The Strategy for Korea's Economic Success - Hwy-Chang Moon

韩国经济成功范式 – 文辉昌

第一部分： 韩国奇迹

1. 韩国经济发展的基础

1882到1910年年间，美国洛杉矶地区跟韩国一样遭受了一场重大旱灾，与韩国皇帝高宗（其妻-明成皇后于1895年10月8日被日本公使三浦梧楼带领浪人及多位军人在皇宫奸杀及裸体焚烧，史称“乙未事变”）举办隆重的向上苍祈雨仪式不同的是，洛杉矶当局用了相对科学和经济的方式解决了干旱的问题。 威廉姆·姆哈兰德，洛杉矶水务部门的工程师兼主管，带领实施了包括著名的长达233英里从东希雅拉到首府的“洛杉矶引水渠”在内的多项水利工程。

During this same period（1882~1910）, Los Angeles was also experiencing a serious dry spell. However, contrary to King Gojong's rain-calling ceremony, decision-makers in Los Angesles responded with a more scientific and economic approach. William Mulholland, the engineer and superintendent of the Los Angeles Water Department, carried out several massive water projects including Los Angeles Aqueduct, a 233-mile-long aqueduct to deliver water from the Eastern Sierra to the metropolis. 

之后的50年，韩国和美国就经历完全不同的发展道路。 依靠迷信的仪式来解决例如干旱这样的自然灾害的韩国最终成为日本的殖民地，并经历了朝鲜半岛战争，从而成为最贫穷的国家之一，这种局面直到二十世纪六十年代才开始有所改变。 而美国，依靠科学的方法，成为了世界上最强的经济和军事国家。不同的适用程序反映了两国在国家紧急状态时所采用的方法，而不同的方法对国家的发展产生了不同的影响。 很明显的是靠迷信来解决问题的国家无法脱离贫困，而靠结构化思维解决问题的国家必将遥遥领先。

Over the next 50 years, Korea and the United States headed down different paths. Korea, which depended on superstitious rituals to combat natural hazards such as draughts, became a colony of Japan and suffered from the Korean War, making it one of the poorest countries until the 1960s. The United States, on the other hand, which approached issues scientifically, became the world's strongest economic and military power. The varying approaches of these two nations reveal important implications for national emergency programs against natural hazards. The juxtaposition of the two varying responses shows how government goals and policies can affect national development. It is clear that the country that depended on superstition was not able to escape poverty, whereas the country that employed constructive solutions to combat its issues showed advancement.

1. 新经济框架需求

几个世纪以来，无数学者和经济学家致毕生心血来解释国家发展和竞争力的根源所在。早期经济理论主要是16到17世纪的重商主义，后来18世纪亚当·斯密的绝对优势理论成为主流，并衍生出大卫·李嘉图的比较优势理论。大部分早期经济理论都试图将贸易动能的经济优势归功于继承来的冗余资源。二十世纪三十年代，赫克舍尔-奥林模型Heckscher-Ohlin模型因为从技术和制造角度有效地解释了现代经济学原理从而得到了普遍的认可。

B. The need for a new framework

for centuries, Scholars and economists have dedicated their efforts to explaining the sources of national growth and competitiveness. Early economic theories began with merchantilism in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, followed by Adam Smith's theory of absolute advantage in the eighteenth century, which was further developed into David Ricardo's Theory of comparative advantage. Most of these earlier theories attempted to analyze the dynamics of trade by attributing economic strengths to the abundance of inherited resources. During the 1930s, however, the Heckscher-Oblin model received much recognition for effectively explaining the modern economy with the emergence of technology and the manufacturing sector.

到了二十世纪八十年代，公司战略成为经济学和产业增长领域的研究热点，最具代表性的是迈克尔·波特（1990年），因为在他的《国家竞争优势》里提出的钻石模型，一套系统研究国家竞争力的模型而闻名。

Toward the 1980s, one of the hottest fields of research in economics and industry growth was corporate strategy. Along with these academic efforts, Michael Porter(1990) introduced a systemic framework for national competitiveness - the diamond model - in his book titled, The Competitive Advantage of Nations. 

1. 韩国经济发展的基础

人力资源和资本资源的有效流动将逐步导向第三个基础要素：全要素生产率

Chapter 1 Foundations of Korea's Economic development

The efficient mobility of human and capital resources then leads to third fundamental factor, total factor productivity (TFP). 

