Samsung Celebrates 10th Anniversary of New Management

“Change just about everything except your wife and children!”

This is what Samsung Group Chairman Lee Gun-hee said some ten years ago. Chairman Lee emphasized the importance of a “New Management” that focused on changes from quantity to quality in Frankfurt, Germany on June 7, 1993.

The statement implies that the Korean business community should transform its outer-looking perspective to a quality and function-based perspective. Thanks to this type of advanced outlook, Samsung has been able to escape from foreign currency crisis and make that dangerous point as another opportunity.

This time, Chairman Lee made a topic of “Reaching over 10,000 dollars” and “Growing geniuses for the nation”.

He showed earnest facial expression as he did a decade ago while he celebrated the 10th anniversary of the New Management at Shilla Hotel, Seoul on June 5.

“Our economy is currently in a slump and reaching over 10,000 dollars in revenue as other advanced nations. This is time when we should do our utmost together to reach growth to 20,000 dollars of income, rather than having to concentrate on acquiring individual wealth,” he said.

He added, “Along with an era of 20,000 dollars in national income, basic standards of living would be stabilized and social problems would be eliminated such as management-labor conflicts and collective selfishness.”

Grown in major Korea corporation

At the meeting where some 50 CEOs participated including Vice President of Samsung Electronics Yoon Jong-yong and Restructuring Manager Lee Hak-soo, achievements for the past decade and preparatory measures for another decade have been discussed.

Samsung Group`s sales revenues since 1993 increased by 3.4 times from 41 trillion won to 141 trillion per year with its pre-taxation profits going up as much as 28 times from 500 billion won to 14 trillion won. The company’s exports account for some 20 percent in national exports with 31.2 billion dollars in total.

Its share prices account for 27 percent of the nation`s total amount of listed shares, which shows how much of the Korean economy it has taken.

Samsung has 19 items famous in the global market including DRAM semiconductor, TFT-LCD and CDMA with other number 1 brands in the financial sector including insurance and securities.

Shooting to be the world’s number 1 corporation by 2010

Samsung decided the vision for 2010 as “the most respectable business” in the world. Its target sales revenues and pre-tax profits are 270 trillion won and 30 trillion won, respectively, which are more than double now.

For these targets, it presented four major strategies – securing and growing core competent human resources, establishing strong and resilient corporate fundamentals to nurture under any kind of environment, discovering new growth engines and going for society-friendly management through regular and transparent management.

“Human Resource Management” is one of the core strategies emphasized by Chairman Lee.

Chairman Lee emphasized that day, “The second goal of the new management should be focused on educating geniuses for the nation.”

Samsung plans to recruit some 1000 degree holders this year, as it did last year.

He said, “Without new management, Samsung could have dropped into a second or third business. It is a shuddering thought. Please be sure to spread our achievement from new management in order to recover the current economic crisis and enhance people’s lives.”

Yeon-Su Shin ysshin@donga.com