Last fall, Marc Gasser, a graduate in business informatics, spent half a year traveling in South Korea to sell a product that was unusual for Koreans

Excursions to other (corporate) cultures - Marc Gasser and his experiences in South Korea[1]

Last fall, Marc Gasser, who studied business informatics, traveled to Korea to sell a product that was unusual for Koreans: A platform through which every employee of a company has something to say and can contribute ideas. For Korea, which is still very traditional in terms of society, a headstand. He succinctly describes to the PCU how the country and its people react to such an idea, and what else makes Korea interesting as a market.

Marc, you went to Korea for Astina last fall. How did you experience your time there?

Since we wanted to set up a sales branch for an innovation management platform, people were skeptical but also curious. This is completely contrary to Korean culture and structures. There is a top-down hierarchy there.

Otherwise, as a Western European, you are more of an exotic person. When you're there in town, you don't see any foreigners, no Westerners for two or three days. The ones you see are mostly American soldiers, at most Japanese and Chinese working in Korea. There are still cases where the little children with big eyes point at you laughing and scream “Eehh, Ögugin!” , which means something like “foreigner.”

Is it easy or difficult to do business in Korea?

(Thinking) Well, it's hard to say. As I mentioned, Korea is quite different culturally. That's where you first become friends, you get to know people, you go out to dinner with them, you drink something else with them, you eat something else with them (laughs). You get to know the family and so on. When friendship is established at some point, you start doing business. Someone of my age and position is very special for a Korean businessman. Koreans are used to starting out in a big company and working their way up to 30 or 40 years. Only then do you reap the rewards and find yourself in a position where you can determine and make decisions about others, a manager job. Age is a huge issue in Korea. Someone who is old automatically gets respect - the boy, he has to work first - said a bit exaggerated.

It is therefore quite provocative when a young guy comes from Switzerland, is culturally indiscriminate, makes mistakes at dinner, and then claims to be the boss of a company and wants to do business. However, Switzerland has a good reputation, which helps, and the very innovative or Western-oriented companies are then really interested.

Your product is therefore something very unusual for the structures there. Are Koreans open and creative enough that they can do something with it?

It is often the case that Koreans are a bit lost when they are given the task of “being creative” and “bringing in innovations.” They then ask themselves: “Am I creative now or do I have to account to my boss and already define projects?” Koreans are generally no less creative than the Swiss, but culture doesn't particularly promote creativity. It may only be used once you have reached a certain status. It requires a great deal for the corporate culture to open up in this way and for people to feel trusted and just as committed to contribute, not in the form of normal work performance, but to think outside the box. As soon as this knot is broken, Koreans have great creative potential.

Did you have contact with start-ups and young entrepreneurs based there?

That's right, but I've noticed that the start-up culture is still poorly represented there. It is slowly emerging, but Korea has so far been a country of large companies, be they local or international, coming to the country. However, a western company of our size doesn't exist. Accordingly, the start-up culture is slowly getting rolling and is actively supported by politicians, but it is really only in its infancy. I have great respect for the people who found a start-up in Korea, that is something completely different than in Switzerland, there is a completely different “mind set” in terms of culture than here.

Is there already special funding in Korea for young entrepreneurs and start-ups? And is there social support?

Society is an important point. I had the feeling that you shouldn't “fail” there, you shouldn't lose, but have to go up “step-by-step” more and more. The climb also proves to be very competitive: you have to have the prettier wife, you have to have the better car, the better apartment, the better location for the office... That is firmly anchored in society. If you have a start-up, that's okay as long as you're successful. The risk of “failing” is no greater, but it is more far-reaching in society than in Switzerland. Therefore, the pressure is greater.

Korea is very exciting politically right now. There was nothing there 30 years ago. It has no industry that is remotely as developed as it is today. This has been extremely advanced during this time. There are currently elections involving the new “major.” This is pretty relevant to the development and funding culture for start-ups, because whether they receive more funding or not depends very much on the government. When I was in Korea in autumn, there were primaries and the candidate who is not so demanding funding won. From that point of view, it remains to be observed what is happening new. Otherwise, there are four or five initiatives, but they are more towards a business plan championship.

