‘Happiness with SK Holdings C&C’
SK Holdings C&C has released a 2015-2016 sustainability report titled "Happiness with SK Holdings C&C” on July 7. It identifies six “sustainable management“ issues the company is tackling, including building trust relationships with shareholders through transparent management, reducing environmental impacts, alleviating the hardships of underprivileged groups and promoting win-win partnership through cooperation with subcontractors. The report demonstrates that SK Holdings C&C abides by long-term economic, social and environmental interests, rather than those confined to the narrow and myopic focus on profit-making. In the introduction to the report, Park Jung-ho, president and CEO of SK Holding C&C, stresses the company’s vision to thrive as a high-quality “Premium IT Services” provider. Corroborating Park’s vision, the report features impressive performances and policies in the R&D area and its commitment to fostering healthy strategic relationships with its business partners.
Operating in the highly specialized knowledge-based industry of IT service, SK Holdings C&C puts the highest priorities to maintaining high-quality information technologies. In 2015, SK Holdings C&C spent 29.6 billion won (US$ 26.4 million) on R&D. Currently, SK Holdings C&C’s R&D efforts are concentrated on developing project management tools (300 cases worth 3 billion won (US$ 2.69 million) such as enterprise application frameworks and platforms, mobile applications and m-commerce solutions (18 cases in total worth 30.2 billion won (US$ 26.9 million) and technologies that facilitate the optimization of smart card and USIM platforms as well as increasing and managing the registered patents. As of 2014, SK Holdings C&C owns a total of 177 patents, of which the number of smart card-related patents amounts to 131, and that of SI, OS, and cloud service-related patents reaches 44.
The report also highlights the company’s strong commitment to fostering win-win partnership with its smaller business partners. The report notes that SK Holdings C&C recognizes its responsibilities as an industry leader to its business partners and strives to foster a healthy future-oriented IT ecosystem. SK Holdings C&C has consistently implemented a wide array of win-win partnership programs for its partners, including joint R&D, the provision of technical support and provision of education and training programs.
The SK Group held a convention for signing the 2016 fair trade agreement with its business partners on March 25, 2016. 10 SK Group affiliates, including SK Holdings C&C and 951 business partners, entered into the agreement. In return, SK Holdings C&C is obliged to carry out detailed provisions relating to the prevention of unfair business practices and the implementation of support programs to enhance the competitiveness of its business partners. The performances and implementation of the provisions are subject to annual evaluation by the Fair Trade Commission in Korea.
Most notably, SK Holdings C&C organized an in-house Win-Win Partnership Committee comprised of multiple divisions including the Procurement Division -- which oversees management of business partners -- the Ethics Management Division -- which is equipped with expertise in fair trade and code of ethics -- and the Business Support Division, responsible for supervising business support.
Beginning last year, the Win-Win Partnership Committee holds monthly meetings with its business partners to foster open communication and enhance mutually held strategic interests. These meetings are organized some times by business division at the company.
For instance, the Smart Factory Business Division held a meeting with its business partners at the company building in Bundang on March 29. The meeting revolved around such topics as benefit sharing, joint R&Ds, provisions on the 2016 Fair Trade Agreement, sharing of SK Holdings C&C smart factory business opportunities and strategies, and the co-development of platforms.
Park Jong-tae, senior vice president of the Smart Factory Business Division, said, “As the smart factory business features a combination of diverse industrial domains, the cooperation with competitive strategic partners to bring together their strengths in information technologies and devices is critical to success,” adding, “SK Holdings C&C will work hard to become a model case in successful win-win partnership practices.”