The POSCO Art Museum was founded in 1998 to foster creative growth by supporting new and established artists. POSCO began organizing the ‘The Great Artist’ competition in 2014 and since then has supported 53 emerging artists, helping them show their work to new audiences, both near and wide.

Paving Pathways for Emerging Artists  

In 2016, POSCO selected a total of 11 emerging artists working in various media, from photography to sculpture to painting. The exhibition was held at the POSCO Art Museum in Seoul from December 7-30 and showcased a total of 35 pieces. Let’s take a look at the 11 participants from the last competition who pushed the boundaries of creativity.

‘Chaos #10’ by Joolee Kang

Titled ‘Chaos #10’, Joolee Kang expressed the ambiguity of today’s advanced world and the way humans can manipulate the process of natural evolution through means like hybridization and genetic engineering. Kang is passionate about creating art pieces that reflect the way people appreciate and compete with nature at the same time.

‘Imagined Memories’ by Inkyung Kwon

Through his painting titled ‘Imagined Memories’, Inkyung Kwon has expressed how people form memories and anticipations about specific places and spaces to which they belong and how these memories are often explored in the realm of imagination.

‘Kangsan Moojin’ by Chunjae Kim

The setting of ‘Kangsan Moojin’ is the development site of Songdo International Business District in Korea. Chungjae Kim has portrayed the development site as a utopian fantasy and how we are facing a hostile atmosphere while dreaming of a more convenient future.

‘Time of Others’ by Sukmin Park

In this work, Sukmin Park looks at objects that cannot be contextualized in our daily lives and rearranges them through spontaneous imagination.

‘Homage to Becher II’ by Seungwon Yang

Seungwon Yang photographed an observatory tower that has been designed and created for specific purposes in the past. The image explores how buildings can be easily built and destroyed as they exist only in a temporary form.

‘Camino Recto – Madrid’ by Saejung Lee

Through her work ‘Camino Recto – Madrid’, Saejung Lee conveys her impressions of Madrid from when she first visited the city and what was most memorable to her: the Plaza Mayor.

‘Particle G800301 II’ by Yongsun Jang

In ‘Particle G800301 II’ by Yongsun Jang, the artist underscores how everything around us is made of particles and  expresses the mystery of life and the universe under the theme “Luminescent in Darkness.”

‘The Wall in the Mind Ⅲ’ by Yoomi Chung

Yoomi Chung’s ‘The Wall in Mind III’ makes observations on the abandoned styrofoam that can be found all around us. Her work expresses the physiological boundaries that exist between people, which can be tense and soft, or broken down in a moment.

‘Karat Variable Chemical Solution Glass, Electronic Device’ by Jiyeon Jung

Artist Jiyeon Jung created an installation consisting of 10 sound tubes and 9 seed-shaped glasses – all of which have light shining through them. Jung emphasizes how their shape and sound change based on light and temperature, as if they are telling a story on creation.

‘The Maker’ by Jihyeon Jung

Jihyun Jung makes connections between the ordinary scenes around us and the social issues that are present under the surface. In this work in particular, Jung looks at what happens in an apple field without a toilet.

Han Kyungwon ‘The Great Artist’ of 2016 

The winner of ‘The Great Artist’ competition was Han Kyungwon. Han has painted landscapes since she was a university student studying oriental painting, but has moved beyond the traditional to make something individual to her vision.   She expresses her unique viewpoint in an emotionally compelling way by creating and then destroying her work with fire.

Han began painting landscapes with the encouragement of her university professor. Her passion grew and she began visiting the mountainside up to three times per week to paint. However, one day while painting, she became so frustrated that she decided to burn her assignment. Upon looking at the charred remnants of her work, she realized it was more compelling to her than the traditional paintings she had been so focused on creating.

‘Ash-6’ Work of POSCO’s 2017 ‘The Great Artist’ Competition Winner (2010)

Since then, she has been working on the process of creating and destroying her work to reveal the dualities of life. As the winner of ‘The Great Artist’ competition, Han will be awarded with her own solo show at the  POSCO Art Museum in 2017.

