If you live in North America, you likely are now very familiar with the Hyundai line of vehicles. Back in 1986, the first Hyundai was introduced to the market – an Excel – and the company's line up has changed dramatically since that time. Hyundai produces much more than cars; in fact, by the end of the last century Hyundai became one of the largest companies in the world. Let's take a look at this Korean based multinational corporation and the company behind Hyundai vehicles.
It was back in 1946, just one year removed from Imperial Japan's occupation of the Korean peninsula, that a new company was birthed in what is now known as South Korea. Hyundai Motor Industrial Company was founded by Chung Ju-yung, a child of northern Korean peasant farmers, and in 1947 Ju-yung launched a second company, Hyundai Civil Industries. Self educated, Ju-yung transformed the entire Korean economy with the tight control he exerted over his Hyundai companies.
The first Hyundai business was tasked with building automobiles while the second Hyundai company concentrated on construction. Indeed, much of modern South Korea's infrastructure was built by Hyundai in the period after the cessation of the Korean War in 1953 and on through the 1970s. Dams, an expressway, a shipbuilding yard, and a nuclear power plant were all built by Hyundai Civil Industries, while Hyundai Motors produced cars made primarily from Japanese components. Hyundai's influence stretched far beyond the Korean peninsula as the company won contracts to build an expressway in Thailand and a major port in Saudi Arabia. Clearly, Hyundai dominated the Korean market and quickly became a major player on the international scene.
By the 1970s Hyundai began to build vessels as well as shipyards and by 1986 Hyundai produced its first vehicle made entirely from Korean components. From the 1980s forward Hyundai added additional specialties including the building of semiconductors and magnetic levitation trains.
All hasn't been glossy for the company, however. Decades of labor problems culminating in new employee safety standards put in place from the 1990s on, tempered the Hyundai mystique. Indeed, up to that time the company was cited for having the worst safety standards of any corporation in the industrialized world.
Cars were another source of problems for what became known as the Hyundai Group. Although now manufacturing their own vehicles, the quality of Hyundai vehicles for the first decade was considered by automobile experts to be sub-par. Today, Hyundai vehicles and Hyundai parts are, for the most part, slightly above average in quality compared to the industry as a whole.
With Chung Ju-yung's death in 2001, Hyundai was divided up into three separate companies: Hyundai Heavy Industries, the Hyundai Motor Group, and Hyundai Engineering and Construction. Today, all three Hyundai companies continue to compete successfully in the global marketplace thanks to the vision of a peasant farmer.
2011/10/30
2011/10/25
Empowering Your Manager
"So much of what we call management consists in making it difficult for people to work."
- Peter Drucker
Managing is often equated with controls rather than leading and developing a business. The manager feels more comfortable and secure when they are able to put in strict controls on everything that happens in a business organization. This is so especially of Senior Managements where the controls and directing becomes so severe that it erodes any creative freedom for the middle managers to work towards achieving the goals set out for them.
Here are a few simple prescriptions to get the best out of your managers.
Avoid Centralizing Decision Making
This is perhaps one of the best ways to achieve totals control. You feel by centralizing decision making you will be able to avoid wrong decisions. While this may be so to some extent who is to prevent your own wrong decisions. Unless your managers are able to make mistakes and learn from them you will never be able to develop expertise through experience. Centralizing decision making is also the surest method to kill your business growth.
Provide Working Space
The top management often entrust tasks and responsibilities to their subordinate managers. More often than not any specific time frames which are comfortable to achieve the given responsibilities or tasks are discussed. However in their anxiety or aggressiveness and sometimes over enthusiasm you start chasing your subordinate for action and results. If you do it too soon and too often you are severely limited the working space of your managers. They may be spending more time in complying with your commands rather than focusing on operational priorities and important tasks.
If you are not providing sufficient working space for your managers you are surely heading towards disaster as important tasks may be getting neglected to escape from your frequent and aggressive follow ups.
Listen to Your Managers
While experience is an asset it also makes one arrogant and conceited. Sometimes one tends to believe because he is the superior, he always right. The Boss Is Always Right principle looks good only on posters. It doesn't work if you want to build a Professional organization.
