Weekend Read: Hit the Target-- a Korea Business Lesson

Don Southerton

Hit the target, a comment tied to Korean business.  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 reach their sales numbers. To most, despite a number of vital business initiatives, they feel the monthly demand to hit the target and the “Plan” is all that matters.

I can recall more than a decade ago while mentoring a new American divisional vice president being pulled aside by his Korean expatriate counterpart, an Executive Coordinator.

The Korean obviously under duress and knew I understood the company as well as HQ expectations. My Korean friend asked passionately for me to stress to the new American VP they needed to hit the target. He repeating the phrase, 3 times so to ensure I got it… then patting me on the back before sending me over to the adjacent office with the VP.

Frankly, as long as I have been working with Korea facing global business it has been the driven force.

In another case, I was a speaker at LG’s Mobile national sales meeting. Capping the upbeat and motivating event, the Korean CEO with a huge graph projected behind him shared their amazing unit sales growth over the years. He then added the next year’s “stretch goal” as a hush came over the room. The new goal a huge bump over past years, which had pushed teams and the organization to their limits.

To be fair, this model is not unique to Korean business. It is also the subject of frequent discussion in Korea.

However, South Korea’s modern economy was once rooted in a state-run export-driven model—the government fixing private industries and well as the nation’s overall production and sales quotas in many sectors.

Today despite leading international as well as Korean economic experts arguing the old model is dated and need to move more to the service sector… the export production model still remains a driving force…

In part with so much of the Korean identity, economy and jobs tied to export production the Groups are under pressure to continue to seek growth each year—push the teams even harder.

So what’s the solution?
First, we need to accept this has long been the foundation of Korean business and it has been their proven success model.

It's part of their Culture and a norm accepted by many.

In turn, others do hope and argue for Korea to re-invent and redefine itself, less focused on growth numbers and more on a being a leader in new technology and innovation synonymous with Silicon Valley.

Care to discuss some additional solutions specific to your needs?

dsoutherton@bridgingculture.com

Http://www.bridgingculture.com

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