The 11 emerging artists who participated in the ‘The Great Artist’ competition all portrayed their unique ideas and passion for art. POSCO will continue to promote emerging artists who have the courage to display their creativity to the world and contribute to pushing the boundaries of art in Korea. Which of these pieces and/or artists inspired you the most?

In honor of his first year at POSCO, CEO Ohjoon Kwon encouraged more than 2,700 employees and board members to have a leader’s attitude and innovate even further during a speech on Feb. 28, 2015.

CEO Kwon’s Special Lecture on ‘POSCO Business Innovation and Leader’s Attitude’

During his speech, Kwon shared three lessons for the company’s future: promoting Innovation POSCO 1.0, having a leader’s attitude, and achieving management objectives and priorities.

“Many people say that the whole world is in a crisis this year, but a business that keeps its ‘top position’ can overcome such a crisis,” Kwon said.

He added that in a situation like this, the company should increase its competitiveness and not rely on outside factors to make it successful. Kwon referred to a few case studies of businesses that overcame a crisis and shared POSCO’s future direction to achieve its five priorities.

Management objectives and priority promotion direction/plan in 2015

CEO Kwon thanked all the employees who worked hard for the company in order to reach last year’s business goals. In his speech, Kwon emphasized the company’s future direction to achieve its next goals. The five main priorities include strengthening the profit structure based on solutions; accelerating business restructuring and clarifying the balance sheet; establishing a commercialization foundation of newly growing core businesses; establishing and expanding work processes based on projects; and strengthening group management efficiency and synergy.

He said to pay particular attention to a platform business model based on technology, a strategy for solution marketing that applies to “steel (hardware), application techniques and commercial support (software).”

Total Leadership and Leader’s Attitude

In order to achieve this year’s business goals and the promotion plan, CEO Kwon says the company needs to focus on “total leadership.”

In his outline of the three main principles of a total leader, Professor Stewart Friedman from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School said authenticity, integrity and creativity makes up “total leadership.” To match with POSCO’s philosophy, the company set Top POSCO, One POSCO and New POSCO as the next steps to achieve “POSCO the Great.”

CEO Kwon’s speech gave employees the opportunity to reflect on the true qualifications of a leader and where POSCO hopes to be in the future. With these principles in mind, POSCO looks forward to achieving its goal to become “POSCO the Great” based on total leadership, which encompasses Innovation POSCO 1.0.

We hope you stay with us as we strive toward our goals!

POSCO hosted Best Case Presentation session of POSCO TRIZ on the 6^th of November. POSCO and PTA (POSCO group TRIZ Association) participated in the event, which was themed around ‘Creative Thinking with TRIZ’. Among the 260 TRIZ utilized project cases, 2 Grand Prize cases and 4 Runner-Up Prize cases were selected through two different preliminary selection process.

POSCO has established TRIZ University in 2010 to provide structured training programs for its entire employees in order to provide improvement in creativity capabilities. The employees has been sharing their successful cases at an annual presentation for projects of excellent results.

POSCO has implemented project-oriented working method this year, establishing their unique innovation model called POSTIM (POSCO Total Innovation Methodology) and replacing it with unified methodology. TRIZ has been used as a tool to provide creative solution to solve technical difficulties within its frame.

Also, Corporate Project Management Department will be supporting this through following activities: providing creative solution related to future corporate cost-reduction, and reducing risk through preliminary verification of ideas using computer simulations.

POSCO’s Strategic TRIZ Methodology

POSCO set-off an insight that problem-solving logic and algorithm of TRIZ can be applied to business category and has been brainstorming about harmony business strategy and TRIZ.

Value of Strategic TRIZ comes from 1) how it develops algorithm that can provide several effective solutions on specific problem, 2) the fact that anyone can easier use it, and 3) how it provides creative ideation method and logical procedure in strategy establishment and business contradictory problem solving by combining traditional strategy and a thought process.

