SK Group needs agility to survive disruptions: chairman

South Korea's No. 2 conglomerate SK Group needs agile responses to rapidly changing business circumstances amid global geopolitical crises, Chairman Chey Tae-won told the group’s top management during an annual seminar.

A company may face “sudden death” if it fails in quick adaptation to disruptions, he said during the event held in Paris from Oct. 16 to 18. 

Chey identified major changes that the Korean economy and corporates face: intensifying conflicts between the US and China, acceleration in new technologies such as artificial intelligence, increasing economic uncertainty amid changes in monetary policies and growing emphasis on personal development.

He added that the group needs to expand global cooperation, while executing social value strategies that align with its global strategies. The conglomerate should form regional units to quickly respond to each market and create solutions for various sectors like energy, AI and environment, he said.

The chairman highlighted the group’s investment activities as its foundation for business growth. “We shouldn’t make mistakes such as only considering microeconomic factors when making an investment decision. Macroeconomic variables should be also taken into account,” Chey said.

The top management agreed to review establishing more holding companies in key markets to spur the group’s competitive edge globally. The conglomerate founded SK China, a Beijing-based holding firm that oversees the group’s business in Asia’s largest country.

They will also introduce a flexible work environment as it is increasingly difficult to attract young talent under the current human resources system.

In addition to the chairman, SK Group Executive Vice Chairman and SK On Co. CEO Chey Jae-won, SK Discovery Co. Vice Chairman and co-CEO Chey Chang-won, SK Supex Council Chairman Cho Dae-sik were among around 30 attendees.

It is the first time in 14 years that SK Group has held its annual CEO seminar overseas since the 2009 meeting in Beijing.  

It gathered the chiefs in Paris this year as the major agenda was global management and many SK leaders set up meetings in Europe and Africa to promote Busan as a candidate city to host the World Expo 2030, an SK official said.  

Write to Jae-Fu Kim at hu@hankyung.com

Jihyun Kim edited this article.