KDHC Recognized for
Ensuring Ethical Management

Carries out massive reorganization and reshuffling

Korea District Heating Corporation (KDHC) has been designated as Korea's top ethical management corporation this year for the third straight year.
A survey, jointly conducted by the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy and the Institute for Industrial Policy Studies, showed that KDHC won the Excellent Ethical Management Corporation Award for the third time in a row. MOCIE and KIPS conducted the survey into 46 public corporations and 220 high-ranking companies on six categories - CEO, worksite, governance, subcontractors, clients and neighboring community - with the goal of spreading ethical management to the business community and measure each corporation's ethical management levels.
The latest survey revealed that KDHC ranked tops in the worksite category -manpower development, safety and health, and labor-management relationships -, the client category - fair trade and consumer protection - and the district community category - implementation of corporate responsibilities to society.
KDHC officials said the successive designation of KDHC as Korea's top ethical management corporation is owed to its companywide efforts to designate and implement detailed tasks on ethical management on an annual basis.
They said KDHC is striving to leap into a world-class company in the energy field through sustainable management based on building up management systems with global standards and foundation for ethical management.
KDHC UNDERGOES MASSIVE REORGANIZATION. At the behest of KDHC CEO Kim Young-nam, who took office last year, KDHC has conducted the biggest-ever reorganization and reshuffling since its inception on top of the pursuit of ethical management.
As part of its efforts to proactively cope with changing management conditions and build up sustainable management development, KDHC has reorganized departments and divisions into teams in a step designed to maximize efficiency and introduce a merit system.
The reorganization calls for, among others, changing such responsibilities as planning, support and business areas, which are considered essential for strategically ensuring flexibility, as well as all departments of each branch office into teams in order to improve efficiency and establish responsible management.
A specialized body has been established as a control tower designed to deal with mid- and long-term management strategies, explore new businesses and implement directives by the CEO.
KDHC has become the first public corporation in Korea to shift the existing top-down structure into a roundtable one in a bid to revoke seniority and facilitate vivid communications among organizations.
Capable 18 four-grade KDHC officials have been promoted to head teams in an innovative move to divide position and grade classifications, departing from the conventional coinciding of positions and grades. Publicly contested recruiting system and incentive payments have been in place to promote performance-based personnel management and create a working environment for promoting competition.
The qualification of team chiefs has been expanded from current first to third grade to first to fourth grade, and team members have been assigned regardless of their grades to make the most use of the existing manpower.
Each team chief has been given the power to select his or her team members and reshuffle them and the authority to carry out tasks has been delegated in a bid to achieve targets.
KDHC set it sights on becoming a global leader in the energy sector during the 21st century by advancing district heat businesses and diversifying its business areas to other energy sectors such as electricity.
If and when the long-term vision is accomplished, KDHC is trying to emerge as a world-class leader in the energy field with the target of achieving 1.5 trillion won in sales nationwide by 2015 by supplying heat and electricity to 1.5 million households across the nation.
KDHC said it will strive toward improving the welfare of clients by environmental-friendly, good-quality energy. nw

(Above photo) KDHC CEO Kim Young-nam shakes hands with one of the KDHC division and branch office chiefs after signing a management performance contract. KDHC has won the Excellent Award on Ethical Management for the third straight time from Yoongyeong Forum.