LG kicks off massive game of management musical chairs

With a new CEO, CFO and CSO, as well as new Presidents for the Home Entertainment and Mobile Communications units, the LG management team is looking very different.

LG is a company which has always maintained a relatively strong position in the global technology markets, though it hasn’t really pushed forward in recent years. Its always been there or there abouts, but perhaps a refreshed management team and strategy will generate some momentum. With more shuffling than a suspect youth on a street corner during the witching hours, LG are not doing anything by halfs here.

Starting at the top, Brian Kwon has been promoted from his position as President of the Home Entertainment business to Group CEO. Having worked for the business for more than 30 years, Kwon has most recently been managing the successful Home Entertainment unit. In the most recent quarterly reports, this group grew 3.5% year-on-year, the latest in a string of positive results.

Elsewhere at the top-table, Bae Doo-yong assumes the role of CFO having spent seven years slaving away in the tax team, while the newly-created position of Chief Strategy Officer will be taken by William Cho. Cho, who was head of the North American business, will be tasked with overseeing the on-going digital transformation initiatives at LG.

With Kwon taking the CEO role, Park Hyoung-sei will assume responsibility for the Home Entertainment division, while in Mobile Communications, Morris Lee will take the top job. Lee perhaps has the most difficult task of the newly-appointed executives, as LG’s mobile division continues to toil.

While LG was once a prominent brand in the mobile world, this is no-longer the case. The division is haemorrhaging cash, the third-quarter financials saw a 24.5% year-on-year decline in revenues, as new players are stealing the thunder. The likes of Huawei, Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo are perhaps capturing market share in the mid-tier markets LG formerly enjoyed.

Alongside all of these changes¸ the team has also said it will invest more significant in ‘future core and common technologies’. In more accessible language, this means more money for R&D in AI, software and robotics.

The company has stated it would like to usher in a new era for the company, bringing a more youthful edge to the management team. All new appointments will assume their roles on January 1, 2020.