Samsung Electronics Management Style

Samsung Electronics Management Style Samsung Electronics is a Korea-based consumer electronics company. The case describes Samsungs journey from a company focused on manufacturing to one known for the excellence of its product design. It discusses how the company came to use design as a differentiator and for competitive advantage. It describes the steps that Samsung took on the people, process, and system fronts to improve its design capabilities. The case also talks about Samsungs design philosophy, and ends with a brief discussion on the use of design as a competitive advantage. Like all companies in the business of high tech, Samsung must bring innovative products to market faster while ensuring high quality and holding down costs. It is also faced with the challenge of working with global business partners and its own geographically dispersed facilities. Samsungs strategy for meeting its mission of technology-based value innovation relies heavily on what it calls a digital convergence revolution. This revolution features two parts: a digital product development infrastructure (involving design, validation and manufacturing) and digital collaboration. During the period covered by the case study Samsung underwent significant change. How would you characterise the type of change that it underwent? Balogun Hope Haileys analytical framework may be useful for this purpose. According to Balogun.J and Hope Hailey.V there are four types of strategic changes namely Adaptation, Reconstruction, Evolution and Revolution. During the changes that Samsung underwent it will be highlighted exactly the way in which to company changed, whether the change was done over time or whether the change was suddenly implemented. Samsung shows signs of Reconstruction. Reconstruction is a rapid change and it may involve a great deal of confusion but it does not require a fundamental paradigm shift in the way the company does things. (Balogun.J and Hope Hailey.V, 1999)Reconstruction may be a turnaround situation where there is a need for a major structural change or a major cost cutting programme to deal with declining financial performances or changing market conditions. Yun and his management team decided to take steps that would push Samsung out of it a precarious financial position. Therefore he reconstructed the company by layoff of 30,000 employees which represented a third of its entire workforce. This major cost cutting programme was done so that they could get out their debt. Yun and the management team also decided to close down many Samsung factories for two months in order to get rid of their excessive inventory that did not sell. Yun and the team also made major changes when they sold off two billion dollars worth of businesses, like pagers and electric coffeemakers, which were perceived to be marginal significance for the firms future. These types of changes helped the company regain their losses which was a major structural and financial need for the company. Yun wanted to implement a strategy that would separate Samsung from their competitors. Therefore he pushed the firm to develop its own products rather than coping these products of other firms that had been developed. Yun placed a lot of emphasis on the development of products that would impress the customers with their attractive designs and advanced technology. Therefore Yun was reconstructuring the way Samsung has been doing business and wanted the company to reach higher standards where they can be seen as a quality brand and compete with the bigger companies. As a result Samsung reconstruction underwent a major design turnaround from a poorly designed product to a product that will be an in-house design. The next major step that Yun took was to recruitment of new managers and engineers, many of whom had developed considerable experience in the United States. The recruitment of managers and the engineers had a major turnaround due to the fact that it allowed them to start developing their own products and be innovative. He then also discarded Samsungs seniority-based system to a merit-based system for advancements. A merit-based system are based on ones performance meaning that the employees could feel more open to expressing their ideas to help the company reach its goals with the knowledge that they will be rewarded for it. Therefore this turnaround helped the company to have a better relationship with their employees and create a system that would allow them to feel open to express their ideas and creativity. Another major change that Yun made was to hire a marketing whiz, called Eric Kim, which worked hard to create a more upscale image for the company and its products. Eric implemented a major turnaround when he moved Samsungs advertising away from 55 different advertising agencies around the world and then he placed them into one firm. The reason for this change was to create a consistent global brand image for Samsungs product. He therefore got Samsung out of big discount chains and placed more of Samsungs products into more upscale specialty stores. Reconstruction of the firms bureaucratic was implemented in order to reduce it to get faster approvals for new product budgets and marketing plans, thus speeding up their abilities to seize opportunities. Because