Entry 5_20500687

Corporate Social Responsibility,

what do you think?

Many companies usually take an action of voluntary works to reveal their social responsibility to the public especially large companies do with great amount of money. I usually do not have any interests of how companies do their social contributions since there were always corruptions related to their finance and reputations. So I understand their social contribution is something that show of to the public making up their past faults and regain their reputation. People criticize this issue like me, however, this social responsibility is very crucial to understand how companies manage the firm and operate rightly.

This article talks about the Korea’s famous automotive group Hyundai-Kia has adopted a resolution to actively pursue socially responsible management based on trust. They decided to expand program of making social contributions. The program covers many different tasks in three categories, including development of harmonious and complementary relations with labor and suppliers, promotion of environment-friendly management and assistance for the underprivileged. It sounds quite ideal and it will be more ideal if these plans will be successfully achieved in the future. In our marketing textbook, corporate social responsibility is described as the voluntary actions taken by a company to address the ethical, social, and environmental impacts of its business operations and the concerns of its stakeholders. It emphasizes behavior and perception of companies toward the idea of voluntary works or social contributions. The point that knocked my head is the impact of this action to the companies’ employee. Since the top managers decide to perform social responsibility in a right way, the employees will absorb the thoughts straightly and it will eventually help them to set their mind as socially responsible person. It doesn’t only affect the employees but consumers and investors as well. They have more trust on the firm which does good job on social responsibility and it will create better results for their business at the end.

As a marketing student, this article and the principles of social responsibility alert me to think about the issue more seriously. Doing business appropriately is very demanding in a sense of considering many factors not just profits. In near future, I will remind this time of thorough thinking about the issue and perform well based on the knowledge that I learned.

# 5 Entry: 20500297

What is a Go-Giver?

I mostly look for articles related to either manage or human resource development since I want to work in HR field sooner or later. Since becoming a human-intended manager with warm heart and cool head is my ultimate future-goal, I usually try to read more articles about successful manager's requirements. In that content, today I want to talk about go-givers. You may heard of go-getters, who go and get things done. It's great to go-getters because they are those who take actions! (which is one of critical elements of good managers.) However, Go-giver do things that go-getters don't do. Go-givers are not opposite of go-getters. The opposite of go-givers are go-takers who feel entitled to take, take WITHOUT EVER ADDING VALUE to the relatinoship or the process in any way. Then who are go-givers, really?

Go-givers are introduced in the new national bestseller, 'The Go-Giver: A Little Story About a Powerful Business Idea', written by Bob Burg and John David Mann. Being a go-giver means you add value to others in a ways that helps them significantly while at the same time increases your own sense of joy and improves your bottom line, both in your business and your personal life.

As a business student, why do we need to be like go-givers? Because go-givers are other-fucused instead of me-focused. Managers, sellers, marketers should be customer-focued in order to increase the quality of their business. If you are other-focused, you can make people feel good about you and make them recognize the value you bring to their lives. Remember that adding value to customers' lives is one of aspects of Marketing in Chapter 1? 'In a free enterprise-based society, where no one is forced to buy from you, the only way someone is going to pay for your product or service is if they find value in it. [BEYOND THE PRICE!] Those who give lots of value get the most back. In a relationship, businesspeople can often sense if you really care for them or if you're just faking it.' (quoted)

When I think of myself, I mostly focuse on myself. That's because I don't humble myself as Jesus Christ did as a son of God. Pride keeps people trapped in a prison called 'self', I thought. There are only three people in this prison: "Me. myself, and I." It's a lonely place. When you think of others first, that's the beginning of becoming a great manager of God. You may have heard our president Kim saying '배워서 남주자' and that's what go-givers do! Well, it's not easy to be a go-giver in this competitive society and people teach you to be a go-getter or go-taker to win among these competitions. However, do not forget how Jesus humbled himself and became the best person (and God) in this world. Give, is the basis of showing your love for others, and that's the very first step that you can have a deep relationship with your friends, parents, and future-employeers. :)

This entry is pretty much about my own opinion, so visit http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/mar2008/ca20080311_967359.htm and read the originial article if you want to. You can get clear explanation about go-givers and their laws.