POSCO is now moving one-step forward from strategic TRIZ on to creating process that solves business strategic problem with TRIZ and eventually developing it into ‘POSCO-type Strategic TRIZ Methodology’.

Excellent Cases of ‘POSCO’s TRIZ Application’

[Best Example] Development of Wireless Power Transmission Technology for Cylinder Sensor

–Lee, Ki-bum/ RIST Team Leader

Problems to Solve

In a general steel mill, there are two types of rolling process for a slab: hot rolling and cold rolling. In order to roll a slab, there are spins connected between spins and the rolling mill.

As the motor spins the rolling mill, the mill rolls the slab and creates a torsion which damages the spins. To prevent this from happening, it is possible to attach a strain gauge sensor, the torque sensor, on the surface of spin to diagnose the torsion status. However, the spin continues its circular motion even with the strain gauge sensor which makes it impossible to supply power to the torque sensor. For a consistent monitoring, wireless energy transmission technology could be an alternative solution. As a part of this technology, electric resonance method enables wireless power transmission to the rotating body that is 30cm distant from the power source.

However, a recieving coil attached on the spin for wireless power transmission experiences centrifugal force due to its large size. In order to reduce the centrifugal force, it was attempted to reduce the size of the coil but it caused a contradiction by also creating a decline in the receiving rate. Therefore, TRIZ method was applied to discover a solution to reduce the size of the receiving coil and its tie bar.

Problem Solving Result of TRIZ Method

As a result of various TRIZ method research, it was able to reduce 85% of the frequency shift even when the tie bar was shortened. Also, by applying pattern layering and wave method, more than 30% of the size of the receiving coil was reduced.

The rotating body wireless power transmission system can be used in thick plate, hot and cold rolled steel sheet roughing mill and finishing mill spindle diagnostics. Also, the system is applicable on diagnostics of chatter mark which occurs to hot and cold rolled steel strip.   

[Best Example] Bloom Continuous Casting Machine Claim Reduction and Strand Extracction Improvement 

– Kim, Sung-jul / Research Institute Senior Researcher

Problem to solve

Continuous casting of different grades of steel is a casting method for each different steel grades in a same tundish. Because the areas of blended ingredients that result from this method cannot be retailed as quality products, they are processed as scraps or redundant members.

Since the 4-Bloom continuous casting machine does not have a system that predicts the blended areas, every 12m of a strand has been truncated en bloc. As a result, each process of different grade casting generated 150 tons of scraps. Despite the excessive truncation amount, claims for ingredients of strand products processed through this casting method.

The problem is that if the truncation amount is increased, the claims will decrease but the strand extraction rate will decrease as well. On the other hand, if the truncation amount is decreased, the strand extraction will increase, but the claims will increase as well.

Problem Solving Result of TRIZ Method

According to the analysis on the length of 4-bloom continuous casting mixer, there are differences depending on the strands but they did not exceed a certain length. In other words, if the length of various mixers depending on each processing condition, claims can be reduced and the shortened length for truncation will lead to a situation where extraction rate can be raised.

The very first step of the TRIZ method was a thorough analysis on the cause of the phenomenon and on available resources. The reason for an inaccurate prediction on the mixer and the phenomenon of mixer’s long appearance were thoroughly analyzed. As a result, eight core problems and eight concept solutions for the corresponding problems were concluded.

Furthermore, specific solutions for the eight concept solutions were suggested. The suggested solutions are practical and effective because of their imminent applicability and capability to utilize the existing resources without any capital investment.

In steps of the TRIZ method, the actual situation was reflected for a better prediction for the mixer and established a new forecasting system by utilizing a real-time operation data. When the detailed solutions drawn by the TRIZ method were applied to different steel grades processes, it was successful in both reducing claims for the bloom continuous casting machine and increasing the strand extraction rate.  

[Excellent Case] Drastic Decrease in Working Time for Covering Work Using Water 

– Kim, Seung-Moon / Raw Material Technology Development Team, POSCO

In order to solve two following solutions, water is used for its readily-availability as natural resource: Gunnysack is not suitable for fixing and covering the materials and takes-up too much time manufacturing. Therefore, this can drastically decrease working time and evolutionally increase effectiveness of the covering work.