1. 人力资源

• 儒家思想对于教育上的投入和成果效果显著。
• 书本学习和死记硬背也不可或缺。
• 向西方学习先进的东西并保持亚洲价值观。
• 知识学习、问题解决、职业教育三教合一。

1.1 Human Resources

• Confucianism is related to the dedication and achievements in education.
• Lecture-based learning and Rote Memorization
• Learning from the West, while maintaining Asian Values.
• Knowledge Learning, Problem Solving, Vocational Training

1. 资本资源

在发展阶段，韩国财阀功不可没。资本严重匮乏的韩国在经济起步阶段通过国民储蓄和外国借贷短时间内快速积累了一定规模的资本资源。 韩国大部分投资被聚焦在大型私营经济以有效地发挥资本优势。

1.2 Capital Resources

1.2.1 Korean Chaebol in the developing stage

Capital-scarce Korea was able to accumulate a sizeable amount of capital in a short span of time through domestic savings and foreign borrowings in the early stage of economic development. Most investment in Korea was concentrated in the private sector to support large firms that could make better use of financial resources. 

1.2.2 Distinctive features of Korean Chaebol for Accumulating Capital Resources

(1) Government to Target and Reward the Winners

Overall, the government policies were based on the assumption that the private sphere should play a major role in expanding the industrial sector. However, the government also believed that effective capital accumulation could not be reaped from the private sector alone and that firms needed to be nurtured by means beyond free market incentives. The government policy was thus a selective intervention that fostered the growth of private enterprises and supported the industries deemed to be beneficial to the national economy. 

韩国财阀独具特色的资本资源积累方式

政府选择目标企业并赋予优胜者。总的来说，政府政策的基础是私营经济在产业发展中发挥了极为重要的作用。但是，政府坚信资本资源不会自发地在私营经济中得到有效配置，而且企业不能单独靠自由市场补贴来培育。 因而政府政策实际上是一种选择性干预手段以支持那些对国民经济有重大利好的产业并培育该产业私营企业的发展。

Under conditions favorable to the best performers in the industry, firms that properly understood government targets grew faster and emerged as conglomerates. This is an entirely different scenario from many other cases of developing countries, where governments support uncompetitive firms to which they have personal ties. Chaebol were successful not only because they received special privileges and benefits from the government, but because they knew they would not be able to maintain cooperative relationships with the government if they were not competitive. For firms, demonstrating their ability to perform well under this relationship was critical as the government was the best or often the sole source of capital, with private banks tightly managed by the government that had high targets for national growth. In essence, both the government and large conglomerates fulfilled their unique roles in the nation's economy and satisfied each other's needs. 

在产业中表现越好收益越大的前提下，企业正确的理解了政府的目标后快速增长并逐步聚变成为巨无霸。 这种发展模式在众多传统发展中国家完全不同，因为传统发展中国家都是支持那些与政府保持私密关系的缺乏效率的企业。杭锅财阀的成功并不完全是他们从政府部门获得了特权，而是他们深知如果没有竞争优势的话也将失去政府的支持。对于企业而言，很好地展示自己良好运营能力非常重要，因为政府往往是最好的、甚至是唯一的资本来源，政府通过严密的金融政策以保证国家经济发展的高目标。因为政府和大财阀在国家经济发展中发挥了无与伦比的作用并相得益彰。

(2) Selective Assimilation of Japanese Conglomerates

The Korea Chaebol most closely resembles the original form of Zaibatsu in Japan(or the current Keiretsu). With the turn of events following World War II, Zaibatsu were broken down and reorganized, losing some of their unique characteristics such as family ownership and strong central autocracy. However, their structure and internal bank-centered financing remained much the same, and these are the biggest differences between Japanese and Korean conglomerates. The successors to the Zaibatsu - the Keiretsu - continued to work closely with the banks and government while establishing their own strong distribution channels with smaller loyal retailers. The Korean government and businessmen closely examined these large Japanese cliques and tried to imitate their success, particularly as general trading companies. These enterprises specialized in importing raw materials for domestic industries and exporting manufactured goods. They were efficient in facilitating trade and capital flow because they maximized price margins through available global intelligence network. Furthermore, they performed important functions in the short-term financing of foreign trading(Johnson 1987). 

