January 14, 2013, 6:50 PM KST

ByEvan Ramstad

As we’ve noted in the past, the canon of English-language books that explain South Korea’scontemporary life and culture for people doing business here is quite small.

But there’s a niche that’s even smaller: advice books for non-Koreans who work for Korean companiesin other countries.

CourtesyDon SouthertonDon Southerton, a U.S. business consultant, has written several publications centering on the Koreanauto industry, new urbanism, entrepreneurialism, and early U.S.-Korean business ventures. His firm,Bridging Culture Worldwide, provides strategy, consulting and training to businesses that are working inSouth Korea.

Southerton Advises Non-Koreans in OverseasKorean Offices

Advertisement

Just a few weeks ago, he published his latest, an e-book and paperback called “Korea Facing: Secretsfor Success in Korean Global Business.”

With it, he has flipped the tables to look at the challenges that non-Koreans face working in theoverseas offices and subsidiaries of Korean firms. The book is available in e-book form for Amazon’sKindle, Barnes & Noble’s Nook and Apple’s iPad devices.

He answered some questions about it:

WSJ: Who were you writing for primarily, expats working in Korea or people in other countries who workwith Koreans and Korean expats?

Mr. Southerton: The primary audience for the book is those working internationally for Korean-basedcompanies. With an ever-growing number of people employed by Korean-based companies outsideSouth Korea, the need for western teams to better understand Korean norms, procedure and mindset iscritical not only for their success, but the local overseas organization.

A second audience is international firms that provide services or products to a South Korean overseassubsidiary or operations.

Finally, a third audience is companies that have significant business in Korea, but leadership andheadquarters are located in the West. We offer them key management suggestions on how best to dealwith pressing issues and the challenges that surface with their Korean partners.

WSJ: Do you see non-Koreans becoming more understanding of South Korea and Koreans? Or do youthink there are still lots of misunderstandings? And if the latter, where do most of the misunderstandingslie?

Mr. Southerton: In a growing number of cases, non-Korean overseas management and teamsrecognize there is a gap between their local business and Korean practices and procedures. In part,many hired by Korea-based firms have had extensive experience working for other international firmsand had to adapt to new ways of doing business.

The degree of misunderstanding often centers on the past overseas experience of the Korean expats—some very savvy in global business, while for others it’s their first assignment outside Korea. YoungerKorean expats, educated in the West tend to adapt quickly to local norms, those with less exposure towestern business practices tend to resort to their Korean norms which lead to misunderstandings.

Getting support and localization training and coaching for new Korea expats (ju jae won) is one step,while providing the local western teams with Korean business culture training is equally important.

WSJ: Your book captures very well the changing nature of Korean workplaces, particular where youngpeople don’t want to put up with the traditional hierarchical structure. Have you seen this clash playingout in the overseas offices of Korean companies?

Mr. Southerton: Less of a clash, but western team and management are now seeing the younger andnewly assigned Korean expats as more open to local practices. This new generation, many with high

Copyright 2015 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights ReservedThis copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and

by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visitwww.djreprints.com

levels of English language proficiency, education, etc. see the assignment as a collaborative, learningopportunity and defer to local teams experience rather than dictate procedures and operations.