Conventional conglomerates will not survive in digital era: Hyundai Card chief

Hyundai Card Vice Chairman and CEO Chung Tae-young / Courtesy of Hyundai Card

By Lee Min-hyung

Traditional Korean conglomerates cannot survive in the new digital era unless they stop dwelling on the past through outdated growth models, Hyundai Card Vice Chairman and CEO Chung Tae-young said.

“Conventional conglomerates have the feeling of helplessness in the new world dominated by digitalization and platforms, as their rosy days have gone when they thrived with capital strength and organizational power,” he said on his Facebook page.

Against a similar backdrop, he went on to say that elite groups should have curiosity towards the outside world.

“Those without any curiosity, sensitivity and exchanges with the outside world are nothing more than expert groups living in the past,” he said.

Chung is one of the financial leaders here emphasizing the importance of creativity and technology. Early this year, he shared Hyundai Card's corporate vision of bolstering its presence as the nation's leading financial technology company.

“In 2022, all industries will be dominated by the tools called technologies, and only companies with technologies will be able to take the lead in their industry,” he said in a New Year's speech. “Hyundai Card and Hyundai Commercial picked quantitative growth and qualitative movement as the two management keywords this year.”

Under the drive, the financial arms of Hyundai Group will achieve major earnings growth and continue to transform the group's corporate image into a financial tech company with a focus on data science, according to him.

“We are going to engage in active communication with employees and executives, with more agile organizational management, and generate better performance until the end of this year,” he said.