Thoughts on Korean Business by Don Southerton

My work is 24/7/ 365. Globalization is a mindset I embrace. For example, I begin each day at 5:00 AM (usually at a local Starbucks drinking coffee grown in Africa or South America), First, I surf the web for events that shape and impact my clients. I answer emails, most often from Europe and the Middle East, and then focus on the East Coast. By midday, I've shifted my focus to California. Late afternoon has me looking at Asia and Korea as they begin a new day. My evenings deal with my Korea based projects. After getting some sleep, it's not uncommon that I wake up around 1 AM to check-in on Korea as their business day ends. So what do I do for fun.... This photo shows me out for a morning trail run near the beach in La Jolla, California. Note the Hyundai Motor Company hat, the shirt is a gift from a friend at Chosun Ilbo, and the shirt was made with textile from Hyosung. BTW I carry my Blackberry on the run, so I stay wired ;) DS

Three announcements… First, a new Podcast has been posted on the BC website. The new Podcast is the second installment in Looking Forward in 2007. I discuss business strategies for maximizing success in your organization. To visit the site, click here . Second, I’ve posted a Webinar--Key Elements to Successful Korean Culture eLearning Programs--on the BC website. The Webinar was produced by WebEx and Bridging Culture Worldwide. The Webinar discusses the benefits of offering Korean culture training across organizations. The 45-minute presentation includes insights into how your teams will benefit from understanding Korean culture. Moreover, the Webinar shows how BCW can provide your team members training and access, 24/7. To view the Webinar, click here , then go to the new BC Webinar link. Finally, Bridging Culture™ is now Bridging Culture Worldwide™. The name change reflects the growing global expansion of our work and clients needs. For more info, click here I hope you enjoy the new ...

La Jolla, CA (PRWeb) February 16, 2007 -- Don Southerton, CEO and president of Bridging Culture, recently announced that the firm has changed its name to Bridging Culture Worldwide (BCW). Southerton notes, "the name change reflects BC's growth and presence outside North America." The BCW CEO also points out, "globalization requires management gain greater insights into diverse cultures and business norms." With regard to BCW's recent global focus, Southerton explains that as Korean firms expand internationally their host country team members can benefit from insights into Korean norms and expectations. In addition, expatriate teams need to localize and develop an understanding of local norms, customs, and workplace. BCW programs are designed to provide teams with the skills and support to overcome cross cultural challenges. Bridging Culture Worldwide is a La Jolla, California-based global firm, which offers training programs and consulting to help management...

The Korean workplace reflects the dynamic of South Korea's economy and society. Moreover, one finds it reflecting changing norms, many of which are generational. Chosun Ilbo published this survey. Significantly, the survey provides insights into the mindset for those new to the workplace. SK is one of Korea's top conglomerates. According to the results released Monday of a survey of 427 new employees by SK Group, new workers on their first job say that personal relations are more important than job performance to success in the workplace. Personal relations was named as the most important skill by 37 percent of the new employees surveyed, followed by performance at 30 percent, sincerity at 27 percent and information collecting skills and savoir vivre at 3 percent. Some 40 percent of the surveyed employees preferred visionary bosses who share their goals and dreams, and another 40 percent preferred bosses who value good relations and emphasize team harmony. The next favorite bo...

Have a prosperous Year of the Gold Pig. Sae hae bok mani badeu say yo!

The 2007 Lunar New Year’s celebration (Seol) is this weekend February 17-19. This is the year of the Gold Pig, which represents good fortune and prosperity. Along with Chusok (the fall harvest festival), Seol is the most important of traditional Korean holidays. In Korea, Seol includes family activities that showing respect to elders and ancestors. Most Korean businesses are also closed for the holiday (Monday is a legal holiday) as millions of Koreans travel to join their families. I see the holiday, as a great opportunity for Westerners to wish their Korean colleagues: “ Sae hae bok mani bah deu say yo (“Happy Lunar New Year.”) Hint: I'll break down the pronunciation: “Sae hae bok—mah ne—bah deu say yo! Which literally means, "Please receive many New Year blessings!" Don

On my recent trip to Korea, along with the Lotte Hotel, Downtown Seoul 27th Floor Club Room, Starbucks across the city served as my global office. On an interesting note, I see the Coffee business booming. In fact, rivals to Starbucks are popping up all over Seoul. Like the U.S. Burger and Cola wars of the 1990s, I can see a Korean Coffee war on the horizon. DS

Good Morning, This commentary comes from Starbucks Korea Sogong-dong, in the heart of Seoul. Reflective of globalization, the music playing as I sip my coffee is Marvin Gaye; the same music I’d heard last week in a La Jolla, California Starbucks. Reflect and Observe It has been nearly twenty years since I first visited Korea. This is my first trip for 2007. Each time, I reflect and observe the changes. One is the continued growth of western global franchises. Starbucks, Coffee Bean, Outback, and T.G.I. Friday’s stand out. Their signage showcases a strong presence in Korea. Subtler is the proliferation of foreign influence--Mug Hof, Tom N Toms Coffee, Cafe Les Jours, and Cafe Pascucci--—to list but a few. They are unfamiliar names to Americans, but they show the ever-expanding impact of the West on Korea. Sadly, my taxi drive from Incheon International Airport was a night. I missed seeing a glimpse of traditional homes and farmlands on the ride into Seoul. As a historian who had w...

