Bo-eun leads the digital content team. She has covered foreign affairs, North Korea, tech, economy and gender issues at The Korea Times. She did a short stint at the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong, where she obtained a new perspective on news production and life. Small sources of joy for her are lounging in the sun, having a good latte and swimming.
Kyobo chairman globally recognized for 'humane entrepreneurship'
Kyobo Life Insurance Chairman Shin Chang-jae speaks at a forum hosted by the International Council for Small Businesses at the U.N. headquarters in New York, May 2018. / Courtesy of Kyobo Life Insurance
By Kim Bo-eun
By Kim Bo-eun
Kyobo Life Insurance Chairman Shin Chang-jae has received global recognition for management seeking the betterment of all stakeholders, the insurer said Thursday.
Shin received the International Council for Small Business' (ICSB) Humane Entrepreneurship Award at a ceremony held on the sidelines of the SME World Forum 2019 in Macao, Thursday.
The humane entrepreneurship award seeks to empower small- and medium-sized enterprises that show excellence in business and employee empowerment, while making positive impacts on their communities.
The award was created to support and promote the 2030 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015.
“Managing a company is a practice of providing value to stakeholders and creating an ecosystem, and profit is not the ultimate goal of corporate management but a means to keep management sustainable,” Shin said.
Shin's management philosophy seeks the wellbeing of clients, executives and employees, investors, the government and local community.
This approach not only raises the company's earnings but also creates a virtuous cycle of sustainable management, according to the chairman.
Based on this approach, Kyobo has led a customer-centered insurance business and comprised two-thirds of its members with outside directors, as a means to enhance transparency in management.
The insurer has sought to establish a corporate culture which seeks the betterment of both labor and management, as well as engaged in corporate social responsibility projects seeking to help beneficiaries become financially independent.
Recognizing such efforts, the ICSB invited Shin to its forum held at the U.N. headquarters in New York in May 2018. He became the first Korean businessperson to deliver a speech there.
The insurer became the first in the industry to receive a customer-centered management certification for seven consecutive years.
In 2010, Kyobo became the first local insurer to join the United Nations Global Compact, an initiative based on CEO commitments to implement universal sustainability principles and to take steps to support U.N. goals.