Cultivate the ability to listen to the voice of your managers. Most times they know better as they are more familiar with the ground realities. If you decide on their behalf and just issue orders, you will have clerks in the guise of managers as you have killed their initiative.
Don't Get Into the Nitty Gritties
Once broad goals and objectives are set with specific time frames and key results are outlined leave your managers to perform. If you get into too many details and meddle with the execution at every stage, you may be sure to mess up the entire process and ultimately the results.
The key to managing effectively is to empower people across the management structure so that they feel part of the responsibility and ownership.
- Peter Drucker
Managing is often equated with controls rather than leading and developing a business. The manager feels more comfortable and secure when they are able to put in strict controls on everything that happens in a business organization. This is so especially of Senior Managements where the controls and directing becomes so severe that it erodes any creative freedom for the middle managers to work towards achieving the goals set out for them.
Here are a few simple prescriptions to get the best out of your managers.
Avoid Centralizing Decision Making
This is perhaps one of the best ways to achieve totals control. You feel by centralizing decision making you will be able to avoid wrong decisions. While this may be so to some extent who is to prevent your own wrong decisions. Unless your managers are able to make mistakes and learn from them you will never be able to develop expertise through experience. Centralizing decision making is also the surest method to kill your business growth.
Provide Working Space
The top management often entrust tasks and responsibilities to their subordinate managers. More often than not any specific time frames which are comfortable to achieve the given responsibilities or tasks are discussed. However in their anxiety or aggressiveness and sometimes over enthusiasm you start chasing your subordinate for action and results. If you do it too soon and too often you are severely limited the working space of your managers. They may be spending more time in complying with your commands rather than focusing on operational priorities and important tasks.
If you are not providing sufficient working space for your managers you are surely heading towards disaster as important tasks may be getting neglected to escape from your frequent and aggressive follow ups.
Listen to Your Managers
While experience is an asset it also makes one arrogant and conceited. Sometimes one tends to believe because he is the superior, he always right. The Boss Is Always Right principle looks good only on posters. It doesn't work if you want to build a Professional organization.
Cultivate the ability to listen to the voice of your managers. Most times they know better as they are more familiar with the ground realities. If you decide on their behalf and just issue orders, you will have clerks in the guise of managers as you have killed their initiative.
Don't Get Into the Nitty Gritties
Once broad goals and objectives are set with specific time frames and key results are outlined leave your managers to perform. If you get into too many details and meddle with the execution at every stage, you may be sure to mess up the entire process and ultimately the results.
The key to managing effectively is to empower people across the management structure so that they feel part of the responsibility and ownership.
2011/10/15
Who's the First Person to Greet Your Customer?
I approached her sliding glass window and stood in back of a gentleman whom I assumed she was helping. After about three minutes, I realized he was waiting for the office manager and she could have acknowledged my presence. I stepped up to the window; she did not say good morning; she did not smile; she just glared at me. I started to speak; she pointed a finger at a clip board with a paper to fill out. I placed the completed sheet in front of her, perhaps expecting a thank you or a smile or at least 'have a seat; the doctor will see you soon'.
I was so intrigued by her manner that I watched her interaction with the other patients. The man sitting next to me started to tell me that even though he had an appointment he had been waiting a long time. He told me he was extremely dissatisfied with the way the place was run and was starting to regret his association with this office. With a bit of humor, I told him I was watching the receptionist and asked if she had uttered a word to him. He started to laugh, and said, "Come to think of it, not a word!"
The next patient to come in was an older woman with a walker. The receptionist was not at her desk so the woman took a seat and waited for her return. She again pointed at the clip board, took the form, threw her sliding glass door closed and said nothing. The next one was the mailman, who I'm sure she sees daily. Again, not a smile or a hello; she stuck out her hand for the mail and handed him the outgoing mail
Now my new disgruntled friend and I were sort of enjoying this and decided that maybe she was a mute….and then it happened. A good-looking UPS delivery man came in. Lo and behold, there was a big smile and a voice that was able to say good morning! That was short lived. She treated the rest of the patients in her same rude uncaring manner, a total lack of personality.
