Huh Tae-soo: "Change the Way of Working to Overcome COVID-19"

Heo Tae-su Hosts 'GS Executive Forum' to Discuss Post-Corona Issues

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] "Going forward, digital transformation based on mobile and AI (artificial intelligence) will proceed more actively, and it is time to pay more attention to the changes in new trends occurring on the customer side rather than the supplier side. Also, we must focus on the flow of change where the importance of practicing sustainable management through eco-friendliness is greatly highlighted, and now we need to innovate our internal capabilities to align with these external changes."

Huh Tae-soo, Chairman of GS, stated this on the 17th at the GS Executive Forum held to review GS's business strategy after the COVID-19 pandemic. About 30 senior executives, including Im Byung-yong, Vice Chairman of GS Construction, Huh Yeon-soo, Vice Chairman of GS Retail, and Hong Soon-gi, President of GS Corporation, attended the forum.

This GS Executive Forum is the second since Chairman Huh took office. GS decided to hold this official event again after refraining from such gatherings due to COVID-19, judging that the impact of the new normal in the post-COVID era on GS's business would be very serious and to prepare proactive countermeasures.

At the forum, Chairman Huh urged, "As the global supply chain is being reorganized recently, and with the activation of mobile and the spread of the Untact economy, please take this opportunity to enhance our digital capabilities and address our shortcomings to prepare for the post-COVID era."

This aligns with Chairman Huh's previous emphasis that "the core competitiveness to overcome the hyper-competitive era lies in how finely we understand and respond to customer needs," and "digital is the tool that makes this possible, and business innovation must be pursued based on an understanding of digital technology."

He continued, "Recently, COVID-19 has caused a sharp decline in demand in the energy industry, overlapping with oversupply, delivering a significant shock to the global economy, and in the distribution sector, there is a rapid increase in dependence on mobile and online."

To overcome this, Chairman Huh stated, "GS should actively secure new growth engines, including the Beyond areas we have not yet explored, such as digital, environment, and clean energy."

He also said, "Innovation involves pain but is essential for survival," and urged, "As working methods such as remote work and Untact meetings accelerate due to COVID-19, please actively utilize various digital tools and collaboration programs to lead changes in the new work environment and flexible organizational culture."

Meanwhile, considering the recent COVID-19 situation, the forum adjusted the number of participants to senior executives at the vice president level or above as part of social distancing measures, and executives who could not attend due to COVID-19 concerns participated in the forum online via simultaneous real-time video streaming.

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