of the bureaucratic turnaround situation it allowed Yun to make heavy investments into key technologies and it allowed them to push out a wide variety of digital products. How significant was Jong- Yong Yuns role in the change process? Samsungs CEO Jong-Yong Yuns philosophy of continuous improvement has helped Samsung get out of their financial crisis and making it stronger than ever. Yun specifically applied an industrial engineering concept to Samsung in order to cut production times and increase workers productivity. Although he initially met resistance in implementing industrial engineering in the firm, Yun sponsored in-house training sessions for workers. He also trained 1,550 managers in Industrial Engineering concepts. Yuns plans involved product innovation, process innovation and personnel innovation. Samsung Electronics not only shot to the front of the pack internationally but also lifted its parent  Samsung Group  to the number one spot in South Koreas all-important business rankings. Therefore because of Yuns efforts, which drew heavily on industrial engineering concepts, Samsung Group stood at the top of South Koreas giant industrial conglomerates. At the heart of Yuns strategic plan for Samsung Electronics were the three Ps: product, process, and personnel innovation. In the area of product innovation Yun moved quickly to extract Samsung from those businesses that were marginal or no longer producing an acceptable rate of return for the company. As a result Samsung Electronics reduced its television output and did away with such marginal product lines as dishwashers, electronic pagers, and juicers. These products were replaced with such high-tech, high-margin goods as flat-panel displays, MP3 music players, and advanced mobile phones. Among the processes  streamlined  by Yun was the global supply chain, which was changed from a monthly to a weekly system. Under the new system the company changed their focus from make-to-stock to make-to-order production. With the reduction in inventories cash flow improved. In the area of personnel innovation Yun instituted a system of global product management under which each of Samsung Electronics 14 divisions was directed by a global product manager who was responsible for every phase of that divisions operations. (Pedler, M., Burgogyne, J. and Boydell, T. 1997.)  Yun also decided to give his subordinates greater autonomy meaning he empowered the employees. Yuns role played a major role for the success of the company and increased their profits. Yuns achievement in masterminding the sharp turnaround  at Samsung Electronics is the reason why the company is successful. Yuns role in the change process was important as he made major changes to the system. Yun changed the momentum of the company; he changed the bureaucratic system to allow the employees to express their ideas which lead to Samsung been innovative. Yun role in the change process allowed the Samsungs products to be viewed as a higher-priced brand rather than before where it was perceived as a lower-priced appliance. It also became an established low cost supplier of various components to larger and better-known manufactures around the world. Therefore Yuns role helped the company to tap into their resources that they had and to use them to change how processes were done. Yun also changed the process by recruiting the managers and the engineers. Yun laid the foundation for the new change that was implemented and without the guidance and standards that was set by Yun the change processes would not have been successful. Yun played a role in each aspect of Samsungs change and help the company get of their financial problems. Yun was very dedicated to his work and risked a lot for the company. Yun and his management team took time to make sure that the changes they were implementing would be successful and that it would speed up the research and development of new products. Yuns role in the change process gave the customers a better impression on the firms products. His role also allowed Samsung to reduce complexity in the early stages of the design cycle. This then resulted in the firm been able to get the products to the manufactures quickly with minimal problems and at the lowest possible costs. Therefore Yun truly played a significant role in the change process and he helps advance Samsung in digital technologies. Yuns strategy to focus on the higher-end products has clearly enhanced the firms brand image and has led the company to be profitable. In fact many executives in the industry of US have said they are astounded by the ability of the firm to generate a superior brand image. This would not have been possible if Yun was not playing a part in the change process as it was his thinking that allowed this to happen. What methods did Samsung use to promote innovation and the diffusion of ideas across the organisation? Firstly Samsung promoted innovation by deciding to push the firm to develop its own products rather than to copy those products that other firms have developed. Yun placed a great amount of emphasis on the development of products that would impress the customers with their attractive designs. Yun also reoriented the firm and helped it develop new capabilities by recruiting the managers and engineers. Yun put