对日本巨无霸的选择性模仿

韩国财阀模式几乎照搬了日本早期的财团（现在的商社模式）。二战以后，日本的财团模式被打破并重组，从而失去了原来的比如家族所有及中央集权管控等特色。然而，他们原来的组织形式和内部银行为中心的金融模式保持不变，而这些恰恰是日韩巨无霸的最大区别。财团模式继承者-商社，继续与银行和政府保持了紧密关系，并建立了众多规模较小的忠诚的零售商为基础的，有力的自有营销体系。韩国政府和商人一起认真地研究了日本财团的各种派系并竭力复制他们，特别是那些成功的大型商社。这些企业在为民族产业进口原材料并出口产成品方面非常专业，他们通过建立全球化的情报网络使价格利润空间最大化，从而实现贸易与资本的快速有效流动及配置。另外，他们在对外贸易的短期融资也发挥了重要作用。

(3) Efficient capital approbation and the role of Chaebol

有效的资本授信和财阀作用

与日本巨无霸完全掌控自有的金融机构不同，韩国政府明文规定企业控制银行是非法的，而且严格禁止企业控制任何形式以债券为主的内部金融体。相反地，政府引入了企业债为主的产业金融，通过银行系统为家庭作坊存款提供奖励。政府控制的银行体系在这些民间存款以贷款形式重新分配给巨无霸。

Unlike Japanese conglomerates that controlled their own financial institutions, the Korean government officially made firm ownership of corporate banks illegal, and strictly controlled all other types of debt-based internal financing sources. Instead, the government introduced debt-based industrial financing, creating incentives for households to save through the banking system. The government-controlled banks redistributed these savings as loans to the conglomerates.

韩国政府这种通过控制银行信贷的和外国借款的方式是实施经济政策的最有力工具。政府通过这一银行渠道单方面筹集资金用于企业融资。因此，财阀利益受到政府经济目标的严格控制和管理。正是这个由政府控制的信贷机构鼓励了有效的竞争，并决定了应该支持哪些行业领导者。在20世纪70年代和80年代,政府甚至根据大集团的表现强行命令重组其旗下企业：兼并他人或被他人收购。今天的财阀是由原本独立的集团或企业纵向和横向整合而成。

In this manner, the Korean government's control of bank credit and access to foreign borrowing served as the most potent instrument for implementing economic policies. The government unilaterally source capital through this banking channel for corporate financing. Therefore, the Chaebol's interests were heavily controlled and managed by the government's economic goals. It is this government-controlled credit institution that encouraged efficient competition and determined which industry leaders to support. The government even ordered firms to merge or be acquired based on the performance of large groups throughout the 1970s and 1980s. The present-day Chaebol consist of independent groups of vertically and horizontally integrated firms. 

(4) Cohesive Organizational Culture toward a Single Goal

One final important feature of Korean Chaebol is the vigorous and hardworking culture that helps increase the engagement and productivity of employees.  

单一目标导向的聚合组织文化

韩国财阀的最后一个重要特征-是一种充满活力和勤奋的文化，有助于提高员工的敬业精神和生产效率。

1. Total Factor Productivity (TFP) - Distinctive features of Korean Government policies for enhancing efficiency

• Economic development plans for accelerated growth
• Learning through trade-oriented policies
• Structural transformation and spillover effects
• Enhancing national goals through modernizing rural areas

全要素生产率(TFP) -韩国政府提高效率的政策特点

• 快速增长的国家经济发展规划
• 通过贸易导向的政策学习
• 结构转型和溢出效应
• 通过农村地区现代化加强国家目标

Chapter 2 Korean government leadership for national growth

       <Table 2.1 Korea's economic policies by presidents>

1. 为了国家增长的韩国政府领导力

表2.1 历史上各位总统领导下的韩国经济政策

Chapter 3 Korean Business Leadership for Corporate growth

第三章 为了企业增长的韩国商业领导力

The founder of POSCO: Park Tae-Jun

        Samsung: Lee Byung-Chul

        Hyundai: Chung Ju-Yung

Common Traits: 

• quick and accurate in their business decisions on how they ran their companies;
• commitment to learning for continuous improvement and upgrading of the firm's advantages
• successful handling of diverse business activities
• dedication - leadership quality - a clear vision with ambitious goals

韩国三个著名企业创始人：浦项制铁-朴泰俊；三星集团-李秉哲；现代集团-郑周永

共同特点：

• 快速准确地决定如何管理公司；
• 致力于不断学习，从而持续改进并提升公司的优势，
• 成功地面对多样化的商业活动
• 献身精神-领导特质-富有野心的、清晰的愿景规划

Part II The ABCD model - A new frame for explaining Korea's economic success

第二部分 ABCD模型- 韩国成功的经济新范式

Chapter 4 The ABCD model

Korean ABCD success strategy model: 

Agility must be based on speed and precision;

Benchmarking must be pursued through learning the best practice.

