By Lee Hyo-sik
Lotte and CJ ranked at the bottom in sharing growth with small business partners, the Korea Federation of Micro Enterprise (KFME) said Monday. KFME represents the interests of hundreds of thousands of self-employed and small businesses across the country.
According to a survey of heads of associations representing 183 businesses, KT, the nation’s second-largest wireless carrier topped the list among nine large business groups. The company received 1,754 points out of 3,660, followed by Samsung Group with 1,404 points and LG Group with 1,376 points. CJ Group got the lowest score of 1,186 points, according to the KFME.
Among Korea’s five largest retailers ― Shinsegae-E-mart, GS Retail, Hyundai Department Store, Home plus and Lotte ― Shinsegae-E-mart came in first with 1,206 points followed by GS Retail with 1,056 points. Lotte ranked bottom with 926 points.
“The survey sought to quantify how small businesses feel about doing business with large companies,” a KFME official said. “We will conduct the survey every quarter and make the results public in a bid to encourage big enterprises to pay more attention to sharing growth with their small partners.”