'Positive Thinking'

KOSPO CEO Kim calls for concerted effort to realize company's goals

Kim Sang-kab, president and CEO of Korea Southern Power Co. (KOSPO), has urged his executives and staff members to "think positively"and "initiate changes"in order to make another leap forward in an unfavorable business environment.
The CEO said in his New Year's message, "Let's remember our vision of becoming a clean company that takes the lead in the global energy market with the goal of chalking up 5 trillion won in sales by 2011 and make an energetic start."Looking back at 2007, he said, KOSPO has been designated as an excellent company in an innovation evaluation survey of public organizations for the third straight year and was presented with the Korean Management Grand Prize for the second straight time. It placed first for the past seven years in terms of power generation, capacity and thermal efficiency.
"However,"KOSPO CEO Kim noted, "Entering the new year, there are chances that domestic and foreign business conditions will be affected by such negative factors as slowing global economic growth,
international financial market uncertainties, higher prices and continued crude oil price hikes. And now is the time when the domestic power generation market needs to brace for a worsening of profitability in the wake of such changes as an acceleration of competition in the power market." "In addition, the domestic power market, approaching a saturation stage, will have to nurture an international competitive edge for its sustainable growth and aggressively take countermeasures to deal with the international pacts on climate change, including the development of greenhouse gas reduction technologies and an improvement of energy efficiency,"he said.
"As the new government, to be inaugurated soon, will pursue market-oriented policies, and the public demand for strengthening efficiency is expected to gain momentum,"he said, "the business environment for public organizations is set to undergo dramatic changes."Kim set the 2008 business goals for KOSPO to put more energy into realizing the vision of becoming a 'clean company that takes the lead in the global energy market.'First, he called for an acceleration of their bid to become more innovative and to undergo changes. Kim urged his executives and staff members to step up their innovative activities to keep growing and developing amid a rapidly changing domestic and international business environment. Accordingly, they will be required to carry on the management innovation project, dubbed "V-KOSPO,"designed to beef up management innovation capacity by conducting innovative activities on a voluntary basis and establishing an innovate educational regime. KOSPO will further raise its standing and role as a leading innovation organization through process innovation with the goal of reaching Level Six in management innovation evaluation.
Second, he said, KOSPO will put its heart and soul into raising its corporate value. It will ratchet up efforts to explore future growth engines by diversifying its business portfolio. KOSPO will expand its efforts to pool new projects, including overseas projects, while widening efforts to land more overseas orders and make investments, including the participation in joint foreign natural resources development projects. It will make the most of the human and material capability KOSPO has accumulated so far in order to obtain a tangible outcome.
KOSPO will also concentrate its energy into implementing such strategic projects as new and renewable energy projects and new community energy system projects.
It will step up its efforts to ensure efficient asset management and expand profits to brace for changes in the electricity market under companywide drives to cut costs and maximize efficiency.
The company will streamline its employment process in order to secure gifted manpower, nurture strategic and key manpower with global capabilities by operating forward-looking educational programs and build up a transparent and performance-oriented personnel management regime.
Third, he said, he will strive to make it the safest and happiest workplace. "For our company to secure the reliable operation of facilities is more important than anything else and such reliability can be guaranteed by the company's and staff's efforts to establish safety systems,"Kim said.
Fourth, he said, KOSPO will redouble its efforts to ensure transparent management. KOSPO will strive to establish a clean corporate culture by firmly establishing ethical management action programs tailored to meet global standards in order to fulfill its responsibility and role as a public corporation. nw

KOSPO CEO Kim Sang-kap exchanges hands with his executives and staff members during a ceremony to launch the 2008 business year on Jan. 2. (right photo) KOSPO CEO Kim.