Naver plans to restructure CIC organizations in April

[Photo by MK DB]

South Korean tech giant Naver Corp. is set to conduct a large-scale organizational restructuring in early April 2024. The plan involves readjusting the roles of its five Company In Company (CIC) organizations, which house a significant portion of its workforce, and absorbing some of these organizations back into the headquarters. It is understood that the company is not considering abolishing all the CICs as previously suggested.

According to sources from the information and communications technology (ICT) industry on Sunday, Naver will finalize plans to reorganize the existing framework of its five CICs by the end of March 2024, with the key aim of integrating overlapping areas of responsibility between each CIC‘s business domains and those handled by Naver headquarters and its subsidiaries such as Naver Cloud Corp. It is likely that some CICs will be absorbed and integrated into the headquarters during this process, depending on their business domains.

There are also expectations for changes in the names of CIC organizations. Naver currently has five CICs: “Search” responsible for search services, “Community” supporting creators and managing businesses like cafes and bands, “Biz” centered around PC and mobile search and display advertising businesses, “Forest” handling e-commerce businesses like Naver Shopping and Smart Store, and “Glace” managing local information-based businesses like Naver Reservation, Maps, and Places.

“The CICs will be reorganized in a big way that enhances Naver’s competitiveness and value,” an industry insider said. The finalized reorganization plan is expected to be reflected in Naver‘s senior leadership reshuffle early in April 2024.

This development reflects Naver’s shift from a focus on “growth” to a focus on “centralized management.”

“There is also a strong view that it is difficult to identify business areas within the CIC format that are suitable for spin-offs, similar to cases such as Naver Webtoon Corp. and Naver Financial Corp.,” another official said.

Naver has consistently reduced the CIC’s scope since the inauguration of Chief Executive Officer Choi Soo-yeon. The CIC, which used to operate with up to eight organizations, saw the Apollo CIC (leading creator ecosystem) and Group & CIC (responsible for cafes and bands community) integrated and reorganized into the Community CIC in April 2023. Similarly, the Tune CIC specializing in radio audio was disbanded and absorbed into the headquarters in November of the same year.

Notably, the tech giant consolidated its artificial intelligence (AI) technology organization and business-to-business (B2B) business organization into Naver Cloud from the end of 2022 to the first half of 2023, during which the Clova CIC was also integrated into Naver Cloud.

“We are currently reviewing the organizational restructuring plan, but nothing has been finalized yet,” Naver said.