To me, the ability to positively interact with the customer, no matter what the business, is most essential. Hire your receptionist with as much thought as you would hire a sales person. Some smart person once said "If today you give a stranger one of your smiles, it might be the only sunshine he sees all day.
I was so intrigued by her manner that I watched her interaction with the other patients. The man sitting next to me started to tell me that even though he had an appointment he had been waiting a long time. He told me he was extremely dissatisfied with the way the place was run and was starting to regret his association with this office. With a bit of humor, I told him I was watching the receptionist and asked if she had uttered a word to him. He started to laugh, and said, "Come to think of it, not a word!"
The next patient to come in was an older woman with a walker. The receptionist was not at her desk so the woman took a seat and waited for her return. She again pointed at the clip board, took the form, threw her sliding glass door closed and said nothing. The next one was the mailman, who I'm sure she sees daily. Again, not a smile or a hello; she stuck out her hand for the mail and handed him the outgoing mail
Now my new disgruntled friend and I were sort of enjoying this and decided that maybe she was a mute….and then it happened. A good-looking UPS delivery man came in. Lo and behold, there was a big smile and a voice that was able to say good morning! That was short lived. She treated the rest of the patients in her same rude uncaring manner, a total lack of personality.
To me, the ability to positively interact with the customer, no matter what the business, is most essential. Hire your receptionist with as much thought as you would hire a sales person. Some smart person once said "If today you give a stranger one of your smiles, it might be the only sunshine he sees all day.
2011/10/03
Catch the Spirit of the Entrepreneur
Grabbing opportunities with open arms is often easier to talk about than to actually do. Most people find themselves dreaming about being rich but never actually doing anything about it. A combination of procrastination and 'what if' syndrome can cripple your creative spirit and might mean your idea will never become a reality.
Socrates said "Action equals knowledge'. He was one of the greatest philosophers of our time. What he meant was that it is through action that we achieve results.
For example, you could think about learning Spanish for months, imagining the holidays you will take and the people you will communicate with. You can dream forever but accomplish nothing unless you actually make the effort to start taking lessons.
Much like the martial arts approach - the idea is to take action immediately and avoid over analyzing the situation.
Do you want to start your own business but are afraid of what kinds of things can go wrong? What if your initial investment doesn't pay off? There are millions of things that could go wrong but likewise there are many things that can go right! Fear can be paralyzing. When thinking about starting a business particularly if you keep waiting for the right time. There will never be a perfect time. It's now or never when it comes to starting your own business. <
Overcoming your fear is a step by step process.
- Do you have a clear idea of what kind of business you want to start? A clear plan will help keep your worries at bay.
- Do you have access to the resources you will need? This includes the necessary start up cash as well as anything else you will need.
- Do you have access to clients or do you know enough about marketing basics to ensure you will have enough interest in what you are offering?
Just like anything - taking action is the most important part. Make an itemized list of what you feel needs to be done in order for you to start that business you always dreamed of.
Prioritizing your list will help too. Don't wait for all your ducks to be in a proverbial row before you begin but make sure you have all the basics covered. Don't wait for that 'perfect someday'. Make an imperfect start.
Don't over think everything. Sometimes the best approach is to just jump into the deep end.
Don't wait to start discovering your own entrepreneurial spirit. Take action today!
Socrates said "Action equals knowledge'. He was one of the greatest philosophers of our time. What he meant was that it is through action that we achieve results.
For example, you could think about learning Spanish for months, imagining the holidays you will take and the people you will communicate with. You can dream forever but accomplish nothing unless you actually make the effort to start taking lessons.
Much like the martial arts approach - the idea is to take action immediately and avoid over analyzing the situation.
Do you want to start your own business but are afraid of what kinds of things can go wrong? What if your initial investment doesn't pay off? There are millions of things that could go wrong but likewise there are many things that can go right! Fear can be paralyzing. When thinking about starting a business particularly if you keep waiting for the right time. There will never be a perfect time. It's now or never when it comes to starting your own business. <
Overcoming your fear is a step by step process.
- Do you have a clear idea of what kind of business you want to start? A clear plan will help keep your worries at bay.
- Do you have access to the resources you will need? This includes the necessary start up cash as well as anything else you will need.
