POSCO supplies magnesium sheets for Samsung Electronics’ “2017 model of Samsung Notebook 9 Always.” The Notebook 9 series is Samsung Electronics’ flagship model that touts ultra-light, high-strength metal materials. (Photo courtesy of Samsung Newsroom)

Samsung Notebook has been working to develop laptops that are slim and lightweight without having to sacrifice durability. Typically, durable laptops and electronics had to come with heavy metals. In order to keep their laptops lightweight, Samsung previously used magnesium-lithium sheets from overseas suppliers, which had good machinability, but low hardness, making them vulnerable to dents.

Starting with duralumin (a high-strength aluminum alloy made by mixing copper, magnesium and other elements) in 2011, Samsung has been aggressively pursuing metals that are lightweight yet durable. In 2016, POSCO began supplying its magnesium sheets for the Notebook 9 that was just 840g. In 2017, Samsung’s Notebook 9 was brought down even further to 799g – helping to significantly expand Samsung’s presence in the ultra-light notebook market.

In World War II, magnesium sheets, known to be one of the lightest metals, were used in long-range bombers. More recently, they have been used in high-performance sports due to their high-strength and lightweight qualities. POSCO leveraged its own process technology to further enhance these properties and began to mass-produce and supply them in 2015. These magnesium sheets, made with a rapid solidification process that is capable of precision control, are tempered several times and undergo a special heat treatment until they reach a final thickness of 0.5mm. POSCO succeeded in improving the surface hardness by more than 20% and the yield strength by more than 50%, compared to its competitors, while still maintaining a high level of machinability.

In addition, Samsung Electronics applied the state-of-the-art plasma surface treatment method, the MAO (Micro Arc Oxidation) method, to the formed magnesium body. This improves its durability against external impacts, corrosion, and scratches – further enhancing its value as a premium product.

POSCO’s magnesium sheets were used in the bottom casing of the Samsung Notebook 9

POSCO is continuing to develop new products through close cooperation with Samsung Electronics – the two companies plan to leverage their respective strengths and technologies to launch various products according to customer needs. By developing their technology and customized materials, POSCO aims to reach their goal of providing more magnesium materials for mobile devices as well as making magnesium sheets the new standard for various mobile products.

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Fortune announces the top 500 global brands every year by selecting them based on performance in areas such as sales and operating profit from the previous year. POSCO ranked 161^st, 146^th, 167^th, 177^th, 162^nd each year since 2011, and 173^rd this year.

This is the result of the company furthering their technological developments and creating profits through cost reduction and innovation projects, all despite the global steel crisis that has continued for years.

Among the global steelmakers, ArcelorMittal ranked 123^rd, NSSMC 238^th, and Baoshan steel 275^th.

Meanwhile, U.S. company Walmart has been ranked number one for three consecutive years, with Exxon Mobil, Volkswagen, Toyota and Apple also being included in the top 10 list. Along with POSCO, a total of 15 Korean companies including Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motors were included in the 500 companies listed. The number of Chinese companies in the list has been steadily increasing from 95 in 2013 to 110 this year.

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The training program has been carried out by POSCO since 1997, keeping pace with the growth of overseas projects, and aims to imbue a sense of unity and loyalty among POSCO employees. Participants of the program are among the very best employees from each overseas subsidiary.

As of last year, 2,350 staff members from 59 overseas subsidiaries in 22 countries have completed the training program, which has consisted of 76 sessions over a period of almost 20 years.

This year, POSCO emphasized the history of the organization, as well as its entrepreneurial spirit by utilizing newly developed “POSCO’s Entrepreneurial Spirit” and “Sense of Ownership” courses, as well as POSCO GTaLK (POSCO Global Teaching and Learning Kit), POSCO’s unique global standard educational material.

The Best Employee Program commenced with an orientation ceremony and welcoming luncheon. Participants then learned about the history and value of POSCO through lectures and activities, including “POSCO in KOREA,” a new addition to the program which aims to instill a high level of corporate pride in participants.

