LG Internal Strengths (Ch 5)

One of the ways you can study a company's strengths is to look at its leadership team. This relates to theories of distinctive competence, which encompasses general managers (key decision-makers for the firm) and institutional leadership (ability to set a vision and get the firm to align behind it). This is usually the easiest way to get a glimpse of a firm's internal strengths.

General Managers

Let's take a look at the backgrounds of LG Electronics' executive leadership team. This team is comprised of the following individuals (source: Yahoo! Finance):

Mr. Bon-Joon Koo , 63 Chief Exec. Officer, Vice Chairman and Member of Management Committee

Mr. Young-Ha Lee , Pres and Bus. Support Officer

Dr. Seung-Kwon Skott Ahn , 57 Pres and Chief Technology Officer

Mr. Do Hyun Jung , 57 Pres, Chief Fin. Officer, Director and Member of Management Committee

Mr. Jong-Seok Park , 56 Pres, Chief Exec. Officer of Mobile Communications and Pres of Mobile Communications Division Bon Joon Koo started off as a computer scientist and statistician. He held various leadership positions at LG and went back for his MBA at the University of Chicago. Here is a little more on him from Forbe's: Koo is probably a very influential person in Korea and within the global corporate community, which makes him a strong asset for LG. Young Ha Lee started off as a chemical engineer, which was likely useful in his earlier days at LG, where he was involved in their refrigeration systems. He later went to Harvard Business School and started down an executive path with LG Electronics. He now runs the home appliance area (which as I posted earlier, is producing a line of connected appliances). Here's a bit more about Lee from LG's web site: Besides being an executive leader, Lee appears to have very strong subject-matter credentials for the area he leads. Dr. Seung-Kwon Skott Ahn started off as an electronics engineering major and eventually earned his PhD from the University of Seoul. He was exposed to global business strategy opportunities early in his career and was instrumental in globalizing LG Electronics' world-view. He is credited with turning the electronics division around. Here is a bit more about Dr. Ahn from LG's web site: Dr. Ahn appears to have a strong knack for global leadership and imparting a global vision for LG. Do Hyun Jung, also known as David Jung (and not be confused with a screenwriter of Asian films with the same name), started his career with a BA in Business Administration. He never pursued an advanced degree, but has nonetheless risen in the ranks of LG's executive leadership. He has worked around electronics since the early 90's and rose to the position of CFO for the Electronics division in 2007. Jong-Seok Park is ranked among the top-25 most powerful people in the wireless business (fiercewireless.com). He has driven LG to become a big player in the wireless equipment space, despite having Samsung to compete with (see my earlier post on the curved phones LG is making). Dr. Park holds bachellor's and master's degrees in electronics engineering, and the earned a PhD in electrical engineering from  University of Florida. He also went back and got an MBA from McGill University in Canada. Dr. Park is credited with a large number of innovations in the electronics space, including DTV transmission technology.  Institutional Leadership It's harder to gain insight into LG's institutional leadership beacuse the main source of information is what LG chooses to share. But here is a brief summary of their vision, mission, and how they impart this to their organization (from LG's website): LG's vision is to be the market leader in their space. Of course, many companies set their sights on being number 1, so what's important is how well they articulate the strategies and values that will enable their organization to achieve that vision.    LG tries to articulate a set of ethics and sustainability-driven principles by which they manage their business. They try to foster a culture of trust and respect, which they believe creates a more functional organization. They place emphasis on their code of ethics, which they believe enables them to be more efficient, while at the same time creating a positive image of a socially responsible organization.