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Mastering Business in Korea: A Practical Guide is a comprehensive overview of conducting business affairs in Korea by two business authorities with a combined half-century of experience in the Korean commercial environment. Chapters aim to analyze the source of cultural, technical and legal issues in the Korean business world, to examine the role of business etiquettes and standards in Korean culture, to focus on previously uncovered subjects such as the cultural background of Korean business principles, the relationship between supervisors and subordinates in the Korean corporate environment, and the ever-changing reality of the Korean market. Mastering Business in Korea is a timely and relevant handbook of information you need to succeed in the challenging business environment of Korea, one of the world's leading and dynamic economies. In an engaging and easy-to-read format, Coyner and Jang explain the ins and outs of contemporary Korean business culture, including business etiquette, work rules, and marketing to the Korean consumer. Mastering Business in Korea offers pivotal insight into an environment that is traditional yet uncompromisingly modern, challenging yet surprisingly rewarding for the determined business professional. Praise for Mastering Business in Korea An Accessible Business Guide For Everyone "It's all here! This is a superb effort to help deal with the tremendous complexities of Korean business. Lots of examples and practical advice grounded in the experience of the authors and their corporate colleagues. This book will save you years on the learning curve if you really take it to heart." --Jack Lewis, Associate Dean Marshall School of Business, University of Southern California "The authors have written a superb book that demystifies Korea and offers comprehensive advice to anyone interested in living in the country, working with or for Korean managers or doing business with Korean counterparts." --Robert Fallon, Chairman of the Board Korea Exchange Bank "Even the smallest effort pays a dividend and with this excellent book the reader has a chance to tap into the insight of two business professionals. I thoroughly recommend this book, not only for the newcomer to Korea but also to long-term residents who may think they know it all already. As they will discover, modesty is not just a virtue, it can be a very useful state of mind." --Alan Timblick, OBE, Senior Advisor Invest KOREA/KOTRA Mastering Business in Korea is a timely and relevant handbook of information you need to succeed in the challenging business environment of Korea, one of the world's leading and dynamic economies. In an engaging and easy-to-read format Thomas L. Coyner and Song-Hyon Jang explain the ins and outs of contemporary Korean business culture, including business etiquette, work rules, and marketing to the Korean consumer. Mastering Business in Korea offers pivotal insight into an environment that is traditional yet uncompromisingly modern, challenging yet surprisingly rewarding for the determined business professional. About the Authors Tom Coyner is the president of Soft Landing Korea, Ltd. He has over 20 years of experience in Japan and Korea working for American firms as well as 7 years working for Japanese companies in the United States. When employed by an American company in Korea, he was twice salesperson of the year for Asia-Pacific largely due to his success in working with Korean distributors. He originally came to Korea as a Peace Corps Volunteer. He has an MBA in International Business from the University of Southern California; a BA in Japanese Language from the University of Colorado and studied for two years at Waseda University in Tokyo. Song-Hyon Jang is the president of S.H. Jang & Associates, Inc., an international business consultancy. He graduated from the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University in 1970 with a Master of Business degree. He is one of Korea's leading international business consultants with a professional career spans over 25 years of cross-cultural management experience, including senior executive positions with multinational corporations and as a university lecturer. He is also the author of The Key to Successful Business in Korea, the first guide-book in English for international business professionals, and The Ten Commandments for Doing Business in Korea. TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword by Nick Reilly, President of GM Asia Acknowledgements Preface PART I. GETTING TO KNOW THE KOREANS 1. What an Expat Manager Really Needs to Know About Korean History 2. Korean Hearts and Minds: Traditional Yet Changing 3. Understanding Korean Management 4. Getting a Handle on Information PART II. PUTTING YOUR BEST FOOT FORWARD 5. Eleven Commandments for Doing Business in Korea 6. Get Off on the Right Foot: Business Etiquette 7. Adapting to Korean Business Practices 8. Managing and Being Managed by Koreans 9. Korean Impressions of Foreign Business PART III. GETTING ALONG WITH THE KOREANS 10. Negotiating Business 11. Getting Joint Ventures Right 12. Hiring and Firing 13. Korea's Corporate Middle Managers 14. Compensating Your Employees 15. Motivating Personnel. 