“POSCO in KOREA” lets employees experience the fruits of POSCO’s labor, as well as the results of its solution marketing first-hand by visiting its landmarks and areas such as Pohang, Incheon and Songdo, where POSCO has left its mark.

Staff members were particularly impressed with POSCO’s efforts for regional development after witnessing the sheer size of Pohang Steelworks, and visiting the Pohang Steelers stadium along with POSTECH.

In Songdo, Incheon, participants were able to expand their knowledge of group companies by visiting POSCO Daewoo and the offices of POSCO E&C. In Seoul, they had time to experience the excellence of POSCO products, which are being utilized in the world-class products and facilities of Samsung Electronics and Lotte World Tower.

“Upon seeing how extensive POSCO’s contributions have been to Korea’s development, we have pledged to become members of POSCO who lead the development of our own respective countries,” noted a program participant.

Starting with this first training session of 2016, POSCO Group University plans to invite approximately 180 employees from overseas subsidiaries over six sessions by October of this year.

Meanwhile, POSCO Group University continues to systematically foster leadership by operating the Leaders’ and Directors’ Course for local staff in overseas subsidiaries.

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Since 2005, the WEF has released the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World Index (Global 100 Index) through Corporate Knights, the Canada-based media and investment advisory company. In the belief that corporate competitiveness and sustainability involve not only a company’s financial performance but also its contribution to environmental and social sectors, corporations are evaluated across 12 “key performance indicators” and ranked accordingly.

Receiving favorable evaluations in R&D innovation, energy efficiency and governance index, among others, POSCO maintains its leading position in the domestic manufacturing industry. Among Korean corporations, Shinhan Bank (18th), LG Electronics (44th) and Samsung Electronics (94th) also made the list. Meanwhile, BMW, the German automobile company, came in first while other global conglomerates such as Coca Cola (13th), Intel (38th) and GE (70th) followed.

Being selected as one of the top 100 corporations in 2016 is significant, as there were many difficulties in the market last year, including global oversupply, slumps in major industries and strengthened import regulations in export destinations. Furthermore, structural regulation was conducted for financial structure improvement.

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On June 30, NCCP Chairman Ahn Chung Young announced the evaluation results for 2014 at its 35^th general meeting at Seoul Palace Hotel.

The evaluation is divided into four grades; best, excellent, satisfactory and fair. One hundred twelve major companies which have great economic influence, according to business type and of impact of shared growth among the top 450 major companies in terms of sales, were assessed. The value of shared growth indexes is quantified by evaluating the shared growth levels of major companies in order to create fair trade and a culture of shared growth among major companies and SMEs.

Only 19 companies, including POSCO, were awarded the highest grade, 37 companies were awarded an excellent grade, 42 companies, including POSCO E&C, received a satisfactory grade and the remaining 14 companies received a fair grade.

Companies who achieve the highest grade receive benefits for one year with the Fair Trade Commission, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Public Procurement Service and National Tax Service.

POSCO won additional accolades and was selected as one of “The Most Honorable Company” recipients. It has secured this title for three consecutive years along with Samsung Electronics, Hyundai Mipo Dockyard, SK Global Chemicals and SK Telecom. This honor means being recognized as having earned the highest grade and be given the same incentives as the highest grade for an additional year, even in the case of receiving an excellent grade next year.

POSCO will develop “Creating Shared Value” (CSV) programs and policies which promote ways to achieve sustainable partnerships with cooperating companies and plans to continue operating as an exemplary company of shared growth by actively promoting these programs.

Since 2005, the Davos Forum has been announcing the ‘Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations’ (hereinafter referred to as Global 100) through the Canadian media-investment consulting company, Corporate Knights.

Corporate Knights examined companies with significant global market capitalization to select the Global 100. Companies were evaluated on 12 main indices, including energy productivity, innovative capacity, staff turnover, and staff versus CEO compensation. In order to achieve high rankings, companies must score well on social, environmental and financial scores, rather than solely on financial measures.

