Hanwha Group Honors 57th Anniversary

Chmn. Kim calls for bold management style to open up its global vision, seize business opportunities faster

Chairman Kim Seung-youn said in his congratulatory address that Hanwha Group will try its best to stay ahead of changes to secure its future competitive edge in all phases of its operations.
The address issued on Sept. 7, a day ahead of the group’s 57th anniversary, declared the month of October to be Voluntary Service Day for the group and 10,000 of the group’s employees were mobilized to participate in the relay social service from Oct. 7.
The chairman also said the group will now turn its management around from a defensive posture, which has been pursued up to now for survival, to an offensive one to be able to open up its global vision and seize business opportunities ahead of its competitors.
“Continuous plowing brings an early spring,” he said, quoting an old saying. “We also cannot afford to let up on our continuous plowing with the hope to be invited to the winner’s dinner later,” he said, in an effort to fire up the executives with the story of the continuous plowing management style.
Kim said the “Great Challenge 2011 Project” has been of great help to the group so far in overcoming crisis situations and in achieving positive results, calling on the group to redouble its efforts for reform in many areas of its operations including business areas, organization, profit structures, corporate culture and other management activities. He said he expects a lot of synergy to come in the financial and leisure sectors from the merger of a number of similar affiliates such as Hanwha Resort, Hanwha Development and Hanwha 63 City and Hanwha Non-Life Insurance Co. and Cheil Fire and Marine Insurance Co.
Kim went on to say that it’s the people who will either make or break a company, and called on officers and staff of the group to be first-class employees. He also revealed the plan to build the Hanwha Memorial Hall on the old site of Hanwha factories in Incheon.
The chairman also called on all officers and staff of the group to inherit the spirit of “helping the nation through business,” the ideal of the establishment of the group, and to try to spread the belief in co-existence and joint survival in every nook and corner of society with the Hanwha spirit of “trust and loyalty.”
The group has been engaged in voluntary services such as the delivery of coal briquettes for needy senior citizens in Seoul with Vice Chairman Shin Eun-chul at the head of the volunteer group. Another group of volunteers, led by President Kim Hyun-joong of Hanwha Construction, invited handicapped people for birthday parties held at the 63 Building in Yeouido, Seoul, where the group’s head office is located.
President Choi Wook-jin of Hanwha L&C led a group of volunteers from the company to visit a number of senior citizens living alone to provide them with their daily necessities, while President Yang Wook of Hanwha Galleria, a department store known for its stock of luxury goods, led a group of volunteers from the department store to visit the “Woori Village” where handicapped people live and helped them repair the landscape around the village and collect red peppers from the field attached to the village.
President Lee Shin-ho of the Dream Parma Co. invited senior citizens from the neighborhood to a lunch and recreational activities, while President Kang Nam-kyu of Hanwha Tech.M invited the children of poor families in the Changwon area in South Gyeongsang Province, where its plant is located, to tour the plant and treated them to various confectionaries.
The Hanwha Co. held a concert at the Paris Park, located near one of its buildings in Jangkyo-dong, downtown Seoul, under the title of “Kum Nansae and Eurasian Strings” during lunchtime on Oct. 8 to commemorate the group’s 57th anniversary. Among the group’s leading executives at the concert were Vice Chairman Kim, President Hong Ki-joon of Hanwha Sukhwa and people from the neighborhood, among others.
The musical group moved to Daejeon and held a concert at the University of South Chungcheong for some 2,000 employees of the group’s affiliates in the Daejeon area. nw