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Are Koreans Terrible Managers?
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juan_cubero



Joined: 02 Jun 2003
Location: 3rd Space

PostPosted: Wed Feb 18, 2004 7:14 am    Post subject: Are Koreans Terrible Managers? Reply with quote

I was wondering are Koreans just terrible at managing people?
Why do so many foreigners leave Korea with such a bad taste in their mouth after working for a Korean? It would be interesting to know if Korean managers suck it up in other parts of the world? I know that many Korean managers in the States are very short tempered.
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dominic



Joined: 10 Mar 2003
Location: Seoul

PostPosted: Wed Feb 18, 2004 5:43 pm    Post subject: i think Reply with quote

they are terrible people managers, some are very orgranized, like my supoerviors, is very moody, one say she hates u the next she talks to u like shes ur best friend. She knows how to run the school, but shes a terrible manager. I have a degree in management, and management is more than just "running" things, it's having raport with the employees and making sure their work enviromnet is optimal, koreans dont seem to care about this, one of tghe many reasons i would never hire one as a manager in north america. they have short tempers all the time, not just in business.
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Juggertha



Joined: 27 May 2003
Location: Anyang, Korea

PostPosted: Wed Feb 18, 2004 5:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Alot of manufacturing facilities have left Korea for parts of south east asia. The majority of the complaints from the workers there?... their Korean managers.
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ryleeys



Joined: 22 Dec 2003
Location: Columbia, MD

PostPosted: Wed Feb 18, 2004 6:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

It seems like Koreans are having a difficult time adjusting from the patron-client relationship system of old to a contract based business system. It was okay to function on verbal contracts and even make a few mistakes when the people were more important than the business. But now the business is most important, but there's no foundation for this ideology to stand on... and so there is an inherent adjustment period.

Give Korea a decade or two... she'll get it all sorted out.
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Ilsanman



Joined: 15 Aug 2003
Location: Bucheon, Korea

PostPosted: Wed Feb 18, 2004 7:04 pm    Post subject: yes Reply with quote

I think they don't believe in the idea of 'Two heads are better than one'. I learned a lot here. If my boss has an idea, nod my head and said 'Neh'. In 7 months I realized they never listen to me anyways.
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Real Reality



Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Location: Seoul

PostPosted: Wed Feb 18, 2004 9:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Korean companies that invested in Great Britain and later decided to abandon operations there are in trouble with the British government for not returning subsidies received while in business there.
http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200402/200402180028.html
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coolsage



Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Location: The overcast afternoon of the soul

PostPosted: Wed Feb 18, 2004 9:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

'Korean management'? another oxymoron. It is the vertical, hierarchical structure of family, of business here, a throwback to the Confucian way of living, which even the Chinese seem to abandoned now. It is the kind of 'thinking' that causes KAL aircraft to crash into mountains because the first officer can't conradict his captain. To quote a friend, a real long-timer: 'Koreans could not manage an orgy in a brothel'. Nonetheless, it is possible to find a good manager ; those who've lived overseas tend to have a better grasp of what it takes to get the job done, keep employees happy, and keep the raging ajumas away from the door. To cite an example from a previous life: the director at Wonderland in Ansan was an exceptional guy, went out of his way to keep his waygook satisfied. But I suspect that he and his ilk are rather thin on the ground here. It's a crapshoot, for certain.
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rapier



Joined: 16 Feb 2003

PostPosted: Thu Feb 19, 2004 2:10 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Koreans generally have the interpersonal skills of a rotweiler when it comes to the workplace. They see everything in terms of their heirarchical structure, of battles to be won, of people to be put in their place. They need reminding often that a positive attitude is essential to maintaining a motivated and smooth running workforce.
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dominic



Joined: 10 Mar 2003
Location: Seoul

PostPosted: Thu Feb 19, 2004 2:20 am    Post subject: totally agree Reply with quote

i totally agree with this, but i dont think it happens in korea much if at all. they dont understand that a positive worker = good workers, not sure they will even understand that.

