Growing Together
The Amore Pacific Group released the 2015-2016 sustainability report titled "Creating Beautiful World” on June 8. The report identifies four strategic directions including customer welfare, preservation of the natural environment, healthy relationships with employees and business partners, and social contributions, which the company has pursued under its suitability management program. The report notes the company’s strong commitment to preserving biodiversity and protecting endangered species, apart from ordinary profit-making tasks as a market player. It also highlights the company’s efforts in grooming global talent and continuous interest in providing a healthy and flexible work environment for workers.
In 2015, the company achieved 5.6 trillion won (US$5.0 billion) in sales, up 20.1 percent from 2014, with its operating profit at 914 billion won (US$816.47 million). These excellent performances in the market seem to be indirectly facilitated by the positive public image created by the company’s commitment to a broad range of social and ethical interests, including those in environmental and human resource areas.
The year 2015-2016 has been a year for Amore Pacific to make a strong commitment to preserving biodiversity and protecting endangered species. Amore Pacific has joined hands with Cheollipo Arboretum to preserve endangered plant species. According to the sponsorship deal signed at Cheollipo Arboretum in Taean-gun (county) on Feb. 19, 2016, the company will donate 190 million won (US$154,283) to Cheollipo Arboretum across the next two years. Based on this partnership, Amore Pacific is planning to create a greenhouse for the preservation of endangered plants and publish a plant book to conserve biological diversity. In addition, Amore Pacific formed a cross-functional team (CFT) to implement the Nagoya Protocol. The CFT holds monthly meetings to discuss international law and regulations related to environmental issues.
Moreover, Amore Pacific has managed a noticeable improvement in the area of human resources development. The beauty company has launched a global training program called the Hyecho Project. The Hyecho project is named after a Buddhist monk from Silla Dynasty, one of the Three Kingdoms on the Korean peninsula during the three Kingdoms period (57 BC - 668 AD). Hyecho is known for his travelogue titled Memoir of the Pilgrimage to the Five kingdoms of India. The program is designed to inculcate Hyecho's adventurous spirit and global outlook into employees and encourage the participants to follow Hyecho's legacy of sharing new findings and insights with their colleagues at home. In 2015, Amore Pacific dispatched the program participants to overseas markets that the company has yet to enter, including 20 cities in South America and the Middle East. These contemporary “Hyechos” are to conduct market researches to help with the company's smooth entry into the new markets in the next few years.
The report also highlights Amore Pacific’s continued efforts to create an organizational culture conducive to high productivity and personal development. Recently, Amore Pacific introduced a flexible working hour system called “ABC Working Time.” Under the system, workers choose their own working hours which allows them to use more time for personal development.