Convergence is created from mixing the right resources to maximize synergies.

Dedication requires diligence with a clear goal-oriented mindset. 

<Execution means teamworking with Problem Solving skills. >

第四章 ABCD模型 -韩国ABCD成功战略模式：

• 敏捷效应: 必须建立在速度和精准的基础上；
• 标杆效应：必须通过学习最佳实践来实现。
• 聚合效应：整合恰当的资源实现协同作用最大化。
• 献身效应：奉献需要勤奋和明确的目标导向的心态。
• 执行效应：提高团队解决问题的能力以实现有效合作。

4.1 Agility: Speed combined with Precision for increasing productivity

敏捷效应: 综合速度和精准以提升劳动生产率

4.1.1 Speed 速度

Korea's economic development was fueled by created assets - resources that not innate to its land. Korea created its own competitive sources and the first of these was speed. With imported resources and acquired technologies, Korean people worked harder and faster to make up for its lack of natural resources. 

The true essence of business does not lie in defeating competitors but rather in creating value for consumers. Korea's speed is not unique to a single firm - it can also be seen at the industry and national level.(Internet speed)

韩国的经济发展是由所创造的资产推动的-这些资产并非其土地所固有的资源。韩国创造了自己的竞争资源，其中第一个是速度。通过进口资源和获得的技术，韩国人民更加努力和更快地工作，以弥补缺乏自然资源的问题。商业的真正本质不在于击败竞争对手，而在于为消费者创造价值。韩国的速度并不是一家公司独有的-它也可以在产业和国家层面上看到。(比如韩国的互联网速度)

4.1.2 Precision 精确

Despite speed's many obvious benefits, speed without precision poses risk. Prime examples are the collapse of Sungsoo Bridge and Sampoong Department Store during 1990s due to shoddy construction. Many accidents that occur in the business field are due to imprecision, and defective products are largely the result of imperfections in the manufacturing process. If precision is sacrificed for speed in the manufacturing process, companies will ultimately incur great losses due to product recalls, realignment of value chain activities, and dissatisfied customers. < 19 million vehicles recalled globally between late 2009 and 2011 by TOYOTA>

尽管速度有许多明显的好处，但光有速度没有精确会带来风险。主要的例子是上世纪90年代由于建筑质量差而导致的汉江圣水大桥和三丰百货大厦的倒塌。在商业领域发生的许多事故都是由于不精确造成的，而缺陷产品在很大程度上是由于制造过程中的疏忽造成的。如果在制造过程中单纯为了追求速度而牺牲了精确，公司最终将因产品召回、价值链活动的调整以及不满意的客户而蒙受巨大损失。<2009年后边年至2011年间，丰田在全球召回的汽车数量高达1900万辆>

In truly advanced country, fraudulent construction projects are unimaginable, defective products are unlikely, and corruption is rare.

在真正先进的国家，欺诈性的建筑项目是不可想象的，有缺陷的产品是不可能的，腐败是罕见的。

The development of Korea's Pali Pali culture has been accompanied by precision to some extent. The Korean Customer Satisfaction Index(KCSI) was first developed in 1992 by the Korean Management Consultants to measure customer satisfaction with the products and services provided various Korean industries. (DOOSAN CE China CSI fraud) 

韩国啪哩啪哩(快餐)文化的发展在一定程度上伴随着精度的提高。韩国顾客满意度指数(KCSI)是由韩国管理顾问公司于1992年制定的，目的是衡量韩国各行业对产品和服务的满意度。(斗山CE中国CSI欺诈)

How Korea was able to achieve global leadership in shipbuilding despite Japan's higher technological capacity and China's lower manufacturing costs? 

尽管日本拥有较高的技术能力，而中国的制造成本较低，韩国如何能够在造船领域取得全球领先地位？

Because - Japan's Monozukuri (artisanship) consumes too much time and lacks the flexibility to address varying customer needs. China, on the other hand, lacks sufficient precision for quality shipbuilding even though they have cheap labor. Korean companies, however, have both, they can build ships faster than their competitors with relatively high precision. In short, Korea's shipbuilding industry achieved competitiveness because of its combination of speed and precision. 

