By Cho Jin-seo
Staff Reporter
Samsung Fire & Marine CEO Chi Dae-sub knows that globalization is not an option for his company. As the local automobile insurance market is believed to be saturated, Samsung's only choice for growth is to look outside.
``Thomas Freidman said that nowadays borders only exist in one's mind. Globalization is a prerequisite for survival. There is no future for a firm who is satisfied with the No.1 position in one country,'' he said in an e-mail interview with The Korea Times.
A master in accounting, Chi started his career at Cheil Industries, which is known as the Westpoint of Samsung Group's financial experts. He also took an instrumental part in the phenomenal success of its sister company, Samsung Electronics.
He joined the semiconductor division of the electronics giant in 1998 as CFO, in the wake of the Asian financial crisis. Over the next 10 years, he oversaw inflows of billions of dollars every month into the company's account from buyers all over the world, while the company became one of the largest, most profitable, and most globalized technology firms in the world.
Such an experience has made him an ideal candidate for Samsung's globalization scheme in the financial sector. He was appointed to the current post in 2008.
``South Korean financial firms are one step behind in the efforts to globalize. Now is the time to revamp ourselves in order to survive the competition,'' he said. ``I will do my best to make Samsung Fire & Marine a world-class insurer across borders.''
The years spent in the cutting-edge semiconductor industry also have made him realize the importance of continuous innovations. The semiconductor sector is notorious for the enormous size of investment needed in developing new products and buying complicated equipments every year. The economies of scale allow only the companies with the latest technologies and machines can survive the competition. The same rule applies to the global insurance market, Chi says.
``To me, management is a continuation of innovation. The inertia of prosperity and sustainability comes from the determination to move on,'' he said. ``Innovation is not a management slogan. It has to be an everyday practice, a habit of all the people in the organization.''