Thoughts on Korean Business by Don Southerton

My lens is cultural. From that perspective, consumables can tell us much about a society. Korean premium and upmarket trends are an area I research and follow carefully. In reflecting back on more than 15 years of writing on the topic especially related to the Korean car market and specifically Hyundai Motor Company, I was honored to attend the New York International Auto Show and the unveiling of Genesis Motor ‘New York’ concept car. The premium brand launched its first model, the G90 (badged as EQ900 in Korea), in January with plans for 6 models in the line-up by 2020. We can expect to see elements of the well–received ‘New York’ concept in future Genesis Motor models. The brand reflects Luxury Evolving, with a human-centered focus connecting mobility with cutting edge technology.  From a cultural perspective and although the design team is very global, plus heavily influenced by its German leadership, I see these brand qualities aligning well with the mo...

From time to time I like to share some of the many resources we offer. These range from 8 years of Vodcasts and special presentations on YouTube @  https://www.youtube.com/user/ds19192/videos In PDF versions of a number of my books and articles are offered @  https://www.scribd.com/user/15590167/Don-Southerton And over 1200 Blogger posts @   http://bridgingculturekorea.blogspot.com We invite you to visit, view and download.   So take some time and dig deeper. This said, we look for your comments and questions. One more thing , I attending the New York Auto Show this week, so next week look for my comments on the show with a focus on the new Hyundai IONIQ line and Genesis Motor brand, as well as Kia Motors sharp looking Cadenza (K7). Connect Deeper For questions, Stacey, my personal assistant at  stacey@koreabcw.com  can coordinate a time for us to chat by phone or handle by email.

Addressing issues from a cultural perspective, in most cases the only workarounds that we have and I can suggest are centered on education for Western teams working with Korean teams. Western co-workers need educated in and be sensitive to the Korean communications style. With less an emphasis on formal channels, in the Korean workplace considerable information is shared informally throughout the often-extended workday. Foremost, the Korean workplace is ever changing, priorities shift day to day and even throughout the day.  For example, a directive might be altered after being requested—or the mission better defined or clarified. Since change is frequent, many Korean expatriates working in local operations will refrain from sharing developing issues early on. To Americans for example it may appear they have been sitting on information that could have been shared much earlier—while in actuality instead of false starts, Korean expats want to make sure before engagi...

  Strategies and Tactics As I do frequently,  I'd like to share summaries of my recent work. This latest case study is some of my top strategies and tactics for tackling Korean facing global business. Note I stressed Global, since working outside Korea within local subsidiary operations is my primary focus and specialty. In this post,  I am pleased to provide a link to access the new case study PDF. So take a few minutes to read through the steps I outline in the report. If you have questions, I'd be happy to answer. To access the complimentary PDF go to:   https://www.scribd.com/doc/302653498/From-the-Korea-facing-Global-Business-Toolbox-Strategies-and-Tactics For questions , Stacey, my personal assistant at stacey@koreabcw.com can coordinate a time for us to chat by phone or handle by email.

Another Lesson from My Korea Facing Global Business Toolbox  More than a decade ago  during a group session I hosted for overseas Korean and western senior managers, the discussion turned to the "role" of the westerners on teams engaged in local project development. The local western teams felt very under-utilized and wanted to contribute more. This, of course, was a source of considerable frustration for the westerners because their previous automotive OEM employers had given them considerable responsibility with little direct oversight and more fully utilized their experience and expertise. Pondering for a moment  during the discussion, a senior Korean pointed out that local input was respected, but perhaps this needed to be better communicated. The Korean manager went on to explain that his Korean teams knew how to do things "Korean style", but what was needed were other ways of approaching work related issues. More recently in early 2016,  a senior Kore...