Cross-cultural business perspective

Koreans invest a lot abroad, though I have rumours that these are also smaller companies associated under the global Korean brands to make things easier.

Once they invest, like for example here in Poland, in Development Centers (Samsung) it is more or less cool, as engineers have jobs and nice things can be done.

But there are also manufacturing businesses located like LG or others.

The Polish - Korean romance in global business reaches 90's as Deawoo FSO was established to help the FSO save jobs and production. But as the Deawoo collapsed in 1997 during Korean crisis, Daewoo FSO was just quit and shut down despite of good revenues and nice cars produced and sold. Shit happens. Still Llanos is considered one of the better cars with optimal relation of the price to quality.

Later more businesses opened. And people employed started their dream jobs in many corners of Poland touched by unemployment. Soon several companies like Humax and Toshen, but also LG faced criminal charges for worker's rights abuse. Mostly women were forced to work up to 15 hours a day with a very limited payment and with no possibility to use a bathroom or eat a sandwich. If they raised their rights coded in EU law up, they were either beaten or shouted at and threatened to loose their jobs.

There are cross-cultural relations in behavior, attitude and aproach to work. I often advice on cross-cultural European- East Asian misperceptions and miscommunications. But this time I have a message to our Korean counterparts: Once in Rome, do as Romans do. If you enter our culture- adjust and learn as well, this saves trouble for both sides.

If you want to make a Polish person, wether a woman or a man, work efficiently, give flexibility and payrise. Appreciate and motivate. Shouting or yealing doesn't work on us.