Tag Archive for Korea Facing

Everything Korea: Episode June 8—The Short Answer

June 9, 2015 Commentary, News Comments Off on Everything Korea: Episode June 8—The Short Answer

I was on a conference call last week when asked how best to describe my work—and do I provide consulting for CEO and C-level management—her organization’s international development committee made up of a number of CEOs.

My short answer was that a client and long friend, then a CMO for a major company best described my practice to others as Everything Korea… I also like having been introduced as “ a high power consultant” or Don is “the guru, the guy CEOs want to have their voice heard with, “ the later shared on Seoul’s eFM tbs Koreascape.

Pondering over the weekend on the question from the conference call much of what I do is provide context and a strategy to decision-makers involved in Korean facing business projects that range into the hundreds of million of Dollars.

In particular, I provide counsel and solutions based on my years working with Korean business—a good part in the international expansion into new markets and the challenges that surface and as a client once asked “ where are the landmines he needs to be aware of and avoid.”

So this gets to why I post weekly Vodcasts, frequent media commentaries, case studies as well as books on Korea facing topics.   They all serve as channels to support and educate.

This said, in my consultancy each engagement needs to be approached on a case-by-case basis—no two situations identical.

If you feel you might benefit from my C-level insights, I’ve blocked out my availability to chat and discuss…. Just go to http://www.meetme.so/southerton

In closing:

A great book on the reshaping of the American economy and the New Order… check out Richard Florida’s The Rise of the Creative Class, Revised Edition.  I prefer the Hardcover.

And the music on Repeat Song listened to while drafting this week’s episode—Pink Floyd, “Wishing You Were Here” Re-mastered Available on iTunes.

Links

Seoul eFM Koreascape http://www.tbs.seoul.kr/efm/koreaScape/

The Rise of the Creative Class

http://www.amazon.com/Rise-Creative-Class-Revisited-Anniversary-Revised/dp/0465029930/

Pink Floyd, “Wishing You Were Here”

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/wish-you-were-here-remastered/id704223460

Everything Korea: May 25 Episode: Diverse Sub-cultures

May 27, 2015 Commentary, general, News Comments Off on Everything Korea: May 25 Episode: Diverse Sub-cultures

Coming off the Memorial Day Weekend Holiday here.  I use holidays as a time to write, read, recharge and re-focus. This means opting out perusing Facebook and Twitter, as well as checking emails.  I’m happy this year both the American holiday and Buddha’s Birthday (a legal holiday in Korea) fall together.
I was again asked what’s been on my reading list.  I recommend for starters, Brian Grazer’s (the Hollywood producer and with creative partner Ron Howard founded Imagine Entertainment) new book A Curious Mind
A second Book:  The start-up of YOU, by Reid Hoffman, co-founder and Chairman of Linkedin
And, Hatching Twitter, by Nick Bilton
All three give some great insights into the varying aspect of American business–behind the scenes and sub-cultures.
This brings us to today’s topic—these recognizing diverse sub-cultures.  To often like an iceberg what is seen on the surface only shares a potion of a business and in particular for that business model in a respective market or region.
What is truly deceptive is that on the surface business is business, and all can appear similar.  Where the challenge emerges is that each business sectors can vary considerably in the West, and the three books I mention highlight just how different.
For example Brian Grazer, as a Hollywood insider and successful TV and film producer talks about expectations within filmmaking and specifically Hollywood that require special mindset— which at the core is “creating ideas.”
Building on this, the other two books look at recent trends and sub-cultures that exist within…
As the Linkedin Chairman points out that in contrast to an old model embodied by the once great Detroit, we find the entrepreneurial mojo of Silicon Valley embracing a willingness to take bold risks and accept failure, coupled with a network of alliances to work in collective action.
More revealing to inner workings, we find in Hatching Twitter that can things vary lots even across startups.  Cited in the book one of the Twitter co-founders Biz Stone willingly went to a startup which would become Twitter from  “unlimited free meals, free snacks, free buses to work, and a free inexhaustible everything at Google  and replaced with a office where homeless people slept in stairway, the only free transportation was his two feet, and the only free food and drink was a beer after work if EV [his boss] picked up the tab.”
This said, the author notes, “ The cultural difference was incalculable. The sterile, robotic culture of Google, with its know-it –all engineers and bossy bosses, was now replaced with tattooed hackers with a do-what-you-want mentality.”
So what am I saying…
To my friends and clients in Korea, I’d share these are just several examples of the diversity in Western work culture and norms—a deep understanding required to be effective in the local market.
In contrast, although no two Korean Groups are entirely alike in their mindset and even Divisions and sister companies within a Group can vary some—workplace culture, norms and process are very relatively similar.  For example, hierarchical titles, role of Finance, a team focus, a junior’s deference to seniors, pressure to take action over considerable upfront critical thinking, as well as top down oversight and decision making.
All said, I am often asked about a pet project of mine over the past year Mad For Garlic.  My Korean friends and the expat community in Korea know the brand well. In short…. Mad For Garlic is known for its unique and innovative menu with garlic-specialized Italian cuisine.
I was asked to assist the team in US market entry. A rare and very smart move by the Korean team who recognized the need for local support. Our first round was getting the word out to the FSR industry.  This is summed up nice in a PDF study. Link below.
As if often the best case, our original strategy to find a master developer for the US market has evolved to now finding a VC or Angel to invest in the International development of the brand.  This makes considerable sense with a recent  $48 MM investment by Standard Chartered Private Equity (SCPE) in the now 40 plus domestic Korea Mad For Garlic operations. This new partnership with SCPE will accelerate Mad for Garlic’s Korea expansion.  Working with the Korean team we seek to accelerate the International development though a similar partnership.  Questions, thoughts or an interest, please contact me directly and we’d love to discuss more.
Oh and one more thing…. I am off to Nashville, Tenn. area this week and more specifically as speaker a panel on international development held in Clarksville-Montgomery County, soon be home to a $180MM Hankook Tire plant.
So until next time….
Links

