`Globalize talent, update ownership'

McKinsey’s Barton gives advice to Korea Inc.

Dominic Barton, managing director of McKinsey & Company

By Kim Jae-kyoung

A noted consultant has suggested that major Korean companies globalize their workforce and overhaul their leadership structure to become truly global players.

He pointed out that some Korean companies are emerging as such by capitalizing on opportunities created by the ongoing economic crisis, but they aren’t yet truly global in the area of talent management and leadership.

In an exclusive interview with The Korea Times at the Westin Chosun on Oct. 25, Dominic Barton, managing director of McKinsey & Company, said the most urgent task for Korea is to foster global leaders, regardless of nationality, to move themselves to the next level.

“Some iconic global companies, such as Johnson & Johnson and Ford, are truly global in every dimension. The most important criteria is talent,” he said.

“Korea Inc. still has a glass ceiling. If you are not Korean, at some level, you are not going to rise up. Japan is the most extreme at that. Korea should not model itself after Japan to become a truly global player.”

One more thing that Barton feels Korean companies must reform is their leadership structure — ruled by one powerful owner. He said that a Jack Welch-type leadership model, for example, does not work anymore in the new business environment, calling for adopting a “broader leadership approach.”

“Now a whole new leadership is required not only for Korean firms but also as a whole. In this volatile world, one-man leadership is not going to work. Quite a few Korean leaders are stuck on it. One person can’t do everything. You need a leadership team much more,” he said.

“The Jack Welch model — riding on a horse and going this and that way — is old school. You have to be working with a team. You have to be comfortable with the fact you don’t know everything, and relying on people to help you and allowing people to criticize you.”

In the midst of the shift of the global business paradigm, there are a number of things Korea might do as it looks to the future. Most importantly, the veteran consultant thinks Korea and Korean firms should study and reflect strategically on the changes and trends underway.

Barton, who visited Seoul last week to chair the Seoul International Business Advisory Council, recommended three action plans for Korea to become a winner in the post-crisis world — services sector reform, educational reform and fostering booming sectors, such as healthcare and agriculture.

“First we have to tackle services sector productivity issue. It is a good growth area as the services sector in this country is much slower than in advanced countries. Korea needs a more vibrant and internationally active small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME) sector. Such businesses will be critical to improving Korea’s under-developed high value-added services sector,” he said.

“Korea needs to go beyond manufacturing and become a leading country in services, using many skills that have made the country great in manufacturing.”

He believes that educational reform will also bring a critical opportunity to Korea.

“Korea doesn’t have many vocational education programs. A lot of people go to universities but not many people do vocational programs. We should develop such programs to create more jobs and create global champions in more areas,” he said.

“For example, Germany is a good example of a country with rich vocational programs. Germany has a company that makes the best toilet in the world. You don’t learn that in good universities.”

Lastly, the consultant, who previously served as head of McKinsey’s Korea and China offices, called for Korean firms to invest more in new business domains, such as healthcare and agriculture, as the country is well-positioned to drive the so-called technology enablement of the different sectors

“You have to know what are new business domains and higher value-added manufacturing sectors. You should be looking at things like medical electronics, healthcare delivery and so on. They are going to be humongous businesses in the future,” he said.

“Korean companies should be encouraged to go into these businesses. Samsung and LG can do well. We can build huge new opportunities for Korean companies to go after”