Thoughts on Korean Business by Don Southerton

By Don Southerton, BCW Editor With work that centers on Korea-facing business, I have some deep insights into the extent and the role that South Korean companies play as top foreign investors in the United States. The many Korean brands with significant US investment include the familiar Hyundai, Kia, Samsung, and LG, along with Hankook and Hyosung (both car tire related), Doosan (Bobcat), Translead (trailers), Rotem (trains) MOBIS (auto parts), Innocean (marketing) and Forever 21 (apparel). Surprising to many is that ever increasingly my “ Korea work ”   takes place here in America and globally, not in Seoul. I then explain that along with thousands of others I have benefited from the growing popularity of Korean brands. I expect this trend to increase with the EU and KORUS FTA (Free Trade Agreements). Candidly, I feel the true impact of South Korea interests in the U.S. is overlooked when considering the magnitude of Foreign Direct Investment, employment o...

Supporting Korean overseas teams ( ju jae won) and their Korean executives is a must for all Korea-based organizations. The assumption that expatriates 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. However, what stands out in numerous studies is the need for training. In particular the need for a training program that can successfully provide insights into new business cultures and values, while fostering sensitivity and teamwork among all members of the company. An effective eLearning program for Korean expatriates can help bridge gaps while supplying needed skills and knowledge. Based on years of working with western and Korean expat teams, we have developed an eLearning program to address issues that commonly occur in the American and global workplace. The benefits of the eLearning program include: The training is designed to...

By Don Southerton, BCW Editor Following a recent workshop, I had the opportunity to chat with the local subsidiary's Korean CEO. He hoped I'd shared with his team how the company in Korea and the US differed from the Group's sister firms--many wrongly assuming a high level of conformity across the Group. I assured him that "yes," I shared in the training how even within the Group each company had it's own unique culture. And, not only did sister companies differ, but how the Koreans recruited and working at companies within the Group were different. On parting I added, and the CEO agreed, that a key point to be shared was that Koreans dispatched to support the division's overseas operation over time came to see things differently than the Korea-based teams. Building on this... Prior to a global workshop on the ever changing Korean workplace, a senior Korean executive once asked that I also explain to the group that despite perceived outward appearanc...

By Don Southerton, BCW Editor It's been chilly in Denver, so I'm glad to be back in SoCal this week working with clients. Meanwhile, After posting weekly Korea Facing updates over the past few months, I thought a short resource recap was timely. In part, with many readers demanding schedules and oceans of daily emails, some topics of interest may have come and gone unread.  We have also added a substantial number of new readers since Korea Facing's launch.   Here are the topics and direct links to each of the articles. Korea corporate hierarchy http://archive.aweber.com/bcw-clients/ItJtY/h/Korea_Facing_Hierarchy_Part_1.htm http://archive.aweber.com/bcw-clients/GGH.Y/h/Korea_Facing_Hierarchy_Part_2.htm http://archive.aweber.com/bcw-clients/DIzHI/h/Korea_Facing_Hierarchy_Part_3.htm http://archive.aweber.com/bcw-clients/9s9kI/h/Some_Feedback_on_Hierarchy_Part.htm   Workplace generation issues http://archive.aweber.com/bcw-clients/FYgz2/h/Ko...

By Don Southerton, BCW 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 ...