Enhancing Corporate Sustainability and Value… Enrollment Open for the 1st Cohort of the Independent Director Competency Development Program   ▶ About the (Click)  ▶ Apply for the (Click)      Korea University Business School (Dean: Eonsoo Kim) has launched the Independent Director Competency Development Program, designed to strengthen corporate sustainability and enhance corporate value. The program is now accepting applications for its inaugural cohort. It aims to equip board directors with the expertise and strategic insight needed to proactively navigate evolving corporate environments.    Starting in April, the Independent Director Competency Development Program will run for 10 weeks, with classes held every Thursday evening. It is designed for current and prospective board directors, as well as individuals with equivalent qualifications.    The program provides essential knowledge to promote corporate sustainability and long-term value creation. It develops key competencies necessary for board directors to fulfill their responsibilities effectively, integrating the latest business trends and regulatory frameworks into its curriculum.    Participants will explore critical topics essential for board leadership, including corporate law, ESG strategy, risk management, and practical decision-making skills. The program follows a case-driven approach, incorporating real-world scenarios to enhance strategic execution and leadership capabilities.    The program is led by top-tier faculty members and industry experts, combining extensive field experience with cutting-edge academic insights. Participants will benefit from a rigorous, practice-oriented curriculum delivered at world-class facilities, including the Business School Main Building, LG-POSCO Hall, and Hyundai Motor Hall. The program also offers exclusive classrooms and lounges, along with specialized faculty support, ensuring a high-quality learning experience.    Beyond academic learning, participants will have the opportunity to connect with professionals from diverse industries and build meaningful peer relationships. Graduates will not only join the program’s alumni network but also become members of the Korea University Alumni Association, facilitating continued networking with industry-leading professionals.    Applications for the Independent Director Competency Development Program are now open and will close on Friday, March 28. The entrance ceremony is scheduled for Thursday, April 10. For application submission and admission inquiries, please contact the EEC Administration Office at KUBS (02-3290-2707). 

2024 MSBA 5th Cohort Capstone Project Final Presentation Successfully Concludes     The 2024 MSBA Capstone Project Final Presentation, hosted by the Center for Digital Transformation & Business (CDTB, Director: Professor Kyung Sam Park) at Korea University Business School (Dean: Professor Eonsoo Kim), took place on Friday, January 17, in Rooms 432 and 433 of the LG-POSCO Hall. The capstone project participants were Master’s students majoring in Business Analytics within Korea University Business School. A total of 11 teams collaborated with corporate partners, analyzing business data provided by the companies and proposing innovative business models. The event brought together presenters, corporate representatives, and faculty members, who assessed the students' year-long projects and confirmed their eligibility for graduation. This year, seven corporate partners participated in the 5th Capstone Project: LG CNS, Hyundai Motor Company, Samil PwC, E-Land Group, Korea Credit Information Services (KCIS), Woori Card, and LG H&H.      Team 1 (Minkyu Kim, Jungmin Lee, Yoon Young Lee) presented on ‘Loyalty Program Activation Strategies: Increasing Response Rates through Effective Partnership Proposals and Target Selection.’    Team 2 (Siyeon Shin, Hyeshin Park, Seungjung Lee) conducted a study on ‘Digital Marketing Strategies through Woori Card Customer Segmentation: Focusing on Customers in Their 20s to Early 30s.’    Team 3 (Youngjae Ham, Kiah Lee, Hyunah Ji) analyzed ‘Consumption Patterns of Target Groups for Profitability Enhancement and Development of a Credit Card Recommendation Algorithm.’ This team received Honorable mention.    Team 4 (Minsik Shin, Donghyun Kim, Seungjoo Lee) developed a ‘Deep Learning-Based Time Series Model for Sales Forecasting and Promotional Proposals to Minimize Supply Risks.’ Their academic advisor, Professor Kihoon Kim, praised their work, stating, "Even the company expressed interest in utilizing the research results, which is truly remarkable." This team won the Grand Prize.    Team 5 (Hyungrae Jo, Minseok Jeon, Jieun Han) presented on ‘Product Improvement and Marketing Strategy through Review Data Analysis: Case Study on LG H&H's HBD (Shampoo & Body Lotion) Products.’ An LG H&H representative commented, "The insights from the review data analysis will be referenced in our internal marketing strategies. We look forward to meet again at the company in an even better capacity in the future."      Team 6 (Boncheol Koo, Gabin Park, Yoojung Lim) explored ‘Seasonal Discount Strategies Based on Price Sensitivity: Optimal Discount Timing and Rates for Maximizing Mid-Season Sales and Inventory Optimization in Late-Season - A Case Study on SPAO.’    Team 7 (Seunghwan Ji, Eunhye Eom, Seunghoon Park) conducted research on ‘Financial Behavior of Foreign Residents in Korea.’    