Reliever’s Midas Touch going into the black from 60 billions in the red < JoongAng Daily >

‘Escape from death’ tallies with what Hyundai experienced for the last 5 years. That is, the corporation’s sales sharply dropped from 40 trillion won to 1.3 trillion. The accumulative deficit for the period reached up to 600 billions won. During that time, they ran through the capital.

 

After the honorary chairman, Jung Ju-yeong departed this life, Hyundai came into a head, had to be under legal management of creditors and could not play the role as an export desk. In general, they say when a general trading company fails it would have only desks and telephones left.

 

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There was a crisis that the corporation may close down. April, 2004, the creditors determined to, as a reliever, bring in Mark Juhn who was the former President & CEO of Hyundai Motor America and the Senior Executive Vice President & COO, International Business Division of Kia Motors.

 

What he first did was to raise the demoralized attitude of officers and employees, who felt uneasy because of the wholesale discharge; actually, 40% of officers and 20% employees were dismissed.

 

He encouraged them emphasizing a theory of ‘100 degree’, which means “Water does not boil at 99 but would start boiling if add only one degree....let's just do a little more.” Every morning he early came to the office, unlocked the door by himself and presided a meeting of officers at 7 A.M.

 

He actually drove, so called, speedy management that any submitted document would be approved immediately while he persuaded the creditors, improving the treatment of officers and employees and promoting them resolutely.

 

Then, the corporation’s sales returned to black ink from the prior year. It was the true momentum of turn around that he ventured the new shipbuilding business and expansion of natural resource development business, and that became main pillars of the business structure.

 

In 2004, they acquired Qingdao Shipbuilding Corp first in the history of Korean general trading firms while the corporation endeavored after the resource development projects in Vietnam, the Middle East and other places. The debit reduced from 848% in the end of 2003 up to 200%.

 

As they escaped from the impaired capital, the stock price, which once dropped to 356 won, recently recovered to 22 thousands won.  

“Hyundai Corporation would have a net profit of 100 billions won in 3 years from the shipbuilding and resource development projects” said Mark Juhn, the president.