This year’s Global 100 lists four Korean corporations, including POSCO. After ranking 30^th, the best ranking ever for Korean corporations in 2012, but POSCO wasn’t included in the Global 100 for the two years following. However, POSCO re-entered at 36^th this year, as the first evaluation conducted since the inauguration of CEO Ohjoon Kwon. On the other hand, Samsung Electronics ranked 45^th, LG Electronics ranked 51^st, and Shinhan Financial Group ranked 70^th.

POSCO’s highest ranking of any Korean corporation on the list shows that it has been recognized for the efforts of its staff and executives to create a good workplace with reduced staff turnover through sustainable management. It also brought positive results in terms of transparency of information release, including the *ESG integrated report by POSCO affiliates implemented since last year. POSCO was highly praised for the way it has carried out added-value improvements, such as making steel by-products resources and reusing, and in enhancing innovative capacity through R&D investment.

Along with the selection in the Global 100, POSCO has been selected as an excellent corporation in the SAM-Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes for 10 years running, which is the first case for any company in the steel industry. In particular, POSCO has been awarded in three sectors; POSCO has won the ‘Industry Leader’ as well as the ‘Industry Mover’ who get the highest rated compared to last year, as well as ‘Gold Class’ for being in the 1% of industry leaders.

Meanwhile, POSCO was selected as the ‘No.1 steel competitiveness of the world’ last year by World Steel Dynamics (WSD), a global steel specialized analysis institute. It was the fifth time running to win the prestigious title. The WSD has conducted its evaluation based on 23 indices, including the size of production and profitability, technology innovation, price determination power, cost reduction, financial soundness and securing raw materials, among 36 steel corporations worldwide.

*ESG 
Since corporation results in the area of Environment, Social and Governance do not appear in the financial element, ESG is defined as the core evaluation element when deciding investment under the UN Principles for Responsible Investment.

Please congratulate POSCO for being selected as one of the best companies to work for in South Korea! According to 2014 Korea Great Work Place Index (K-GWPI), POSCO ranked 1st in steel industry – for seven consecutive years – and 3rd in manufacturing sector as the ‘Best Company to Work For’. K-GWPI was developed by Korea Management Association Consulting (KMAC) in 2008 and it releases annual reports to encourage corporations to promote ‘happy workplaces’ since KMAC’s annual reports act as an objective measurement for corporate evaluations.

K-GWPI released its 7^th report this year, and over the period of three months since March to June, it surveyed over 6,200 industry workers, 300 Human Resource specialists via both online and offline questionnaires. The aim is to nominate ‘Best 30 Corporations’ regardless of industry and to honor ”The Best Corporation” in each industry.

POSCO Tops in Steel Industry for Seven Consecutive Years

‘The Best Corporation’ survey was based on 220 companies of 47 industries, including 17 from manufacturing, 22 from service and 8 from public sector.  In this assessment, POSCO recorded a score of 78.1, which granted POSCO seven consecutive win as the steel industry’s best company since the initial start of KMAC’s annual reports in 2008.

This result shows that, POSCO has been successfully managing and investing in its employees despite of difficult business environments, locally and abroad. This effort, along with the seven-consecutive-year title as the industry’s leading company, will not only secure happiness amongst workers, but also contribute in achieving future corporate goals.

POSCO Selected in Top 3 in Manufacturing Sector

‘Best 30 Corporations’ were selected from a total of 101 candidates (Manufacturing Sector 50 Corporations · Service Industry 51 Corporations) and POSCO came in third on the list, following Samsung Electronics and Yuhan-Kimberly.

According to KMAC, POSCO ranked high on the list for various aspects, including excellent vision (3^rd), fair system in HR (3^rd), happy corporate culture (5^th), commitment of employees (4^th), and overall happiness level (3^rd).

