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 By Guest Columnist Les Edwards
May 2010.
Getting it right is doing it the right way – global standards, not local short-cuts. (Seoul – Grand Hyatt Hotel. This article was initially presented as a speech to senior multinational company leaders at the McKinney Consulting Workshop on April 27, 2010) Korea, upon my first arrival in 1991, was immensely different than the Korea of today. I am sure anyone who was here then, and any Korean friends, would forgive me for saying Korea was an extremely difficult place for a foreigner to live. Our numbers were few and far between, Korea was fiercely proud of its homogeneousness, and there were enormous differences in working ways and social habits, coupled with the distinct lack of anything western and home comforts To provide some perspective, I arrived 3 years after the Seoul Olympics, Koreans had only just been permitted to obtain passports for overseas travel other than business, and the advertising industry had been de-regulated only 2 years previously. So to say that my industry or consumerism was not worldly-wise would be an understatement. There were many inhibiting rules and regulations, and, unfortunately, plagiarism was rife. The craft side of things - photography, commercial direction and post-production - were of a relatively high standard but the inability to create original ideas and concepts was a huge weakness. And that made work and life difficult. It was not just me and my business; it was very hard for any foreigner in any industry. We would gather and share our tough times stories and came to the conclusion that Korea wanted only 3 things from foreigners – they wanted our knowledge, they wanted our investment, and they wanted us out of here. I left in 1996, not ever expecting to return. But return I did in 1999. Read On!
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By Steve McKinney. President