Chairman Koo Kwang-mo: "We Must Not Be Led by Difficult Circumstances... We Need to Think from the Future Customer's Perspective"

President Workshop Held in Person for the First Time in 3 Years
Discussing Management Strategies for Future Preparation from a Mid- to Long-Term Perspective

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Sun-mi] "We must thoroughly consider from the perspective of future customers."

The key topic raised by Koo Kwang-mo, Chairman of LG Group, at the first in-person executive workshop in three years since 2019 was 'preparing for the future.' This reflects the crisis awareness that the only way to survive amid the global economic crisis facing the triple challenges of high inflation, high exchange rates, and high interest rates is to thoroughly prepare for the future.

According to LG Group on the 30th, Chairman Koo held a full-day 'Executive Workshop' at Gonjiam Resort in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province, the day before, discussing management strategies for future preparation from a mid- to long-term perspective. About 30 people, including CEOs and business division heads of affiliates, gathered in one place to brainstorm together for the first time in three years since September 2019.

Chairman Koo and the management team decided to thoroughly consider future preparation strategies from the perspective of future customers. Chairman Koo said, "The more difficult the management environment is, the more we should not be led by that environment. We must take a proactive and active stance and decide the future ourselves."

He especially emphasized, "First and foremost, future preparation must be thoroughly considered from the perspective of future customers. We must repeatedly ask and find answers to who the future customers are, what they truly demand, and what new value we will create for them. This should be the starting point of future preparation."

He continued, "The customer experiences, products, solutions, and brands that LG will create and how much differentiated value they can provide to customers are our future competitiveness."

As Chairman Koo emphasizes 'preparing for the future,' the future growth engines he is focusing on include eco-friendly businesses (cleantech), artificial intelligence (AI), bio, and batteries. These are future growth engines that LG is concentrating on by boldly exiting the smartphone and solar power businesses, which once drove LG's growth but lost momentum due to rapidly changing environments, and reorganizing its business around new growth drivers.

LG is transforming its existing petrochemical business into a high value-added business centered on eco-friendly cleantech and is investing 110 billion KRW in developing super-large AI, dedicating company-wide capabilities to the AI business.

The LG top executives attending the workshop reviewed the future portfolio direction for 5 and 10 years ahead based on the business foundation built through selection and concentration and engaged in in-depth discussions on concrete execution strategies.

Lectures were also given by Professor Joo Jae-woo of the Department of Business Administration at Kookmin University and Thales S. Teixeira, former Harvard Business School professor, on the essential understanding and design methods for customer experience innovation and ways to enhance the execution of customer value implementation strategies. Based on this, the management reviewed the results of innovation activities based on customer value and discussed ways to create a customer-centric work culture that customers can feel and acknowledge.

During the breakout sessions held in the afternoon, discussions were held on the portfolio direction that can enhance future corporate value. A separate session was arranged to discuss ways to support the bid for the ‘2030 Busan World Expo.’

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