16. Getting Labor Management Relations Right 17. Company Training PART IV. MAKING IT IN THE KOREAN MARKET 18. Marketing in Korea 19. The Art of Persuasion 20. Selling in Korea: Myths and Realities 21. Discovering the Consumer 22. Selling Through Korean Distributors 23. Relating to Bureaucrats 24. Getting Your Products to Market 25. Working within the Korean Legal System 26. Industry Case Study: Characteristics of the Korean IS Industry PART V. REFERENCES -Bibliography -Index -About the Authors Foreword to Mastering Business in Korea: A Practical Guide by Nick Reilly, President of GM Asia-Pacific This book is written with the expatriate business professional in mind. Korea is reputed to be a tough place to do business, but much of that reputation is unfair. Well-meaning and experienced foreign businesspeople routinely make serious errors that ultimately impede their success in the world's eleventh strongest economy. This is the first such book written in collaboration by a Korean and a Westerner - both of whom have built their careers in international business between Asia and the West. The authors do not pretend doing good Korean business is easy - but it can be much easier than how many foreign businesspeople go about their business. This book is a result of many interviews with both seasoned expatriate executives and highly experienced Korean managers and directors. The reader will discover both opinions and objective observations. As such, it reflects the international business community in Korea - and not simply the perspectives of a Korean and an American. South Korea is in a state of flux. Given these modern times, one may say that about many countries. But, Korea is probably more so than most - and it has come a much further distance than most countries in the past half century. From virtual to actual dictatorships and on to being one of the strongest democracies in Asia, the Republic of Korea has a political track record that is in direct competition with it literal rise to riches from the ashes of a devastating war. In the process, the Korean people are not longer recipients but donors of foreign aid. With, at times, ostentatious displays of wealth, comes a deep political struggle from being the government's people to having a government of the people. Today there are stronger human and civil rights within South Korea than in anytime of Korea's multi-millennia history. Coming part and parcel with democratic development, various interest groups and NGOs add a new dynamism to both the public and private sector arenas. Korean consumers are no longer satisfied with cheap products, they demand - and get - quality. They also are more vocal about products and services in context of their rights as citizens of this republic. Stockholder and consumer rights are coming to the forefront. For example, product liability is no longer a subject studied as something that is a feature of overseas, advanced economies. Such issues and concerns are now part of daily Korean life. Not so long ago, Koreans looked enviously of what others achieved with advanced technologies. Today, Korea not only emulates but even advances beyond the most advanced nations in cutting edge application of the latest technologies - most notably in the practical integration of broadband networks into daily home and business life. Through rapid economic growth of the recent past and now through steady progress of a mature economy, Korea holds its own as an OECD nation. Mercantile protectionism is not yet fully an issue of the past, but the Korean markets have opened considerably. Korea recognizes that its long-term growth is dependent upon being an active member of a globalize economy. At the time of this book's writing, Korea had completed its first Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Chile, with other FTAs in mid negotiations. Koreans have often and rightly described as being "frogs in a deep well." And yet, some ten million South Koreans travel abroad for pleasure per year. On a per capita basis, that means more South Koreans are getting out and exploring the world than their wealthier and more urbane neighbors, the Japanese. With one of the strongest physical infrastructures in the world, the Koreans continue to improve. The recent bullet trains, the KTX, have within a year of its opening, have changed the consumer patterns of the nation. Hospitals and department stores in regional hubs are now in direct competition with the best that Seoul has to offer. Given South Korea's amazing modern history and how much the nation continues to dynamically grow; even Korean marketing analysts are struggling to keep pace with their nation. Even harder is their task to forecast future trends. Even more so is the case for foreign managers and executives who accept expatriate positions to work in Korean or foreign multinational organizations. In the end, it matters not if one be a Korean or a non-Korean. Once one has grabbed the Korean tiger by its tale, it can be an amazing adventure of simply hanging on. But for those who wish to ride the tiger, this book's authors have written this book from a combined century's managerial experience -- from both a Korean and an American perspective. There are other, excellent books on the market dealing with narrower perspectives on doing business in Korea. There has not been a general survey book, however, on this subject for almost twenty years. While no single volume will provide the business reader with all the answers, the authors endeavored to provide practical, street-wise knowledge one cannot readily find on the Internet and from other public information sources. Together with other aids in understanding Korean business, the authors wish the reader the best of success in doing business in Korea.