[Excellent Case] Cost Reduction through Internal/external Steel Structure Unification 

– Kim, Ah-rem/ POSCO A&C

Potential problem caused by temperature change that could occur when modular construction method is applied in Russia and other arctic region was improved through a new idea called ‘Unification of Internal/external steel structure’. In fact, company could achieve 39% cost reduction in comparison to an existing panel.

[Excellent Case] Advanced Supporting Capacity of Electrode Bar through Reverse Thinking 

– Lee, Jae-min/ SNNC

Electrode bar in electric furnace is a crucial function supplying heat to the furnace, therefore, rupture of electrode bar leads directly to revenue loss. With reserve thinking, company could improve supporting capacity of electrode bar and minimized weight of electrode bar placed at bottom part, achieving decrease in electrode bar breakage by 64% using electricity.

[Excellent Case]  Continuing Undersea Tunnel Project with Strategic TRIZ 

– Kim, Sang-min / New-Business Development Team 

TRIZ can not only be applied in technology (IT) area, but also in strategic area. Company could come up with an effective countermeasures using strategic TRIZ for complicating business structure of the undersea tunnel project that connects KwangYang and YeoSu, saving the project from foundering.

POSCO TJ Park Foundation

Named after POSCO founder Tae-Joon Park, the POSCO TJ Park Foundation (Website Link) was established in 2005 as a non-profit organization to make extensive and systematic social contributions. The Foundation runs four core programs: POSCO TJ Park Prize to award outstanding persons in the fields of science, education, and community development & philanthropy; regional contribution programs to participate in the local community and to nurture talents who will contribute to society; POSCO Asia Fellowship for mutual understanding and communication between Asian countries; and TJ Park Science Fellowship to support young and talented basic scientists in Korea. Through these core programs, the Foundation strives to carry out the social responsibilities of POSCO and contribute to its sustainable management.

Let’s have a closer look into the core programs managed by POSCO TJ Park Foundation:

The Core Programs of the POSCO TJ Park Foundation

#1. TJ Park Science Fellowship: Awarding Outstanding Achievements in Science

The TJ Park Science Fellowship selects and supports talented scientists who study and research in a university or institution in Korea, not abroad, to allow them to grow into scientists of global standard. This Fellowship is designed to help young scientists, including graduates of doctoral studies, post-doctoral researchers, and young assistant professors in the fields of mathematics, physics, chemistry, and Biological sciences so that they can focus on their research in Korea with stability and a sense of pride.

#2. Regional Contribution Programs: Nurturing Future Talents

POSCO Rising Star Scholarship

This Scholarship is awarded to high school students in Pohang and Gwangyang where POSCO is located. The purpose of the Scholarship is to practice the corporate philosophy of POSCO to participate in the local community and to nurture talents who will contribute to society.

POSCO Vision Scholarship

This Scholarship is awarded to young students in poor circumstances in Pohang and Gwangyang, where POSCO is located, with the aim to help them focus on their studies with the right attitude and thereby grow into outstanding members of society.

#3. POSCO TJ Park Prize: Honoring Philanthropic Social Contributions

The POSCO TJ Park Prize was established to honor the achievements of POSCO’s Honorary Chairman, Tae-Joon Park, and to promote the company’s efforts to respect creativity, nurture talent, and practice philanthropy – the driving forces behind the company’s success – with the hope that this will encourage the public to make even greater contributions to social progress in the future. The Prize is given in three fields: science, education, and community development & philanthropy to individuals and/or organizations that are selected through a fair, transparent, and strict selection process. The prize presentation ceremony is held every year, where a medal and prize money of KRW 200 million (approximately USD 170,000) is awarded to each laureate. Through the POSCO TJ Park Prize, the Foundation hopes to arouse the drive for research and the pride of the nation’s science & technology sector, contribute to grounding an exemplary image of an educator, and awaken a sense of value in fulfilling the spirit of community development & philanthropy.

