Successful companies have three factors in common: 1) A goal that all members share together, 2) empathy for a unified ideology, 3) sharing strategies to achieve a goal. POSCO has been sharing the vision of ‘POSCO the Great’ with all employees and striving to enhance its corporate value. Thus, based on their shared innovation agendas and management ideologies, ‘POSTIM’ was newly established as a powerful execution engine.

1. POSCO’s Unique Innovation Model, POSTIM

POSTIM, which stands for POSCO Total Innovation Model, is based on the participation of all POSCO employees and subsidiaries, as well as integration of work and innovation. By establishing a specific solution to the previous problems and systemizing the accumulated procedures and capabilities through POSTIM, POSCO will make its way to realize ‘POSCO the Great’.

2. Four Basic Principles of POSTIM

POSCO established four basic principles with the goals of increasing profitability, creating a Great Work Place, and enhancing job commitment. The specific principles are: 1) striving to generate profits by integrating work and innovation, 2) offering a reward corresponding to voluntary participation and employee performance, 3) creating a work environment in which employees are committed to creative activities and jobs, and 4) fostering and giving preferential treatment to talented individuals with technical and problem-solving skills.

3. POSTIM’s engine for implementation

POSTIM consists of PWS, QSS+, and SWP activities. Each activity will act as an engine for implementation to practice the management ideologies – One POSCO, Creative POSCO and Top POSCO – and fulfill POSCO’s innovation agendas. POSTIM is expected to contribute greatly to accelerating the fulfillment of ‘POSCO the Great’ by systemizing the accumulated organizational competences, such as innovation methodologies, human resources and systems within a unique innovation model

• PWS (Project-based Working System)A business method in which employees find new projects to increase profitability, attain qualitative goals, and concentrate on producing outstanding results

• ŸQSS+ (Quick Six Sigma Plus) in every corner of the siteActivities to improve Quality, Stability and Safety by evolving a unique method suitable for steelworks with a focus on operating facilities. Accordingly, steel mill sites such as STS steel manufacture and quality-technology departments, are accelerating the realization of ‘POSCO the Great’ by having proclamation ceremony for QSS+ and holding an information session in each department. POSCO expects QSS+ to root down firmly in every corer of the sites and contribute as a stepping-stone for unprecedented innovation activities.
• SWP (Smart Work Place)A series of activities carried out to enable employees to concentrate on their jobs by performing high value-added tasks and generating creative ideas based on a harmonious and positive organizational culture.

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Notes from CEO

 “Let’s develop POSTIM as POSCO’s unique innovation model”

If the innovation methodology that POSCO has been promoting was in a physically mixed condition, the new POSTIM is the result of chemical bonding of innovation methodologies. For example, we utilized TESAL and Six Sigma individually in the past. However, as TESAL’s good methodology is applied to Six Sigma, POSTIM is a systemized model that is not limited to a certain methodology and allows combined application. Through this new model, POSCO is able to apply the majority of the existing methodologies with further convenience and can choose the part to include in POSTIM if a better methodology is developed in the future. Let’s develop POSTIM as POSCO’s unique innovation model.

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It was their second encounter since CEO Chung had visited Google’s headquarters in April, 2012. Through using ‘Hangouts,’ a video conference solution by Google, the meeting was held for about half an hour. During the smartly held meeting, Mr. Chung said “POSCO’s Smart Workplace (SWP) is shifting the way POSCO operates and its corporate culture to a great extent. This revolutionary platform, with speed, openness and information technologies from cutting-edge corporates such as Google, is being fused with POSCO’s unique corporate culture.” Chairman Schmidt replied by saying “The momentum POSCO has shown for these changes is very surprising.”

POSCO’s SWP consists of communication and cooperative work solutions via Google’s Gmail, Google+, Google Search and other tools. Since the launch, there has been monthly average of 14,000 transmissions of exchanging knowledge and ideas amongst POSCO’s employees. Also, costs for off-line meetings and reports have been cut down by about 30 percent given the online working solution. The times spent for decision-making procedures illustrated a 63 percent reduction per day with the mobile office environment having no time and space limitations.

Since SWP was introduced POSCO employees have been able to engage their tasks through smartphones or PCs in real time at wherever they may be. As the figures show above, business decisions can now be determined much faster than before as SWP provides quicker communication and cooperation. Notably, a knowledge share system has been constructed to allow POSCO’s entire staff around the globe to inquire, search, access and compile information on specific issues. The system is designed to maximize POSCO’s collective intelligence to synergize its operations and productivity.

POSCO is planning to provide ‘know-hows’ of constructing SWP environment for its mutual investment companies by the end of 2013. In collaboration with Google, the new, revolutionary culture will be broadly shared with every POSCO employees. Keep watching out for the future POSCO and Google are making.