Samsung Leader describes New Stategy Towards Management

The May 2005 edition of Monthly Chosun pressed Samsung Group chairman Lee Kun-hee’s on his strategy for fostering talented people.

Lee Kun-hee once told Samsung executives that the 21st century would be an age of intelligent creativity and competition to secure competent workers.

The Samsung chairman noted that "One genius will feed 100,000-200,000 ordinary people." He also told Samsung management that whether Samsung became a global leading company depended above all on whether it can get workers with core competencies.

“In order to become a super global leading company, all Samsung workers must be future-oriented, broad-minded, and equipped with humanity, morality, traditional Korean courtesy and global etiquette,” Lee stressed.

Interestingly, Monthly Chosun reported that Lee’s new strategies toward staff were going to soften. “In the movie, Ben-Hur won the chariot race without whipping his horses. Samsung will reward workers who perform well. But at the same time, the company will not punish those who perform badly,” Lee promised.

I find this quite a change from the reputation Samsung has had on pressing its management team for results. In fact, my interviews with college age Koreans is that although they felt a career with Samsung would be rewarding fiscally , many felt it would be highly, if not overly, demanding. Moreover, faliure was not an option.