| It's Saturday night. Accountants and
bank tellers are at school learning a new business skill. "Whiskey, whiskey, whiskey," they chant together, pulling their mouths into a grin at the end of each word. They're practising smiling. Instructors say it's the hardest part of the curriculum at Korean Air Service Academy, a school that aims to make South Korean business more globally competitive by teaching "international manners." "South Koreans have difficulty in smiling," said Y. D. Lee, the academy's general manager. "Our ancestors had the philosophy that the serious person — stern or strict — is better than the smiling one. That's why our students are chanting." The academy not only teaches service with a smile, but also proper greetings, Korean bowing, posture, the importance of a polite refusal and so on. And it's not just for business. Officials at the academy say their fastest-growing group of students comes from the government. That's partly because businesses have been tightening their belts during the economic crisis of the past two years and partly because citizens are demanding better treatment from the government. Tax collectors, prosecutors and others are being sent to school to polish their service manners. Then, citizens who have to show deference to rulers come to the school. "It's a symbol of a democratic conscience for a government official to express kindness and sincerity," said H. D. Cho, assistant general manager at the Korean Air School. Since the airline started the academy in late 1992, its competitor, Asiana Airlines, also started a course. Asiana Airlines travels the country to train people at their workplaces. Prices and length of courses vary, but a client would pay about US ＄1,600 to send 25 employees to an eight-hour course over two days at Korean Air. "Before, the main factor in competing was the product," said Lee. "Now our product, price and quality are on the same level, but the difference is service — the way of delivery, way of speaking, way of negotiating." |