Thoughts on Korean Business by Don Southerton

A week does not go by without a colleague or client expressing deep concern for what seems an overarching and singular need for their company to Hit their Numbers.  To most, despite a number of vital business initiatives, they feel the monthly demand to meet “Plan” is all that matters. Frankly, as long as I have been working with Korea facing global business it has been a (the) driven force.  In fact, I can recall more than a decade ago while mentoring a new American divisional vice president that his Korean coordinator, obviously under some duress and knowing I understood the company well, pulled me aside. He asked passionately I stress to the new VP they needed to “Hit the Target.”  Repeating the phase, 3 times so to ensure I got it… then patting me on the back and sending me over to the adjacent office with the VP. In another case, I was a speaker at LG’s Mobile national sales meeting.  Capping the upbeat and motivating event, the CEO with a huge graph ...

As many of you know, I work between Korean affiliates and companies. What stands out is how sub-cultures vary even within the same group.  Perhaps moving among affiliates sometimes in a single day, I see and experience the subtle differences more than most. This can range from the tangibles like building design, workspace layout, dress code and amenities to intangibles such as what one can sense in day to day employee engagement, morale and comradery.  In fact, there are sub cultural differences: 1) in Korea between divisions and affiliates, 2) with Korea and their own overseas divisions and 3) as I noted between the local overseas affiliates. So, sub-cultures do matter. Digging deeper, I feel recognizing what is common between the companies’ counts, too. This can include intrinsic Group values and norms shared across the organization, or even more common general Korean business practices and expectations.  To add to the complexity, often the lo...

It’s that time of the year with Chuseok, (the Korean Harvest Moon Festival) right around the corner. In 2016, Chuseok holiday falls on September 15, the day before and after also celebrated as National Holidays. Koreans previously followed the lunar calendar, but in recent history, they have followed the solar calendar in line with international practice. While public holidays are based on the solar calendar, there are a few days that are celebrated based on the lunar calendar. These are the two most important traditional holidays, the Korean New Year’s Day (the first day of the first lunar month) and Chuseok mid-autumn festival (fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month). In mass, (and I mean a substantial part of the population) families travel back to their home villages. Over the holiday they may perform ancestral rituals at the graves of relatives as well as share time with their family over traditional foods. For your Korean colleagues (in Korea), you can wish them...

One more resource--  This week it’s my 2014 book Hyundai Way: Hyundai Speed. In it, I tackled the often-raised question, “What has made Hyundai so successful?” The book also looks to capture my ongoing pursuit to define and share Hyundai corporate culture, which by nature is an intangible Chapters in the book then explore the ties between Korean and Hyundai heritage with deeply rooted culture and tradition that still strongly impacting the modern workplace. After sharing this background on Korea, I look at the rise of Hyundai under its founder Chung Ju Yung and the current chairman Chung Mong Koo. Next, the focus is on Hyundai corporate culture, old and then insights into the notable company management styles. The final chapter shares my opinions on a question many outside Korea have asked of this enigmatic system: “Is Hyundai business model globally sustainable?” Again, I tackle this question from the cultural perspective. To Dig Deeper Here’s a link to Hyundai Way: Hy...