In which areas are Koreans particularly advanced and where are they still in their infancy?

Progressive... (considered). I have the impression that they are ahead of us in many ways. Of course, there are points that we feel as Swiss, as Western Europeans, as “at the back.” However, I can't necessarily say that they are in their infancy wherever we find that to be the case. This has more to do with cultural habits and differences from Western cultures. That is why “children's shoes” is a dangerous word. Where they're definitely ahead of us is technical stuff. But the decision-making culture in business is also very ambitious. If anything needs to be done, wow, the day after, it's already up and running and changed within a very short time. An unbelievable drive is shown there. I spent two weeks abroad during my Korean trip. In these two weeks, three new restaurants, four new businesses opened on the street where I lived and four closed. I just thought WOW! And all that in two weeks. People are so motivated and working intensively. That is why it is dangerous to ask, “Who is next?” What is definitely impressive about Korea is that they are heading full steam ahead of the world's best.

Can Switzerland cut a slice of this decisiveness and enthusiasm? Swiss corporate culture is known for the fact that there is a lot of discussion...

(laughs) That's exactly an interesting observation. In business, Koreans are really quick and sometimes even quite unbureaucratic. There are areas where the opposite is true, but it's usually “Zack Zack, there's something going on”. Furthermore, they have established culturally that “That doesn't work.” is not in people's heads. When the boss says something, you try to carry it out, regardless of whether it is difficult or even simply not possible. We quickly say: “That won't work.” And period.

On the other hand, I have to say that Korea may be an incredibly exciting country, but I can't imagine living there any longer. There are few casual moments there. In Switzerland, it is still important to go to the mountains with the family at the weekend or to enjoy a beer with colleagues in the evening. This “cozy” hardly exists in Korea. The situation is similar when it comes to holidays: Koreans have very few vacation days anyway. The fact that you also take them in one piece is quite a luxury hardly anyone does. And I love working, but I still need a balance in my private life. And that has no place in Korea.

Were you able to take away anything for Astina during your trip?

I was able to meet incredibly interesting and experienced people. That is a great thing that has helped me a lot. I was with the ambassador, was able to visit European chambers of commerce, for example those from Germany and Sweden, and even talk to CEOs from huge companies through recommendations. At the age of sometimes 60 or 70, they have such a wealth of experience. They were usually in the process of setting up the company properly themselves. When these people give you the opportunity to talk to them about how they did it, what the difficulties were, what they thought of hierarchies... That is a great enrichment.

If a company wants to enter the international market; is Korea a suitable country to start the field trial?

Let me rephrase that a bit: “Going international” is a question that every company must ask itself. When you select Korea as the destination country, many say “It's not possible because of this and that. It's much too small...” But I have a bit of a habit that when 70% say it doesn't work, I want to know even more. For this reason, we carried out an extensive analysis of the Korean market and decided to really flock to it based on these values. Like Switzerland, Korea is an ideal test market. Especially for software companies like Astina, as the range of these products is still quite underdeveloped. At the same time, the pressure to innovate is extremely high. In addition, in my opinion, you can enjoy many benefits if you play a pioneering role. This starts with support from consulates or chambers of commerce, and goes all the way to “super easy access” to the top local elite. I don't think that would have been possible in other Asian countries, such as Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong or China, because there are hundreds of others like me there, and the competitive pressure would be much stronger there. And as a result, I only see a minimal risk that the start shouldn't work out.

Marc, thank you very much for the interesting conversation, and good luck with your endeavors.

Marc Gasser studied business informatics at the University of Uppsala in Sweden and at the University of Zurich. Among other things, he received the Philias CSR Award 2006/2007 and was awarded the University of Zurich's Semester Award for the publication “A Validation of Action Patterns for Project Managers.”