Featured Webinar: "Key Elements to Successful Korean Culture eLearning programs" February 7, 200711 am - 12 pm PST Register Today! Learn about the next generation of Korean culture eLearning Many organizations are struggling to meet increasing demands for Korean awareness training. Join us from your desktop on Wednesday February 7, 2007 at 11:00 (PST) as Bridging Culture's Don Southerton presents an insightful and informative session on the benefits of a Korean Culture eLearning program. This one-hour webinar will tell you exactly how to outline an effective Korean Culture training program, Learn the building blocks of Bridging Culture's eLearning program including; terminology, available solutions, resources and more. Don will discuss the benefits of Korean Culture eLearning programs across your organization including: Insights into how your national teams will benefit from understanding Korean culture. Benefits of participants attending online or viewing "on de...

Visitors to this Blog will find several topics surface frequently. Family control of Korea's top conglomerates is a topic I follow closely. At times, this is not so much as a study of the Korean management model, but a study of how Korean media and the public dwells on the family leadership of its top business groups. An example is this Korea Herald article on the new roles heirs to Korea's top groups are assuming within the respective organizations. Korea Herald notes, The promotion of Lee Jay-yong, the only son of Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee, to chief customer officer at Samsung Electronics Co. last Friday has rekindled public and corporate interest in the children of the nation's biggest industrialists. Lee, 39, is one of the "second- and third-generation" executives who have been taking on increasingly important management roles in companies founded by their families, including Samsung, Hyundai, Shinsegae and Korean Air. The promotion of Lee Jay-yong h...

As one travels outside the US and North America, no matter how open a person is to enjoying new and different cuisine, soon they long for a western-style meal. Years ago finding a McDonalds or Burger King was great. Luckily, today there are many options. TGIF, Outback, and Tony Roma are common in Seoul. I enjoyed this short article on Tony Roma and localizing some of their menu for Korea. Korea Times Tony Romas, the Dallas-based family restaurant with outlets all over the world, is beefing up their seafood and steak menu for this year. Executive Chief Bob Gallagher visited Korea last week in order to give first-hand training to chefs at seven Tony Romas restaurants. Gallagher, also the restaurant chains food and beverage director, made his tour of all seven outlets and demonstrated how to prepare new dishes. Especially, he prepared a dish named Golden Pig ribs at the request of Korean outlets. This year is the Year of Golden Pig that is regarded as very auspicious. Gallagher has serv...

More Good News… A new Podcast has been posted on the BC website at: http://bridgingculture.com/Site/Podcast/Podcast.html The Podcast’s topic is Looking Forward into 2007. It’s the first of three episodes on globalization and maximizing business strategies for 2007. To visit the site, click here. By the way, I’m hearing great feedback on BC’s new eBook, Coffee, Cars, and Corporations: Thoughts on Korean Business and Popular Culture . If you haven’t downloaded your copy, Coffee, Cars, and Corporations is Free to download from this site, Free to post on your site... or Free to email your team and colleagues. The eBook is in PDF format and is 35 pages. Click here to download Coffee, Cars, and Corporations: Thoughts on Korean Business and Popular Culture (The PDF takes a moment to download). I hope you enjoy the Podcast and the new eBook. Don

On my last trip to Seoul, outside business, one area of the city I wished to spend time was Bukchon-north village. (That's me in Bukchon). This area between the Royal palaces is rich in heritage. During the Choson era, many of Seoul's elite yangban once lived in this hilly section of the city. When compared with other parts of the city I feel more relaxed as if I lived here in a past life. This Korea Times article does a wonderful job highlighting the district. In fact, I've visited many of the area's shops noted in the article... Stylish neighborhoods are cropping up all over the metropolis. Kahoe-dong, located in Chongno-gu, is a traditional Korean residential neighborhood slowly undergoing a transformation. Nestled between Kyongbok and Changdok palaces, the Kahoe-dong neighborhood is often overlooked in favor of the much swankier Samchong-dong and the tourist magnet Insa-dong. The main attraction of Kahoe is Pukchon, most famous for its cluster of hanoks, trad...

I found these two photographs by Yonhap covering the huge annual International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas very interesting. One links Samsung's digital product development with a curious Bill Gates, and the second showcases Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong.

