Thoughts on Korean Business by Don Southerton

Good Morning, This commentary comes from Starbucks Korea Sogong-dong, in the heart of Seoul. Reflective of globalization, the music playing as I sip my coffee is Marvin Gaye; the same music I’d heard last week in a La Jolla, California Starbucks. Reflect and Observe It has been nearly twenty years since I first visited Korea. This is my first trip for 2007. Each time, I reflect and observe the changes. One is the continued growth of western global franchises. Starbucks, Coffee Bean, Outback, and T.G.I. Friday’s stand out. Their signage showcases a strong presence in Korea. Subtler is the proliferation of foreign influence--Mug Hof, Tom N Toms Coffee, Cafe Les Jours, and Cafe Pascucci--—to list but a few. They are unfamiliar names to Americans, but they show the ever-expanding impact of the West on Korea. Sadly, my taxi drive from Incheon International Airport was a night. I missed seeing a glimpse of traditional homes and farmlands on the ride into Seoul. As a historian who had w...

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Visitors to this Blog will find several topics surface frequently. Family control of Korea's top conglomerates is a topic I follow closely. At times, this is not so much as a study of the Korean management model, but a study of how Korean media and the public dwells on the family leadership of its top business groups. An example is this Korea Herald article on the new roles heirs to Korea's top groups are assuming within the respective organizations. Korea Herald notes, The promotion of Lee Jay-yong, the only son of Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee, to chief customer officer at Samsung Electronics Co. last Friday has rekindled public and corporate interest in the children of the nation's biggest industrialists. Lee, 39, is one of the "second- and third-generation" executives who have been taking on increasingly important management roles in companies founded by their families, including Samsung, Hyundai, Shinsegae and Korean Air. The promotion of Lee Jay-yong h...

As one travels outside the US and North America, no matter how open a person is to enjoying new and different cuisine, soon they long for a western-style meal. Years ago finding a McDonalds or Burger King was great. Luckily, today there are many options. TGIF, Outback, and Tony Roma are common in Seoul. I enjoyed this short article on Tony Roma and localizing some of their menu for Korea. Korea Times Tony Romas, the Dallas-based family restaurant with outlets all over the world, is beefing up their seafood and steak menu for this year. Executive Chief Bob Gallagher visited Korea last week in order to give first-hand training to chefs at seven Tony Romas restaurants. Gallagher, also the restaurant chains food and beverage director, made his tour of all seven outlets and demonstrated how to prepare new dishes. Especially, he prepared a dish named Golden Pig ribs at the request of Korean outlets. This year is the Year of Golden Pig that is regarded as very auspicious. Gallagher has serv...

More Good News… A new Podcast has been posted on the BC website at: http://bridgingculture.com/Site/Podcast/Podcast.html The Podcast’s topic is Looking Forward into 2007. It’s the first of three episodes on globalization and maximizing business strategies for 2007. To visit the site, click here. By the way, I’m hearing great feedback on BC’s new eBook, Coffee, Cars, and Corporations: Thoughts on Korean Business and Popular Culture . If you haven’t downloaded your copy, Coffee, Cars, and Corporations is Free to download from this site, Free to post on your site... or Free to email your team and colleagues. The eBook is in PDF format and is 35 pages. Click here to download Coffee, Cars, and Corporations: Thoughts on Korean Business and Popular Culture (The PDF takes a moment to download). I hope you enjoy the Podcast and the new eBook. Don

On my last trip to Seoul, outside business, one area of the city I wished to spend time was Bukchon-north village. (That's me in Bukchon). This area between the Royal palaces is rich in heritage. During the Choson era, many of Seoul's elite yangban once lived in this hilly section of the city. When compared with other parts of the city I feel more relaxed as if I lived here in a past life. This Korea Times article does a wonderful job highlighting the district. In fact, I've visited many of the area's shops noted in the article... Stylish neighborhoods are cropping up all over the metropolis. Kahoe-dong, located in Chongno-gu, is a traditional Korean residential neighborhood slowly undergoing a transformation. Nestled between Kyongbok and Changdok palaces, the Kahoe-dong neighborhood is often overlooked in favor of the much swankier Samchong-dong and the tourist magnet Insa-dong. The main attraction of Kahoe is Pukchon, most famous for its cluster of hanoks, trad...

I found these two photographs by Yonhap covering the huge annual International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas very interesting. One links Samsung's digital product development with a curious Bill Gates, and the second showcases Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong.

As a historian and student of entrepreneurialism, I enjoy reading about the origins of companies. LG, Hyundai-Kia, and Samsung all have different roots. LG is celebrating its 60th anniversary, so there is lots of media on the Group's past. I'd like to share LG's past. Chosun Ilbo notes some milestones: The first product Lucky Chemical Industrial produced in 1947 was Lucky Cream. It came in a brown container bearing the image of the Hollywood starlet Deanna Durbin and boasted such a sophisticated design that many people mistakenly thought it was imported from Shanghai. [ The word Lucky came from one of the most popular American brand seen in post WWII Korea, Lucky Strikes cigarettes.] [ I not sure why LG picked Deanna Durbin--she was a popular young singer-actor of the 30s, with some international exposure. She left the film industry in 1950.] In 1951, the company entered the plastics business to make cosmetics containers and succeeded in developing less brittle kind of lid...

Great News Coffee, Cars, and Corporations: Thoughts on Korean Business and Popular Culture—a new eBook is here. Over the past years, I’ve posted hundreds of web-based articles and commentary. Bestselling author and agent of change Seth Godin suggested I craft an eBook. Coffee, Cars, and Corporations is Free to download from this site, Free to post on your site... or Free to email your team and colleagues. The eBook is in PDF format and is 35 pages. Download Coffee, Cars, and Corporations: Thoughts on Korean Business and Popular Culture (The PDF takes a moment to download). I hope you enjoy this snapshot of contemporary Korean business and culture. Don Southerton BTW, I’d consider it a mutual favor if you’d click here: http://feeds.feedburner.com/BridgingCultureBlog and subscribe to my Blog’s RSS feed.

Annual New Year messages by Korea's top business Groups give us deep insights into Korean global business. For example: Samsung's Chairman Lee notes the Group needs to stress creative management, be more flexible, and be unafraid to take risk. Moreover, the Group needs to soften its rigid organizational structure, which impedes creativity and risk-taking. Interestingly, Samsung's Chairman pointed out the Group's Korean-only senior executive model need to change...I see this as a mandate to open the ranks of Samsung's senior global management to non-Koreans. I see more Groups following this lead. LG's Chairman Koo, in contrast, feels his Group must seek sustainability. In addition, LG will continue to stress its 1st Class management theme. Hyundai-Kia Group Chairman Chung notes that the Group must focus on customer satisfaction and brand value more than drive car sale numbers. This is a change from Group's overarching quest for sales. ###