Bo-eun leads the digital content team. She has covered foreign affairs, North Korea, tech, economy and gender issues at The Korea Times. She did a short stint at the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong, where she obtained a new perspective on news production and life. Small sources of joy for her are lounging in the sun, having a good latte and swimming.
INTERVIEW 'Organizational software key to adaptation'
BCG Managing Director and Senior Partner Kim Yeon-hee speaks during an interview with The Korea Times at the consulting firm's office in central Seoul, Tuesday. / Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk
By Kim Bo-eun
BCG senior partner says definition of retail is changing
By Kim Bo-eun
Companies that adopted remote working practices amid COVID-19 will soon have to decide how they intend to conduct business after the pandemic comes to an end.
This is a difficult matter in itself, but a senior partner at Boston Consulting Group (BCG) says overhauling organizational and HR systems in alignment with the digital era are key tasks that need to be tackled first.
"Front-line managers at firms that have never allowed remote working are having trouble adjusting to the changes because they assess juniors based on conventional standards such as whether an employee is on time for work or whether they are present at their desk," BCG's Managing Director and Senior Partner Kim Yeon-hee said in an interview with The Korea Times, Tuesday.
"This indicates that remote working needs to come with changes in existing organizations and forms of assessment, such as evaluating employees based on their output."
Kim referred to the "agility" culture increasingly adopted in the corporate world in recent years, in which companies operate multi-functional, project-based teams instead of function-based units. The projects are not assigned top-down, but come from the ideas of working-level employees.
An overhaul of assessment systems should go hand-in-hand to support these operations ― in a way that encourages entrepreneurship and develops performance ― by utilizing horizontal assessments, Kim said.
The top consultant, who has expertise in the retail sector, said businesses in the field should note the changing definition of retail, as the sector sees the emergence of new players such as platform companies.
“Conventionally, a retailer was considered a seller of goods they purchased,” Kim said. “This involved the process of sourcing, purchasing, merchandising, selling and delivering.”
But online platforms now exist in various forms. Gmarket and 11Street, for example, only offer an online marketplace for sellers and are not involved in direct buying. Coupang offers the products of sellers online but also buys directly. Naver is not involved in direct buying, but has a differentiated engagement model with sellers on its online platform.
“Not all platforms will remain competitive,” Kim said. “They need to offer diversified services that will attract sellers to their platforms.”
She said a case in point is Brandy, a local platform for women's clothing. It offers a buying platform for sellers, arranges manufacturers for them, manages distribution and delivers the items. It also helps sellers forecast demand for certain items and offers advice on how to display the attire.
“The key for platforms to survive is to create value, by offering the infrastructure and assistance sellers need,” Kim said.
Meanwhile, diversity at board and executive levels has also become a priority for companies. This is why leading firms are adopting quotas, such as for women in executive positions.
"Homogeneity leads an organization to demise,” Kim said. “If you leave an organization as it is, it will continue to fill positions with familiar and similar people."
"The reason different people are placed intentionally in key positions is to make the organization stronger and enhance its performance."
This is why BCG has also adopted an initiative to have women account for 30 percent of partners and 40 percent of project managers by 2030.
Kim holds the title as the first female partner at a consulting firm in Korea. Currently, she is the only female senior partner at BCG Korea, while women account for two out of 16 managing directors at the office.