CJ CheilJedang simplifies organizational structure in global push

CJ CheilJedang Corp., the South Korean food giant with more than 200 operations worldwide, has streamlined its organizational structure to facilitate seamless communication inside the organization as part of its efforts to take another leap as a multinational company.

The company announced on Sunday that it has simplified the structure of each department by abolishing hierarchical sub-organizations such as teams.

In tandem with that, every department is now renamed in English, such as the Corporate Communication and Corporate Finance Strategy units, to facilitate understanding of each department's duty.

With the slimmer structure, the company expects to lessen hierarchical corporate culture.

“The department name plays an important role in building a horizontal and innovative organizational culture and making our company more global,” CJ CheilJedang Chief Executive Officer Choi Eun-seok said in an internal message to employees on Sunday.

It is rare for Korean conglomerates to shift away from the country’s traditional, top-down corporate structure.

But this is not the first time that the Korean food giant has pioneered promoting a more open, role- or task-based corporate culture.

GOING GLOBAL

In 2000, it became the first Korean major corporation to remove complex ranks among its employees and streamline them by dividing them into three titles based on their tasks – Leader, Specialist and Professional – to facilitate communication not only between employees regardless of rank but also with clients of various cultures.

The company’s series of efforts to adopt a less hierarchical corporate culture are expected to accelerate its transition into a truly multinational company, a company official said, adding that employees will be able to take more active roles in leading company projects thanks to the changes.

CJ CheilJedang has 228 subsidiaries, of which 207 are overseas operations that employ a total of 26,000 personnel. This accounts for 70.3% of its entire workers worldwide including Korea.

The Korean food giant in 2019 took over major US food player Schwan’s Company for 2 trillion won ($153.3 million), the biggest-ever acquisition deal since the inception of its parent CJ Group in 1953.

The latest move is part of CJ Group’s efforts to seek new growth opportunities outside of Korea.

CJ CheilJedang’s sibling companies including CJ ENM Co., CJ Logistics Corp. and CJ Foodville Corp. have recently taken over major foreign rivals to expand their presence in overseas markets.

Write to Soo-Jung Ha at agatha77@hankyung.com

Sookyung Seo edited this article.