CI in Korea

[Sean Freston]

Does anyone in the group have any experiences or insights in conducting CI in Korea that they would like to share? Having completed several recent engagements in the area, we are compiling some key learnings from this country as far as navigating the hierarchical structures, identifying/establishing working networks, gathering reliable secondary, etc.

[Lesley Howell]

Sean - I have some experience of working on a Korean project from Australia, and I would suggest that in the absense of Korean language skills, it is a challenge. I was looking at a problem that involved a Korean company that was substituting a software product for a hardware product, and the Korean Government had it's sticky fingers all over the issue. The company in question was not beyond employing misinformation to achieve their ends. I found that I was dependant not only on local Korean resources, some of whom were incredibly helpful, but I also found useful assistance in Japan, as the same situation was developing there. I trust this is not too obtuse. Cheers, Lesley

[Sean Freston]

Thanks Lesley. I would agree that Korea ranks towards the top of it being extremely advantageous to have someone with language skills. Have also found using similar markets usefull as well as taking a "back door in" approach. That is working Korean contacts or company contacts outside of the country and getting referred into the country.

How did you counter the misinformation aspect?

S.

[Lesley Howell]

Whoops ! I Haven't been paying attention Sean.
How did we counter the misinformation? We tried to be subtle, since we NEVER bag a competitor. But we put the sales force in possession of the information, and when last I heard - it was having effect. Nothing like being upfront, and saying to people "you will hear this... and, just to let you know in advance - it is not true... for these reasons."
L