因为-日本的工匠精神花费了太多的时间，缺乏灵活性来满足不同的客户需求。另一方面，中国缺乏足够高质量的造船精度，尽管他们有廉价的劳动力。然而，韩国公司两者兼而有之，它们可以相对较高的精度建造比竞争对手更快的船只。总之，韩国造船业由于其速度和精度的结合而获得了竞争力。

4.2 Benchmarking: Learning the best practices for Efficient Catch-up

标杆效应：通过学习最佳实践实现有效赶超

In an efficient market system with fluid technology transfer, it is often cheaper to adopt existing technologies than to develop them independently. However, benchmarking encompasses more than simply learning or imitating - it is not synonymous with being a "Copycat". The public tends to praise and appreciate revolutionary innovations and changes but disregards the efforts of countless players who implement incremental changes.

在技术转让的有效流动市场体系中，采用现有技术往往比独立开发技术便宜。然而，标杆不只是简单的学习或模仿-它并不等同于成为“模仿者”。公众倾向于赞扬和欣赏革命性的创新和变革，但忽视了无数实施渐进式变革的参与者的努力。

Regarding the Apple-Samsung lawsuits, should Samsung continue its imitation strategy despite its loss to Apple in the US courts? The answer is both yes and no. For a new product to be widely accepted, there must be an incremental improvement(“Alpha”) that represents a meaningful contribution to the market. Some media praised Samsung's benchmarking strategy and described Samsung as a company that provided a better product beyond imitating other companies. When the jury compared the products of Samsung and Apple, they acknowledged Samsung's addition of "Alpha" to Apple's product (i.e. Samsung's product = Apple's product + Alpha). However, they judged the "Alpha" to be negligible and did not find significant distinctions between Samsung and Apple's smartphone models. Of course, social and political factors may have affected the decision, but only endogenous variables directly related to this case will be considered here. 

关于苹果-三星的诉讼，三星是否应该继续其模仿策略，尽管它在美国法院输给了苹果？答案是“是“和”否“。为了让新产品被广泛接受，必须有一个渐进式的改进(“Alpha”)，它代表着对市场的有意义的贡献。一些媒体赞扬了三星的标杆战略，称三星是一家比模仿其他公司提供更好产品的公司。当陪审团比较三星和苹果的产品时，他们承认三星在苹果的产品中添加了“Alpha”(即三星的产品=苹果产品+Alpha)。然而，他们认为“阿尔法”可以忽略不计，并没有发现三星和苹果智能手机之间的显著区别。当然，社会和政治因素可能影响了这一决定，但这里只考虑与此直接相关的内生变量。

4.2.1 Learning 学习

One can either learn from past experiences or by observing others, so call counterfeiting or imitation, they are quite different. A counterfeit does not replicate the original product but only forges its external appearance. Imitation has played an important role in human advancement over time. 

In 1994, Steve Jobs invited Bill Gates to his conference room to resolve a conflict over design theft of Apple and Microsoft. As expected, he angrily accused Bill Gates of deceit and malpractice. After Steve Jobs' rant, Bill Gates simply replied in his usual husky voice, " Well, Steve, I think there's more than one way of looking at it. I think it's more like we both had this rich neighbor named Xerox and I broke into his house to steal the TV set only to find you had already stolen it." Bill Gates's allegory is fairly accurate as Microsoft copied the graphic functions of Apple's computers, which was based on Xerox's original graphics. To the foundation provided by Xerox, Apple and Microsoft added their respective unique functions and launched the Macintosh and Windows Operations System, respectively. Microsoft eventually went on to bundle its OS with Internet Explorer and the Office suite. Thereafter. Microsoft's strategy emerged as the best practice in the field that set the global standard.

一个人既可以从过去的经验中学习，也可以通过观察他人来学习，亦即伪造或模仿，两者是完全不同的。假冒伪劣品不是复制原始产品，而是伪造其外观。随着时间的推移，模仿在人类进步中发挥了重要作用。1994年，史蒂夫·乔布斯(Steve Jobs)邀请比尔·盖茨(Bill Gates)来到他的会议室，以解决苹果和微软的设计版权冲突问题。不出所料，他愤怒地指责比尔·盖茨欺骗和渎职。在史蒂夫·乔布斯(Steve Jobs)大喊大叫之后，比尔·盖茨(Bill Gates)用他一贯沙哑的声音回答道：“好吧，史蒂夫，我认为有不止一种方式来看待它。我想，更像是我们都有一个富有的邻居，名叫施乐，而我闯进他家，要偷他的电视机，结果发现你已经偷了它。”比尔盖茨的寓言是相当准确的，因为微软复制了苹果电脑的图形功能，这是基于施乐的原始图形。在施乐公司提供的基础上，苹果和微软分别增加了各自独特的功能，推出了Macintosh和Windows操作系统。微软最终将其操作系统、IE浏览器和Office套件捆绑在一起。此后。微软的战略成为这一领域的最佳实践，确立了全球标准。

Why do these great people and companies imitate others? The answer is simple - when a person, company, or nation tries to rise from scratch, there are many barriers, costs and risks. They generally lack the capacity, human resources, and information to make good decisions. I the initial stages of development, it is extremely difficult to control related fields and construct successful long-term strategies. In this precarious situations, learning by imitating others is the most efficient way to grow. 

