"Think Like a Customer"... Heo Tae-su's 'Design Thinking'

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] Heo Tae-soo, chairman of GS Group, introduced 'Design Thinking,' an innovation methodology used by advanced IT companies such as Google and Apple, to the group as his first move after taking office, emphasizing 'innovation' across all affiliates through customer-centric thinking. With Chairman Heo personally bringing forth the innovation methodology from the new year, GS Group's digital transformation and work innovation are expected to accelerate.

From the 13th for two days, Chairman Heo attended the 'Stanford Design Thinking Symposium 2020' held at D.CAMP in Yeoksam-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, along with about 100 executives and employees including CEOs of GS affiliates.

The Stanford Design Thinking Symposium 2020 was hosted by the Stanford Innovation & Design Lab of Stanford University in the United States, sharing a work methodology that combines emotion and intuitive thinking to produce creative outcomes.

Companies are increasingly adopting the Design Thinking methodology as they judge that benchmarking alone cannot sustain competitive advantage in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. It is known to have contributed to customer-centric innovation led by Silicon Valley IT companies, and domestically, Samsung, LG, Lotte, SK, and CJ have introduced it.

GS Group executives and employees, including Chairman Heo, also shared how to apply Design Thinking to work and cases of innovative activities by global companies at this symposium.

Chairman Heo plans to expand the Design Thinking methodology, which had been limited to the retail sector such as GS Home Shopping where he had been involved, to the entire group. The goal is to create innovative new business models through customer-centric thinking in the group's core business areas such as energy and construction. Accordingly, most affiliates’ executives and employees from GS Energy, GS Caltex, GS Retail, GS Home Shopping, GS EPS, GS E&R, GS Power, and GS Construction participated in this event.

Following Chairman Heo’s emphasis on change centered on 'digital' at the early-year New Year's meeting, bringing forth innovation methodologies such as Design Thinking reflects a sense of crisis that those who fail to adapt to change will not survive.

At the symposium, Chairman Heo exchanged views on corporate innovation and sustainability with Professor Larry Leifer, director of the Stanford Design Center and a mechanical engineering professor for over 40 years, and also sought his direct advice.

Chairman Heo emphasized, "We will actively disseminate open innovation that collaborates with external parties and innovation methodologies verified and adopted by advanced companies in Silicon Valley to each affiliate and make them the driving force of innovation."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.