A Premier Company Pursues Good Values and is Loved by Customers

Atomy has strived to become a premier company ever since its foundation. So how close has Atomy really come to being that premier company in the past 10 years? First of all, what are the characteristics of a “premier” company? In general, premier companies that come to mind are ones that are global in scale and influence such as Samsung, Google, Apple, etc. They are very sustainable and their way of working can serve as a model for other companies. However, just because a company is large in size and is influential does not mean it deserves the title of a “premier” company. Above all, it must be sustainable and have the strong support of its direct and indirect stakeholders such as its customers. In other words, from a corporate perspective, it should be a top-ranking company with sustainable management; from the perspective of the employees, it should be a company where they want to continue working and be able to say they have a good job; and from a social perspective, it should be a company that contributes to the betterment of society and earns the trust of its members.

Premier companies share the following characteristics:
1. Executives and employees alike should have a “premier” mindset. To become a premier company, the creative leadership and vision of the executives must be shared among all employees. Atomy’s executives are creatively shifting the paradigm of network marketing to become more consumer-centered, sharing its vision as a global distribution hub with its employees as well as with its numerous members out there.

2. It should be a customer-centered company. “Customer-centered” means going beyond simply satisfying customers with products and services that meet their expectations. The primary management goal should be about giving customers a sense of joy by providing a level value that exceeds any expectations. Considering Atomy’s management objective represented by the “Cow-feeding Philosophy” vs. “Baby-feeding Philosophy,” what Atomy aims at is bringing about customer success that goes beyond just customer satisfaction or happiness.

3. It should be a process-oriented horizontal organization. A premier company must have a horizontal management structure in order to quickly assess the needs of its customers across the organization and immediately supply better goods and services on the market. Atomy practices this kind of process-oriented horizontal management philosophy with its free title system, zero-debt financing policy, free seating system, and project-oriented “Task Force Team” (TFT) system.

4. A premier company should recognize human resources as its most important resource. Therefore, the company should strive to enable each employee to grow and contribute within the organization. Atomy goes even further by guaranteeing “work until retirement,” telling even those who may be less than competent or fail to do their job to stay at Atomy for their own happiness.

5. A premier company should have a sense of responsibility for quality. As a distribution company, Atomy takes on full responsibility for the quality of all the products sold through its sales channels, and its “Absolute Quality Absolute Price” motto clearly reveals this. Ever since its foundation, Atomy has maintained its stance that it does not yield an inch when it comes to quality continuing to make efforts towards quality improvement with its partnering companies.

6. A premier company should be an organization that is constantly learning and trying out new ideas and approaches. The environment surrounding the business world is changing ever so rapidly day by day, so businesses need to become intelligent organizations that can make their own informed decisions through information technology. This is what is called the “chutzpah mindset” and “superorganism” that Atomy emphasizes.

7. A premier company should have a spirit of respect for human beings. Atomy’s first company motto is “Cherish the Spirit.” People should not be a means to an end in any circumstance. Atomy’s spirit of human respect is rooted in the values of its executives and employees as well as its members.

8. A premier company should be aware that it is a member of society. In other words, the organization should not be just about making a profit, but about contributing to the development of a better society along with its other members. Atomy has taken on the culture of sharing as one of its three corporate cultures and is actively putting it into practice.

9. A premier company should become globalized. Atomy has already become a global company. It has successfully opened in 14 countries including South Korea and plans to be actively operating in more than 20 countries around the world within the next five years including China, India, Vietnam, Turkey, and others.

10. Finally, a premier company operates based on values. A truly premier company pursues good social values and is loved by its customers. The 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, founder of Grameen Bank, stated in his acceptance speech, "If we define the meaning of a “business” more broadly, we can solve social and economic problems that we have never been able to solve within the confines of capitalism. Therefore, we need to rethink about our corporate objectives based on the notion of creating values for the world and its whole citizens as well as from the perspective of maximizing profits." Atomy is a company that grows together with society and works for the success of its customers. Although its size may not yet be enough for Atomy to be called a top-ranking global company, couldn’t it be called a premier company considering what it has achieved thus far?