Team 8 (Kyunghwa Lee, Yookyung Ko, Wonha Shin) presented on ‘Development of a Credit Rating Estimation Model Using Interest Rate Spreads and the Impact of Credit Rating Declines on Insurance Portfolio Composition.’ Their academic advisor, Professor Heebum Lee, commended the team, saying, "Developing this model is a complex process, and you have done an excellent job." This team received Honorable Mention.    Team 9 (Dasom Lee, Ahyoung Kim, Sungjin Jeon) worked on ‘Developing a Consulting Business Solution Based on Causal Inference Models.’    Team 10 (Jeongeun Oh, Jakyoung Lee, Sujin Lee) presented on ‘Building a Document Image Structuring Process Using Vision-Language Models.’ This team received an outstanding award.    Team 11 (Eunchae Kim, Chanyoung Jung, Dongkwon Kim) developed a ‘Chatbot System for Natural Language Question-Answering Using the RAG Technique in LLMs.’ This team also received an outstanding award.      All 11 teams successfully passed the final evaluation, marking the completion of their projects. Wrapping up the event, Professor Kyung Sam Park, Director of CDTB, expressed gratitude, stating, "These projects were made possible thanks to the continuous data support and feedback from our industry cooperation partners. I sincerely appreciate everyone who took the time to attend despite their busy schedules." 

Young Scholars’ Conference: A Hub for Academic Exchange and Growth Successfully Held      On January 10th, the Young Scholars’ Conference, held for the first time this year, was hosted by the BK21 Business Education Research Group, led by Professor Woochan Kim, of Korea University Business School (Dean: Eonsoo Kim) at the LG-POSCO Hall. This event aimed to provide graduate students with opportunities for academic exchange and professional development. Professor Woochan Kim emphasized the theme of "sharing and succeeding," highlighting that collaboration through the exchange of ideas, experiences, and insights is pivotal for success in academia. He expressed his hope that the conference would foster such meaningful interactions, underscoring its purpose and essence.      The conference was organized into two main sessions. The first, an academic session titled the Mini Conference Session, focused on three core areas: Management, Marketing, and Information Systems; Finance; and Global Business. These sessions were held across the Cuckoo Seminar Room and Rooms 530 and 531 of LG-POSCO Business Hall. A total of 19 graduate students, many of whom had presented their research at prestigious international conferences like the Academy of International Business (AIB) Conference and the Pacific Asia Conference on Information Systems (PACIS), showcased their work. These students shared their research findings and personal experiences from participating in global academic forums, engaging with juniors, peers, and faculty members.      The second session, a Round Table Session held in the Cuckoo Seminar Room, adopted a more informal and interactive format. Participants enjoyed refreshments while engaging in small-group discussions tailored to their academic fields. These discussions delved deeper into topics that could not be fully explored during the academic sessions, such as the preparation process for international conferences and practical advice on navigating the academic journey. A notable feature of this session was the ‘Job Market’ table, where recent graduates shared invaluable insights and guidance on the faculty recruitment process, benefiting those preparing to enter the academic job market.  This successful first edition of the Young Scholars’ Conference not only fostered intellectual exchange but also strengthened the academic community within Korea University Business School. It set a promising precedent for future events, aiming to inspire and support budding scholars on their academic journeys.   

KUBS Challenge Case Competition: A Step Toward the Global Stage    Korea University Business School (Dean: Eonsoo Kim) hosted the final round of the KUBS Challenge Case Competition on November 8 in Room 218 of the LG-POSCO Hall. The competition featured teams of four undergraduate students analyzing a given business case within 24 hours, preparing presentation materials and a video for the preliminary round, and delivering a live presentation with a Q&A session with judges in the final round for a comprehensive evaluation.      This year's competition focused on the case of Helpseeker, a software company headquartered in Canada. Four teams—Crimson Consulting, Case Commanders, KU Tigers, and Insight4—participated. During the preliminary round, teams had 24 hours to analyze the case, create presentation materials, and produce videos, which were then evaluated. The same case was presented at the final round. The judging panel included Professors Tony Garrett, Jeunghyun Kim, and Kyuhong Han.      As a result, the KU Tigers team, which won the Gold Award, earned the right to compete in the Sauder Summit Global Case Competition 2025 hosted by UBC Sauder School of Business. The Crimson Consulting team, awarded Silver, secured a spot in the UW Global Business Case Competition 2025 hosted by the University of Washington. Finally, the Bronze-winning Case Commanders team qualified for the John Molson Undergraduate Case Competition 2025 hosted by Concordia University.   