* Entry 5 by 20500297

Entry4_20400495

How to act smart during the recession

As the world’s economy is at the verge of recession, it is getting harder for the grads to get a job. In this article, the difficulty is shown by a MBA new grad named Casey Quinn. There was time when the B-schoolers had the luxury of choosing from among a half-dozen internships or job offers. As the Class of 2008 prepares to graduate, an uncertain business climate is forcing students to make difficult choices that could have long-term economic consequences. A research on both MBAs and undergrads suggests that graduating into an economic downturn will substantially reduce lifetime earnings.
Quinn, 25-year-old MBA student, who applied for the Morgan Stanley for an internship got refused due to the bad economy. So Quinn went to an alternative plan. He shelved his dreams of working on Wall-street and took an internship at Mattel, which he hopes to get a permanent job after graduation.
This is not limited to the American economy. Korea also is having a hard time treating with the recession which is affecting the whole world. Due to the bad economy in Korea, getting a job for the grad is getting more and more difficult these days. What will be the best choice for the job seekers whose graduation is close? According to the article, Paul Oyer, an associate professor at Stanford, suggests to stay in the school until the economy picks up. This is because selecting a job during the recession can affect the one’s whole life. After the one gets a job during the bad economy, though the economy picks up, it is hard to change one’s job with a better condition. Consequently, staying in school till the economy picks up seems to be a lot of lost in the short run, but in the long run, graduating in a bull market will more than make up for it.
It might be worse for under-graduation school grads to get a job they want compared to the MBA students. Handong have been doing pretty well sending their students to major companies in Korea such as LG or Samsung. Because of the recession, however, recently Handong students are hesitating and feeling fear graduating from the school inspite of the good reputation the school has. Do they have to postpone their graduation until the condition gets better? Korean government is relieving the Koreans saying that the economy will pick up this year but nobody seems to accept the words as it is. I think the best choice for the Handong students is to higher their value until the economic situation gets better. Proceeding to graduate school or doing MBA will be a smart move during this recession.

Reference:http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_15/b4079059579345.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index_top+story

20700443: Entry-4

Premier Rugby referees dress in pink for cancer charity

Premiership rugby matches will be held in London during the weekend of 18-20 April. These matches were organized due to Breast Cancer Care that teamed up with Premier Rugby for charity partnership so that all 6 Guinness Premiership rugby matches are turning pink to raise funds and awareness for Breast Cancer. Even the venues will have exclusive ladies' lounges with complimentary drinks and beauty treatments, and also there is a chance to meet with some players afterwards.

There are discounts for all female fans, so that per ticket entry will cost £15, with £4.25 donated directly to Breast Cancer Care.

Actually, Breast Cancer Care has chosen one of the best and well known way to raise its fund. Due to pink color players and fans will be aware and keep in mind that part of their sum has gone to support those who already faced with that problem. In addition, pink color is one of favorite women's color, that can be another part to attract female fans. These matches also offer good complimentary service that please people. And probably for some people that kind of matches with charity purpose is a chance to show to others how they care and support those with breast cancer diagnose.

Resource:
http://www.brandrepublic.com/Discipline/Marketing/News/799372/Premier-Rugby-referees-dress-pink-cancer-charity/

Entry4_20700347

Transformation of Korean Rice cakes

These days, less Korean people enjoy rice cakes than the past. Instead, people love to eat western foods. For example, many people enjoy doughnuts, cakes, coffee, and cheese. People usually eat such foods for a meal or a dessert, and this is a common thing in their life. Until recently, rice cake is a food that is sold for its scrape value in a traditional market. But, since few years ago, rice cakes have been transformed.

According to the article, there are many rice cake cafes in Korea, and the number of such cafes is increasing. Frankly speaking, old people enjoy rice cakes more than young people, but lately, there are many young people who like to eat rice cakes. Then, how can rice cakes become popular foods in Korea?

I think that rice cake cafes could succeed because many CEOs of rice cake cafes have been persevered in their efforts. Especially, I think that these CEOs have been considered marketing for rice cakes with prudence, and they might be good at developing a marketing plan. Because they solved several problems that traditional Korean rice cakes are difficult to be a popular food at the present age for some reasons.

Defining the Mission and/or Vision – Mission of most successful rice cake cafes is to announce rice cake’s variety, and make it more usual food. For this mission, rice cakes could be transformed.

Situation Analysis
– These days, there are a lot of people who look for healthy food. Compared to bread which is made of wheat flour, and butter, rice cake’s main ingredient is rice, so rice cake has lower calories than bread. Also, rice cake is a nutritious food because it includes various healthful materials such as nuts, beans, dates, and so on, so many women who want to lose their weight like it. So rice cake has strengths in this point, and CEOs of rice cake cafes used this merits. Plus, rice cake can be used for various foods. For instance, spaghetti which is made of rice cake is sold at certain rice cake restaurant.

- Most traditional rice cakes have Go-mul, flour used to cover or coat rice cakes, so they are not easy to eat cleanly. Also, traditional rice cake’s size is not small to eat at once. But, the CEOs improved these weaknesses. They made fusion-rice cake that is small and has not Go-mul, so many young people could enjoy it easily. In addition, original rice cake is easy to spoil in several days, so it is difficult to save, but a retortable rice cake is invented, so it is easy to save these days.

- Many old Korean people do not like cakes. So cakes which are made of rice cakes are so good to present to old people. In addition, a price of wheat is becoming higher, so rice cake can not care about it. Moreover, ‘Well-being’ trend, the health and beauty industry to boom is more popular all over the world, so it is opportunity to announce rice cake which has various nutriments despite low calories.


- Recently, the number of doughnut stores, coffee shops, ice-cream stores, and places which sell western foods and still, many people enjoy such foods. Compared with this threat, rice cake café is not so popular yet, so rice cake’s merits should be announced more.


