Our reporter Hendarsyah Tarmizi, along with other nine Indonesian
\njournalists, visited South Korea recently at the invitation of LG
\nElectronics. Below are his stories about the company's business
\nvision and production activities.<\/p>\n
In the advertising world, slogans remain an important tool to
\ncapture the attention of the people and hook them to become your
\ncustomers.<\/p>\n
These days, however, the slogan is not solely used to sell
\nproducts and services, but also to sell business philosophy and
\nvision of a company to its employees.<\/p>\n
LG Electronics is, for example, among the few that have taken
\nthe advantage of the power of words through catchy slogans to
\npromote its business agenda and corporate culture to its
\nemployees.<\/p>\n
At LG's headquarter in Seoul and its two production divisions
\nin Gumi and Changwon, outside the Korean capital, visitors will
\neasily notice numerous slogans painted using bright red.<\/p>\n
Huge and catchy slogans proclaiming \"Great Company, Great
\nPeople\" or \"Let's Win the New Game\" are, for example,
\ndistinctively painted at the entrance of the two production
\ndivision's offices in the towns.<\/p>\n
In the lobby, meeting rooms or down in the toilets, other
\ncatchy slogans are hung, including \"Fast Execution\", \"Fast
\nInnovation\", \"Fast Growth\", \"No 'No' Challenge\", \"We, Not I\" or
\n\"Fun to Work\".<\/p>\n
While most companies outside the advertising industry still
\npay no attention on to such creative works, LG uses them as an
\nintegral part of the company's working program to fulfill its
\nambitious agenda to become the number three electronics company
\nin the world by 2010, and the number one by the end of this
\ncentury.<\/p>\n
\"With the slogans, we can improve the self-confidence of the
\nemployees, promote solidarity among them and more importantly
\npromote awareness of the employees about our business goals more
\neffectively,\" LG's vice president Park Hyeong-Il said.<\/p>\n
Creating the catchy slogans is certainly not a side job for
\nthe company. It hired a major marketing communications company
\nfrom Australia to do the task.<\/p>\n
For LG, using the slogans is not only less costly than
\norganizing workshops to introduce the company's business agenda
\nto its employees, but it produces better results. The impact is
\nquite amazing because with such slogans, the employees are also
\naware where the company is heading.<\/p>\n
\"To be a winner, we have to be innovative in every field,\"
\nPark said.<\/p>\n
LG Electronics is pursuing its 21st century vision of becoming
\na true global digital leader, making its customers worldwide
\nhappy through its innovative products, and to become one of the
\ntop three electronic, information and telecommunications
\ncompanies by 2010.<\/p>\n
For those who are not so familiar with the business, the
\ncompany's goals could be too ambitious given the fierce
\ncompetition in the market. Moreover, electronics giants such as
\nthe Dutch Royal Phillips, Japanese Sony Corp. and Sanyo
\nElectronic Co. Ltd., and Korean rival Samsung Electronics
\ncertainly have similar agendas.<\/p>\n
Samsung, for example, has set a target to lead the digital
\nconvergence revolution. Like LG, Samsung aspires to be one of the
\ntop three electronics companies in the world both in terms of
\nquality and quantity by 2010.<\/p>\n
But to LG's senior executives, their ambitions are realistic,
\ngiven the company's proven track record over the past two decades
\nduring which the company has proven itself as a winning team in
\nthe global market.<\/p>\n
LG was named Gold Star when the company first opened its
\nbusiness in 1958. The company was the first Korean company to
\nproduce transistor radios, refrigerators, TV sets and washing
\nmachines during the period 1959 to 1970.<\/p>\n
After many achievements in the following years, in 1995 Gold
\nStar changed its name to LG Electronics, which would later become
\none of the world's major high-end electronics producers, making
\npremium air conditioners, plasma TVs and LCD TVs, washing
\nmachines and refrigerators, equipped with Internet and LCD
\ndisplays.<\/p>\n
LG began its overseas investment in 1980 when it opened its
\nfirst sales subsidiary in Germany. At present, the company has
\nmore than 70,000 employees in 76 subsidiaries worldwide,
\nincluding 19 in Europe, four in Commonwealth of Independent
\nStates (CIS), seven in the Middle East and Africa, 15 in China,
\n16 in the Asia-Pacific, and five in North America.<\/p>\n
In 2004, overseas subsidiaries contributed about US$32 billion
\n-- or about 86 percent -- to the company's total sales of $37.7
\nbillion.<\/p>\n
At present, the company is the world's largest producer of air
\nconditioners, DVD players, CDMA handsets, optical storage devices
\nand canister vacuum cleaners. Its joint venture, LG Phillips LCD,
\nis the world's top maker of liquid crystal displays for TVs.<\/p>\n
With its huge turnover, LG has been ranked by the New York-
\nbased Business Week magazine as one of the world's top three
\ntechnology companies and tenth in current sales.<\/p>\n
LG Electronics runs its business through four business
\ndivisions -- Mobile Communications, Digital Appliance, Digital
\nDisplay and Digital Media.<\/p>\n
In 2004, the Mobile Communications Division released a broad
\nspectrum of new products to maintain its leadership in the mobile
\ncommunications market. The division launched the world's first
\nterrestrial Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (DMB) handsets,
\nfingerprint recognition handsets for improved security, as well
\nas diet and diabetes monitoring handsets, pioneering mobile
\nhealth care.<\/p>\n
The Digital Appliance Division produces air conditioners,
\nrefrigerators, washing machines, cooking appliances and vacuum
\ncleaners. The home appliances produced by this division are
\nmostly sold to high-end market segments. Its premium air
\nconditioner sets and washing machines are popular both in the
\nU.S. and Europe.<\/p>\n
The Digital Display Division is known throughout the world for
\nits highly advanced technology in digital displays, such as
\nplasma TVs, LCD TVs and LCD monitors.<\/p>\n
Although these premium products are largely sold in the U.S.
\nand Europe, sales in developing countries such Brazil, Russia,
\nIndia, China and Indonesia are on the rise.<\/p>\n
The Digital Media Division produces notebooks, disc recorders,
\nand several other products such as Telematics, MP3 players and
\nDVD recorders.<\/p>\n
LG Electronics' success in the global market is partly due to
\nthe company's ceaseless efforts to expand its production
\nfacilities and strengthen its research and development.<\/p>\n
The company is spending heavily on its production facilities
\nand on research and development to achieve its core objectives.
\nIt allocated up to US$3.1 billion in 2005, a 40 percent increase
\nfrom 2004, to focus on the areas of mobile handsets, DTVs and
\nflat-panel displays.<\/p>\n
The organization currently operates 12 R&D centers outside
\nKorea, including in Russia, Germany, India, the U.S. and France,
\nalong with five design centers in Milan, Italy, Tokyo, New
\nJersey, Beijing and New Delhi.<\/p>\n
The company plans to further its R&D manpower by recruiting an
\nadditional 3,000 people, a 15 percent increase from 2004, as part
\nof its long-term strategy to have 30,000 people involved in R&D
\nby 2007. The company's R&D department in Korea alone employs more
\nthan 3,500 people.<\/p>\n
Future research activities and investment will be directed
\ntoward next-generation core technologies such as home network
\nsystems, car infotainment and mobile AV products.<\/p>\n
Besides strong R&D, the company's success is also possible
\nthanks to its ability to adjust to customer demands in different
\ncountries.<\/p>",
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