What is the true Amorepacific culture that makes us who we truly are and become more beautiful and grow? Our Culture Boosters who lead various activities across various parts of our organization for the development of Amorepacific culture met with Chairman and CEO Suh Kyungbae to reflect on the today and discuss the tomorrow of our corporate culture.
Let’s take a look at the tea time that was full of positive and fun energy much like the refreshing aroma of the cup of tea they enjoyed together – OSULLOC Red Papaya Black Tea.

“Today, we are very much focused on building ‘our culture’. Amorepacific grew to what it is today based on a customer-centric culture. And in that process, we also built our cultural strengths such as diversity, work-life balance, and business efficiency. Sustainable growth in line with the trend of our time begins with continuously looking back on our corporate culture and a deep discussion on how to change and further advance it.
This is the reason why I look forward to today’s discussion with you, our Culture Boosters, who are dedicated to leading our culture.”

One of the things we do best is creating a wide range of products and delivering them through various channels by quickly and flexibly responding to various customer needs. We also have the opportunity to grow together with the company by working with members from different backgrounds. The fact that the company has continued to create an environment where men and women can work together in Korea is an important part of our culture that ensures and respects diversity, especially because, this is what led us to building a culture where global members, regardless of gender or nationality, can work together, collaborate and reach their potential.

Our history began from the question, ‘what can we do well for our customers?’. More than 30 brands under Amorepacific Group reach global customers of different segments and ages every day. We build data through the close encounters with our customers, which then becomes the foundation to develop our own unique customer-centric culture. Customers becoming our fans,
us becoming our customers’ fans, exploring and understanding what customers want, and our customer-centric culture that builds strategy and implements actions to realize their needs have been our dedication and a value that we will keep in the future as well.

Another cultural strength that many members find satisfying is a work environment that allows individuals to find a balance between work and life. This does not simply mean that they leave work at a reasonable hour. Our culture encourages members to solely focus on work during the day so that after work they can fully focus on their personal lives without bringing the stress of work into their personal life. Another notable aspect is that members can address matters they may not have enough time for at work. At the Global Headquarters, for example, members can work out on the 5th floor and get a medical checkup at the clinic on the 16th floor. These small yet warm attention and care the company provides for its members also help them achieve work-life balance.

The word ‘kind’ best describes our members. ‘Kindness’ does not simply mean being nice to others. The ‘kindness’ that is unique to Amorepacific refers to the culture of working with sincerity and respecting and being considerate of others fully with our hearts. The products we make that are taken orally or applied to skin all have a direct and physical impact on customers. We believe that our kind energy is delivered through our products. And this energy returns to our members to have a deeper, a more sincere and kind heart. The value that Amorepacific, a company that pursues beauty, believes to be important is also in line with ‘kindness’. It is a kind culture of creating beauty in our local communities and the environment beyond just a pursuit of the simplistic external beauty or company profit. Members are engaged in various programs to achieve these goals, feeling a sense of belonging and pride to be a part of a ‘kind’ organization.

The strength workshops that are held by many companies trigger positive effect in reflecting on the strengths of a company’s culture together and further deepening that culture. What did you think through the workshop were some of our cultural strengths? And what do you believe we must protect and continue?

A notable aspect of our unique cultural strength is 'a sense of responsibility'. I believe that a strong sense of responsibility is closely related to our strong will and commitment of being the first and the best. The two are like two sides of a coin. A responsible person thinks ‘I have to do this now’ and immediately turns that thought into action. This triggers a will to commit and win. This will and commitment towards winning is what drove Amorepacific. For anything we began for the first time, we became No. 1. And this becomes the driving force that leads to another ‘first’ and another ‘best’. So, we must never be complacent in feeling a sense of responsibility and having the will and commitment to win. It is like a muscle – when you build your muscle, the muscle fascia around the muscle tears leading to pain, but this is the process of building your muscle. Also, we must ‘individualize’ the unique individualities to create ‘the first’ that is different from others. Once you make something unique and different, you gain self-confidence, which leads to leadership and ultimately something creative. Individualization leads to something that is ‘the first’, and a strong sense of responsibility creates ‘the best’.

I was full of curiosity from a young age. When I got curious about one thing, I would think and focus only on that one thing. I especially liked building things, and I would get immersed in building tanks and airplanes until late hours as a kid that should have been in bed by 9. My mother respected and understood my curiosity. I still enjoy building models and frequently purchase items overseas to build and paint them. This active curiosity is an important part of what gives me focus and helps me feel a sense of achievement. There will be some members who, like me, have curiosity, while there will be others with different strengths. It is important to achieve self-innovation in a culture where all members with different strengths and individualities can reach their potential and to bring all these strengths into one corporate culture. A culture that believes in diversity is the starting point of change towards becoming the first and the best.

There is no clear answer when it comes to creating a culture. And so, it is important to identify the good strengths we have and establish a direction on how to grow our strengths further. What would be the direction you propose for our corporate culture to move towards as a leader of this company?