A few years ago, I went to go to a rice cake café named “Jill-see-roo”. That cafes’ condition is so nice and of course, foods’ taste were very delicious, but the price was expensive, and many people did not know about rice cake café because of poor marketing. But, I think that it was market introduction period. Over the years, many rice cake cafes have came into being, and Korean traditional rice cakes have transformed. I think that now is the rapid growth period of rice cake cafes, and soon, competitive turbulence will come, so it is needed for the CEOs to meet customer’s expectation.


Tradition is not the old, but the source. So, we have to think about own Korean tradition, then that tradition could become popular thing whole over the world. If marketing for rice cake is passionate and persuasive, it would be more loved by Korean people than before. I hope more Korean people would recognize the positive points of rice cake and be proud of our good traditional food.

20700347

Resources : http://newsmaker.khan.co.kr/khnm.html?mode=view&code=115&artid=15505,
http://news.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2008/02/25/2008022500094.html

Entry 4_20500687

For Leaders, There Is No Off Switch

You have to watch what you do and think about what you say at all times because of the effect your behavior has on your team.
By Marshall Goldsmith


Leadership… what pops up in your mind? We have heard many words related to leadership and it is very common and necessary idea that everyone should understand nowadays. Because this ‘leadership’ contains many requirements explaining how to be an effective leader, I, as a marketing student, need to understand the core concept of ‘leadership.’

This article is written by Marshall Goldsmith, an author of management-related literature, professor, consultant and executive coach. He emphasizes about leadership which he describes leaders’ capabilities. First, he mentions that leadership requires restraint. In his description, the higher up you go in an organization, the more people will be listening to your every word and interpreting your every action. I totally agree with his point since I have seen many leaders who do not take their position as seriously as they supposed to. Some leaders are not good with empowerment which is one of the most significant requirements being a good leader. Secondly Goldsmith asks leaders to avoid internet infamy. As media grows rapidly and it became an inevitable tool for us to use, leaders should be more careful with their privacy. The reason why leaders should have more responsibilities with this issue is that they have the potential impact on the people that they are leading. It is not just going to be an issue on media losing your trust to the public but more than that. Lastly, Goldsmith leaves a touching phrase “you own it to your team.” This phrase motivates me in various ways dealing with great responsibility. He states that if you want to become a great leader, you should recognize that there is no “off” switch when you are around the people you are leading. In other words, great leaders must keep moving on to better ideas and developing themselves. He also added that strong leaders actively listen and communicate with caring, interest, and enthusiasm no matter how tired they may be. I think this directly comes from their professionalism which great leaders must have in nature.

What I personally think the requirements that great leaders should fulfill is thorough understanding of their position first. As I learned from the marketing class, the very first step to create new item is the defining the problem. Applied to this leadership, above many important qualifications that good leaders might possess, defining their position is the most crucial task.

#4 Entry / 20500297

＊Show your employees you care ＊

"Your workers' wealth of knowledge may be worth more to your company than a paycheck is to them. Let them know you appreciate them."

Before I start, I want to take you guys to Google in Silicon Valley!














These are the pictures I took while I was in Silicon Valley area last winter. The reason I want to share these pictures with you is because today I want to talk about 'work environment.'
Relationship between work environment and Google? You'll see. :D

In today's world, what is the key to wealth and success of a company? It can be many things, but as the author of the article I read says, it is often employees' knowledge. Without employees' knowledge, a company can never grow. (Sometimes they know better than their bosses, don't they?) Successful companies catch this idea and acknowledge that their relationship with intelligent employees is critical. And so? What they do is creat the best work environment for employees in order to increase their performance. Creating and developing a fantastic work environment makes employees feel that they are special, cared, and even respected! When I came up with this thought, Google popped up in my head. Google is one of the most fanstastic and excellent places to work. Okay, no more explanation. Let's see some more pictures.

When you enter, this is the first thing you'll see. My friends I were like 'Whoa, can such a company look like this?' Basically Google created the environment that helps their employees feel fresh and comfortable. Even I felt like I am at my own company! The drinks? ALL FREE! (Yes, for visitors, too.)

Google provides their employees with their excellent food for free. We couldn't get a chance to eat at Google's cafeteria, so we just walked around. :( They offer all diffrent kinds of food. Japanese, Chinese, Italian, Mexican, ... and so on. After finishing your meal, you can just grab fresh fruits and drink and go back to your office.

While you walk around, you can see this type of personal office. (Most offices are visible.) How can you not be creative in such an environement? Google is the place you can do what you have imagined. When you get tired, you can just go out and get some free coffee or tea at the bar and play pool. This is not enough. Health center was grrrreeeat! I was impressed by the whole concept of the interior design. It makes you feel like working and use of all different bright colors also makes you energetic.

　

What I want to point out is that it is clear that Google's employees and engineers are at least as respected as their managers. The work environment obviously tells you that. That's Google's power, I guess. So what comes into your mind with this? Any Korean companies in Korea are like this? Or are they just squeezed in a square box? Creativity and innovation come from your workplace, I believe.

References: http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/mar2008/ca20080325_066793.htm?chan=search by Marchall Goldsmith

* 4th Entry / 20500297