Cultural Disconnect?: Dealing with my Korean boss. - Page 2

Urban Ranger · March 3, 2003, 23:52

Odd. How come?

Q Classic · March 3, 2003, 23:59

i dunno. perhaps it has a bit to do with "you know how i do business, but these white people don't. to them, the customer is always right, while for us, it's not the case."

Asher · March 4, 2003, 00:03

Quote:

Originally posted by Seeker
It's culture.

In Korea, the 'Wang ja Neem' (big boss dude) is supposed to be like a stricter version of your father, that's the boss-servant relationship.

That means you NEVER contradict them. EVER. Especially if it is blatantly obvious that something is their fault, or caused by the bosses' incompetance or lack of knowledge. At such times it is your responsibility as an employee to take or try to take the blame on yourself.

Never directly criticize the boss, they will take it as a personal insult.

Is this why Korean cars suck?
Nobody's bothered to tell them that?

Q Classic · March 4, 2003, 00:17

actually, korean cars have made enormous gains in reliability in the past five years.

why? because people did tell them that.

samsung has transformed itself from a cheap electronics brand to an innovator.

why? becaues people did tell them that.

you'll find that these days, the most successful korean companies are the ones that are getting rid of the confucian tradition that hindered them before. hyundai/kia have hired many americans and korean-americans to help run their operations and also design new automobiles; non-koreans and non-americans too. samsung hired an american-born, american-raised korean who didn't give a damn about the tradition to help lead its electronics division.

indeed, you won't find any other 10year/100k mile warranty anywhere else in the industry.

that said, i still probably would buy a honda or toyota.

i love samsung, though. making the first digital camcorder with a built-in hd? sweet.

as for samsung... its turnaround occured after it realized that its tradition-bound structure would eventually cause its ruin, and began to westernize.

behind hyundai
behind samsung

Asher · March 4, 2003, 00:18

Samsung's really turned themselves around recently, they make the best RAM out there.

Hyundai still makes crap RAM, and their cars are fugly.

Q Classic · March 4, 2003, 00:32

hyundai doesn't make ram anymore. it's hynix. granted, hynix came from hyundai, but it's no longer part of it. come to think of it, micron wanted to buy hynix, but it failed.

hynix is still on life support, to boot.

as for their cars, they're a lot better than they used to be. seems that eminem himself decided to buy a tiburon, but i don't know if you really want to use him as a barometer.

Urban Ranger · March 4, 2003, 00:36

Quote:

Originally posted by Q Cubed
actually, korean cars have made enormous gains in reliability in the past five years.

why? because people did tell them that.

samsung has transformed itself from a cheap electronics brand to an innovator.

why? becaues people did tell them that.

One word: quality. That's how the Japanese knocked over the US carmakers.

Seeker · March 4, 2003, 01:14

Oh, they're doing a big push to 'Westernize' the jaebol nowadays...

I've heard that some companies only hire workers with Western degrees...

SuperSneak · March 4, 2003, 12:23

I believe Eminem bought a Sonata, actually, for his brother...what a cheapskate. The Tiburon has really sloppy transmission, but the Elantra GT is actually a very sharp car. And the fully loaded Sonata looks a lot like a Jaguar, believe it or not.
Once they get the fit and finish in the interior shaped up and come out with something like a Golf or a Pro5, they rule.

Urban Ranger · March 4, 2003, 22:23

Wrong thread old boy

Oerdin · March 4, 2003, 22:37

When I was in Korea I kind of liked Ssangyong's various sedans. They were nothing more then last generation Mercedes-Benzes with a different badge but all of the drive train (engine, transmition, and what not) was made by Mercedes in Germany and shipped to Korea. Best of all the Ssangyong's sold for less then half the price of the Mercedes; mostly because Korea tarrifs the hell out of foreign cars but it was still a cheap "almost Mercedes".

Alexander's Horse · March 4, 2003, 23:15

Find another job. Culture is just a big cop out for office tyrants.

Seeker · March 5, 2003, 10:39

In Korea you can see a lot of makes I've never seen before, Samsungs, Daewoos, Ssanyongs, Matiz, etc.

Urban Ranger · March 5, 2003, 10:56

Quote:

Originally posted by Alexander's Horse
Find another job. Culture is just a big cop out for office tyrants.

Sheesh, Horse, how come your foot is in your mouth?

SuperSneak · March 5, 2003, 12:12

Well, having held various positions in different types of organizations, from huge corporate down to small family run, I can now say that the faceless anonymity of corporate work, couple with good benefits, beats the crap out of this gig.

monolith94 · March 5, 2003, 13:16

I'm having a cultural disconnect with my mid-western boss. From what I've heard, our cultural rift is only slightly smaller than yours.

DaShi · March 5, 2003, 13:22

Did you try kicking him in the nads?

Seeker · March 5, 2003, 13:27

I've heard that does wonders for improving mid-westerners....

Provost Harrison · March 5, 2003, 13:45

Quote:

Originally posted by Seeker
In Korea you can see a lot of makes I've never seen before, Samsungs, Daewoos, Ssanyongs, Matiz, etc.

Don't forget Hyundai

And Matiz is a Daewoo car...we get all of those in Europe...

monolith94 · March 5, 2003, 14:18

"the faceless anonymity of corporate work, couple with good benefits, beats the crap out of this gig."

Hear hear!

Q Classic · March 5, 2003, 21:54

Samsung was sold off, it's now technically part of Renault.

Ssangyong was purchased by Daewoo.

Daewoo, i believe, is now going to part of GM's stable.

The only korean automanufac that survived was Hyundai, which also owns Kia.

Urban Ranger · March 5, 2003, 22:40

Quote:

Originally posted by monolith94
"the faceless anonymity of corporate work, couple with good benefits, beats the crap out of this gig."

Hear hear!

Sneakster's boss is a typical Stage I manager. Faceless corporations belong to Stage II. Stage III started fifty years ago...