Koreans generally have the interpersonal skills of a rotweiler when it comes to the workplace. They see everything in terms of their heirarchical structure, of battles to be won, of people to be put in their place. They need reminding often that a positive attitude is essential to maintaining a motivated and smooth running workforce
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tsgarp



Joined: 01 Dec 2003

PostPosted: Thu Feb 19, 2004 2:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Considering everyone's relative osition here this is like asking students to rate the teachers or perhaps more like the inmates to rate the wardens.
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dominic



Joined: 10 Mar 2003
Location: Seoul

PostPosted: Thu Feb 19, 2004 2:22 am    Post subject: Give Korea a decade or two... she'll get it all sorted out Reply with quote

Give Korea a decade or two... she'll get it all sorted out


im not convinced that this is true. I dont think they will sort it out. it's too bad here in the workplaces. they have ALOT to do to "sort out" the problems here.
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mindmetoo



Joined: 02 Feb 2004

PostPosted: Thu Feb 19, 2004 2:34 am    Post subject: Re: Are Koreans Terrible Managers? Reply with quote

juan_cubero wrote:
I was wondering are Koreans just terrible at managing people?
Why do so many foreigners leave Korea with such a bad taste in their mouth after working for a Korean? It would be interesting to know if Korean managers suck it up in other parts of the world? I know that many Korean managers in the States are very short tempered.


Working for a hackwon in seoul is no different from working for a dot.com in Seattle. Everything about my experience here screams "yep, just like the dot.com world." It's not Koreans. It's likely the industry. Lure of big money, people starting up companies quickly, charging lots of money, lots of hype and wild expectations...
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weatherman



Joined: 14 Jan 2003
Location: Korea

PostPosted: Thu Feb 19, 2004 2:51 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

One of the biggest problems is that there is no real communication going on.. it is all orders... or no communication at all.
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Saxiif



Joined: 15 May 2003
Location: Seongnam

PostPosted: Thu Feb 19, 2004 3:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
It seems like Koreans are having a difficult time adjusting from the patron-client relationship system of old to a contract based business system.

Exactly. All I really want is to show up on time teach the classes I was scheduled and then get paid on time. Having my pay be consistently excessively late just sucks away any motivation to go the extra mile in term of class prep etc. (ie "why put in extra work that I haven't been asked to do and which probably won't be noticed when the bastard can't even keep to the contract").

On the bright side I think that the general awfulness of Korean managers is one of the things that keep our pay level up. If they had a reputation of being nice guys who always stick to the contract 100% there'd be enough people looking for work here to knock the average pay down on an uncomfortable level.
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Real Reality



Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Location: Seoul

PostPosted: Thu Feb 19, 2004 3:51 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

mindmetoo wrote,
Working for a hackwon in seoul is no different from working for a dot.com in Seattle.

Is it seoul or Seoul or SEOUL?

Do they hack won in Seoul? Well, the Seoulites in Kangnam can afford to.
How much won can one earn (or hack) in Seattle?

Seattle is like Seoul?
Is coffee in Seoul like coffee in Seattle?
Is the environment in Seoul like the environment in Seattle?

Seoul and Seattle have similar company headquarters?

Company: Boeing
Type of Business: Aerospace manufacturer
Web Address: www.boeing.com

Costco
Membership warehouses
www.costco.com

Microsoft
Software developer
www.microsoft.com

Weyerhaeuser
Pulp/paper products
www.weyerhaeuser.com

Washington Mutual
Bank
www.wamu.com

Paccar
Heavy-duty truck manufacturer
www.paccar.com

Safeco
Insurance/financial services
www.safeco.com

Nordstrom
Apparel retailer
www.nordstrom.com

Puget Sound Energy
Electric and natural gas utility
www.pse.com

Airborne Freight
Express delivery
www.airborne.com

Amazon.com
Online Retailer
www.amazon.com

Alaska Air Group
Holding co./Alaska & Horizon Air
www.alaska-air.com

Starbucks
Coffee company
www.starbucks.com

VoiceStream Wireless
National wireless network
www.voicestream.com

Expeditors International of WA
International freight forwarding
www.expd.com

AT&T Wireless Group
Digital wireless network
www.attws.com

Seattle Datasheet
http://www.pan.ci.seattle.wa.us/oir/datasheet/
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