Lotte names new executives, restructures group

Lotte Group completed group restructuring and naming new executives Thursday, to refresh corporate management under chairman Shin Dong-bin.

After a tumultuous year filled with owner family feuding and allegations of shady transactions, Shin Dong-bin affirmed himself as the official leader of the company, pushing out his older brother Dong-joo and his father Shin Kyuk-ho from frontline management. 

In October, Lotte Group hired McKinsey & Company for management consulting services to restructure the company after Shin promised a more transparent, legally compliant Lotte.

The reshuffle this week reorganized the giant conglomerate into four main business categories, with key Lotte officials posted at the head of each business unit and in the newly created management innovation division.

The policy headquarters of the company, which was responsible for setting the management direction of the group, will be largely split into two branches. A four-team management innovation division will maintain day-to-day operations such as finances, communication and human resource management, while a compliance committee will be tasked with keeping the group’s affiliates in line with legal regulations.

The management innovation division will be headed up by Hwang Gak-kyu, who has run operations at the group since 2014. 

Lotte Group is currently seeking a legal expert to head up its compliance committee. The group’s corporate social responsibility projects will be led by So Jin-se, who has been in charge of Lotte’e external relations. 

The group’s affiliates have also been newly categorized into four business units -- retail, chemicals, food and hotels. Lotte Chemical’s CEO Huh Soo-young has been named the head of the chemicals unit, while Lotte Chilsung Beverage’s CEO Lee Jae-hyuk will lead the food unit. Hotel Lotte’s head Song Yong-duk will lead the hotesl unit and Lotte Department Store’s lead executive Lee Won-jun will direct the retail BU. 

These four executives’ previous positions leading Lotte affiliates have been filled by promoting executives from within each affiliate company. 

According to Lotte Group, the purpose of this restructuring into business units is designed to “streamline the strategies of Lotte affiliates in related industries, while allowing the unit heads to mentor the next generation of Lotte CEOs.”

By Won Ho-jung (hjwon@heraldcorp.com)