This year’s reward is especially more meaningful since POSCO has earned recognition for its effort in enhancing working environments and satisfaction of the employees. In comparison with corporate evaluation from last year, POSCO stepped up from 9^th to 5^th and 4^th to 3^rd in ‘happy corporate culture’ and ‘overall happiness level’ category respectively.

POSCO’s Efforts to be ‘The Great Company to Work At’

1. Extended and Flexible Retirement Age 

Reflecting social trends and changes in the world, POSCO extended retirement age from 56 to 58 years old. Furthermore, POSCO has been boosting motivations of employees by adopting a salary peak system and hiring back retired employees.

2. Improvement in In-house Baby Care System 

POSCO made significant improvements in POSCO’s daycare center and other maternity-related policies, including, but not limited to, maternity leave up to 2 years, flexible working hours, and flexible leave of absence to support all employees to seek happiness and balance between work and home.

3. Expanding Opportunities in Employees’ Cultural and Leisure Life 

POSCO offers tickets, opportunities and access to various events, concerts, eco-friendly farming educational center POSCO ECOFARM, and other diverse recreational facilities where both employees and his/her family can interact and spend quality off-work time.

4. Please check out more for what else POSCO is doing for employees! (Please click the titles)

“POSCO, the Great Company to Work at” Episode #1 Training Future Global Leaders at POSCO

‘POSCO, the Great Company to Work at #2’-Building Global Competence: POSCO’s Global Human Resource Development Programs

‘POSCO, the Great Company to Work at #3′: The Health of Employees Represents the Company’s Power, POSCO’s Health Up Program!

 Pictured here: The first production using eco-friendly FINEX method at POSCO’s plant

For the 11^th consecutive year, POSCO has been named one of the ‘Most Respected Companies in Korea’ by the Korean Management Association Consultants (KMAC).  POSCO topped the list in the steel industry category for its 11^th straight year. In addition, POSCO ranked second in the overall ‘All Star Company’ category for 8 straight years. The ‘Most Respected Companies in Korea’ ranking is the only comprehensive survey model in Korea and was developed in 2004 by KMAC to evaluate and publish the value of Korean companies.

Lessons from one of Korea’s most respected companies

The importance of corporate reputation has achieved all-time highs nowadays. POSCO was recognized on this year’s Interbrand’s Best Korean Brands list for its second consecutive year. It must be doing something right.  A great company does not just excel because of its products, but because of its values and other initiatives. Fortune annually publishes its World’s Most Admired Companies list  and 100 Best Companies to Work For list to distinguish the best from the rest. What lessons can be learned from Korea’s leading steelmaker?

POSCO was highly rated for its CSR activities, reliability, values, talent fostering, employee welfare, and eco-friendly management in addition to ethical management. It also gained recognition as Korea`s leading company in fulfilling social responsibilities through internal activities, resulting in increased profitability and decreased production costs, volunteer activities with all employees participating, 1% sharing activities for the socially disadvantaged, and support for multi-cultural families.

Pictured here: POSCO’s women employees participating in Women’s Mentoring Day, held since 2011

 Pictured here: Joint effort between POSCO’s global volunteering program, Beyond, and Habitat for Humanity

Methodology

The ‘All Star Companies’ category includes the 30 most respected Korean companies regardless of industry and is based on a survey of 5,920 industry officers, 230 securities company analysts, and 4,560 general consumers between  October 2^nd, 2013 through January 6^th, 2014. Companies are surveyed based on the following six factors:

1)     Innovation capability

2)     Shareholder value

3)     Employee value

4)     Customer value

5)     Social value

6)     Image value

See below for the 2014 top 10 ‘All Star Companies’ list:

1.     Samsung Electronics

2.     POSCO

3.     Yuhan-Kimberly

4.     Yuhan Corporation

5.     Hyundai Motors

6.     Incheon International Airport

7.     SK Telecom

8.     LG Electronics

9.     Samsung C&T

10.  Samsung Life