 

Korea Facing: Why Hire Westerners?

November 5, 2012 general Comments Off on Korea Facing: Why Hire Westerners?

By Don Southerton, Editor

Why hire local western teams? One challenge for Korean
multi-national Groups has been launching overseas operations and
staffing the local branch or subsidiary. As noted in previous
updates, Korean overseas subsidiaries have Korean management
assigned to the host country. The general term for these
representative employees is ju jae won. The Korean model has a
rotation cycle where teams and executives are assigned to overseas
divisions for 3-5 years. They then return to Korea for reassignment
with a replacement expected to take over-often with little
preparation. Skills and experience vary.

Several years ago, in a group session I hosted for Korean and
western senior managers the discussion turned to the
“role” of the westerner teams in project development. The
local western teams felt very under-utilized and wanted to
contribute more. This, of course, led to considerable frustration,
because the westerners previous employers had utilized their
experience and expertise.

Pondering for a moment during the discussion a senior Korean
pointed out that local input was respected, but perhaps feedback
needed to be better communicated. The Korean manager went on to
explain that his team knew how to do things “Korean
style”…., but what was needed were other ways of approaching
problems. Even if those ideas were not adopted, senior management
reviewed those options and took them into consideration. In fact,
Korean leadership had high trust in the local teams and their
judgement…They hired local teams to provide much needed expertise
and know-how.

Listening attentively, one of the western managers, grinned and as
I recall, thanked his Korean co-worker for sharing and promised
he’d convey the message to his team. He also wished he’d
known this 2 years earlier, since it would have reduced lots of
stress in his department.

On a similar topic…
I have noted that unlike in Korea where there is considerable
internal promotion, Korean overseas operations often do not fill
new positions from within the local organizations. Again it’s
not under-valuing local talent, but the belief that hiring New
people will bring New ideas.

BTW The same is true for vendors and service providers-at times new
partnerships are sought to replace a long standing provider. The
thought behind finding a new firm is that it can bring new
resources, ideas, and innovative solutions.

My note to Korean teams and management
Take time to provide your local western teams and management with
feedback-good or bad-when they contribute time and effort on a
project. Sharing details on how their work impacted a project will
go far in improving relations and morale, which leads to higher
productivity.

Questions? Comments?
Feedback (yes, I appreciate feedback, too).

Korea Facing Secrets: Hierarchy in the Workplace

September 22, 2012 Education Comments Off on Korea Facing Secrets: Hierarchy in the Workplace

By Don Southerton, Editor

We’ve received some great feedback on the 3 Korea Facing hierarchy articles…. hope you enjoy, too.

To subscribe, go to 
http://forms.aweber.com/form/24/175507524.htm

Don
This is really interesting stuff and is helping to give me a valuable insight into the working culture of my Korean colleagues.

Thank you.

 


…love your Korea Facing educational newsletters, it is really a great and easy way to get the basics so that you want to know more….


Great pieces!

 

Hi Don,

This information is very timely



Aloha Don,
Again, great points! I liked Part 3.