#4. POSCO Asia Fellowship: Encouraging Collaboration and Exchange in Asia

One of the key enterprises of the Foundation, the POSCO Asia Fellowship provides scholarships, facilitates academic research, and publishes literary works with the aim to enhance mutual understanding and collaborative exchanges between Asian countries. The objectives are nurturing prospective young talents and encouraging exchanges and collaboration between intellectuals in Asia. Through such efforts, the Foundation aims to contribute to the mutual prosperity of Asian countries as well as the building of a network of talents.

[box] Programs and Scholarships Available within POSCO Asia Fellowship

Scholarship for Asian Students Studying in Korea

This Scholarship supports the prospective leaders of Asia by providing full tuition and living expenses to young talents from Asian countries as they enroll in master’s or doctoral programs at some of the most prestigious Korean universities or institutions and experience the Korean society and culture.

Asia Regional Expert Nurturing Program

This Program is designed to nurture Korean experts of the Asian region by supporting their education abroad so that they can acquire a sound understanding of the language, history, and culture of various Asian countries and establish a solid foundation for further studies and research endeavors. The Program will enable Korean experts to lead the regional studies on Asia and ultimately contribute to the development of the Asian region.

Scholarship for Prestigious Asian Universities

The Foundation is building cooperative relations with prestigious universities in Asia and awarding scholarships to the excellent Asian students at those universities in order to boost their academic achievements.

Asia Research Grant Program & POSCO Asia Conference

This Program aims to support the intellectuals of Asian countries, including scholars, professors, and researchers, as they conduct in-depth research on the cultural and social fields regarding Asia. The POSCO Asia Conference is an international convention where Asian scholars share the results of their research conducted for 1~2 years with the support of the Foundation and establish academic networks.

Publication of the Literary Journal ASIA

The quarterly literary journal ASIA is published to help Asian writers and artists pursue their creative activities and to improve exchanges and networks between countries in Asia through the literary endeavors of intellectuals and literary persons.

◈ To learn more about the eligibility and scope of support for each scholarship/program, click here[/box]

The POSCO TJ Park Foundation is dedicated to further expanding Asia’s academic and cultural networks, nurturing young leaders who will open up a brighter future for the region, and sharing with its neighbors in need. By standing tall as a foundation that establishes POSCO as a respected and loved company by the people and that serves the nation, we will be at the forefront of the efforts to make the world a more abundant and warmer place.

I’m under a lot of pressure at the moment to make multiple big decisions that will have a deep impact in the company’s future. POSCO’s current financial structure is faced with various issues, to say the least. In order to break through this critical moment, we must manufacture and sell a lot of steel and generate a lot of profit. This need led us to our new initiative that is “Solution Marketing.” Solution marketing, in our terms, is bringing our unique hardware – steel products – and software – insights on how to use a given technology to the greatest effect – together. The idea is to secure customer loyalty by forming a sound solution with these two elements. 

Next in the line of focus is new business. I keep a look out for important new projects which seem promising for the company, and put concentrated investment on them. In addition, I focus on employees as well as new business. I always care about employees and their needs. I also think of what I can do to make my employees become happier. I do not agree that a higher income is the only thing that employees care about and want from the company. I always try to make POSCO become the best company, and that all employees are happy.

The team of Innovative POSCO 1.0, established on January 29, 2014, has been working under the new vision POSCO the Great on discovering 380 new business projects until March 14. POSCO employees engage in short term “Quick-Win” projects in stages. By cutting down the number of senior management and introducing project specialists named POSCO Certified Professionals (PCP) or an executive-level project manager, we were able to radically boost decision making speed by trimming down the organization and establish a project-based management infrastructure. In addition, a revamp in the organizational structure brought the number of divisions down from six to four, which are: Steel Business Division, Steel Production Division, Finance and Investment Division, and Corporate Infrastructure Division. We also installed the Value Management Department under CEO supervision to support the successful implementation of Innovative POSCO 1.0.

