New Doosan chairman describes the ‘Doosan Way’

Doosan Group’s new Chairman, Park Yong-maan, unveiled his plan to turn Doosan into a global heavy industrial giant by reinforcing a corporate culture centering on people - the so-called “Doosan Way.”

“If we have good people, we can overcome any crises by encouraging them to adapt to the situation,” Park said in his first press conference at a hotel in central Seoul yesterday.

Park said although Doosan is a 116-year-old group, most of its workers have been there for less than a decade. He thinks there is a need to unify them with a powerful corporate culture.

Doosan has about 39,000 employees around the world.

“I believe in a person who acknowledges his own mistakes and keeps his word,” Park said. He promised to create an environment where Doosan’s employees can do both.

Park is famous for aggressiveness in mergers and acquisitions. Park sold 24 companies for about 4.4 trillion won ($3.9 billion) and bought 18 for about 9 trillion won, he said.

“In my definition, M&A is buying a needed resource, technology or business for a reasonable price in order to speed up management,” Park said. It shouldn’t merely be a means to expand one’s business, he stressed.

“In a race to climb to the top of a 30-story building, leading companies start from the 20th floor, while we have to run from the 15th floor, which is a losing game,” Park said. “A CEO’s duty is to make the starting point a little bit higher, on the 18th or the 19th floors, which I believe is the central idea of M&As,” he said.

However, Park will not be in a hurry to sign M&A deals this year. Before doing so, Park said he considers three things: growth potential, the leader’s capabilities and human resources.

Doosan runs on a unique brotherhood management system in which sons of the late founder Park Too-Pyung take turns leading the group, Park said.

“We have been trying to establish the Doosan Way for the past seven years through the brotherhood management,” he said. “I will try completing it this year.”

By Song Su-hyun [ssh@joongang.co.kr]