SK Chairman Chey Tae-won Urges Flexible Response to Crisis Considering Global Situation
Hyundai Heavy Chairman Kwon Oh-gap Emphasizes Innovation
"Let's Change 사고, Technology, and Systems"
Hyosung Group Chairman Cho Hyun-joon Calls for Agility Based on Speed and Efficiency
At the beginning of this year, the New Year's messages delivered by the heads or chairpersons of major conglomerates reflected a fanfare tone looking forward, leaving behind a difficult year marked by COVID-19. They encouraged preparing future growth engines in line with signs of gradual recovery in the global economy and a new start.
Now, a year later, the business community's perception of the situation has become much more serious. The pandemic continues to rage, and the technological hegemony competition between the U.S. and China, along with the resulting geopolitical risks, remain unchanged. As carbon reduction activities to tackle climate change spread beyond just energy and transportation sectors to the entire industry, the manufacturing paradigm is shifting, which companies must address. Despite the uncertainty, businesses cannot simply shrink back. They have learned through experience that their capabilities are judged by how proactively they respond to change by turning crises into opportunities. This concern is reflected in the New Year's messages of each company as they wrap up the year and gauge the business environment for the coming year.
Choi Tae-won, Chairman of SK Group, in his New Year's greeting on the 31st, urged flexible responses considering that the businesses of major affiliates are entangled in global geopolitical risks. SK's businesses, including semiconductors, batteries, and vaccines, have gained strategic importance worldwide, including in major advanced countries. The protectionist trend centered on the U.S. remains strong, and after experiencing COVID-19, there is a growing tendency to develop industries directly linked to basic infrastructure and security domestically.
The fierce competition for technological hegemony between the 'G2' countries, the U.S. and China, is spilling over to individual companies. Chairman Choi, who understands better than anyone the impact of global affairs on corporate management through decades of experience in the refining and energy industries, views the recently emerging geopolitical risks as higher than ever before. He said, "The global situation is irregular and difficult to predict," and emphasized, "We must respond creatively based on strategic flexibility."
Huh Tae-soo, Chairman of GS Group, foresees continued uncertainty next year and announced a management policy to expand the business ecosystem. The business ecosystem refers to expanding exchanges and cooperative relationships in various ways, including group affiliates, external startups, venture capital, private equity, and competitive companies, to create conditions for more agile responses in crisis situations.
Chairman Huh emphasized, "The emergence of COVID-19 variants, unstable global conditions, and inflation concerns are increasing uncertainty in the business environment," adding, "The ecosystem construction must be further concretized in the new year and ultimately develop into new businesses that will be responsible for the group's future."
Hyundai Heavy Industries Group, which will celebrate its 50th anniversary next year, has put innovation as its keyword. Chairman Kwon Oh-gap proposed changing the business structure, mindset, technology, and systems across each affiliate. He said, "In the shipbuilding and marine sector, we must secure the marine mobility market through decarbonized ships and advanced autonomous navigation technology, and in the energy sector, actively enter eco-friendly fields." He also stressed the need to reestablish existing systems.
Cho Hyun-joon, Chairman of Hyosung Group, said, "In times of transformation, for the company to survive and create opportunities for success, it must transform into an agile organization based on speed and efficiency," adding, "Going forward, we must strengthen the company's constitution and ensure agile cooperation between departments to quickly, flexibly, and efficiently embrace new technologies and trends."
Earlier, on the 20th, Koo Kwang-mo, Chairman of LG Group, who was among the first major domestic companies to release a New Year's message, had concretized the message of 'customer value management.' Companies expected to release New Year's messages aligned with the January 3rd opening ceremony in 2022 are also anticipated to focus on future preparedness. Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong of Samsung Electronics' New Year's message can be read as the first step of the new year. Since 2019, for three consecutive years, Lee has chosen as his first destination either the 5G mobile communication facilities, which achieved the world's first commercialization, or Samsung's core semiconductor facilities, to share management ideas and messages. Considering Samsung's announcement in August of a 240 trillion won investment plan and its vision to nurture the bio industry as the 'second semiconductor,' there is speculation that his first move in 2022 will be to visit bio-related facilities.
When Vice Chairman Lee signaled his return to global management and embarked on a North American business trip last November, he visited Samsung's Silicon Valley research center and said, "Let's pioneer a future no one has gone before." It is expected that his first destination of the new year will also deliver a message related to the 'New Samsung.' Samsung Electronics' two top executives, Han Jong-hee, Vice Chairman and head of the DX division, and Kyung Kye-hyun, President and head of the DS division, plan to present 'customer experience' as the keyword to realize Lee's vision of 'New Samsung pioneering an uncharted future' at the opening ceremony on the 3rd of next month and share it with employees.
Jung Eui-sun, Chairman of Hyundai Motor Group, is expected to emphasize the 'future' through a non-face-to-face opening ceremony using the metaverse (extended virtual world) on the 3rd of next month. In his New Year's message, Chairman Jung is expected to call for enhancing competitiveness in eco-friendly vehicles, continuously securing software capabilities, and strengthening development in autonomous driving, robotics, and urban air mobility (UAM) sectors.
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