- Do you have access to clients or do you know enough about marketing basics to ensure you will have enough interest in what you are offering?
Just like anything - taking action is the most important part. Make an itemized list of what you feel needs to be done in order for you to start that business you always dreamed of.
Prioritizing your list will help too. Don't wait for all your ducks to be in a proverbial row before you begin but make sure you have all the basics covered. Don't wait for that 'perfect someday'. Make an imperfect start.
Don't over think everything. Sometimes the best approach is to just jump into the deep end.
Don't wait to start discovering your own entrepreneurial spirit. Take action today!
2011/10/01
Team Building Training
Where "training" is concerned as a part of team building, this often refers to a more skills-centered approach, rather than the more generalized methods of team development. However, your team building training will depend both on the needs of your organization, and the style and capabilities of the team building consultant you bring in to facilitate the process. Virtually any team building activities can be made more or less training-oriented to suit your goals and expectations.
Team building is a process of bringing together individuals who need to work cooperatively and providing activities or exercises that help develop the basic skills required for effective teamwork, including:
- good communication skills, including conflict management
- the ability to clarify goals and work cooperatively towards achieving these
- staying focused on the task at hand
- problem solving
- the importance of each individual's contribution towards the greater goal
These general concepts will carry over in the form of improved interpersonal relationships at the office, improved morale and more effective communication and cooperative efforts during the course of daily work. The ultimate result of a happier, more motivated team is increased productivity for the company as a whole.
As mentioned, these benefits can be augmented by focusing on specific problem areas your team may be encountering, or areas for improvement. It may be helpful to sit down together before choosing an approach to training, to allow each team member to voice any concerns, issues they would like help addressing, suggestions, and so on. The intention behind team building and training is to empower each team member to be as effective as possible, not to point out deficiencies or place blame. The more involved each individual can be at each step of the process, the more helpful the experience is likely to be.
Finding ways to help a group of individuals function effectively as a cohesive team is a process that requires structure and commitment over time, as well as regular review. Like any other relationship, communication, change and growth are all necessary components of the way team members work together, and the working relationship will evolve naturally over time given the attention it needs. Periodic team building training will ensure everyone is on the same page, and going in the right direction.
Take some time to explore the vast range of team development resources available and start to think about methods that may be the most useful for your team. Try to keep an emphasis on the fun side of learning and make the experience an enjoyable one. Remind your team of their many strengths as you explore ways to become more effective together. With a clear, shared focus on goals you maximize your combined ability to reach the desired outcome, and can look forward to celebrating future successes.
Team building is a process of bringing together individuals who need to work cooperatively and providing activities or exercises that help develop the basic skills required for effective teamwork, including:
- good communication skills, including conflict management
- the ability to clarify goals and work cooperatively towards achieving these
- staying focused on the task at hand
- problem solving
- the importance of each individual's contribution towards the greater goal
These general concepts will carry over in the form of improved interpersonal relationships at the office, improved morale and more effective communication and cooperative efforts during the course of daily work. The ultimate result of a happier, more motivated team is increased productivity for the company as a whole.
As mentioned, these benefits can be augmented by focusing on specific problem areas your team may be encountering, or areas for improvement. It may be helpful to sit down together before choosing an approach to training, to allow each team member to voice any concerns, issues they would like help addressing, suggestions, and so on. The intention behind team building and training is to empower each team member to be as effective as possible, not to point out deficiencies or place blame. The more involved each individual can be at each step of the process, the more helpful the experience is likely to be.
Finding ways to help a group of individuals function effectively as a cohesive team is a process that requires structure and commitment over time, as well as regular review. Like any other relationship, communication, change and growth are all necessary components of the way team members work together, and the working relationship will evolve naturally over time given the attention it needs. Periodic team building training will ensure everyone is on the same page, and going in the right direction.
Take some time to explore the vast range of team development resources available and start to think about methods that may be the most useful for your team. Try to keep an emphasis on the fun side of learning and make the experience an enjoyable one. Remind your team of their many strengths as you explore ways to become more effective together. With a clear, shared focus on goals you maximize your combined ability to reach the desired outcome, and can look forward to celebrating future successes.
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