The Technocrats and Power

 Youn Yuh-jung, a Korean star who won the best supporting actress at Oscars 2021 gave an award-winning speech that delighted numerous movie fans. On that unforgettable   day, before and after the Oscars, winner of the award, Youn Yuh-jung and film Minari received great attention from people around the world.

At that time, Frances McDormand who won the Oscars actress in a leading role, quoted a line from the Shakespeare play Macbeth in her acceptance speech. +

Like Macduff fight Macbeth, she said. ++ “I have no words. My voice is in my sword.” She then continued in her own words as follow.

“We know the sword is our work, and I like work. Thank you for knowing that, and thanks for this.”

Similarly, Mrs. Youn, who received the award earlier that day, said to his family, “It’s because Mommy worked so hard,” and impressed many people at home and abroad. Watching this impressive award-winning TV news, we can feel the work and its beauty at the same time. Those celebrities who spoke of the beauty of work after winning the Oscars were right. 

Since the 1960s, the Korean economy has grown rapidly and has become an advanced country. Among the factors of economic growth, education and training of technical manpower became a great driving force. A foreign economist praised Korea’s rapid economic growth since the 1960s as a human-made miracle, and many have accepted it.

The sustainable growth of Dongdaemun market and the sewing factory around there was also thanks to many technocrats and their descendants who have accumulated experience and technical know-how in the Korean industrialization process led by the textile industry.

The great management performance of Dongdaemun market, which was praised as Dongdaemun myth, may also be a valuable reward for the ‘hard work’ of wholesalers and designers, textile and parts manufacturing and distribution workers, and numerous sewing factory employees and technicians, all of them. 





 

-Some of the popular Dongdaemun fashion items we exported last week, seoulclick.com- 


In particular, many employees of sewing factories scattered in the Gangbuk area of Seoul have endured sacrifices such as hard labor and low wages to supply good fashion products at low prices to Dongdaemun wholesalers. It may have been inevitable for a small sewing company to survive.

Nowadays, amid more intense global price competition, however, it has become difficult for many employees of those sewing factories to endure the sacrifices such as hard labor and low wages. If so, does their small but strong sewing factory have no new strategy for corporate survival?

“When talking about a successful person, hard work is the first quality that reflects the most. To be successful, one has to cover extra miles and start earlier than others.” +++

Under this premise, one column argued that those who aspire success and are truly determined will be in working effectively. In other words, it is explained that changing hard work into smart work is an alternative. The column continues to debate that might change our stereotypes.

Then, instead of putting a lot of effort and time doing these things done, we should have to rush to plan and invest smart ideas for them. Of course, smart work has a lot to check.

Those checklists are, for example, (1) time management, (2) knowing what exactly is needed, (3) understanding the system perfectly, (4) making best of the right opportunity, (5) investment time in team planning, and so on. ++++

As we always argued, the global competitiveness of the Dongdaemun market lies in the sale of good quality fashion products at low prices. As such, in a situation where securing a price competitive advantage of fashion products is important, it depends on how smart the technocrats employed by many sewing factories work.

“A business that makes nothing but is a poor business.” +++++

Henry Ford’s such a famous quote is acceptable as a compliment for the technocrats who have kept their jobs at the sewing factories around Dongdaemun market for many years, despite sacrifices such as hard labor and low wages.

As discussed earlier, they were great industrial heroes who achieved the growth and development of the Korean economy. They still have strong power. If they transform themselves into smart work, the market power of Dongdaemun market will be stronger.

+ https://variety.com/2021/film/news/oscars-best-actress-frances-mcdormand...

++ Lord Macduff, the Thane of Fife, is a character in William Shakespeare’s Macbeth that is loosely based on history. Macduff, a legendary hero, plays a pivotal role in the play: he suspects Macbeth of regicide and eventually kills Macbeth in the final act.

+++ https://empxtrack.com/blog/performance-management-tools-turn-hard-work-into-smart-work/

++++ Ibid.

+++++ www.google.com

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Bong Sul (Advisor, SeoulClick)

www.seoulclick.com

Read more: Bong (Bong Sik) Sul, Dongdaemun Style, ebook.kstudy.com, Seoul, 2019.


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