'Nothing Happens Unless
There Is First a Dream'

WP CEO Son expounds 2008 business policies in his New Year's message

Shortly after he took the helm at Korea Western Power Company (WP) CEO Son Dong-hee declared the "Vision 2030,"also known as "3 Plus 10,"calling for brightening the future of WP and setting WP's new management strategy designed to translate into action the words "Challenge and Make a Difference."Entering 2008, he said in his New Year's message, WP drew up its top 10 business strategy goals and top 30 tasks to carry out this year out of the Vision 2030. The 2008 plans were prepared to ensure the implementation of the vision and establish a foundation for working out top-down strategies and actions.
Looking back on 2007, Son said, "In the power division, the early completion of the Taean Power Plant Units 7 and 8, which established the Taean Power Complex as the nation's largest bituminous coal-fired power center, contributed to earning a stable income. In addition, the dedication of dentrification facilities for Pyeongtaek Plant Units 1 through 4 led to a cut in air pollutants in the Seoul metropolitan area.
WP exerted its utmost efforts to explore future growth engines as it inaugurated a 2,000kW-class photovoltaic power plant in Samryangjin this past September following the dedication of one in Taean in 2005. It undertook the Galolim tidal power project and established a corporate entity charged with coastal power projects in the Philippines. WP became the first power generation company to obtain a comprehensive supervision certificate in the civil engineering, machinery equipment and power facilities areas.
"As the WP staff threw their hearts and souls into their work, WP has made brilliant achievements during the whole of last year as it ranked first in assessments of business performances for power generating companies and placed at the top, Level 5, on the innovation ranking of public organizations for the third straight year,"Son said.
"Despite these excellent feats,"he said, "There are many business uncertainties facing us."The domestic power industry has already shown signs of a slowdown in the power demand growth rate and an acceleration of intra-industry competition. Endless crude oil price hikes and nations'fierce struggles to secure natural resources has pushed up power generation costs at an abnormal pace.
"Stricter global environmental restrictions against climate change and the public's mounting interest toward the protection of the ecosystem are getting burdensome for those of us who have to utilize natural resources. Due to such unfavorable overseas factors as crude oil price hikes, WP is projected to post the worst operating income since its establishment. The reality is that WP badly needs to tide over these difficulties by taking such steps as efficient budgetary spending and belt-tightening management."CEO Son talked about the management policies WP will adopt during 2008.
First, he called on his executives and staff members to establish a foundation for maintaining growth in the future. "WP will strive to pour all available investment resources into securing its "readwinners."We will put more energy into successfully implementing such new businesses as the ongoing tidal power plant in Galolim, a combined cycle power plant project in Gunsan and power projects in the Philippines and Laos,"Son said.
Secondly, he urged them to ensure organizational reform and change. "our pursuit of innovation is about pursuing imagination in the course of executing usual duties rather than focusing on hardware. All WP staffers will make all-out efforts to pursue a shift in viewpoints and imagination through "roductive destruction"-- making creative innovation part of their daily corporate life."Thirdly, he said, WP will have to ensure the pursuit of social responsibility as a public organization. It has a strategy of performing its own social contribution activities toward a goal of evolving into a world-class energy company. Recognizing ethical management as an essential element of its survival, WP will conduct regular monitoring into whether its staff is translating into action ethical codes of conduct through the "WeBEX,"WP's own ethical management diagnosis model.
Fourthly, he called for each staff member to become a "man or woman of high caliber"in his or her own responsibilities. nw

WP CEO Son Dong-hee