Smooth transition?

Park Yong-maan Doosan Group Chairman

Doodan leader-designate unproven in management skills

Korea’s mighty family-owned conglomerates will always talk about who is next in line to lead what they continue to see as family businesses.

Doosan Group, which is continuing its transformation from a company reliant on consumer goods to a power in heavy industry and machinery, appears to have picked its future chairman.

It announced recently that Park Jeong-won, head of Doosan Engineering and Construction (E&C), will now double as chairman of Doosan Corp., the conglomerate’s holding company. He is the oldest son of Doosan Honorary Chairman Park Yong-kon and the oldest among the fourth-generation members of the conglomerate’s founding
family.

“Park Jeong-won will help Group Chairman Park Yong-maan supervise all of the group’s business,” said a spokesman for the company.

Park Jeong-won Doosan Corp. Chairman

Industry observers say that, in empowering Jeong-won, those calling the shots in Doosan’s upper management continue to show a deft touch in handling wealth, power and egos between the Park brothers and sons. Other Korean chaebol like Samsung, Hyundai and Kumho have endured bitter sibling rivalries over corporate wealth once first-generation owners retired. But aside from a brief spat between Doosan Heavy Industries Chairman Yong-sung and his late brother Yong-oh, the Park family has managed to keep its differences in-house.

Jeong-won is the biggest individual shareholder of Doosan Corp. with a 4.35 percent stake he inherited from his father. Yong-maan owns 2.85 percent of the group’s holding company, while former Group Chairman Yong-hyun controls 1.99 percent of it.

The potential problem for Doosan is that Jeong-won, 50, has yet to prove himself as a skillful business leader. Doosan E&C sustained about 300 billion won in losses last year after being exposed to the country’s toxic real estate and construction market.

The shaping of Doosan’s management succession system goes back to the 1980s. That was when Yong-kon, the oldest third-generation member of the Park family, handed the torch to the late Yong-oh. Yong-oh was eventually replaced by Yong-sung, who was succeeded by Yong-hyun. Yong-maan succeeded to the throne two months ago.

The conflict between Yong-oh and Yong-sung shook the group in 2005. Yong-oh accused Yong-sung of embezzlement, which led to a prosecution investigation into Doosan. Yong-oh was forced out of the company around that time and committed suicide in 2009.

Doosan initially started as a brewery, but has transformed to focus on heavy industry. Doosan says its strength has come from its vast array of products and services ranging from areas such as agriculture and automotives to construction, engines and power generation.

The company is also gearing up for globalization by aggressively reaching out to overseas markets. Doosan is doing business in 33 countries and argues that it speaks the universal language of growth and progress, working with countries and companies around the world.

Shares of Doosan Corp. closed at 128,000 won Thursday, up 7,000 won or 5.79 percent from the previous day. Doosan E&C also saw its share price rise by 1.84 percent to 3,050 won thanks to the succession effect. <Korea Times/Kim Jae-won>

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