the new managers and engineers through a four week boot camp that was intended to create incentives for new talent. Samsung rigid seniority/based system was replaced with a merit base system that allowed advancement to take place, it also allowed the employees to know that their efforts and ideas are not overlooked and that good ideas are rewarded. As a result the above efforts Samsung started launch an array of products that was designed to make a big impression on the customers. Another large part of the success of Samsungs innovation and ideas was that they regularly got information from the retailers about the new features that customers wanted to see in their electronic devices. This close link with the retailers helped Samsung to come up with best selling products and to create the digital products that the customers were looking for and the actual design preferences of the products. Samsung managers who have worked for competitors say they have to go through far fewer layers of bureaucracy than they had in the past to win approval for new product, budgets and marketing plans, speeding up their ability to seize opportunities. Therefore Samsung reduced the bureaucratic obstacles. Because the bureaucratic obstacle was reduced it allowed Yun to make investments into key technologies that allowed the innovative products to be designed. Samsung claims that it has been able to reduce the time that it takes to go from a new product concept to rollout to as little as six months. Due to the above ideas of how to better run the business it resulted in allowing the efforts of the firms top managers, engineers and designers to be expressed and to be acknowledged for their ideas. It allowed them to better communicate with the top managers about their ideas. Samsung advances in digital technologies have helped with them increasing their chances of getting a better position in the market. They have promoted their innovation by combining their computers, consumer electronics and communications to be the prime leader. Samsung had also created the post of chief design officer to make sure that designers can get their ideas to the top managers. The engineers are pushed to find ways to work with the designs that are presented to them. Yun has also worked closely with Chin to summon engineers and designers from across the firm to mix wireless, semiconductor and computer expertise in order to pursue its vision of domination of the digital home. Samsung had even opened or expanded design centres to help the designers observe the way that consumers actually use the various products. Therefore by giving them this opportunity they know how to be innovative when it comes to designing the products. The designers were able to watch from behind a two-way mirror to see how the customers responded to a particular design. With this the designers were able to go back and work on the necessary things that needed to be implemented in order to make sure the products are what the customers want. This forced the designers to think out of the box and be creative and come up with ideas that would impress the customers. The designers are basically rewarded when they see their hard work and ideas been appreciated by the customers if the product is up to their standards. Samsung at the end of the day relies on the attractiveness of its products therefore Samsung ensures that the employees are happy and are able to express their ideas. To what extent is Samsung a learning organisation? A  learning organization  is the term given to a company that facilitates the learning of its members and continuously transforms itself. (Pedler, M., Burgogyne, J. and Boydell, T. 1997).  Learning organizations develop as a result of the pressures facing modern organizations and enables them to remain competitive in the business environment. A learning organization is characterised by five main features namely: systems thinking, personal mastery, mental models, shared vision and team learning. (Peter Senge,1990) An approach of Samsung was to be innovation and to promote a learning organization.   The most recent and widely accepted notion of learning organization today is one which is characterized by an organizational culture that fosters the improvement of the employees, their productivity and the overall operation and performance of the business through continuous learning (Gilley Maycunich, 2000, p. 5). Theoretically, Samsung maintained a significant capacity to renew all the processes and they remained competitively ready to create products that the customers wanted, therefore the employees got opportunities the identify the customers need because of Samsung been a organization learning. Continuous learning and change is valued through learning organizations. The main concern for Samsung is about the market share, productivity and profitability and it is understood that learning is the key element in obtaining these business results. The creation of capabilities that are previously not established is the idea of learning and Samsung has allowed its employees to be exposed to learning. Moreover, the principle assumption of the learning organization is the improvement of the learning capacity of the individual is similar to the organizations performance. According to Ruffa Morato,( 2009) Samsungs