We can find the answer to that in the footsteps of our diligent and busy past. That is looking back at how our customers loved us. The essence of Amorepacific is ‘Product Company’. We were dedicated to providing our customers with the best products ever since we sold camellia oil in Kaesong. It was possible because we extracted oil from carefully selected material and boldly threw away any unnecessary parts of the material. From the camellia oil to ABC Pomade, hair products and products of good ingredients with fragrance and design, we continued to innovate and kept our position on the dressing tables of our customers. We overcame difficult times by launching brands like Sulwhasoo and HERA in the 1990s. At that time, it was important to deliver a brand value that adds great design and craftsmanship to a product of best quality. Since then, we experienced the times of realizing the importance of tenacity in explaining, persuading and promoting our products to our customers, to today as we work to find a new and refreshing way to approach customers in the digital age. The topic of conversation now is to closely observe our customers and introduce our products in line with the habits of the Millennials, segmented skin types, and various environmental issues. One thing that stays constant during this entire journey is a customer-centric culture. We were able to create excellent and creative products because we protected and kept our culture of quickly responding to customer needs, actively communicating with customers, and fiercely contemplating on how to reach and communicate with our customers. Isn’t this our unique cultural strength?

Another notable aspect is how we created an environment where men and women communicate and work together for the past 20 to 30 years. Whenever I hear of the gender issues that occur in our society, I feel saddened. This is because I believe it’s important for diverse people, regardless of gender, to come together, to interact and collaborate. I hope to create a culture that brings down walls we build between us and encourages us to interact, communicate and become close, so that members can build strong relationships within that culture.
Communication and harmony are also important values we must not overlook even in the digital age. Generation Z is called the generation of digital natives, who are thought to build relationships through devices and enjoy being alone. I still believe that relationships and respect among individuals must be protected as in the past. I hope to create a culture where we respect others and become people who can be respected, with the support of various schemes or programs to this end.
Of course, all organizations have some bad cultural aspects. But these weaknesses must be identified and improved for the growth and development of an organization. In this perspective, one of my biggest concerns is today’s ‘anonymity’. Anonymity can help in improving bad practices of the past, while blaming or talking ill of others behind the mask of anonymity does absolutely nothing for the development of our culture. I hope to create a culture that can encourage harmony with other members by openly expressing one’s thoughts and communicating with others.

I see that our corporate culture is changing in a positive way through our Culture Booster activities. And I am motivated to think about more ways to further deepen and lead these changes. Are there any companies that we can turn to as role models or to learn from in terms of corporate culture?

In this digital age, I would like to point to Amazon and Google. Amazon is doing great things in the 4th industrial revolution era, while Google is achieving notable changes. Both Amazon and Google are experiencing changes in the members of the organization throughout the journey of the companies growing. And accordingly, they are learning more about their members, and are actively engaged in building and further developing the corporate culture created by its members. I would also like to mention Nike, especially the brand’s tenacity and commitment towards quality.

It seems that there are a lot of people who feel comfortable being a part of the mainstream rather than showing and expressing individuality, maybe because Korea is an ethnically homogeneous nation. What efforts must we make to create a culture that respects diversity? Also, what would your advice be to Culture Boosters in their role of encouraging synergy effect among various members, channels and different teams and divisions?

I don’t believe that Korea is an ethnically homogeneous nation. In our past, the country was a mix of northern people and southern people with different appearances and cultural diversity. That diversity disappeared with the introduction of a Confucian order. Our history of achieving rapid industrialization also led to uniformed and standardized values. However, things have changed again. Just look at the Millennials and you can see that we are now living in an era of diversity. I especially see that our society is moving towards understanding and accepting diversity in how we discuss and talk about diversity issues such as different values or homosexuality. Therefore, it is important that we deeply understand, respect and be considerate of diversity. How about we first create a culture that encourages members to share with others their individualities and qualities, and that promotes members to have the courage to express ideas that may be different from others? If we place our calling of ‘changing the world through beauty’ at the core of everything, we will be able to achieve synergy effect together despite our differences.

While talking about our corporate culture with other members as a Culture Booster, I realized that there are a lot of diverse needs regarding bringing change to our corporate culture. As a Culture Booster, what values should I prioritize?

A sense of duty comes first. Changing corporate culture in a positive direction is not an easy task. Therefore, it is important to have a sense of mission in achieving the needs of many members. When I say sense of duty, I don’t mean something that is tremendous or profound. Focus on what our customers need in achieving our calling of ‘changing the world through beauty’. And then think about the direction our company must move towards in order to be ‘the first’ and ‘the best’. There will be improvements to be made as an organization or as a company. Talk about them with members and pursue ways to improve them. Of course, this journey and process must be based on mutual respect. I ask and urge you to discuss and redefine the values we must protect with members based on a sense of mission and sincere communication.

Lastly, how do you want to be remembered as a leader to our members creating our culture together?

There is one thing I have realized in my life. It’s that leaders are those who help members grow. I have always thought about how we can be a good company if all members could enjoy work and have fun, while building their capability. We learn and grow through work. I was a player-coach in my younger days busy selling products and developing them every day. I wish for all members to grow and I believe that that is the way to grow the company as well. There is one thing I’d like to ask of all of you as we grow together and that is; don’t forget to be kind and considerate of others. Growing up watching people prepare enough food to share with their neighbors together even in the difficult times of the 70s and 80s, I think that being considerate of others and knowing how to be kind is a valuable legacy passed on to us. Today, we face various social issues and challenges, including the global recession, working hours issues, wage issues, low growth and low inflation, and I too spend time contemplating on ways to resolve them. Of course, the physical issues of time and money can be solved in various ways. But to solve the problems of conflict between people due to these challenges, we need to respect and be considerate of each other. I wish to practice respect and consideration from the smallest of things so that we can overcome the challenges we face and grow together. I ask you to join me in that journey.