Korean Job Discussion Forums

[mindmetoo]

The Korean media, well the English media, seems to be gloating as of late regarding the failure of high profile Western companies like Carrefour, Wal-Mart, Nestle, and Google. Even McDonald's is second in the Korean fast food space to Lotteria. This is an example of a) consumer nationalism b) Westerners fumbling in Korea and not understanding the market... like expecting Korean women to be tall and building the shelves too high.

Of course for every Western disaster there's a Western success story: Tescos, Starbucks, Dunkin' Donuts/Krispy Kreme, KFC, COSTCO, etc.

Now one of the problems with Wal-Mart is it was a dollar short and a day late in Korea. There was already an entrenched Emart. Google of course had to go up against the already entrenched Korean portal sites. Koreans are pretty good at spotting a trend in North America and then getting several years leg up before the Western franchise tries to make a go. To wit, it might have less to do with nationalism and western misreading of Korean tastes and more to simply do with the domestic brand already has its entrenched market share. It could be true to say a Western brand name doesn't get many Koreans super excited and they're willing to shift their buying patterns for the American cache.

However, the Western brands that didn't show up in Korea after the fact, Starbucks/Dunkin' Donuts/Krispie Kreme/KFC, have all done well.

[Julius]

Another example is the medical company that bought a hospital in Korea. The deal was for cash. Once the transaction was completed, the party selling the hospital opens a new hospital across the street. All of the doctors and hospital staff move across the street. Since the Koreans are very loyal and respectful of their physicians, they move across the street as well. Now, the medical company has an empty building with no staff. One might think that new staff and physicians could be hired and the patronage of the old patients renewed. The patient's loyalty to their doctors will prevail. No new patients ever appeared. The entire investment was lost.

"Investing in Korea"
http://www.escapeartist.com/efam19/Investing_in_Korea.html

[Sina qua non]

Wal-Mart also closed up its stores in Germany. This, in addition to the Carrefore departure, gives the impression that the core issue is that mass retailing of this sort is highly dependent on cultural preferences (personal preferences of the locals).

One of the complaints here with the Wal-Mart stores was the 'warehouse style.' The people here seemed to be put off, at least in part, by the lack of polish in the shopping environment. Comparing the Wal-Mart stores here (and the Carrefore stores, too as I seem to remember them) with the remaining retail chains (Home Plus and Lotte Mart), Wal-Mart did present a relatively 'rough-around-the-edges' shopping environment. The difference is particularly stark between a Wal-Mart store and an E-Mart store; notwithstanding the constant herd of shoppers, E-Marts present a tidy, organized appearance (attractive shelves, etc.).

[JongnoGuru]

And don't forget Nokia. Biggest in the world and almost nowhere to be seen in Korea. They're currently making their... 2nd? 3rd? attempt to crack the Korean market now in the 3G business.

[pastis]

I've yet to meet a Korean who would ever buy a Sony product over a Samsung or drive a Toyota instead of a Hyundai (whether they live in Korea or not). Same goes for Japanese, in the opposite direction. Nationalism (construed as pride in corporations originating in one's home country) definitely plays a strong role in consumer choices, in Korea particularly so.

[JongnoGuru]

[Zulu]

This is the case with many western companies trying to get in to Korea. They come to Korea and are shut out by local competitors, regulations and a nationalistic population which really prefers to buy local big purchases (cars for example) regardless of the quality of the product. (We should do the same back home, it's our jobs). Once they dominate the local market they use the profits to try to expand overseas. But they shouldn't gloat too much.

Nokia may be nothing here, Ford and Toyota may be nothing here, Walmart and ipod may be nothing here, but in the rest of the world they are far bigger than their Korean counterparts and are gaining market share. Depending on how you crunch the numbers, Wal-Mart itself may actually be bigger than the entire Korean economy and Samsung, Korea's only Fortune Top 50 (way down at #46) is 60% foreign owned. So when they gloat it's probably out of insecurity, you know, same old Korean media chest-thumping antics. They have to be number one somewhere and they can only control that figure at home. Whatever. But unfortunately what we're left with as expats in Korea is crap selection and are basically forced to buy Korean stuff a lot of the time. I can tell you I won't be looking to buy their products ever again once I'm outta here.

[Sina qua non]

[indiercj]

[sjrm]

[Corporal]

[Neil]

[mindmetoo]

[mindmetoo]

[dbee]

Well the Koreans are very good at doing what they do. Samsung apparently bring in something like 23% of the Korean GDP. And that's not evening taking into account LG, Hyundai, POSCO etc ...

Basically Korean is an export-based economy. Though it also remains in many respects, one of the world's most protected industrial economies.

The thing that the Koreans (and to some repects the Asians in general) do so well. Is that they imitate and (sometimes) make small improvements on products that are often invented elsewhere. And while there have been examples in the past of great inventions coming from the East ... gunpowder, moveable type press etc.... I think that there is a fair argument to be made that 'confucisum' in general isn't conducive to new ideas and the dynamism of revolutionary ideas.

There are both good points and bad with regard to Korean / Asian culture (and yes, I know that asian in this respect is a huge generalization). It can lead to more social harmony, less crime and errant behaviour.

But the biggest threat to any 'copy economy', is that someone else is going to copy cheaper than you are. That was the underlying theme behind the Dr. Hwang thing and contiues to drive the Korean biotech and robotic markets. China is a huge threat to Korea, especially as long as Korea just bangs out reasonable electronic products that can be created elsewhere for cheaper ...

I wish the Koreans all the best of luck in what they do. But yes, the false bravado is obnoxious ...