KMAC Director Lee points out that CSR has not only raised the brand awareness and reputation of Homeplus, but also the retailer’s business performance. Its annual sales are around 12 trillion won.
“As far as CSR is concerned, Homeplus is second to none. Unlike most firms, which put CSR on the back burner, Homeplus has always put it as a top priority on its agenda,” Lee said. “In fact, Homeplus integrated CSR into its management. It is an integral part of Homeplus’ ways of doing business. In this sense, Homeplus created the concept of CSR management.”
Lee said there are three levels of CSR. CSR 1.0 is about conducting the rudimentary activities of helping the needy while CSR 2.0 is about improving labor conditions and the environment.
CSR 3.0, the highest level, integrates social and business values. This level is similar to creating shared value (CSV), a business concept developed by Professor Michael Porter of Harvard University in 2006.
“Homeplus is one of few examples that showcase CSR 3.0. Even before Michael Potter introduced the concept of CSV, Homeplus has been carrying out CSR 3.0,” he said.
CSV highlights the link between competitive advantage and CSR. Chairman Lee, who has identified the Save Young Lives Campaign as an example of CSV, is well aware of the strategic significance of CSR in the firm’s business.

I thought that there would be some exceptions, or some companies that really care about their social responsibility not for media attention but for the good of CSR itself.
I kept making efforts to find a genuine CSR model company, which I thought was the crown jewel of the new capitalism in which economic players embrace both people and profitability instead of blindly seeking to improve bottom lines.
There were some candidates but closer examinations into them disqualified most of them so easily. As a time-pressed and multi-pronged journalist, my patience ran dry and I almost gave up hope in the mid 2000s of finding a true CSR champion.
It was early in 2007 when I met Homeplus Chairman Lee Seung-han. I worked on a feature article on the country’s retail market and Homeplus was the No. 2 competitor among domestic discount chains.