the korea herald: no two chaebol are alike, author says
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News article: Don Southerton explores the niche with his recently published book “Korea Facing: Secrets for Success in Korean Global Business,” which picks apart how to work with a Korean conglomerate from the ground up, for non-Koreans working in Korean branches overseas.TRANSCRIPT
2/22/15, 4:50 PMNo two chaebol are alike, author says
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No two chaebol are alike, author says
While Koreans’ rising presence on the global stage is hard to ignore, how to do business with them as anon-Korean is an increasingly tricky area little covered in English-language literature. Don Southertonexplores the niche with his recently published book “Korea Facing: Secrets for Success in KoreanGlobal Business,” which picks apart how to work with a Korean conglomerate from the ground up, fornon-Koreans working in Korean branches overseas.
“Over the years I witnessed firsthand cross-cultural issues that surfaced as Korean companiesexpanded globally. My role has been to address these issues such as poor trust among the Korean andWestern teams, lack of communication, local employee turnover and managing expectations,”Southerton said in an email interview with The Korea Herald.
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2/22/15, 4:50 PMNo two chaebol are alike, author says
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Don Southerton
Cover image of “Korea Facing: Secrets for Successin Korean Global Business” by Don Southerton
Although he has long been aware and exposed to the cultural differences in Western and Koreanbusiness settings, he said, it was when he began working at a Korean subsidiary in the U.S. in the early2000s that he witnessed the differences between how U.S. and Korean teams managed the company.
He noted that the differences in decision-making processes, for example, had been a particular sourceof friction between Korean and Western teams: Key decisions were always deferred to the parentheadquarters in Korea, and Koreans in the overseas branches needed to scrutinize and approve eventhe most mundane matters, regardless of the Western team’s experience in the field.
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2/22/15, 4:50 PMNo two chaebol are alike, author says
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He discovered, as he writes in “Korea Facing,” that all too many frustrations were rooted in notknowing how to do things “Korean style” ― or, for the Korean side, not knowing any other way.
In “Korea Facing” he shares his personal experiences from working particularly for Hyundai-Kiaoverseas branches as a coach, consultant and trainer with those Korean and Western teams, and offersexperience-based advice for overcoming those workplace challenges.
His chapters explore basic business culture lessons, from the levels of the Korean managerialhierarchy, to nuances on the right timing for getting approvals, meeting protocol ― upon meetingforeign teams, Koreans line up their business cards on the table to match their seating order, and headvises doing the same ― identifying and resolving conflicting expectations and ambitions of Koreanand Western teams, and insight on just how much the Korean chairman’s wife might influence thedirection of the company.
But Korean companies are gradually loosening their neckties and adapting to Western businesspractices, he notes.
“I feel the Korean groups have seen the need to be flexible and adapt quickly to changes in globaleconomic fluctuations,” he said. “For example, in the recent global recession they saw an opportunityto expand when others pulled back in production, R&D and marketing. They capitalized on thisopportunity to leapfrog ahead of the competition.”
Additionally, young Korean employees sent overseas have often attended school or lived abroad, andincreasingly more Korean executives have worked overseas as expats. And as the overseas businessesare increasingly using English to communicate, so, too, do they adapt more casual Western businessnorms and practices, he added.
Beyond all the differences between Korean and non-Korean working cultures, Southerton noted,Korean companies deal with many of the same challenges: How quickly projects can be approved andexecuted depends on the individual company; Korean and Western companies both struggle withgenerational gaps when trying to create harmony and cohesiveness within their ranks; and no twoKoreans or Korean companies are alike, nor should they be approached as such.
The last is a theme he drives throughout his book ― affiliates under the same chaebol and even sub-divisions of affiliates have entirely different business cultures, and it is important not to work onassumptions based on experiences with other companies, he emphasizes.
“One common mistake by Western teams outside Korea is assuming that because they might haveworked for other global companies such as a Japanese firm that they will have few challenges adaptingto a Korean company,” he said. “Norms, expectations and mindset differ, even with Korean groups.
“Many Western overseas teams have stereotyped Koreans, often based on their interactions with theearly expats dispatched to the local operation. Like Westerners, experience, training and skills vary ―some Korean expats do well while others struggle,” he added. “In global business we need be mindful ofothers, and recognize that Korean teams and leadership vary in their approaches to challenges andmanagement.”
“Korea Facing: Secrets for Success in Korean Global Business” is available through iBook, Kindle, Nookand Amazon.
By Elaine Ramirez ([email protected])
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