SK Chairman Chey Tae-won advocates social value measurement model in Davos

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won promoted the need to upgrade measurements of social value creation during his speech at the World Economic Forum that is underway in Davos, Switzerland, the firm said Thursday.

“It is not an option but an obligation to change the goals and systems of corporate management from the interests of shareholders to those of stakeholders,” he said in a panel session held under the theme of “Stakeholder Capitalism in the Asian Century” at the Davos Congress Center. He added that capitalism seeks to benefit not only shareholders, but also customers, employees, suppliers, communities and governments.

Likening it to a company’s performance reflected in financial statements, Chey said, “We should measure social values and enhance social performance based on the measurement.”

This calls for a need to develop objective and reliable measurement techniques.

Chey has been vocal in raising corporate social value creation, proposing during the 2013 Davos Forum that companies provide incentives to those who contribute to the cause.

SK has developed its own measurement methods and measured social values created by social enterprises since 2014 and those created by SK affiliates since 2018. In addition, it has formed the nonprofit Value Balancing Alliance in cooperation with Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development, the World Bank, the world’s four biggest accounting firms and other global companies to develop a standardized measurement model that can be internationally accepted, the firm explained.

“Using big data and artificial intelligence technology, we can better understand social issues that each customer cares about and provide more optimized services to each individual, thereby contributing to resolving more social problems.”

At the Davos Forum, SK Corp. created the “SK Lounge” in downtown Davos to display the activities that the group has promoted for social value creation.

Meanwhile, SK Innovation President Kim Jun, SK Telecom President Park Jung-ho, chief of Social Value Committee in SUPEX Council Lee Hyung-hee, and President and CEO of SK hynix Lee Seok-hee also attended this year’s WEF to find new growth engines while networking with global entrepreneurs.

(khnews@heraldcorp.com)