为什么这些伟大的人和公司还要模仿别人？答案很简单-当一个人、公司或国家试图从废墟中重建时，会遇到很多障碍、成本和风险。他们通常缺乏做出正确决策的能力、人力资源和信息。在发展的初级阶段，要控制相关领域，构建成功的长期战略是极其困难的。在这种不稳定的情况下，通过模仿他人学习是最有效的增长方式。

In the case of Korea, the government and businesses neither had the experience nor infrastructure to independently develop after the war. Domestic capacity was extremely frail and lacking. As a solution, Korea learned from the experiences of Japan, which had undergone radical changes during its shift to capitalism and democracy. Also, since Korea did not know which products would sell in markets, imitating the products of global leading companies was certainly a logical step. Korea did not possess the capital or advanced technology to develop multiple competitive sectors at once. As a result, the Korean government had to select and concentrate on a few strategic industries and firms to implement the industrial development plans. This led to the rise of Chaebol, which demonstrated top performance and increased the nation's wealth.

就韩国而言，政府和企业在战后既没有独立发展的经验，也没有独立发展的基础设施。国内能力极其薄弱和缺乏。作为一种解决办法，韩国借鉴了日本的经验，日本在向资本主义和民主过渡期间发生了根本性变化。此外，由于韩国不知道哪些产品会在市场上销售，模仿全球领先企业的产品无疑是合乎逻辑的一步。韩国不具备同时发展多个竞争性部门的资本或先进技术。因此，韩国政府不得不选择并专注于少数战略性产业和企业，以实施工业发展计划。这导致了财阀的崛起，它展示了卓越的业绩，增加了国家的财富。

Chaebol, had to quickly master advanced technology, render mass production, and increase sales in order to reinvest in other areas. The easiest and most effective way to do this was through imitation, or more precisely, learning from other successful companies. 

 为了在其他领域进行再投资，财阀必须迅速掌握先进技术，进行大规模生产，并增加销售。要做到这一点，最简单、最有效的方法是通过模仿，或者更准确地说，向其他成功的公司学习。

One way to analyze learning at the national level is to look at the level of imported technologies. In 2011, Korea's technology imports amounted to $9.9 billion, ranking tenth among OECD countries. maybe the first regarding Imports/Exports(9.9/4.03=224%). Samsung and Hyundai did not merely import technologies from abroad, but further improved them before exporting the final products embodied with enhanced technologies. This incrementally added value is what allowed Korean companies to surpass incumbent leaders and become leading players in their respective industries.

在国家层面分析学习的一种方法是研究进口技术的水平。2011年，韩国的技术进口达99亿美元，在经合组织国家中排名第十。也许第一项涉及进出口(9.9/4.03=224%).三星和现代不是简单地从国外进口技术，而是在出口最终产品之前对它们进行了进一步技术改进，并注入一些独特强化的技术，这种渐进式革新带来的增值使得韩国公司能够超越那些领袖企业，从而成为各自行业的佼佼者。

4.2.2 Best Practice 最佳实践

By 2013, Korea ranked sixth in terms of the numbers of patents granted by the US Patent and Trademark Office over the past 50 years. Samsung has invested heavily in the semiconductor business since 1987. 

到2013年，韩国在过去50年里被美国专利商标局授予的专利数量排名第六。而三星集团从1987年就开始在半导体领域投入巨资开展研发工作。

In the Olympic sports of Archery and Taekwondo, Korea currently maintains the best practices, which is why foreign teams recruits Korean coaches.

在奥运项目射箭和跆拳道，韩国目前保持最佳实践，这就是为什么其他国家队会招募韩国教练。

It is nice to say, "become a leader or a pioneer by facing challenges, taking risks, and being innovative". However, in the world of business, this motto is neither practical nor meaningful. If the current environment is ignored and only new things are pursued, there will be grave risks. This is why only a modicum of ventures succeed despite numerous attempts. Three-quarters of American start-ups do not return investor's capital; one-third lose all their money, and more than 95% fail to see the projected ROI (Gage 2012). Even Microsoft, a large and competitive company, faced serious problems during its transition from Vista to XP. Much of it was due to its unawareness of existing products and excessive focus on becoming unique. 

