Kari and Evan Leong with Don Kim, Sony Hawaii President

With only hopes and dreams for the future, Don Kim moved to Tokyo in 1969 to become the first ever Korean-born employee of Sony Corporation. Two years later he moved to Sony Hawaii Company working his way up through the years to eventually become head of the organization.

In 2004, Don replaced Ryozo Sakai, the longest-running head of Sony Hawaii, to become the company's seventh president. While talks of retrenchment within Sony's global workforce and shutting down of its factories are in circulation, Don Kim boldly deviates through plans of hiring more local people to join the 80-strong labor pool of Sony Hawaii Company, made possible by a robust business performance.

Don's leadership skills are manifested not only within the company but also to the greater community. He is an active member of numerous social organizations from religious to charitable groups. Don sits on the Board of East-West Center Foundation and Hawaii Baptist Academy, and is a deacon for the Agape M. Baptist Church since 1985.

His most notable social involvement is with Friends of Hawaii Charities Inc. as an executive committee member. Friends of Hawaii Charities is an affiliate and the main beneficiary of one of the world's grandest golf tournaments, the Sony Open in Hawaii, which continuous to draw professional golfers and enthusiasts from around the globe.

Youthfulness and exuberance brought him to Hawaii
Don Kim arrived in Japan in December, 1969 to pursue his post-graduate education. A year later, Don joined Sony Corporation in Tokyo, where he would start a long-standing career with the technology company. A series of events subsequently brought Don to the Hawaiian Islands to work for Sony Hawaii.

"I came to Hawaii for a vacation during the Golden Week, in the end of April and in the beginning of May," he said. "Then I fell in love with Hawaii. Two months later I was lucky to move to the State, where I joined Sony Hawaii Company."

His youthfulness and exuberance posed as his ticket to immerse in other cultures and taste the adventures of travel and living away from home.

"Young people they all want the challenge of new cultures and new areas like going to Europe or America or even Asian countries," Don said. "I think I was kind of one of those young people who has a challenging spirit."

In what would be another start to an already established career, Don Kim held a position as a management trainee where he gathered a holistic knowledge of the business. Having a well-rounded view would eventually secure him a place in the executive level.

"I started kind of like everybody, you know the management trainee positions, and all the way experiencing all other areas, and I appreciate it."

Slowly but surely, Don moved his way up the management ladder starting as Director in 1986, more than a decade after his debut for the company.

Luck, familiarization and teamwork
With Don Kim at the helm, Sony Hawaii achieved sales of more than $140 million dollars from PX demands alone in 2005. According to Don, their division is lucky to have assumed the US Continental military market in the 2005 fiscal year, in addition to the European and Asia-Pacific military territory, achieving considerable sales growth compared to the year prior.

"We were very lucky that we increased military sales by more than double compared to the prior year actual. This year, our total sales target, including worldwide military and local Hawaii sales, is $250 million," he remarked.

But pragmatically speaking, the positive karma may have come from a developed cognizance of their market, stemming from years of experience in dealing with their customers.

"We have a pretty good know-how in conducting business," Don said. "About 10 years ago, we took over the Pacific and Europe U.S. military sales territories. Then in 2005, we assumed the CONUS (continental U.S.) military sales territory. The global management of the U.S. military PX sales has allowed us to have the same policies, pricing, and improved service to all of our military customers worldwide."

"I believe that we have to look at the customer's viewpoint and provide what the customer really wanted, and then what they want to have, what kind of products or what kind of service they're expecting," he added. "We have to try our best to meet our customer's expectations."

However, luck and knowledge are not the only benignant features of Sony Hawaii's upward mobility. Don Kim and his subordinates have also cogently displayed coadjuvancy which helped them attain double-digit growth.

"Without all of our employees working together, we cannot achieve this kind of result. We received the Sony America's COO award for last year's achievements. I think this is the first time we've received this award from our headquarters for Hawaii operation."

Global citizenship
As a multinational corporation, Sony implements responsible corporate citizenship, an attribute deeply ingrained in their business culture. On a local setting, Sony Hawaii has aspired to be a positive and contributing corporate member of Hawaii's community, sponsoring civic and charitable causes such as the Aloha United Way, the Kuakini Foundation, Punahou School, and the Sony Open.

"I think Sony is a global company, and the corporate policy is also that we've got to be a good corporate citizen in every country," Don said. "So, that's very important, that we keep the culture of the Sony Corporation."

On a personal level, Don places himself as an example to his colleagues and subalternates, actively engaging in civic leadership and public service. To begin with, he is an incumbent executive committee member of Friends of Hawaii Charities, Inc., which in 2005 reached a cumulative $6 million in charity distributions. Friends has honored more than 250 Hawaii non-profits, where grant awards focus on programs that benefit Hawaii's youth, women, and the disadvantaged.

In May 1996, Don received the Award of Peony from GCS International Club for his unrelenting support to the organization's cause. He became president of GCS International Hawaii in 2004.

The Sony Open in Hawaii and Friends for Charities have worked together since the non-profit group's inception in 1998. Moreover, the golf tournament has grown to be the largest charity sporting event in the Hawaiian Islands. Recently signing an accord which extends Sony's sponsorship of the games to 2010, the local community is assured of continued support from the Japan-based corporation.

Sony Hawaii's perennial involvement in the community and its growing business sales stand proof to a strong double bottom line. And with Don Kim leading the way, the market and the community can expect a perdurance of quality products and social services from Sony Hawaii Company.

For the full audio interview and transcript please visit greatergoodradio.com. Greater Good Radio airs every Saturday morning and Wednesday night on 1420 AM and online at www.greatergoodradio.com.