By Kang Shin-who
Staff Reporter
There is no doubt you have to study hard if you want to be a CEO someday. However, not many people realize the importance of this reality. Junn Sung-chull, head of the Institute of Global Management (IGM), stressed that CEO education is essential in boosting the development of Korea, in an interview with The Korea Times.
``I think Korean CEOs don’t spend much time for education compared to foreign CEOs. While many of them think they have to work until late night, their foreign counterparts spend much time in developing themselves after work,’’ Junn said.
This is why Junn founded IGM, an institute specializing in educating CEOs. Founded in 2003, IGM has produced more than 3,000 graduates and some 600 executive-level students are attending the institute.
``More and more CEOs are gathering at IGM and the number of students continues to increase. Adding up the sales of companies headed by our students, it totals 140 trillion won which equals one-seventh of Korea’s gross domestic product (GDP),’’ Junn said.
Currently, celebrities of Korean economics including Shinhan Bank President Shin Sang-hoon, Vice Minister of Finance and Economy Chin Dong-soo, Vice Chairman of LG Electronics Nam Yong and SK C&C CEO Yoon Suk-kyong attend IGM.
The institute offers mainly two courses about global business trends and negotiation under the 17 lecturers including Harvard Business School Professor Amy C. Edmonson. ``Our programs are something that the executives could apply immediately to their business field after learning. We don’t have programs for CEOs in Korean colleges. I believe education market for executives has big potential to grow in the future,’’ Junn said.
Junn brought a term, ``global standard’’ that the institute is pursuing and he explained the term is the most advanced system for company management. ``CEO should always check and compare their management system with their counterparts overseas and continue to correct and improve their system,’’ he said.
Born in 1949, Junn majored politics at Seoul National University and gained an MBA degree and Juris Doctor from University of Minnesota in 1983. He served dean of vice chancellor of Sejong University and chairman of the International Trade Commission between 2001 and 2002.