话说起来很漂亮，“面对挑战、冒险、创新，成为领导者或先锋”。然而在商界，这一座右铭很不靠谱。如果忽视目前的环境，只追求新东西，就必然遇到严重的风险。这就是为什么尽管做了无数次尝试，但只有少数企业获得成功。四分之三的美国初创企业没有让投资者回本；三分之一的公司损失了全部资金，超过95%的公司未能实现预期的投资回报率(盖奇，2012年)。即使是微软，一家竞争激烈的大型公司，在从Vista到XP的转换过程中也面临着严重的问题。这在很大程度上是因为它对现有产品缺乏认识，过分注重成为独一无二的产品。

The core message of benchmarking is to adhere to the three I's: Imitate(learn) > Improve > Innovate. 

标杆效应的核心信息是坚持三个I：模仿(学习)>改进>创新。

4.3 Convergence: Mixing synergistically for Creating new value

聚合效应：整合协同效应以创造新价值

Among many methods, exploiting and combining existing resources in a synergistic way is an efficient and less costly solution, which leads the next key factor in Korea's economic success - “convergence" . This is will illustrated by the famous Korean dish bibimbap (meaning "mixing rice")

在许多方法中，以协同的方式开发和组合现有资源是一种有效且成本较低的解决方案，这是韩国经济成功的下一个关键因素-“聚合效应”。著名的韩国拌饭很好地说明了这一点。

Bibimbap: As a dish that combines vegetables, meat, rice, and pepper paste, bibimbap is a perfect example of mixing to create synergies.

• includes many important nutritional ingredients so one can consume them in one dish simultaneously;
• a wide range of tastes that can be created depending on the ingredients of choice;
• the preparation and consumption is quick and efficient, served as a healthy alternative to fast food.

拌饭：一种将蔬菜、肉类、米饭和辣椒酱混合在一起的特色美食，拌饭是一个完美的可以创造协同效应的聚合效应范例：

• 人们可以同时在一道美食中包括许多重要的营养成分；
• 根据所选择的配料，可以创造出很多口味；
• 准备和消费是快速有效的，可作为快餐的健康替代品。

4.3.1 Mixing 混合

Global design centers of Samsung and LG were not built only conduct design activities but to research the tastes and needs of the sophisticated consumers in the global market. In developing countries, markets are often inefficient or dysfunctional. Korean firms maximize their profits from diverse market and industries rather than solely on a single business. Samsung gathered profits from the production of sugar and apparel and reinvested them into other industries such as semiconductors and electronics. Whether unrelated or related, synergy creation is necessary for firms to maintain sustainable growth and profitability.

 三星和LG的全球设计中心并不仅仅是进行设计活动，而是为了研究全球市场上成熟消费者的品味和需求。在发展中国家，市场往往效率低下或功能失调。韩国公司从不同的市场和行业中获得最大的利润，而不仅仅是在单一的业务上。三星从制糖和服装的生产中获利，并将利润再投资于半导体和电子等其他行业。无论是无关的还是相关的，企业要保持可持续增长和盈利，就必须创造协同作用。

4.3.2 Synergy Creation 协同效应的创造

From the early to intermediate phases of economic development, Korean companies engaged in a diversification strategy that created synergies from unrelated mixing. Korean-style diversification was judged as unrelated and unfair, with conglomerates manipulating the market with their enormous size and power and the "Octopus-leg" types of diversification. However, when Chaebol's diversification strategy is examined by looking at their resource utility, the level of synergies created from unrelated diversification was significant. When one business was in trouble, the profits from another business compensated for its loss and vice verse. This, in fact, is the power of a well-designed business portfolio. 

从经济发展的早期阶段到中期阶段，韩国公司实施了一项多样化战略，从非相关多元化业务中创造协同效应。韩国风格的多元化被认为是非相关和不公平的，企业集团以其巨大的规模和力量操纵市场，以及“八爪鱼”式的多样化。然而，当通过审视财阀的资源效用来审查财阀的多元化战略时，非相关的多元化所产生的协同效应是显著的。当一家企业陷入困境时，来自另一家企业的利润弥补了它的损失和负面影响。事实上，这是一个精心设计的商业组合的力量。

On the other hand, when there is improper mixing of a business portfolio, a company is most likely to face many obstacles. For instance, SONY failed in its venture into software 

industry, which represented a bad combination of ingredients. Effective convergence through mixing and synergy creation is a vital driving force for competitiveness.

