Thoughts on Korean Business by Don Southerton

In the News.... A reporter from UAE's The National visiting Seoul enjoys Gangnam style and mentions Mad For Garlic. http://www.thenational.ae/business/out-and-about-the-gangnam-way-and-loving-every-minute-of-it They note in the article, What to say about Korean food? I had lots of jokey warnings before I left Dubai, but I can honestly say every dish I tried was delicious – fresh and wholesome ingredients cooked to perfection. One of the specialities is Korean barbecue, a little like Japanese tepanyaki in that the food is cooked in front of you over hot coals buried into the table. It was a pleasure watching consummate artists of cuisine showing off their skills with fork and (a new one for me this at a dinner table) big scissors for cutting meat. The dishes eventually served up after the artistry were wonderful: a whole range of spices some of which I’d never encountered before, and some very creative vegetable dishes. Creative too were the restaurant names. “Mad About...

Over the years, I've enjoyed sharing significant Korean culture events. Chuseok is perhaps the most celebrated of the traditional holidays. Harvest traditions are celebrated all over the world in different ways. For Koreans, the traditional celebration this year is September 19, but the legal holiday is observed for a total of three days September 18 – 20. (Fortunately, this year’s Chuseok holiday falls from Wednesday through Friday making it a five-day holiday in total.) Celebrated for centuries as the lunar-based (fifteenth day of the 8th lunar month) Fall Harvest Festival, Chuseok is among the most important of Korean holidays, a day filled with family and tradition. Millions of Koreans travel to join their family and celebrate traditional customs of Chuseok, including ancestral memorial rituals, followed by a day of special foods and family-focused activity. In many ways it is similar to America's Thanksgiving--minus the turkey and trimmings. :) One ...

The UK food and beverage (F&B) media has done a great job sharing news of Mad For Garlic's launch.  Special thanks to Big Hospitality.com  and 'Hospitality and Catering News' Hospitality and Catering News SEPTEMBER 6, 2013 Mad For Garlic, one of Korea’s most popular restaurant chains with 27 outlets and a further 4 across Asia, has announced plans to bring its handcrafted artisanal Italian cuisine into the US, EU and ME markets. In recent years, South Korea has become well known for its remarkable economic growth and a cultural trend called ‘Korean Wave”, with Korean cultural exports and innovations including cuisine, film and popular worldwide. Italian cuisine with a Korean twist Originated in Korea in 2001, Mad for Garlic’s creative preparation method of removing the garlic’s pungent smell and its unique way of cooking Italian cuisine with a Korean twist have won the hearts of both garlic and non-garlic lovers. Mad For Garlic is known for its unique and...

This is the final day of the 10 Day Korea Facing coaching series... as always we hope you have found the lessons helpful.... and we are open to inquires on how we to best assist and support you and your teams. Lesson 10 Hierarchy Hierarchy is one of the most distinguishing characteristics of Korean culture. In turn, the Korean workplace is deeply rooted in hierarchy. Reaching back to Korea's Neo- Confucian past, social stratification is very apparent in many of Korea's top companies. South Korea's authoritarian military regimes of the 1960s, 70s, and 80s added and reinforced this old model. One observation is high Power Distance, a term used in cross-cultural studies for a conspicuous disparity or difference between senior management and teams. A number of workplace norms dictate (with lots of protocols) interaction between the teams and senior management. Essentially teams prepare reports and data for senior management to review, await approval for the executives, a...

It's Day 9 of the 10 day Korea Facing coaching series. The lessons' share hints for Korea facing business. In part, content will be excerpts from  Korea Facing: Secrets for Korean Global Business . Plus, I will include some timely comments based on recent consultancy. Lesson 9  Why Hire Local Western Teams 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 book Korea Facing: Secrets of Korean Global Business, 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 ...