea facing international operations the primary communication channel between the Korean HQ and local subsidiary is through expatriates—although in some cases this is shifting.
In key positions, Korean expats serve in roles including the CEO who is responsible for managing the local company or region. The CFO and technical support can be expats, too. Most often these Korean expats along with local leadership executive form the core for business operations in the host country.
By the way, the expats below senior management are often referred to as “Executive Coordinators” or “Executive Advisors” in the West. As a caveat, this model does vary some and in some organization we see a mix of “Coordinators” and Korean assigned as line managers. However, the Korean term for these expatiates is ju jae won.
In the larger overseas subsidiaries, the Korean expats are assigned to the major departments.
In many instances, as I mentioned, the expat Coordinators are not assigned a direct managerial role but still hold considerable oversight over the local operations.
Roles vary with each company, but frequently a Coordinator’s primary role is to be a departmental liaison and communication channel between Korea and the local subsidiary.
That said, for westerners unfamiliar with the Korean model, this “oversight” usually translates into the Korean expats requiring sign off on all decisions—trivial to substantial.
This can be a huge challenge when newly assigned expats have little specific background in or knowledge of the host country’s operations and market. More so, when their decisions are motivated by what they feel would please the HQ in Korea.
Cognitively, they do recognize local management skills and expertise, but especially if under pressure to perform and meet expectations may defer to engaging in decision-making.
Of course, this can be a challenge.
New ju jae won are skilled and accomplished in Korean style business operations, norms and practices.
However, they are now assigned to an overseas subsidiary where norms, practices, expectations, and laws differ. Adding to this “Managing westerners” is very different than overseeing a Korean team…
Next, I’ll cover several scenarios with best practices for supporting overseas team. All take finesse and collaboration, plus recognize norms and practices differ… as well as require working “within the Culture.”
To again clarify, my perspective is based on years working with Korea and especially in daily mentoring and providing strategy for their overseas operations—Koreans and Westerners.
Scenario One
It’s common for a Korea expatriate, frequently called a Coordinator, to directly request members of the team to gather information or data on the local operation. Usually, Korea has asked for this information and the Coordinator is executing the request. These always have a sense of urgency.
The Challenge is the local departmental head may be circumvented (often unintentionally)…. and requests disrupt operations and designated priorities. More so, the line of management for the department is blurred—i.e. staff confused on “who is in charge.”
The Workaround centers on an effective working relationship between the Coordinator and the department head. An understanding must be reached that when requests from Korea (or from the senior Korean leadership at the subsidiary), it is first brought to the department head… and they handle who will execute.
In particular, the local western manager is more familiar with their team, individual workloads, any special situations and skill sets. In fact, with a clear communication channel the work will be performed with better results by the individuals tasked with the assignment, and less stress on the Coordinator asked to acquire the data.
As a caveat, one burden on a department can be when a high percentage of work and tasks teams are engaged are to support Korea and not the local operations.
Scenario Two
As noted, a Coordinator’s role is to support the local operation. Local teams and specialists are hired with a high degree of knowledge and experience. A clash occurs when decisions best left to those in the know are deflected.
The Challenge occurs when Coordinators override a decision or unilaterally make the call. This can range from the hiring of new employees to pushing off a much-needed program.
Again, the Workaround is a clear Company-wide defined role for the Coordinator. They are advisors who can provide much-needed input and an HQ / mother company perspective… but not assume line manager responsibilities.
In other words, clarity must be established in regard to as long as they are acting on behalf of the mother company considerable weight must be given to their input. That said, even when they have the company’s best interest in mind, their own personal views must be gauged and moderated.
Scenario Three
Perhaps the most challenging situation is moving Coordinators to make a decision.
The Challenge In most Korean companies leadership decide on direction and major issues. In turn, the working team’s role is to implement or gather needed information. This role/ skillset changes when working level Koreans are assigned as an overseas Coordinator.
Workaround When conducting a meeting where a decision must be made recognize that your Coordinator will have considerable say in the outcome. First, since the topic and subject matter may be new to your Coordinator, I recommend you share prior to the meeting any needed background documents (best provided in PPT format).
In addition, have an informal pre-meeting Q&A with the Coordinator 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 Coordinator 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 Coordinator.
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 Coordinators appreciate when their overseas co-workers recognize that the internal approval process takes time and be ready to offer, as needed, additional supportive data or documents.
BTW, if you are a vendor and your firm provides services to a Korea-based partner, it’s best to provide both the western and Korean teams with background information prior to any meetings. Moreover, be prepared to share the meeting’s content in digital format afterward with the Korean team, too.
With the shift to ever-increasing daily interactions with Korean HQs via web and phone conferences, western teams need even deeper practical insights into working within the Culture along with new skill sets.
In particular, the Executive Coordinator/ Advisor model has had its limitations…but the Koreans assigned as expatriates do learn local norms and adapt over time. This means the Coordinators mold to local operations with a little need for many of the local teams to become skilled in Korea workplace norms.
In contrast, working with teams based in Korea takes a different approach.
Korea-based teams follow deeply embedded HQ and company norms. They are not likely to model or adapt to their overseas subsidiaries.
This now means 1) becoming acquainted with Korea norms, understanding the Korean workplace “in’s and out’s” and “do’s and don’t.” And, 2) developing strong skills in managing the relationship with effective cross-communication taking on a new heightened significance.
Over the past years, I’ve shared solutions in my books, articles and case studies… that said, I find that each situation requires one having to drill deeper to truly grasp and then provide a solid resolution.
Thoughts?
