‘Start from worst case scenario’
What separates good consults from bad ones for risk assessment and management?
Thinking fast and offering a reliable set of solutions to a given problem should be it.
A recent interview with Lee Bo-hyoung, CEO of Macoll Consulting Group, proved to be a test of the criteria.
About North Korea’s missile and nuclear crisis, Lee, a public affairs veteran with 20 years’ experience, recommended building consensus and forging a united front. The absence of the two was, on the flipside of it, his diagnosis for what needs improving in dealing with it.
About the recent scandal over chemically tainted eggs, he pointed out a tendency of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, as is common with most organizations and persons in a similar situation, to try to find positive signs. Minister Ryu Young-jin pronounced all eggs safe after an initial test but more eggs were found contaminated and faced calls for his resignation.
“When a situation occurs, it is a human tendency to try and find positive signs that often prove false and lead to the worsening of the situation,” Lee said. “Our job is to go against that instinct.”
The failure on that account can be found in the scandal over the killer disinfectant used in humidifiers that killed or injured a large number of users. However, it is only one of many examples.
“It is important to think about the worst possible case,” Lee said.
Lee’s answers sounded reasonable even to laymen’s ears but what counted more was his way of taking in a case, dissecting it piece by piece, presenting the result in a manner easy for others to understand and sharing his assessment. Then, he manages to create a bond and give his case an assuring extra ounce of credibility. The issues of North Korea, the tainted egg case and Oxy were thrown at random without prior consultation as soon as the interview started.
To give a right solution, Lee proposed a comprehensive approach encompassing a firm from such aspects as human resources, marketing, government relations and sales. Without identifying the name of a global firm for customer confidentiality, he said that it took six months for its factory to move without laborand government-related problems. He called it a successful exit with all parties left with little animosity.
He said that his firm’s strength also lies in public affairs as the first Korean firm specializing in the field in 2000. “It is about making factors such as regulation and policy friendly to a client. Of course, it is a mutually beneficial process — consumers and makers.” Macoll is, in its staff, differ- ent from ordinary communications firms with a selection of experts including lawyers, former government officials and people with corporate experience, among others. One very important principle in doing business is confidentiality, he said. “We had abided by the standards stipulated by the Kim Young-ran Act or anti-graft law even before it was implemented,” he said. The law sets limits on meals, gifts and cash payments for weddings and funerals. It is much more severe than similar regulations in other countries.
Lee joined the firm in 2000, three months after it was set up. He became CEO last year following his stint as chief operating officer, working on controversial projects including a radioactive waste dump site, a military base construction, swine flu epidemic and so on.
Asked why he likes the job, he answered in two parts: first, he has grown to like it and second, the different challenges posed by each case keep him busy. It is not hard to fathom the challenges he faces while working for a firm that has a who’s who in the pharmaceutical industry as clients.