Leveraging Data and AI to Solve Business Challenges: The 5th KUBS DT DAY Concludes Successfully   On November 1, Korea University Business School (KUBS, Dean: Eonsoo Kim) hosted the 5th KUBS DT DAY at the LG-POSCO Hall. Organized by the Center for Digital Transformation & Business (CDTB, Director: Kyung Sam Park), the event showcased innovative ways to address business challenges using data and AI technologies. The day included the finals of the DAB (Data Analytics for Business) competition, a networking luncheon, and the presentation of capstone projects by MSBA (Master of Science in Business Analytics) students.      The DAB competition invites teams to propose business solutions by analyzing data. This year, 12 teams participated, with five finalist teams presenting innovative solutions to address diverse business and societal challenges, including improving safety for vulnerable road users, promoting environmental sustainability, resource recycling, flood prevention, and enhancing spam detection systems.    The Golden Navi team that won the competition developed a navigation system specifically for vulnerable road users, focusing on accident-prone areas in Seoul’s Songpa District. Their system provides safe routes to help reduce traffic accidents for this demographic.      Addressing environmental sustainability, the Dolido team identified optimal locations for reusable cup return stations in Seoul. By analyzing population density and traffic flow, they proposed a profitable and efficient resource recycling system.  The Urban Lock team reimagined public telephone booths as small parcel lockers. Their solution maximizes the use of underutilized urban spaces, promotes secondhand trading, and enhances urban safety.  Tackling recurrent urban flooding, the Aqua Guardians team designed a system to predict high-risk flood zones using geographically weighted regression models. Their approach offers actionable insights for preventive measures and policy development.  Leveraging large language models (LLMs), the Spam Opner team built an advanced spam detection system capable of identifying altered spam messages with special characters, addressing limitations in existing detection methods.    After the competition, the luncheon brought together MSBA students, faculty advisors, and corporate partners to foster connections and discuss ongoing projects. Dean Eonsoo Kim emphasized the importance of collaboration between academia and industry, welcoming the participation of external experts and corporate representatives.      Finally, the MSBA capstone projects serve as a substitute for traditional theses, allowing graduate students to tackle real-world business challenges using data provided by corporate partners. For 2024, seven companies, including Hyundai Motor Company, LG CNS, PwC Consulting, Woori Card, LG Household & Health Care, E-Land, and the Korea Credit Information Services, collaborated by supplying data and supporting regular interactions with their teams.      Ten out of 11 project teams presented their mid-term findings, receiving constructive feedback from corporate partners to refine their final deliverables. Notable project topics included:  Customer targeting to increase engagement through LMS messaging.  Causal inference models for effectiveness analysis and visualization.  Structuring image documents using Vision-Language Models (VLM).  Advanced QA systems using Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) with LLMs.  Development of credit card recommendation algorithms targeting young parents.  Forecasting optimal inventory levels to minimize supply risks for LG Household & Health Care.  Product quality improvement strategies based on customer reviews of shampoos and body lotions.  Deriving optimal discount rates using price elasticity analysis.  Financial behavior analysis of foreign residents in Korea.  Insights into insurance ownership and cancellations based on credit levels.  Corporate representatives provided detailed feedback from a practical perspective to guide teams toward actionable solutions.      Director of CDTB Kyung Sam Park expressed gratitude to the faculty, corporate partners, and students for their contributions to the event, which concluded with a group photo. As CDTB’s flagship event, DT DAY continues to inspire innovative uses of data and AI in addressing real-world challenges.   