Six Sigma Academy was established to educate the employees and build up the team of quality specialists with problem solving abilities. Samsung spent 3.6 percent of payroll costs on education and training, a very high percentage as compared to firms such as Xerox, NUMMI, Saturn, IBM and Motorola. (Type Pad, 2007) Samsung does not only make investments in education and training but it also creates incentives in order to help motivate each employee and organizational learning. Each employee is given the opportunity to set the learning objectives and learning themes with the consent of the supervisor (Bae Kim, 2004, p.188). Periodic interviews are carried out to assess the progress and discuss the steps to speed up the learning before a final evaluation is given by the end of the year. (Ruffa Morato, 2009).The assessment will decide the actual learning points and promotion of the employees. Samsung also provided the employees with advance technologies so that the employees are able to do their work. The fact that Samsung also sent their designers to boot camp to find creative ideas, it shows their interest to their employees and their interest in trying to ensure that they reach their potential. Samsung had learned as an organisation to be more innovative and creative to reach their goals and to grow. Samsung has invested in their employees to come up with ideas that will wow the customers. They have brought the right employees to work together to create a quality brand image. Therefore Samsung is a learning organisation to the extent that it invests in its own employees as one of their main focuses. CONCLUSION: The competitiveness of the global marketplace has required organizations to become innovative not only in the products and services they create but as well as in their strategies and approaches. Indeed, Samsungs success manifests the substantial returns from innovating within the organization. This involved the styles of the senior marketers to effect the innovation by encouraging participation and involvement of the employees. Samsung recognized that the innovation lies in its most important asset the people. As such, it made innovations in the workplace to empower the employees. This includes training the employees and providing incentives for them. The company has been and continues to strive to become the world leader in the electronics and communication industry by innovating in each and every aspect of its business. Harvard Referencing: Baker, W.E., Sinkula, J.M. (1999), The synergistic effect of market orientation and the learning organization on organizational performance,  Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 27 No.4, pp.411-27 Balogun.J and Hope Hailey.V, 1999, Exploring Strategic Changes, Prentice Hall Barber, Ben, South Koreas Troubles Are Blamed on Chaebols,'  Washington Times, December 25, 1997. Brooke, James, Samsung Tries to Keep Outgrowing Economic Woes,  International Herald Tribune, April 28, 2003. Dempsey, Michael, Jong-Yong Yun of Samsung Electronics,  Financial Times, February 4, 2002. Pedler, M., Burgogyne, J. and Boydell, T. 1997.  The Learning Company: A strategy for sustainable development. 2nd Ed. London; McGraw-Hill. Peter Senge (1990) ,   The Fifth Discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization, Doubleday, New York,.page .105,164 Ruffa Morato ,  Company Case Studies Technorati Tags:  company case study,  Essay samples, September 30, 2009, retrieved 7 July, http://ivythesis.typepad.com/term_paper_topics/2008/09/sample-essay-sa.html Wrigley, N., Currah, A. (2003), The stresses of retail internationalisation: lessons from Royal Aholds experience in Latin America,International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research, Vol. 13 No.3, pp.221-43.

Scarlet Letter Critique Essay example -- essays research papers

Hester Pyrnne is a Puritan woman that thinks that her husband is dead or lost at sea. She has a love affair with Dimmesdale that no one knows about but themselves. Hester is ridiculed for it because she has a baby resulting from it, however nothing is done to Dimmesdale by his fellow Puritans because no one knows that he took part in the affair and is the baby’s father. The Puritans show their disapproval of Hester by doing a variety of things like spreading rumors, outcasting her, and even sewing a scarlet letter “A'; to her bosom. So is what being done here right? How about other Puritan views and attitudes? Are they right as well? Well, it is clear that Hawthorne doesn’t think so, and he shows this in so many ways and symbols that it is at some times hard to unfold. He clearly states in his writing that the Puritans are sinners themselves in the way they act because they are stubborn and believe that their way is the only way.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are many examples in the book that show these views that he has. The first sign of these views came in the second chapter. Here she is ridiculed by the entire Puritan society because of the adultery that she has committed, but they don’t let her get off easy. They put her on the scaffold in front of the whole town to be made an example of, and the whole village just starts talking about her and the scarlet letter on her bosom. Why do they do this? Probably because they are ...

