SK chief calls to strengthen crisis management, seek opportunities

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won speaks at the 2023 Expanded Management Conference held at Grand Walkerhill Seoul, Thursday. Courtesy of SK Group

By Kim Hyun-bin

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won stressed the need for enhanced responses to various management uncertainties and opportunities, including the power struggle between the U.S. and China and the global economic slowdown, according to the company, Friday.

"We are currently living in a global transition period where it is difficult to survive with past management methods alone," Chey stated in his keynote speech at the 2023 Expanded Management Conference held at Grand Walkerhill Seoul, Thursday. "To respond to the competition between the U.S. and China, economic downturns and unexpected crises as well as opportunities, we need to enhance our different scenario management."

SK Group aims to respond immediately to various situations by enhancing the overall system and employee capabilities within the organization.

"Based on the 'financial story' that we have been pursuing so far, we need to establish a management system that can quickly and flexibly change organizations, assets, facility investments, operating costs, according to various possible scenarios," Chairman Chey said.

SK Group's financial story refers to a strategy that creates a growth story that goes beyond general financial performance such as sales and operating profit, and includes attractive market goals and concrete execution plans to gain the trust and empathy of stakeholders such as customers and investors, to accelerate growth.

“The global market is no longer a single market like in the past, but a market that needs to consider various variables simultaneously,” Chey said.

He also mentioned the challenges of responding at the level of each SK affiliate and the importance of group-level responses to markets such as the U.S., China, Europe and Japan.

"It may be difficult and not very fast for each affiliate to respond, but market-specific responses are necessary at the group level," Chey stressed.