Introduction to South Korea’s Samsung Group
Samsung Group is South Korea’s largest enterprise group, including 26 subsidiaries and several other legal entities. It has established nearly 300 companies in nearly 70 countries and regions. It has legal persons and offices with a total of 196,000 employees, and its business involves electronics, finance, machinery, chemistry and many other fields. Three of the group's companies entered the ranks of the Fortune Global 500 in 2003, among which Samsung Electronics ranked 59th, Samsung C&T ranked 115th, and Samsung Life Sciences ranked 236th. In 2003, Samsung Group's turnover was approximately US$96.5 billion, with a brand value of US$10.85 billion. It ranked 25th among the world's top 100 brands and became the fastest growing brand for two consecutive years. The group's flagship company, Samsung Electronics, ranked third in the 2003 "Business Weekly" IT Top 100. It has increasingly become an industry leader, and its influence has surpassed many traditional giants in the industry. Samsung has nearly 20 products with the world's largest market share among global companies, demonstrating its strong strength in the international market. Take Samsung Electronics as an example. The company has won many awards in the Industrial Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) and has become the company with the most awards for several consecutive years. These prove that Samsung's design capabilities have reached world-class levels. In 2003, Samsung obtained 1,313 patents in the United States, ranking ninth among all companies in the world.
Early days of establishment On March 1, 1938, Mr. Lee Byung-cheol, the former chairman of Samsung, established the "Samsung Chamber of Commerce" in Daegu, South Korea, with 30,000 won (approximately more than 200 yuan at today's exchange rate). In the early days, Samsung's main business was exporting Korean dried fish, vegetables, fruits, etc. to Beijing and Manzhouli in China. Soon after, Samsung built another factory and began the production and sales of flour and sugar. In 1948, Samsung moved its office to Seoul, the capital of South Korea, and established "Samsung C&T". "The establishment of Samsung C&T marked the beginning of Samsung's official international trade business. At a time when the corporate atmosphere was still conservative, Samsung allowed employees to participate in investment and profit sharing, and rewarded employees with outstanding achievements. Samsung's unique management The style became famous in Korea.
In order to support the recovery of the Korean economy, Korea entered the field of production. In 1945, Korea got rid of Japanese rule, but the Korean economy at that time became extremely unstable due to social and political turmoil. The Korean War that began in 1950 had a serious impact on South Korea's economic development. Samsung, which was developing steadily, lost almost all its assets due to the war, but Samsung did not recover. In 1951, Samsung moved the company to South Korea. Busan, a port city in the southeast, and established Samsung C&T Co., Ltd. At a time when South Korea was in extreme shortage of supplies and relied heavily on imports of various daily necessities, Samsung wanted to help restore and develop the South Korean economy and realize its "career to serve the country." The concept began to develop in the field of production. In 1953, Samsung established "CheilJedang", ending Korea's dependence on imported sugar; in 1954, Samsung established "Cheil Wool Textile" and pioneered South Korea's self-made sugar products. The era of fabric production. The realization of self-sufficiency in these basic consumer goods laid the foundation for the rise of the Korean economy. It is worth mentioning that in the mid-1950s, most Korean companies still hired employees through connections in schools, families and relatives. Established an open recruitment personnel system and worked hard to improve labor efficiency and employee welfare.
Entered the electronics industry and pursued business expansion. In the early 1960s, the political turmoil in South Korea still seriously affected social and economic development. . Samsung has also experienced many difficulties. Despite the difficulties, Samsung, which is committed to rejuvenating the country, is still preparing to rebuild the Korean economy. In 1969, Samsung Electronics was officially established, based on the analysis of technology and labor conditions. Considering aspects such as , added value, and export expectations, the electronics industry is the industry most suitable for South Korea's national conditions.
Judging from Samsung Electronics' success in the world's semiconductor field, he couldn't have been more right at the time. In addition, Samsung also established a Korean fertilizer production company in an effort to achieve South Korea's self-sufficiency in fertilizers. Samsung began to pursue expansion in several major industrial fields and began to become the leader of Korean companies. From then on, Samsung not only focused on business operations, but also began to focus on the development of Korean social education and culture. The company has invested heavily in talent training at Daegu and Sungkyunkwan universities. In order to repay society, Samsung established the Samsung Scholarship Society in January 1964. In April 1965, the Samsung Cultural Foundation was established and began to play an important role in the social and cultural development of South Korea.
