LG Electronics Announces 2022 Executive Appointments and Organizational Restructuring
Promotion of 50 Executives Including 1 President, 3 Vice Presidents, 9 Senior Vice Presidents, and 37 Managing Directors
Strengthening Responsible Management Centered on Business Divisions
[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyewon] LG Electronics has promoted Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) Vice President Jo Joo-wan to President and appointed him as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
On the 25th, LG Electronics held a board meeting and announced executive personnel changes for 2022 (effective January 1 next year) and organizational restructuring (effective December 1). A total of 50 promotions were made, including President Jo, 3 Vice Presidents, 9 Executive Directors, and 37 Managing Directors. Last year, the promotion scale was 56 people (1 President, 3 Vice Presidents, 9 Executive Directors, and 43 Managing Directors).
LG Electronics explained the personnel background by stating, "Based on thorough meritocracy, we selected talents who can strengthen not only short-term business performance but also fundamental business competitiveness." They added, "To prepare for the future, we selected young talents and female talents with growth potential and outstanding capabilities, and actively recruited competent external talents to lead innovation and change."
New CEO Appointed: 'Overseas Expert' Jo Joo-wan
LG Electronics views this as a critical time to proactively respond to the rapidly changing global market environment by prioritizing customer value management, accelerating digital transformation, and advancing the business portfolio, and identified President Jo as the right person for the role.
President Jo joined Goldstar, the predecessor of LG Electronics, in 1987 and has built his career as a businessman by gaining business experience in major overseas markets such as the United States, Germany, and Australia.
In particular, during his tenure as head of the North American region, President Jo is recognized for his decisive leadership in establishing a world-class intelligent autonomous factory in Clarksville, Tennessee, to proactively respond to the emerging trend of protectionism in the global market and strengthen competitiveness in the North American home appliance market.
Additionally, over the past two years as CSO, President Jo introduced innovative processes that did not previously exist, such as bold mergers and acquisitions (M&A), in-house ventures, CIC (Company in Company), and in-house crowd sourcing, as measures to advance LG Electronics' business portfolio and prepare for the future.
Merit-Based Promotions... Birth of a Female Managing Director Born in 1980
The Vice Presidents promoted are Kim Byung-hoon, CTO and head of the ICT Technology Center; Lee Sam-su, CDO (Chief Digital Officer); and Jang Ik-hwan, head of the BS Business Division. They are recognized for contributing to the preparation of next-generation core technologies such as 6G, AR/VR, metaverse, and artificial intelligence, securing a foundation for new businesses, establishing a company-wide data collection and integration system, and strengthening digital transformation capabilities. Mr. Jang was tasked with transitioning the business structure to focus on premium IT products and strengthening future preparations for the B2B business.
Nine individuals, including Managing Director Cho Hwi-jae, who contributed to business performance through patent assetization of core technologies, and Managing Director Jang Jin-hyuk, who contributed to efficiently responding to the rapidly changing distribution environment based on a broad understanding of online sales, were promoted to Executive Director. Notably, LG Electronics showed strong determination to strengthen online business competitiveness by promoting Managing Director Jang, who was recruited externally last year, to Executive Director in just over a year.
Among female talents, two were promoted this time: Senior Researcher Kwon Hyuk-jin (45), who contributed to differentiated product and service development by studying customers' lifestyles and market trends, and Senior Researcher Shin Jeong-eun (41), who contributed to discovering data-driven cross-industry convergence services. Managing Director Shin, born in 1980, is the youngest among the promoted executives.
To strengthen business expertise and capabilities, LG Electronics recruited two female executives externally. Managing Director Lee Hyang-eun (43) is a professor in the Department of Service Design Engineering at Sungshin Women's University and an expert in customer and market trends. She is expected to plan products and services based on customer experience in the H&A Business Division's Customer Experience Innovation Department. Managing Director Kim Hyo-eun (45) is a brand marketing expert recruited from the global company P&G and will be in charge of brand management under the Global Marketing Center.
Organizational Restructuring Keyword: 'Winning Growth and Successful Change'
LG Electronics said it carried out organizational restructuring to consolidate company-wide capabilities to strengthen customer value management based on the strategy of 'winning growth and successful change' and to operate a responsibility management system centered on business divisions.
First, LG Electronics promoted the CS Management Center to the Customer Value Innovation Division to enhance customer experience. Vice President Jung Yeon-chae, who previously served as head of LG Electronics Co., Ltd., will lead the Customer Value Innovation Division.
The Customer Value Innovation Department under the CSO Division was renamed the Customer Value Innovation Secretariat and transferred to the Customer Value Innovation Division. The Secretariat is responsible for reflecting customers' pain points in product planning, product development, sales, and overall management.
To strengthen new businesses and services based on customer experience, LG Electronics elevated the Customer Experience Innovation Offices under the H&A Business Division and HE Business Division to Customer Experience Innovation Departments.
The Design Management Center upgraded the LSR (Life Soft Research) Office to the LSR Research Institute to strengthen its role in discovering future trends and customer-centric business insights.
In the CDO Division, newly established in July this year to accelerate digital transformation, the AI Big Data Office was elevated to the AI Big Data Department to enhance its status for data-driven customer value innovation.
Strengthening Responsibility Management Centered on Four Business Divisions
LG Electronics decided to operate under a four-business-division system. Ryu Jae-cheol, head of the H&A Business Division, and Park Hyung-se, head of the HE Business Division, will continue to lead their respective divisions.
The BS Business Division will be led by Executive Director Jang Ik-hwan, who was promoted to Vice President while serving as head of the IT Business Department. He will continue to strengthen the product competitiveness of the laptop 'Gram' and lead the turnaround of the PC business.
The VS Business Division will be led by Executive Director Eun Seok-hyun, who previously served as head of the VS Smart Business Department and achieved significant growth in the vehicle infotainment sector.
To strengthen competitiveness in the home appliance business, LG Electronics will establish a Refrigerator Business Department under the H&A Business Division. Additionally, a new refrigerator production line will be built within the Vietnam production corporation, and a Vietnam Production Department will be established under the corporation to enhance manufacturing competitiveness across home appliances. The HE Business Division will establish a TV Business Operations Center to improve the efficiency of TV business operations. Furthermore, to diversify the TV business portfolio, a Content Service Department will be established under the Platform Business Department.
LG Electronics' CTO (Chief Technology Officer) will be Executive Director Kim Byung-hoon, who was promoted to Vice President and previously served as head of the Future Technology Center. The Future Technology Center will be renamed the ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) Technology Center to focus on securing future core technologies and common platform technologies in the information and communication field. The center will be concurrently led by the new CTO, Kim Byung-hoon. To strengthen the linkage between technology and business in the B2B sector, the Advanced R&BD Center under the CTO Division will be renamed the B2B Advanced Technology Center. The CSO Division will elevate the M&A Office to the M&A Department to discover new growth engines and accelerate future preparations.
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