Choi Tae-won Presents New Management Theme 'Financial Story'

At CEO Seminar, Calls to Shift from Financial Performance-Centered Growth to New Corporate Value Strategies
Emphasis on Building Market Trust and Social Consensus through Financial Storytelling

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyewon] Chey Tae-won, Chairman of SK Group, presented the 'Financial Story' as a new management theme. This was during the closing speech at the 'SK CEO Seminar' held on the 23rd at Jeju Dianex.

Chairman Chey stated, "Only when the financial stories created by each affiliate gain market trust and social empathy can we create corporate value that exceeds expectations." He believes that the traditional method of evaluating corporate value based on past financial performance such as sales and operating profit is no longer valid.

He emphasized, "We are now entering an era where a financial story containing attractive goals and concrete execution plans must earn trust from the market for corporate value to increase." He added, "As the formula for corporate value is changing, CEOs must specifically present each company's growth story suitable for various stakeholders such as customers, investors, and the market, and elicit trust and empathy. Furthermore, CEOs must now prove themselves that executing the financial story can lead to greater results."

Despite the worsening global business environment due to COVID-19 and the US-China trade conflict, some global companies that presented financial stories imbued with market trust have not only achieved high corporate values that cannot be explained by past financial performance standards but are also continuously growing.

Accordingly, SK CEOs have decided to make 2021 the inaugural year to increase stakeholder trust in the financial stories presented by each company and to shift growth strategies centered on financial statements to growth strategies centered on trust and empathy.

The financial story emphasized by Chairman Chey is a management strategy aimed at raising total value by presenting each SK company's growth strategy and future vision to the financial society, including customers, investors, and the market.

Cho Dae-sik, Chairman of the SUPEX Council, also stated at the opening of the CEO seminar on the 21st, "Companies whose corporate value has rapidly increased share the commonality of presenting new visions that can change the world, widening the competitive gap with other companies and establishing themselves as number one." He added, "SK affiliates are also transforming their business portfolios toward future growth businesses, and they must actively inform the financial society of this to be recognized for high corporate value."

From the 21st, SK CEOs spent three days and two nights at the CEO seminar themed 'Execution of Deep Change and Financial Story,' where they presented growth stories by each affiliate and intensively discussed ways to enhance execution capabilities.

In particular, the CEOs heard candid external evaluations of SK Group's innovation and change during the seminar and received various real-time questions from employees watching online. This effort aims to find realistic and feasible methodologies to gain trust from the market.

The CEOs also agreed that ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance), emphasized by Chairman Chey for sustainable growth, is no longer a temporary management trend but a universal value firmly established. Since ICT, semiconductors, energy, and chemicals are SK Group's core growth engines, there was consensus that a higher level of ESG management is urgently needed, according to SK.

Additionally, to enhance the execution of the financial story, the CEOs decided to simultaneously strengthen executive expertise, improve synergy among affiliates, and concretize group-wide mid- to long-term tasks such as ESG.

The seminar was attended by about 30 people, including Chairman Chey, SK Senior Vice Chairman Chey Jae-won, SK Discovery Vice Chairman Chey Chang-won, Chairman Cho, seven committee chairpersons, and CEOs of major affiliates. Although separated from SK Group, SK Shipping and SK Securities CEOs, who share the brand and corporate culture (SKMS) and have agreed to cooperate in SK management activities, also attended for the second consecutive year.

An SK Group official explained, "This CEO seminar had an external change where top executives participated offline in Jeju due to COVID-19, while related employees joined online. However, the more important change is the shift in perception that corporate value can only be increased when a trusted financial story is a prerequisite."

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