On May 16, we transferred all discovered new projects to each division, and the head of each division organized the team in charge and established detailed kick off plan to implement and discover Quick-Win assignments. The ‘Great Work Place Commission’ is taking steps to elicit real and tangible improvement in the workplace by merging and discarding certain administrative processes and education policies. Setting EVA (Economic Value Added) as a core performance indicator of POSCO and POSCO group affiliates, efforts are being made to lay the foundation for upholding company values and bolster work engagement by increasing the influence of evaluation.

Revolutionary projects that will change the future of POSCO will soon be implemented in full swing. I hope all of you will regard yourselves as the owner of POSCO and participate enthusiastically and voluntarily.

Although we have been making significant investments both domestically and internationally, sluggish return from large investments during the past few years took a toll on company value and credit ratings. Therefore, I have concentrated on ‘Innovative POSCO 1.0’ to overcome the current problematic situation and prepare the next 50 years of POSCO under ‘POSCO the Great’ since I have taken CEO position. I will change the POSCO’s management paradigm, and it is going to be the big transform from the external growth to internal growth.

Utilizing cash generated from the Chinese super-cycle, POSCO has made aggressive investments for a revival of economic growth for the past few years. Despite massive investments, however, sales and profitability in the steel business dwindled due to deteriorating management conditions. I expect the new projects will take time to be settled because all new projects are at an early stage. Under unfavorable circumstances, all employees and executives should work together to improve internal stability and secure profitability. In light of this, I am planning a full re-evaluation and revamp of POSCO group’s investment businesses.

Firstly, steel investment will prioritize on boosting core steel competitiveness by developing high value-added products, enhancing solution marketing, and establishing a global customer service infrastructure. As for global investment, businesses that are currently under review will be subject to a full-scale re-evaluation, with the main priority being the early stabilization of international production sites which had been adding a burden to the group’s financial structure. In addition, new growth business will promote future mega growth engine through select and concentration. I believe in ‘source material’ and ‘clean energy’ will be the future growth engine for POSCO under the evaluation of technology competitiveness and business fitness of what we have been working on. As POSCO has been leading national economic development with steel business which is the ‘rice for industry’, source material and clean energy business is expected to be a new engine to lead POSCO’s mega growth in the future.

For the “POSCO the Great” ideal to work, we need creative people. There are two types of the creative individual I have in mind: the Expert and the Molder. The Expert creates novel complex technology by utilizing his/her experience and knowledge accumulated throughout a long and focused devotion to a certain field. The Molder fuses professional knowledge from multiple fields to form new values. Because it is difficult for a single individual to have both qualities, we plan to select and support the growth and development of promising individuals for each type.

New employees are trained to become the Expert through the PCP (POSCO Certified Professional) program. A PCP is a talented individual who is knowledgeable of key operations/installations/control technology and is responsible for carrying out strategic tasks and solving technical issues that may emerge in the field. We plan to select experts in commerce, taxation, technical support and overseas as PCP and actively support them as key figures. Meanwhile, we are training the Molders by circulating them in various fields. The Molders are talented individuals who have work experience in various fields including operations and maintenance engineering. Additionally, we are providing education opportunities including MBA/study abroad programs, e-learning, and humanities classes for leaders. We believe that individual effort and an enthusiastic attitude are as important as organizational support. My philosophy in the development of human resources is to establish a virtuous cycle of employees becoming creative experts by utilizing their company’s programs, and their excellent work contributing to the overall increase in the company’s competitiveness.

The most rewarding work was doing focused research on automobile steel, the kind of steel which became POSCO’s lifeline since the 2000’s. I think that period was when we began to conduct “real” research which allowed us to develop unique products and improve POSCO’s competitiveness and productivity. The person who made all this possible was the RIST director Kang Chang-oh. When he was the manager of the steelworks, director Kang used to complain that “researchers are goofs who do nothing but spend money on going to overseas exhibitions.” I seriously considered changing my job when he came over as director of the research center, but he turned out to be a man with an extraordinary sense of responsibility. When he was at the field, he complained about the research center because it did not contribute much to improving the field. When he came to the research center, however, he actively sought for ways to improve the role of the research center. Director Kang and I had many conversations, and the result of our debates on which technology to develop for the future of POSCO was that we should focus on automobile steel. I believe that behind POSCO’s world-class steel today lies director Kang’s automobile steel-focused research policy.