Korea University Asian Institute of Corporate Governance Hosts Seminar on European Mandatory Tender Offer Practices with a Swedish Expert    On November 15, Korea University Business School Asian Institute of Corporate Governance hosted an online seminar featuring Rolf Skog, the Secretary-General of the Swedish Securities Council. The seminar, titled “Experiences of Operating the European Mandatory Tender Offer System and Its Implications for Korea,” aimed to explore strategies for implementing a suitable mandatory tender offer system in Korea by examining Sweden’s case studies. The seminar was moderated by Professor Joon Ho Hwang, with panelists including Professor Woojin Kim from Seoul National University Business School, Professor Woochan Kim, H&Q Korea Co-CEO Yuchul Rhim, and Professor Joon Hyug Chung from Seoul National University School of Law.      The seminar began with a keynote presentation by Secretary-General Rolf Skog on the topic of “The Mandatory Tender Offer System: Sweden’s Experience.” Secretary-General Skog highlighted that corporate acquisitions in Sweden have become more active since the introduction of the mandatory tender offer system. He noted, “While there were initial concerns about a potential chilling effect, these concerns have since dissipated, and there have been no demands for system revisions.” He shared this as a case of successful system implementation.    Secretary-General Skog provided a detailed explanation of the Swedish Securities Council's practices. The Swedish Securities Council is a self-regulatory body responsible for interpreting laws related to corporate acquisitions and granting special exemptions from the mandatory tender offer system. The Council handles approximately 60 to 70 cases annually, focusing on maintaining transparency and fairness in its operations.      The mandatory tender offer system is triggered when an acquirer, together with related parties, obtains 30% or more of a company’s shares. Related parties include spouses, minor children, affiliated companies, and parties acting in concert regarding voting rights. The methods of share acquisition can vary, including purchase, inheritance, or the exercise of conversion rights. However, instruments such as preemptive rights or convertible bonds are included only once they are converted into shares.     Upon triggering the mandatory tender offer, the acquirer must disclose their shareholding immediately and propose a tender offer for all remaining shares within four weeks. If the tender offer is not made, the acquirer is required to reduce their shareholding to below 30%. The tender offer price is determined based on the higher of the two: the highest purchase price paid during the six months preceding the trigger or the volume-weighted average price over the most recent 20 trading days.    Special exemptions are granted in cases where an individual’s shareholding exceeds 30% as a result of participating in a rights offering or where the individual holds more than 30% but is not the largest shareholder. However, further shareholding increases are not permitted under these exemptions. The mandatory tender offer system does not apply if an acquirer obtains over 30% of shares through a public tender offer made to all shareholders. While such legal exceptions could potentially allow for low-priced tender offers that lower subscription rates, such cases are rare in Sweden.    In the event of non-compliance, restrictions are imposed on voting rights for shares exceeding the 30% threshold, and corrective orders are issued. These measures reflect the system’s intent to enhance fairness and accountability in corporate acquisitions.      The panel discussion that followed focused on “Experiences in Operating the European Mandatory Tender Offer System and Its Implications for Korea.” The discussion began with an analysis of Sweden’s experience, where initial concerns about a potential chilling effect at the time of the system’s introduction proved unfounded. In fact, the market for acquisitions became more active, and no demands for revisions to the system were raised. Meanwhile, the strategy of proposing low tender offer prices, known as “lowballing,” has been rare in Sweden but has emerged as an issue in other EU countries, suggesting the potential for increased regulatory discussions in the future.    Since the system’s adoption, companies have often preferred methods that avoid triggering mandatory tender offer obligations. In cases where the acquisition of controlling shareholders’ stakes is expected to push ownership beyond the 30% threshold, companies have frequently opted for tender offers targeting all shareholders, including controlling shareholders, at a single price agreed upon in advance with the controlling shareholder.    Regarding Korea’s proposed “50%+1 share” approach to the mandatory tender offer system, panelists highlighted that it may fail to sufficiently protect minority shareholders by limiting their opportunity to sell their shares during changes in control. This approach is not adopted in major European countries for this reason.    The panel also noted that differential pricing in tender offers would be challenging to implement. In Sweden, there is a strong belief that control premiums should be distributed equitably among both minority and controlling shareholders. This principle, driven by institutional investors, supports the requirement that all shares in a tender offer must be purchased at the same price.    The Swedish Securities Council was praised for its strengths, including efficient processing and an expert-driven membership. While decisions that might take months for the Financial Supervisory Authority are resolved in just days by the Council, the Council also enjoys greater trust due to its expertise. Although appeals of Council decisions are allowed, they are exceedingly rare.    Finally, for financially distressed companies, decisions on whether to grant special exemptions for shareholdings exceeding 30% are made based on what serves the best interests of the shareholders. However, such cases represent a small proportion of the total number of exemptions granted.      Meanwhile, Korea University Business School Asian Institute of Corporate Governance organized this seminar as a platform to explore strategies for introducing a mandatory tender offer system tailored to Korea’s capital market and corporate environment, drawing on European case studies. The institute plans to continue conducting related research and hosting seminars in the future.