Like today’s organizations in America, Korean organizations are also presented with the internal challenge of bringing multi-generational employees together to create harmony and cohesiveness.  Individuals from each generation, such as traditionalist, baby boomer, generation X, or generation Y, bring divergent values, beliefs, attitudes, and expectations based on their pivotal experiences and events that portrait both personal and societal backgrounds.  These multi-generational terms may be not used exactly the same in Korea, but the challenges that Korean organizations face at the moment caused by the gap between different generations are virtually the same. 


Individuals of each generation group were born and grew up in the same time period which allows them to witness/participate in common historical events such as political and economic changes.  For this reason, individuals with shared experience have an easier time building bonds and working together in harmony rather than working with individuals from different generation groups.  The particular characteristics of each generation group deeply influence how employees think about many aspects of organizational behavior such as motivation, satisfaction, creativity, innovation, loyalty, commitment, and team work.  This accentuates the importance of understanding those distinctive characteristics of each generation group in order to engender successful outcomes while working with the multi-generational workforce in an organization. 


In my opinion, this type of issue should be dealt at the top management level rather than middle or lower level management for more satisfying outcomes.  As the middle managers noted, they are fearful of losing opportunities to get promoted or even losing jobs by provoking their superiors and subordinates in a negative way.   Expecting them to make a difference in their views and behaviors without getting full support from top management may have a very little bearing on acquiring successful outcomes.


Change is not easy, but feasible as long as transformative leadership is practiced by every single member of an organization from top to bottom.


Thank you for sharing and allowing me to contribute my two cents!


Jennie  


Chunghea  (Jennie) Oliver shares that she grew up during the wild days as South Korea sought to shed its image as the Hermit Kingdom and to engage the hyper-modern world of global business as an engine of technologic wonder and manufacturing excellence. She travelled to the Philippines and to America to study, work, and discover a life for herself.


Along the way, Chunghea has earned degrees in both business and education, which culminated in her successful defense of an interdisciplinary dissertation looking at the question of cultural competence and second language acquisition in order to complete the Doctor of Education in Organizational Leadership offered by Argosy University/Hawaii. 

Korea Facing Newsletter Now Available

September 11, 2012 general Comments Off on Korea Facing Newsletter Now Available

Breaking News
The latest Korea Facing update/ newsletter is now available.

Go to http://archive.aweber.com/bcw-clients/ItJtY
While there, subscribe, too.

 

 

Korea Facing: Success Secrets for Korean Global Business

September 4, 2012 general Comments Off on Korea Facing: Success Secrets for Korean Global Business

PRLog (Press Release) – Sep 04, 2012 –
Denver, Colorado. Global Korean business consultant and CEO Don Southerton has announced that with the ever-growing number of people employed by Korean-based companies outside South Korea now more than ever a strategy is needed to succeed.

Likewise, if your firm provides services or products to a South Korean overseas subsidiary or operations a Korea-facing strategy will be beneficial and offer tactics to strengthen and maintain the relationship. Finally, if your company has significant business in Korea, but leadership and headquarters is located in the West, key management need suggestions on how best to deal with pressing issues and challenges that surface

Southerton notes “Korea Facing is the title not only for my latest book in progress, but also for related seminars, coaching, and workshops we are offering Fall 2012 and into 2013.” Topics include:

1. K-Lobization—The outreach of Korea’s unique management style and corporate culture across international markets, especially among subsidiaries and branch offices.

2. Ju Jae Won—Another name for the Korean expats assigned to a host country to support their overseas operations.

3. Hierarchy– rank and title within the mother and subsidiary organization and its impact on day-to-day business operations.

4. Culture Shock–the cross-cultural acclimatizing that occurs when an individual is assigned to a different geographic location.

5. Generations– South Korea’s age groups influence their business culture, so knowing the differences in the mindset and values of recent Korean generations is valuable.

6. Planning and Decision-making— In a hierarchical system orders come from senior management, plus their requests override other plans and thus schedules are often revised at short notice.

7. Protocols and Culture—Korean culture has norms that dictate social interactions—especially during initial introductions and meet & greets. Cultural differences also impact communications style, decision-making, discussions, and presentation style.

8. Expectations—Most often the issues that surface include managing expectations. Usually each side has legitimate demands. For example, Korean side needs answers and information ASAP, US/ western side procedures take days to compile and approve, often from number of sources.

About Bridging Culture Worldwide
When Fortune 500 companies, top Korean Groups, leading international law firms, and elite consultancies, such as Bain and Monitor, look for Korean-facing business strategy, coaching, and advice—they turn to Bridging Culture Worldwide and Don Southerton.

With over 35 years’ experience, Don Southerton is the definitive authority on Korean-facing global business–from automotive, golf, and QSR sectors to New Urbanism and Green technology. When problems and challenges surface in development, launch, or fulfillment, we provide sound solutions and comprehensive strategies.

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