During his free time, Min-jun struck up a conversation with Nurse Kim Seon-mi, whom he had grown somewhat close to.
“Let’s play the memory game.”
“You must be bored.
What are you curious about today?”
“I know our family is the family of Taesan Group’s chairman, but what is our relationship with Iljin Group and Jungsan Group?”
Min-jun voiced the question he had been harboring in his mind.
When he was dispatched to Korea, he had never heard of Taesan Group.
There were only Iljin Group and Jungsan Group.
Something was strange.
Then, Kim Seon-mi spoke.
“They are groups that branched off from Taesan Group.
The late founder, Chairman Jang Il-seok, left behind a company motto of ‘Fraternity and Friendship.’”
The founder of Taesan Group was Jang Il-seok, a man from a traditional noble family in Hadong.
Because of this, he had strong Confucian beliefs.
He left a dying wish that the chairman position be inherited by the eldest son, so there were no management disputes among successors, which were common in other companies.
The other sons would take on important roles in the group to help their older brother, and when the eldest son of the next generation took the chairmanship, they would naturally step down together.
At that time, they would each be given one sector of the group’s business.
“Jungsan Group was established by spinning off the heavy industry sector during Chairman Jang Il-seok’s generation.
And in the next generation, Iljin Group was founded by spinning off the construction division.
There are a few other small groups besides those.
Of course, that doesn’t mean they became strangers; they maintain a mutually supportive relationship.”
“That man was smart.”
“Excuse me?”
“I mean, he was an outstanding person.”
Min-jun, who had spoken without thinking, realized his slip and quickly changed his words, though he was inwardly marveling.
Jang Il-seok rapidly expanded the company’s influence by introducing a concept of kinship management that was much broader than just immediate family.
No matter how outstanding a person was, they couldn’t do everything alone.
By appropriately utilizing the talented individuals within the family, he secured friendly forces and increased the number of affiliates, allowing Taesan Group to rapidly grow into the number one company in the business world in the shortest amount of time.
This was a creative economy – no, creative management.
Still, one question remained.
“But wouldn’t the daughters rebel if it’s done that way?”
“It’s Taesan Group’s tradition to give them a share of the wealth, but not to hand over the businesses.
Perhaps because of that, there hasn’t been any particular noise about it so far.”
“So Taesan Group is the parent company, but why are Iljin and Jungsan bigger?”
Min-jun asked, recalling the corporate rankings he had seen in an economic journal a few days ago.