另一方面，当业务组合出现不当混合时，公司最有可能面临许多障碍。例如，索尼在进军软件行业时失败了，这代表了一种糟糕的成分组合。通过混合和协同创造有效的聚合效应是提高竞争力的重要动力。

4.4 Dedication: Diligence with Goal Orientation for a strong commitment

献身效应：勤奋必须伴以目标导向和坚定的承诺

when the sources of economic development and firm competitiveness are observed, the focus tends to be on non-organic resources such as technology. Technology undoubtedly plays a big role in the growth of firms and industries. Yet, what is more important is the productivity of the People who produce, exchange, and manage these technologies and resources. At the firm level, managers are the ones who decide which resources should be developed and where they are invested. Indeed, productivity continues to be closely tied to people despite the growth of automated manufacturing systems and advanced technologies, and for service-related industries, this becomes even more apparent. Studies of organizational behavior often tie employee's performance to their motivation, and to this end scholars have explored methods for motivating employees to work hard and be creative. In the same light, deligence and goal orientation of people are the two conditions that are crucial for growth.

当观察到经济发展和企业竞争力的来源时，关注的焦点往往是技术等非有机资源。毫无疑问，技术在企业和产业的增长中起着重要的作用。然而，更重要的是生产、交换和管理这些技术和资源的人的生产力。在公司一级，管理人员是决定应开发哪些资源和投资于何处的人。事实上，尽管自动化制造系统和先进技术的增长，生产率仍然与人密切相关，而对于与服务相关的行业，这一点就更加明显了。对组织行为的研究往往把员工的绩效与他们的动机联系起来，为此，学者们探索了激励员工努力工作和创新的方法。同样，人的精神和目标取向是增长的两个关键条件。

4.4.1 Diligence 勤奋工作

In US, the Korean grocery store forces many Jewish shop to close, due to the half hour early door opening and finally 7-24. 

• Korea's GDP per capital $27,970 in 2014 from less than $100 in 1961. 
• Korean has the second OECD longest annual working hours. (2136 in 2013, No.1 is 2237 of Mexico, Average 1770. Denmark-1411, Japan-1735)
• Korean's tremendous effort to recover from the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis and now holds the healthiest and most stable financial system in Asia, - the Economist

在美国，韩国的杂货店迫使许多犹太商店关门，因为他们总是早开门半小时，直到7天24小时。

• 韩国的人均国内生产总值(GDP)从1961年的不足100美元增长到2014年的27，970美元。
• 韩国人的年工作时间排在OECD第二位(2013年为2136小时，排在第一位的是墨西哥2237，OECD平均为1770小时；丹麦-1411年，日本-1735)
• 韩国竭尽全力从1997年亚洲金融危机中成功复苏，现在拥有亚洲最健康和最稳定的金融体系-“经济学人”

4.4.2 Goal Orientation 目标导向

Laziness cannot benefit an individual or a country; people consider commitment and diligence to be intrinsically positive qualities. However, when people work diligently under a Tyrant or Incompetent leader, the country cannot undergo positive national development. Similarly, the Japanese, who are often praised for their diligence and meticulousness, have not seen much national growth over the last couple of decades. What else, then, is needed to propel economic development?

懒惰不能使一个人或一个国家受益；人们认为承诺和勤奋本质上是积极的品质。然而，当人们在暴君或无能领导人的带领下辛勤工作时，国家经济就不可能得到积极的发展。例如日本人经常因勤奋和细心而受到赞扬，在过去的几十年里日本经济却停滞不前。那么，还需要什么来推动经济发展呢？

The answer is the presence of proper goal orientation. Goal orientation is crucial as it channels people's diligence in the right direction. A good example of strong goal orientation is the motivation of Korean sports team when they play against the country's perennial rival, Japan. (FIFA, ranking after Japan, but achieve a winning record over the past 60 years)

答案是合理的目标导向。目标导向是至关重要的，因为它引导人们的勤奋朝着正确的方向。强烈的目标导向最好的例子是韩国国家运动队，一旦碰到宿敌日本比赛就动力澎湃。(国际足联排名韩国在日本之后，但在过去60年里取得了绝对优势纪录。)

"You can live only if you have the spirit of to the death" is a popular statement in Korean. Korean firms and the government also embodied this similar mindset of "to die if we fail". 

“只有当你有赴死的精神时，你才能活下去”是韩国流行的说法。韩国公司和政府也体现了类似的“一旦失败我们就会死”的心态。