As always, Stacey stacey@koreabcw.com, my assistant can schedule us a time to meet or chat by phone.
For all urgent matters, text me at 310-866-3777
For more information on my work…. www.learnmore.Koreabcw.com
Why we need Korean business cultural training
Why we need Korean business cultural training. My “no punches pulled” Q and A. Targeted cross-cultural support and coaching are necessary for local teams to succeed in working with overseas Korean business projects.
By Don Southerton
Q. Why do we need Korean cultural training?
A. This may be the first time working with a Korean team. This opportunity brings with it great opportunity and the need to better understand the new partner’s culture, workplace norms, and expectations.
In most cases, Western teams will interact with Korean HQ and expatriate teams. Some of the teams will hold a line managerial position with day-to-day responsibilities alongside Western managers, while others will hold key management C-level positions, such as CEO, COO, or CFO. In many, if not most, cases, these teams may operate as a “shadow management” with considerable oversight and operational control over local operations.
With the best of intentions, the Korean teams will look to build strong collaboration and teamwork and try to avoid a sense of us and them. However, they do bring Korean work norms that can conflict with Western work-life balance and Western working methods.
More so, Korean teams may make seemingly one-sided decisions with the company’s best interest in mind but without consulting local teams, causing mistrust.
A solid training and coaching program followed by ongoing support can address differences, such as sharing work styles, hierarchy, and comfort levels, plus providing workarounds.
Q. What are some typical issues that arise, especially without training or coaching?
A. As with all individuals, no two of us are alike –and the same goes for Westerners and Koreans… Each has their unique strengths, skills, experiences, and personalities.
Expecting local teams to “get it” without support and training seldom works. Even if a better understanding of the work culture eventually occurs over time, this “learn as you go” approach is costly, contributing to stress, poor productivity, and even employee turnover. Sadly, the most common mistake I see is waiting to see if tensions rise, and workers quit before acting.
Q. Can you cite an example of misunderstandings resulting in mistrust, loss of time, resources, and profits?
A. A challenge I was recently asked to address was the intervention by the expatriate partners in decisions that are best handled by local Western teams.
Probing the issue, I learned that based on extensive experience in the market and industry, the local Western management felt these decisions were often short-sighted, reactive, and not aligned with their well-thought-out strategy. Some saw it as a “cut twice, measure once” approach and “ready, fire, aim.”
Of even more significant concern were one-sided decisions not resulting from the collaboration. In any case, local management felt their input and expertise were being marginalized. As pressure to meet HQ expectations, avoid any negative news, as well as missing Sales or Production “Targets” they saw increased intervention by the expatriate teams.
In this case, I worked with the Western teams to provide some proven workarounds, particularly tempering the Korean teams’ pressing for immediate results.
Specifically, I shared ten steps.
1. To soften jumping to implement a stop-gap plan with hopes of producing immediate results, look to minimize the anxiety for both the local Korean team and the headquarters team. Please be sure to show confidence that the challenge can be overcome.
2. Acknowledge your team’s high engagement and assure the Korean teams that action will be taken promptly.
3. As a next step upon receiving a directive from Korea, have an informal discussion with local Korean teams to brief them on action steps that enable the team to work through what needs to be explored more deeply.
4. Follow up with email correspondence confirming the verbal discussion.
5. Allow a day or two for the Korean team to review your action plan. In many cases, the Korean teams are not familiar with local practices and the vocabulary used to describe Western technical nuances.
The local expat teams may also want to report back to Korea on progress. HQ leadership is ultimately responsible, so the better informed they are, the more trust they will have in local teams — Korean and Western — that the project will progress.
6. Remember that you may receive only some feedback promptly because of time differences.
7. Conducting informal daily updates to the Korean teams and sharing the steps undertaken with the local Koreans can also be helpful.
8. Even better is reporting positive accomplishments in your review process.
9. It is essential to address the potential trade-offs and risks as action steps leading to solutions and assuring the team that these steps will not impede the project and may, in fact, avoid costly setbacks.
10. Finally, having said all this, maintaining trust through strong relationships between Korean and Western local organizations is essential.
Q. What have Koreans told you about Americans? Work habits, commitment, etc.
A. If you ask Korean expats how they perceive Americans and Westerners in general, responses would be very positive and respectful, especially toward Western work ethics and work habits. Koreans see great value in American and Western teams providing them with new insights, perspectives, and best practices.
A. What might be covered in Korean business culture training?
I see the training as twofold — 1) providing teams with an understanding of the Korean partner’s affiliate company history, heritage ( challenges overcome), trends, and expectations! , and 2) sharing the Korean workplace and its norms, practices, and workarounds. One nuance I share is that Korean overseas operations can differ from those in Korea, something I am most familiar with.
Above all, a best practice is to celebrate similarities and shared values when possible, along with instilling an awareness of and respect for cultural differences.
Addressing the team’s questions and concerns is also vital with issues, such as work-life balance, safety and quality processes and procedures, and Korean partners’ overall expectations.
Q. Anything else?
A. To conclude, the need for cross-cultural training programs for local employees and management is a high priority.
The assumption that local and expatriate teams can bridge cultural gaps through practical on–the–job experience might work with those few highly intuitive individuals with the exceptional ability to assimilate cultures.
What stands out in numerous studies, however, is the need for ongoing multicultural training, that can successfully impact people, especially those who need to quickly adapt to new or changing business culture and values, while fostering sensitivity and teamwork among all company members.
Finally, I have found a tiered service model — training, mentoring, and ongoing strategic support- to be the most effective approach for an organization. For leadership, they most often benefit from one-on-one coaching, too.
Don Southerton