As a historian and student of entrepreneurialism, I enjoy reading about the origins of companies. LG, Hyundai-Kia, and Samsung all have different roots. LG is celebrating its 60th anniversary, so there is lots of media on the Group's past. I'd like to share LG's past. Chosun Ilbo notes some milestones: The first product Lucky Chemical Industrial produced in 1947 was Lucky Cream. It came in a brown container bearing the image of the Hollywood starlet Deanna Durbin and boasted such a sophisticated design that many people mistakenly thought it was imported from Shanghai. [ The word Lucky came from one of the most popular American brand seen in post WWII Korea, Lucky Strikes cigarettes.] [ I not sure why LG picked Deanna Durbin--she was a popular young singer-actor of the 30s, with some international exposure. She left the film industry in 1950.] In 1951, the company entered the plastics business to make cosmetics containers and succeeded in developing less brittle kind of lid...

Great News Coffee, Cars, and Corporations: Thoughts on Korean Business and Popular Culture—a new eBook is here. Over the past years, I’ve posted hundreds of web-based articles and commentary. Bestselling author and agent of change Seth Godin suggested I craft an eBook. Coffee, Cars, and Corporations is Free to download from this site, Free to post on your site... or Free to email your team and colleagues. The eBook is in PDF format and is 35 pages. Download Coffee, Cars, and Corporations: Thoughts on Korean Business and Popular Culture (The PDF takes a moment to download). I hope you enjoy this snapshot of contemporary Korean business and culture. Don Southerton BTW, I’d consider it a mutual favor if you’d click here: http://feeds.feedburner.com/BridgingCultureBlog and subscribe to my Blog’s RSS feed.

Annual New Year messages by Korea's top business Groups give us deep insights into Korean global business. For example: Samsung's Chairman Lee notes the Group needs to stress creative management, be more flexible, and be unafraid to take risk. Moreover, the Group needs to soften its rigid organizational structure, which impedes creativity and risk-taking. Interestingly, Samsung's Chairman pointed out the Group's Korean-only senior executive model need to change...I see this as a mandate to open the ranks of Samsung's senior global management to non-Koreans. I see more Groups following this lead. LG's Chairman Koo, in contrast, feels his Group must seek sustainability. In addition, LG will continue to stress its 1st Class management theme. Hyundai-Kia Group Chairman Chung notes that the Group must focus on customer satisfaction and brand value more than drive car sale numbers. This is a change from Group's overarching quest for sales. ###

Seoul's Boshingak Bell pavilion in the 1890s. There are two popular ways Koreans celebrate the New Year. Many Koreans, for example, travel to mountain and sea side locations to watch the year's first sunrise. Others in Seoul witness the ringing of the Boshingak bell. Yonhap noted that: Seoul's metropolitan government will hosted its annual Bosingak Bell Ringing Ceremony at midnight on Sunday in the center of the capital, with as many as 150,000 citizens, including ranking government officials, business leaders and celebrities, attending. The bell in Seoul's Jongno district was rung 33 times to greet the New Year. [ 33 is a lucky number in Buddhism]. BTW Historically, during the Choson Dynasty (1392-1910) the bell was rung several times each day. These bell ringings included signaled the opening and closing of Seoul's Great Gates.

On my list of frequent questions asked by woman participants of BC training programs, gender in the Korean workplace always surfaces. Most often westerners see lots of male Korean team overseas team members. Never seeing women overseas team members or management creates an impression or perception that very few women work for global Korean business. For those of us who watch and study the Korean workplace, we recognize a huge generational change is occurring. The perception that women were temporary workers, who quit after marriage for child-rearing still lingers, but many women are breaking away from old norms and seek careers. Nevertheless, some issues still are firmly rooted. This Korea Times article points out new government agency mandates regarding discrimination based on physical appearance. What about losing some weight after entering the company? How old are you? It is good for a woman to look younger than her real age. These are examples of questions that women sometimes enc...

I'd thought I'd share an excerpt from one of my 3 novels, A Yankee in the Land of the Morning Calm. In writing the book I based much on the life of American missionaries like Lillias Horton Underwood. Lillias documented her efforts with the Korean royal family in Fifteen Years Among the Top-Knots or Life in Korea (NewYork: American Tract Society, 1904). From A Yankee in the Land of the Morning Calm: A Historic Novel, Book One . The Korean Royal Family Was No Exception. In late December 1893, King Kojong and his wife Queen Min became very curious about the holiday and started to inquire about its significance. To satisfy her curiosity, Queen Min summoned her closest western friend and personal physician, Lillias Underwood to explain about the Christmas holiday, which the Anglo missionary did gladly. A few days later, on the December 25 Christian holiday, Queen Min made special arrangements for the Underwood family to receive gifts of fruit, expensive cloth, and elaborate silk s...