No. 21: LG Electronics

Current BW Magazine Table of Contents

October 24, 2005 BW Magazine Table of Contents

October 24, 2005 Asia BW 50 Table of Contents

Asia's BW50

2005 Rankings

1	PTT
2	PetroChina
3	Oil and Natural Gas
4	S-Oil
5	Tata Steel
6	POSCO
7	Shinhan Financial Group
8	LG Corp.
9	Samsung Electronics
10	MISC (Malaysia IntÕl. Shipping)
11	Taiwan Semiconductor Mfg.
12	Hon Hai Precision Industry
13	AU Optronics
14	Formosa Chemicals & Fibre
15	Mitsui OSK Lines
16	Reliance Industries
17	CNOOC
18	Tata Motors
19	Hyundai Mobis
20	Komatsu
21	LG Electronics
22	China Petroleum & Chemical
23	Philippine Long Distance Telephone
24	PT BUMI Resources
25	Shell Refining (Federation of Malaya)
26	Sumitomo Metal Industries
27	PT Astra International
28	Thai Petrochemical Industry
29	Kobe Steel
30	Aluminum Corporation of China
31	High Tech Computer
32	Toyota Tsusho
33	Nippon Mining Holdings
34	Formosa Plastics
35	Jilin Chemical Industrial
36	Larsen & Toubro
37	China Steel
38	Esprit Holdings
39	Infosys Technologies
40	LG.Philips LCD
41	China Mobile (Hong Kong)
42	Sinopec Zhenhai Refining & Chemical
43	ICICI Bank
44	Siam Cement Group
45	Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical
46	Matsui Securities
47	Yamada-Denki
48	Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha
49	Orix
50	Nippon Steel

Data: Standard & Poor's Compustat

OCTOBER 24, 2005

STORY TOOLS

KI HO PARK/
KISTONE

It's easy to find state-of-the-art mobile phones or flat-screen TVs made by South Korea's LG Electronics Inc. these days. LG is no longer a byword for ho-hum stuff. Yet for CEO Kim Ssang Su, the campaign for excellence is just beginning. ``We must be a top player,'' he says.

Since taking over in late 2003, Kim has set his sights high. LG's three main divisions -- mobile phones, digital displays, and appliances -- have been ordered to boost productivity by 30% through a ``TDR'' -- tear down and redesign -- program that involves about a third of the company's white-collar employees this year. ``Improving by 5% may be impossible. But improving by 30% is possible through new ideas and innovation,'' declares Kim.

By forcing his staff to run one of the most cost-conscious manufacturing operations in Korea, Kim has scored an early success. Sales grew 22%, to $41.7 billion, last year, and net profits more than doubled, to $1.6 billion. But after becoming the No. 4 mobile-phone maker, LG posted its first operating loss in handsets in the second quarter, thanks to competition and delays in rolling out new models. LG says phone profits are expected to rebound. To keep up the momentum, however, Kim has a lot more tearing down and redesigning to do.

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