Adventure Tourism Essay

Introduction Adventure tourism is an outdoor leisure activity that generally takes place in an unusual, exotic, remote or wilderness setting, sometimes involving some form of unconventional means of transportation and tending to be associated with low or high levels of physical activity. As the name suggests it entails an element of risk and can range from ‘getting wet’ to ‘getting high’ to ‘getting faster’. An Adventure Tourism business provider can arrange a single adventure or a combination of adventure pursuits for paying tourists. When considering an Adventure Business it is probably more cost effective to concentrate on the aspects that you are good at and have a specialised interest in. Unlike other tourism businesses an Adventure Tourism enterprise will rely heavily on the specialist interest, experience and skills. Therefore, the specialist understanding required for adventure activities, is a critical area of experience for a would-be adventure tourism entrepreneur. Requirements 1. Protection: Some adventure activities (for example quad bike racing) are, by their nature, dangerous and can cause injury, and even loss of life, to persons and damage to property. Any enterprise providing access to such activities must protect themselves against claims for loss or damage caused to persons who partake in the activities provided by the enterprise. While insurance costs may be high, return on investment may still be attractive. Health and safety requirements must be adhered to. 2. Training: The first line of protection is to ensure that owners and staff are properly trained and equipped to provide supervision and guidance to participants in the activities, ensuring that equipment is in excellent condition at all times. Ensure that all participants are properly trained in the use of equipment and in the rules of the activity that they plan to engage in. The rules should be designed to make the activity as safe as possible. 3. Legal Requirements: Before launching any adventure activity, find out what specific legal requirements pertaining to the sport or activity being pursued, must be complied with. This can be obtained from the relevant sport or activity coordinating body also check with your solicitor. 4. Insurance: Consult a reputable insurer or broker on the exposure to risk and, in particular, ensure that adequate public liability is in place. Before hosting groups of visitors or planning a public event, check with an insurance agent about adequacy of liability coverage. Be guided by the insurer in how to structure ones business and ensure to minimize exposure to risk to the maximum extent. 5. Land use zoning: Become familiar with all laws applicable to locating an office; licensing and registration; road transportation permits; public driving permits; regulations and by-laws. Consult with the local council and also a solicitor. 6. Grants: There are several different avenues that may help with funding. LEADER gives capital grants for the development of tourism activities and facilities. They also give marketing grants, which can help promote an adventure tourist venture. Contact your local LEADER company for more information. Planning and Marketing your Adventure Tourism Enterprise In depth market research should be carried out and a detailed business plan prepared before proceeding with such a venture. Your Local Regional Tourist Authority and Failte Ireland are only too willing to help you make the connection with the market place. Effective marketing is a key element in any business enterprise and is an ongoing process. Marketing can be as simple as word-of-mouth referral, or involve an intensive media campaign. Your marketing style and message must be directed to your identified audience. If providing quad bike racing activities for example, you could emphasise the experience of all weather crosscountry driving fun. Network with other tourism and adventure providers such as clay pigeon shooting, rifle target shooting and archery to provide interesting packages for the tourist. Useful web-sites for more information www.sac.ac.uk www.headwater.com www.itsadventuresouthwest.co.uk www.failte-ireland.ie

Using Data Is Necessary For Conducting A Good Research

Part One Research is important in our society since it contributes to the development of the world we live in. Research is completed to solve real-world problems related to why people think, feel and behave a certain way and to confirm and establish facts, reaffirm previous work, solve new or existing issues, and to support or develop new theories (Creswell, 2009). The research should be significant, relevant, and of interest to those working and studying in the field. A systematic approach using a research method that provides accurate, reliable, and selective critical use of data is necessary for conducting a good research. A good research supports or challenges existing theory. When conducting a scientific method research, the researcher may review, analyze, and test an area of research that has been previously studied. The researcher will develop a hypothesis statement that will predict the outcomes of the study. A research hypothesis is a statement made by the researcher based on theory to predict a relationship between variables or events in a research study that is testable and falsifiable. However, the hypothesis outside of science is consider to be a guess or theory that has not been tested. The prediction of the hypothesis is an educated guess of what might happen with the future outcomes of the study. The hypothesis can be tested by completing an experiment or observation. The testability of theory will help the research identify if the hypothesisShow MoreRelatedMarketing Research Tools Essay1277 Words   |  6 PagesMarketing Research Tools Strategic and tactical decisions need to be made when an organization needs to achieve the objectives of the research. Market research is a strategic step in determining the best solution for discovering opportunities and acquiring clients. 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