Aside from “business”, “value”, “customer” and “innovation” were the keywords most commonly uttered by the leaders of South Korea’s top 10 conglomerates in their New Year’s addresses. (Image: Yonhap)
SEOUL, Jan. 3 (Korea Bizwire) – Aside from “business”, “value”, “customer” and “innovation” were the keywords most commonly uttered by the leaders of South Korea’s top 10 conglomerates in their New Year’s addresses.
Data provided by leadership assessment service CEOscore revealed that after “business”, which was uttered a leading 32 times, value, customer and innovation were each mentioned 26 times.
Rounding out the five most stated keywords were “change” (22 times) and “growth” (21 times).
Mentions of “business” dropped dramatically from 2016 and 2017, when the word appeared in New Year’s addresses 54 and 51 times, respectively.
President Kim Ki-nam of Samsung Electronics gave the year’s greetings and statements instead of Samsung Group chairman Lee Kun-hee, who is currently bedridden. (Image: Yonhap)
Meanwhile, “value”, “customer” and “innovation” made their first appearances in the top five this year. The frequency with which corporate leadership made note of these terms shows that next-generation technologies in the past year became a topic of major interest in the financial sector, buoyed by the drive of corporations increasingly searching for new revenue sources.
After being the top-five most frequently mentioned in 2016 and 2017, “growth”, “management” and “competition” did not feature as significantly this year.
CEOscore explained, “Until now, most keywords signifying a specific business strategy featured heavily in the frequently mentioned ranks as corporations set their targets on boosting global competitiveness, but after seeing their efforts falter in foreign markets due to backlash such as China’s response to the installation of THAAD missile systems [in South Korea], the [new] keywords have been mentioned more frequently this year in comparison.”
Samsung Electronics’ president Kim Ki-nam said “world’s best”, “business”, “culture” and “organization” three times each, and Hyundai Group chairman Chung Mong-koo said “strengthen”, “future”, “market” and “expand” five times each.
SK Group chief Chey Tae-won and LG Group vice-chairman Koo Bon-joon both stressed “value” and “innovation”, saying each word 10 times, while Lotte Group chairman Shin Dong-bin was only one step behind by emphasizing “value” a total of nine times.
SK Group chief Chey Tae-won and LG Group vice-chairman Koo Bon-joon both stressed “value” and “innovation”, saying each word 10 times, while Lotte Group chairman Shin Dong-bin was only one step behind by emphasizing “value” a total of nine times. (Image: Yonhap)
CEOscore’s data did not include the New Year’s address from Hyundai Heavy Industries, which had not been issued by January 2. President Kim Ki-nam of Samsung Electronics gave the year’s greetings and statements instead of Samsung Group chairman Lee Kun-hee, who is currently bedridden. The Samsung patriarch has not given a New Year’s address since 2015.
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
