Home

Thursday, November 28, 2013

Construction sector’s economic situation in South Korea

Future outlook of construction sector in South Korea
In recent years, South Korea has suffered from economic turndown in the similar way as many other countries. According to Bank of Korea (2013), in Q1/2010 the GDP growth of South Korea, i.e. percentage change compared to previous year, was more than 9 %. Last year, at the lowest quarter it was 1.5%, while this year it has started to recover again: in Q3/2013 the GDP growth was 3.3 %. 

The similar slope can be seen in the construction sector. According to Bank of Korea (2013), the growth rate of construction sector, i.e. percentage change compared to previous year, has gradually increased from being -9.4% in Q1/2011 to 1.1 % in  Q1/2013 and 4.8 % in Q3/2013. 

However, when asked from the construction companies, they seem to think that construction sector is not yet going to recover from turndown this year or next year (Financial Times, 2013). In the FT article Daewoo Construction representative commented: 

“Orders in the sector for this year are expected to be reduced by more than Won10tn ($9.4bn) compared with last year’s Won101.5tn, and orders in the early part of next year are expected to be similar to this year” 

Key takeaways for our project
When looking at this from our project’s point of view, it seems that the South Korean construction sector is currently at halt - the number of construction orders is limited and might be even further reduced in the future. This could indicate that the competition from incumbent players in the “people flow” industry might be quite fierce towards construction companies.

Thus in this kind of economic situation, the possible marketing plan from us needs to be well analyzed and planned, in order to wisely select which customers to target, and how to position our products compared to the competitors. 

References
Bank of Korea (2013): http://www.bok.or.kr/eng/engMain.action (access 22.11.13)
Financial Times. (25.10.13). “South Korea Construction groups strike bearish tone”.  http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/99a95136-3d59-11e3-9928-00144feab7de.html#axzz2lUe432Ql (access 22.11.13)

Market analysis - customer segmentation

Several customers for KONE solutions

From KONE point of view, there are several different kind of customers that need to be involved in a construction project, ranging from architects, engineering and construction companies to facilitators of the building. It is important to be in contact with all of them, when marketing and planning an overall solution, in order to understand their different needs. Thus the market consists of three bigger segments: architects, engineering and construction companies and facilitators of the building. 

When starting the segmentation analysis, let's look at first the engineering and construction companies, since they provide valuable information on possible segments in the market. 

Engineering and Construction companies offer services to their clients across the complete life cycle of a project including feasibility studies, financial evaluations and front end engineering, to the execution phases of detailed engineering, procurement and construction activities, through to the operational phase by providing maintenance and upgrade services. There are a number of ways an engineering and construction company can be contracted into a project. (EPCengineer, 2013)

Analysis and segmentation of Engineering and Construction companies

The biggest engineering and construction companies in South Korea are Hyundai Engineering and Construction, Samsung Engineering and Construction, Gs Engineering and Construction, Daelim Industrial Co., Kumho Industrial, SK Construction and Engineering, Yojin Construction and Engineering, and Daewoo Engineering & Construction.

Hyundai is a big chaebol in South Korea containing also elevators as one of their own businesses, so we can leave Hyundai out from the possible customers. 

Samsung Engineering and Construction: Building, Civil Infrastructure, Plant, Housing Development. In building category: airport, hospital buildings, retail spaces, museums, hotels and other leisure facilities. In housing category: apartment buildings. (Samsung C&T, 2013).

Gs Engineering and Construction: Plant, Housing, Architecture, Civil, Development. In architecture category: office buildings, education, research, medical health care facilities, culture, leasure and sports facilities, clean rooms & manufacturing facilities. In housing category: apartment buildings. (GS E&C, 2013).

Daelim Industrial Co.: Plants, Civil works, Building and Housing. In building and housing category: museums, halls, athletic parks, apartment buildings. (Daelim, 2013).