Located at Gwangyang is the Automobile Rolled Steel Research Center, constructed in January 21, 2003. There used to be a heliport for VIPs at the façade of the research center. The problem used to be that we needed a place for an experiment lab facility to develop automobile rolled steel. While sharing ideas in a corridor with director Kang on where would be a good place to install the facility, I looked at the heliport outside the corridor and said, “That heliport would be nice.” Director Kang responded with a silent nod. The next day, he gave me a call from Seoul ordering me to get the automobile rolled steel research center built on the heliport. He had submitted a proposal and gotten approval from the president as soon as he arrived at Seoul. This is how the Automobile Rolled Steel Research Center at Gwangyang was born, and the center became the seed for POSCO’s competitiveness in the field of automobile steel today. It is indeed very rewarding.

POSCO’s technological levels have changed since the year 2000. Prior to 2000, we simply borrowed new technology from Nippon Steel or Thyssen-Krupp. Afterwards, however, we began to develop unique POSCO technology that no other company had. Unique technology is POSCO’s biggest asset in shaping future competitiveness. Products like automobile steel and electrical steel were developed after continuous research. In short, it was POSCO’s competitiveness was spearheaded by its unique technology. The pride of the researcher is to develop a unique product through single-handed research instead of simply borrowing technology. Of course, R&D alone cannot lead to the development of new technology. Mutual cooperation between the engineer at the field and the researcher is needed for a new product to actually be produced, and for that product to be sold cooperation with the marketing team is also necessary. I think such mutually cooperating system is the source behind shaping the future. POSCO’s competitiveness is the integrated and close cooperation of R&D, Manufacture and Sales.

First of all, I thank them with all my heart when I meet them at the field. They all sweat profusely while dealing with melted iron in extreme heat (1,500~1,600℃) with many unexpected risks around, and also sacrifice themselves by working in the cold weather depending on the location. If I am asked as to what I want from them the most, I always answer that I really hope every single employee to work safely. Even a trivial finger injury can make daily activities difficult. Losing one’s life is the disaster of disasters. An entire family may be affected with despair. That said, safety is the most important element. It is my hope to make a work environment that every employee can work safely. I repeat this idea over in my head whenever I go to the field and see my employees’ faces and shake their hands.

It might be an overstatement to say this is my life philosophy, but there are two guidelines that make me behave in a certain way. First of all, I always make an effort to make things better. So, I always keep the phrase ‘No pain, no gain’ in my mind. One cannot see the joy of pleasure without making an effort and experiencing how bitter it was to go through hard times. The saying always keeps me from getting lazy. In terms of personal relationship, I always keep the saying ‘People in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.’ Everyone is different. Therefore, it always causes trouble when trying to understand others in one’s own perspective. This is the saying that I have in mind when I try to understand others in their own perspectives. Also, I aspire to be like ‘water.’ Water always changes shape depending on its container. Water is life’s fundamental element and exerts great force when focused on a singular point. This is how I want to be.

My dream is to make POSCO competitive and also a company that is much prosperous for the next generation. This might be the same to all the CEOs and also to employees. Speaking of the corporations, people tell to ‘manage the company for making the profit of stakeholders as high as possible.’ To me, I consider the role of CEO to make employees inspired and motivated to work. When employees are happy and satisfied with what they do, it automatically brings the profit to stakeholders. If every single employee at POSCO is happy and satisfied with what they do at work, POSCO will definitely be grown. In this sense, ‘the company with employees that are happy with work’ is the most elements for POSCO to be the outstanding company. I would be the CEO to make such a company.

