SK innovation’s strong leadership brings R&D to fruition: report

Professor Song Jae-yong from Seoul National University presents his analysis at an analysis conference on SK innovation Co.’s 40-year history of R&D management held at SK Seorin Building in Seoul, on Aug. 28. [Courtesy of SK innovation]

SK innovation Co., South Korea’s largest energy company, has evolved from being a traditional oil refinery into a global green energy powerhouse, and this transformation owes much to the firm’s resolute leadership and dedicated research and development (R&D) efforts, a report concluded.

On Monday, SK innovation hosted an analysis conference on its 40-year history of R&D management at SK Seorin Building in Seoul. During the event, external experts, including Professor Lee Ji-hwan from KAIST and Professor Song Jae-yong from Seoul National University, presented their analyses.

Chey Jong-hyun, SK Group‘s former chief and father of current chairman Chey Tae-won, emphasized the significance of R&D management shortly after the acquisition of Yukong (now SK innovation) and declared the transition to a comprehensive energy company in 1982. The company established its own research institute in the following year and marked this year as the 40th year of R&D-focused management.

The professors at the conference unveiled SK innovation’s distinctive R&D management model called ‘SKinnoWay R&BD,’ which is further crystallized through the ‘4E’ framework: Entrepreneurship, Exploitation, Exploration, and Expertise. This sets SK innovation apart from other companies by focusing not only on research but also on commercialization, establishing a research and business development (R&BD) structure.

The analysts attribute the success of SK innovation’s R&BD management to strong leadership. Long-term investments required for research and development were initiated under the leadership of former Chairman Chey, starting with the battery business in 1983 and the biotech business in 1989. His successor, Chairman Chey Tae-won, continued to lead these efforts, resulting in the successful establishment of SK Group’s core businesses: batteries, biotech, and semiconductors.