Entering chemical and heavy industries From 1962 to 1972, South Korea’s economy achieved sustained rapid growth. In 1973, South Korea == decided to encourage the development of heavy and chemical industries in order to promote further economic development and achieve a high degree of economic independence. Samsung responded to the call of == and laid the foundation for several future strategic industrial fields in South Korea such as heavy industry, chemicals and petroleum. In August 1973, Samsung proposed the "Second Five-Year Management Plan", made concentrated investment in heavy industry and chemical industry, and decided to establish a shipbuilding department. Samsung has also successfully integrated textile production from raw materials to end products. In 1974, Samsung Heavy Industries was established; in 1977, Samsung Shipyard and "Samsung Precision" (the predecessor of Samsung Techwin) were established. In the early 1970s, Samsung began to produce televisions, video recorders and other home appliances and began to enter the international market. In 1974, after acquiring 50% of the shares of Korean Semiconductor Company, Samsung Electronics began its legend in the semiconductor field.
Using technology to enter the international market and "second entrepreneurship" In 1978, Samsung Semiconductor was separated from Samsung Electronics and operated independently. In 1983, Samsung successfully developed 64K DRAM and VLSI chips, began to emerge in the international semiconductor market, and increasingly became the industry leader. In 1985, Samsung Data Systems (today's SDS) was established. The establishment of Samsung Economic Research Institute in 1986 and Samsung Institute of Technology in 1987 promoted Samsung's expansion in the fields of electronics, semiconductors, polymer chemistry, genetic engineering, optical communications and aviation industry, laying a solid foundation for the group's future development. technical basis. After Samsung founder Mr. Lee Byung-cheol passed away on November 19, 1987, Mr. Lee Kun-hee succeeded his father as the new chairman. At the 1988 celebration of Samsung’s 50th anniversary, Lee Kun-hee announced the group’s “second venture” and set Samsung’s development direction as becoming a “world-class enterprise in the 21st century.” In the process of "second entrepreneurship", Samsung made active business structural adjustments and began to expand its business into new areas. In order to enter the world's top five electronics companies, Samsung merged electronics, semiconductor and communications companies into Samsung Electronics in 1988. In the late 1980s, Samsung began to focus on electronics and heavy industry, establishing its reputation in the world's high-tech fields.
Enter the world's first-class enterprise industry and move towards a super-first-class enterprise. In 1993, Samsung announced the implementation of "new management." This is an innovation movement aimed at realizing the transformation from "quantity management" to "quality management" through positive changes from individual employees to the entire enterprise, thereby achieving world-class corporate management. Taking "new management" as an opportunity, Samsung began to carry out all-round quality management and world-class strategies, and implemented a "select and concentrate" business development strategy to promptly clean up businesses that were not developing smoothly or with unfavorable prospects, and were optimistic about the prospects. Make concentrated investments in our business and strengthen research and development. In terms of strengthening quality, Samsung Electronics, Samsung Electro-Mechanics, etc. have implemented a "line stopping" mechanism: that is, if substandard products are found during the production process, the entire production line will be stopped until the problem is solved. In order to improve the quality of Samsung's services, Samsung Human Resources Development Institute provides customer service seminars to all Samsung customer service personnel. The Shilla Hotel owned by Samsung also provides etiquette training courses for employees of Samsung Life, Samsung Securities and Samsung Credit Card. "New Management" has had a profound impact on Samsung's development.
During the implementation of "New Management", Samsung strengthened the company's operating foundation through changes in business structure, talent training, product design and production, process control and other aspects, thus smoothly surviving the Asian economic crisis and achieving astonishing rapid growth. grow and quickly become a world-class enterprise. In 2003, 10 years after the start of "new management", three Samsung companies entered the ranks of the world's top 500 companies, and nearly 20 products ranked first in the world in market share. In the past ten years, Samsung's annual turnover has increased by 3.4 times, profits have increased by 28 times, and it has established itself as an industry leader in semiconductor, LCD, communications and other technology fields. Samsung's goal is to become a world-class enterprise and the most respected company in the world. Samsung people who are diligent, progressive, global-minded, and always pursuing the first place are making solid strides towards this goal.