POSCO is different from most of other corporations since our company was made by funds from a claim to Japan as a sacrifice of our ancestors. Therefore, we have to be responsible and in charge of making the way out for POSCO. I would say about three spirits to make such dreams come true. The first is the *Right Turn Spirit as the foundation of our company. *Saemaeul spirit that encouraged us to be well off when we were poor back in the days is the second one. Lastly, the phrase of POSCO ‘Resources are limited, Creativity is unlimited’ is what we should have in mind. Company only grows when something new is accomplished by creativity. Making new technology and methodology based on creativity along with new marketing strategies are specifically needed. Hereupon, everyone at POSCO shall make the greatest effort to build competitiveness of POSCO. POSCO will be developed and grown further if right turn spirit, Saemaeul spirit, and creativity are added. I sincerely hope employees of POSCO to actively participate in ‘POSCO the Great’.

*Right Turn Spirit: The ‘right turn spirit’ comes back to the time when POSCO founder Park Tae Jun was working to construct the first iron and steel mill. The name comes from his legendary saying, “It is the matter of life and death. If we fail, we’ll come out of our offices, turn right, and drown ourselves into the East Sea. We never fail. Never.”

*Saemaeul Sprit (Saemaeul Undong Movement): The new community movement for rural development in South Korea in the 1970s led by the government.

On August 2, POSCO Family companies’ executives gave a visit to Google Korea to experience the working culture of Google and its advanced working environment. The event was held to build mutual understanding and consensus on smart workplace, prior to the launch of POSCO’s ‘POSPIA 3.0: Smart Workplace,’ which is scheduled to operate from the end of this year until February 2014.

Hwang Sung-hyun , a partner from the HR Division of Google’s headquarter, U.S. gave a presentation on ‘Google’s Working Culture,’ introducing Google’s corporate culture and HR system.

During the presentation, POSCO Family companies’ executives showed a big interests on Google’s “20% System,” which promotes its employees’ creativity by allowing them to spend 20% of their working hours to engage into the areas of their own interests. Google’s evaluation management, recruitment and education program also caught the executives’ attention.

A tour around Google Korea’s office was followed and POSCO Family’s executives were able to closely witness Google’s working culture with casual clothing, differentiated environments depending on tasks’ characteristics and sleek interiors reflecting the free spirit of Google’s employees.

Now, POSCO has opened its very own Linkedin page (www.linkedin.com/company/posco).

Through the page, POSCO will aim to build positive relations with all our important interested parties around the world and share up-to-date corporate news and product information. Also, POSCO plans to regularly update the valuable news and information about the steel industry so that it can strengthen its global status as a world-leading steel corporation.

Linkedin, the world’s largest business-dedicated social network service is being used by more than 200 million registered users globally. The majorities of people using the service aim to find jobs, employ new talents, seek business partners and open new overseas markets. It could be a great channel for POSCO to expand its network and communicate with the world.

Linkedin as explained above, let a corporation and its future employees communicate better in an effective way, and here’s another example. Linkedin collects data. Not just any data, but those useful data for your guarantee at a new job. Below is popular buzzwords analysis from previous years in total from different countries around the world, and another diagram shows only the example of US. Having more than 135 million members around the globe, Linkedin was able to track this list from one’s professional identity. One thing you must note here is that on your personal profile, words such as “creative,” “motivated,” “responsible,” and so on, should give a fact. Emphasizing only these words and describing yourself with such descriptions are only a cliché during recruitment at a big firm. POSCO also looks for individuals who are creative, motivated and responsible indeed, but we want more than just that, give us something that makes you stand out from the typical crowd, something “unique” about you as an individual. You can find out more on what POSCO looks for on these two posts: “Pursuing New Talent for POSCO” and “POSCO Abroad, And To Be Part of It”.

Source: Linkedin Blog

Meet POSCO in Linkedin

For POSCO’s overseas corporations, rolling recruitments are generally operated online, as well as through local newspapers and individual recommendations. By POSCO’s Linkedin page, you will be able to apply for your place in POSCO with your fingertips. POSCO is looking for open and globally competent talents with professionalism and fit work ethics. If you are willing to show commitment with your creativity, POSCO welcomes you to be a part of our fascinating organization.