SK Group to improve affiliate resource sharing

Chey Tae-won, chairman of SK Group, delivers a speech at the company’s annual CEO meeting at the SKMS Center in Icheon, Gyeonggi, on Friday. [SK GROUP]

SK Group plans to establish company-wide infrastructure that will allow affiliates to share assets such as office space, networks and patents with each other and develop business models based on collaborative efforts.

Chief executives from each affiliate met from Wednesday to Friday at the SKMS Center in Icheon, Gyeonggi, to discuss management strategies for the group. They concluded that sharing assets is key to surviving in a rapidly changing market environment.

The seminar is an annual corporate event held in October to set new management goals for the group. This year, about 40 top executives, including Chey Tae-won, chairman of SK Group, and Cho Dae-sik, chairman of the SK Supex council, the group’s central planning unit, participated.

“Our group faces radical changes in the market due to rapid digitization, geopolitical risks and other social problems,” Chey said during the event. “But we can survive the upcoming changes if we pursue business strategies that can maximize our group’s tangible and intangible assets.”

SK Group’s affiliates are now expected to share tangible assets like mobile offices as well as intangible assets like telecommunication networks, patents and best practices. The executives suggested they share knowledge not only in research and development but also on business operations and management.

The group also recommended connecting different business areas to create new markets. For instance, SK Hynix, which manufactures computer chips, can make use of artificial intelligence systems developed by SK C&C and SK Telecom.

Some executives suggested the group open the shared platform to its contractors for better synergy. The group had already introduced measures to share patents with contractors in July as part of efforts to follow the Moon Jae-in administration’s pursuit of mutual growth between conglomerates and smaller enterprises.

Chey stressed that the group’s growth should always contribute to society. “Creating social value has become the reason for existence not only for social enterprises but also for private companies,” Chey said. “We all need to acknowledge the fact that creating social value is not an option but a must for firms to survive.”

In response, executives discussed ways to open their assets to outside parties and create a broader shared infrastructure within and outside the group.

BY KIM JEE-HEE [kim.jeehee@joongang.co.kr]