Jeong Ji-sun, Chairman of Hyundai Department Store, "Let's Find the Fundamental Value of Customers and Prepare for Future Growth"

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] Chung Ji-sun, Chairman of Hyundai Department Store Group, presented "the fundamental value of customers" as the management keyword for the New Year of the Year of the Black Ox, stating, "Let's find the value that customers ultimately want, change business processes and ways of working, and prepare for future growth."

In his New Year's message announced on the 3rd, Chairman Chung said, "With the unprecedented novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), the prolonged economic recession for several years, and the rapid changes in the industrial paradigm centered on digital transformation, a difficult business environment is expected. Therefore, the ability to read the flow of change and identify potential customer needs is becoming more important than ever."

He added, "We must respond to changes by judging based on the fundamental value of customers, quickly implementing changes, and pursuing growth as our standard of thinking and behavior."

Chairman Chung emphasized that, to this end, we must first find the fundamental value of customers. He said, "From the customer's perspective, we need to understand what meaning the products and services we provide have in customers' lives, what their 'pain points' (inconveniences or negative opinions) are, and what values they ideally expect most. We should question what the fundamental desires of customers are and find the fundamental value of customers through the process of deriving answers."

He continued, "Now, we must move away from the industry's competitive perspective and prioritize customer value as the primary standard to judge market conditions and promote business. We need to implement 'meaningful simplification' by removing unnecessary elements from existing business processes and ways of working to create meaningful and useful value from the customer's perspective." He urged that business processes and ways of working should be changed based on the fundamental value of customers.

Finally, Chairman Chung stressed the need for an organizational culture that encourages new attempts and challenges. He said, "Innovation is possible when the learning effects of success and failure in new challenges accumulate, and it also provides the confidence that forms the foundation for individual and organizational growth. Leaders of organizations should recognize that failure is not the opposite of success but a part of it, and create an environment where members do not hesitate to try new things."

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