Kumho Engineering and Construction:  Architectural construction, Civil Engineering, Housing Construction, Plants.  In Architectural construction category: public/commercial buildings, education/R&D facilities, military facilities, airport/sales/logistics facilities, culture/medical facilities. In housing construction category: apartment complex, residential and commercial complex. (Kumho E&C, 2013).

SK Construction and Engineering: Housing, Architecture, Infra, Plant. In Housing category: apartments, villas, freestanding houses. In Architecture category: business and commercial buildings, cultural and assembly facilities, accommodations, sports facilities, retail shops and malls, communication facilities, education and research facilities, mixed-use buildings, and office remodeling. (SK E&C, 2013).

Yojin Construction and Engineering: no information available in English at their website. (Yojin, 2013).

Daewoo Engineering & Construction:  Civil, Buildings, Housing, Plant. In buildings category: public and commercial buildings, hospitals and hotels. In housing category: new towns, apartment buildings. (Daewoo, 2013).

Suggested customer segmentation for our project
From the above list we conclude that the segments that are clearly distinct from each other are the business segments of these companies, focusing on: 

- Plants
- Civil infrastructure
- Housing
- Public buildings

This is since the needs of the solutions in all of these business segments are very different. Also the behavior of the end users is very different in each of these categories. When planning the solution, naturally the end user behavior needs to be also taken into account.

Naturally we need to apply similar segmentation also in the architecture and building facilitators side.

References
Daelim. (2013). http://eng.daelim.co.kr/main.do (access 26.11.13).
Daewoo. (2013). http://www.daewooenc.com/index.asp (access 26.11.13). 
EPCengineer. (2013). http://www.epcengineer.com/directory/engineering-and-construction (access 26.11.13).
GS E&C (2013). http://www.gsconst.co.kr/en/ (access 26.11.13).
Kumho E&C (2013). http://www.kumhoenc.com/eng/main/index.asp (access 26.11.13).
Samsung C&T. (2013). http://www.secc.co.kr/eng/html/index.asp (access 26.11.13).
SK E&C. (2013). http://www.skec.com/ (access 26.11.13).
Yojin. (2013). http://www.yojin.co.kr/web2/main/main.asp (access 26.11.13).

SWOT - KONE CORPORATIONS

SWOT analysis of KONE

Here are some thoughts about our SWOT analysis of the case company, KONE.

The absolutely strengths of the company are it's strong business relationships, networks and strong brand. KONE is well-know all over the world and people trust the brand and services the company provides. KONE has also been active in the CSR-policy field, which makes it an ideal choice also for more environmental aware country.

KONE's weaknesses in specifically in South Korea would be the lack of cultural knowledge and local networks. This being especially tricky in the construction business where people tend to work with partners they already know they can trust. But on the other hand KONE might possible find its old partners from different markets operation in Korea? An other weakness is the long lifetime of the product ( "one-time purchase"), but which also opens markets to service and maintenance possibilities.

The opportunities of KONE lay in the diversity of customer segments, offerings and the growing demand of elevators. However, South Korea already has many strong competitors of KONE in the market with well-working networks and loyal customers. Also the dependence on suppliers might be a threat, especially when operating in a new market.


Growth Potential

“Around the world new cities are being built while those we have lived in for centuries are being upgraded for the future.”

South Korea is working towards becoming one of the major international business hubs for several years now. The stability they have gained over the last few years has allowed Korean companies to explore construction of the tallest buildings worldwide and bringing back ideas to South Korea.

One of the outcomes of strategically focusing on opportunities for future development, has been the city of “Songdo”. The city of Songdo is due for completion in 2015-2016 and already has the country’s tallest building (Northeast Asia Trade Tower) located in it. The city is highly focused on developing and creating a technologically-advanced society where business can prosper and emphasizes sustainability.

This city represents the future growth and development potential of South Korea, making it a desirable and promising environment for KONE’s industry-leading elevators, escalators, automatic building doors and innovative solutions.