Benchmark Audit

An independent expert opinion about internal structures

How the Korean market is entered is strategically crucial. Avoiding pitfalls and maximizing opportunities from the beginning is essential to overall success. There are many aspects that must be considered during the early stages of the decision-making process, especially in a complex market such as South Korea.

Before starting a relationship with a Korean partner, you may wish to have certain information that is considered confidential by the partner company and therefore not easy to access. You may wonder how you can investigate the internal structure and work processes of your potential business partner or how to execute one-to-one interviews with key personnel.

Depending on the situation you may also want to briefly check the potential partner’s IT and computer systems in order to assess the firm’s level of professionalism.

Things may not always go as smoothly as originally hoped in setting up your new business. Your Korean CEO or business partner might not be as helpful an information source as you expected. He may filter information from his point of view, or worst case, not deliver any information at all.

So, how can you access objective information without ruining your existing relationships? How can you gain information from an independent source in order to ensure smooth operations in Korea? In such cases Nowak & Partner supports you as an autonomous investigator, observing the conditions from the perspective of a third party and supplying you with the information and knowledge you need to be successful.

Your goals

• You intend to start a business partnership with a Korean company and prefer to gain additional information based on independent external sources and local expertise.
• You have found a business partner and would like to gain basic knowledge about the credibility of this company or have other aspects of the company investigated.
• You have a subsidiary in Korea which has performance issues and the reasons remain unclear.
• You lack transparency within your subsidiary and you aim to obtain clarity on both the processes and structure of the company.
• Your Korean subsidiary is subject to a change of leadership and your objective is to gain an independent expert opinion about the company structure.

Our service

Nowak & Partner offers you a sovereign review on the internal structure and processes of your Korean office or business partner.

Having years of managerial experience and a deep understanding of Korean business practices, we immerse ourselves in the target company and proceed with an inspection. We interview specialists and managers within the Korean organization face-to-face in the Korean language, and their business partners, suppliers and customers — if required.

Carefully structured questions make it impossible for the Korean counterpart to avoid answers, which enables us to obtain details regarding their professional competence and their working or management style. We are even able to decode interpersonal relations between the employees, which can be highly valuable information for you. If necessary, we will also have a look into the company’s books or request a report from official Korean sources.

The end result is a clear picture of the examined company, precisely defining the existing state of affairs of the organization. The focus of a benchmark audit is always on business and entrepreneurial aspects which are then incorporated in a detailed situation report with tailored recommendations for action.

Solution

Nowak & Partner's benchmark audits are prepared, conducted and summarized by managers for managers. Our project team consists of a German CEO and a Korean manager with diverse backgrounds who focus exclusively on your project goals.

Nowak & Partner will customize a questionnaire, personally interview representatives of your business partner, compile all data collected and hand out a report — including a recommended action plan if needed.