“CEOs Should Bring in Talent Personally”

“The success or failure of the LG Group in reaching the top depends on whether they are able to secure key technology specialists or not. Even the chief executive officer(CEO) should become ‘head hunters’ and attract experts from inside and outside the country without considering their ‘annual salary, nationality, and form.’”

Some 50 chief executives from the LG Group, including Chairman Koo Bon-moo, met at the LG Academy at Icheon City, Gyeonggi Province on Thursday, August 26, 2004. A global CEO strategy meeting was held on the topic of strategies to secure experts for a leading LG and deciding on policies for expert management.

Accordingly, it is forecasted that LG Group’s move to advance all its affiliated firms to the level of a “global leading enterprise” to meet the competition with worldwide companies will be in full swing.

This two-day lodging strategy meeting until August 27 was held to discuss in detail, following Chairman Koo’s order given in June to all affiliated firms that “securing experts for a successful business and fostering the future growth engine is the top priority task, and the CEOs should take the lead in preparing the strategies and execution plans.”

LG Group has held a global CEO strategy meeting at the end of every August through the beginning of September since 1994, and has decided on the business course of the entire group.

At this meeting, LG Group decided to push for all its employees to become “head hunters” in securing key technology experts and research and development specialists. Also, heavyweight experts in key technologies will be positively employed through a “three breakdown principle” in which “annual salary, nationality, and form” will not be seen as terms for employment.

LG Chemical President Noh Ki-ho, LG Electronics Vice-chairman Kim Ssang-soo, and LG Philips LCD President Koo Bon-joon will actively participate in CEO lectures at domestic universities and introduce the LG Group’s merits and the future of the group to secure talented experts inside the country.

The CEO and chief technology officer (CTO) of LG Chemical and LG Electronics will conduct activities to attract overseas talent during their business trips to North America, China, and Europe.

LG Chemical has also decided to have regular tours to top-class overseas universities on a quarterly basis. LG Electronics will carry out an “employment allotment system” in which one or two heavyweight experts from overseas will be employed by each managing staff in the research and development department, while the CEO may decide on the spot whether or not to employ right there.

The results of securing and managing experts will be positively reflected in the upcoming evaluation of executives. LG Philips LCD has already spared 50 percent of their evaluation of executives into the expert managing field, which is now spread to the entire group, while LG Chemical and LG Electronics have decided to conduct a “duty system for securing and fostering specialists” to its executive officers.

Joong-Hyun Park sanjuck@donga.com