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History of Samsung in South Korea

Samsung Group is the largest enterprise group in South Korea, including 26 subsidiaries and several other legal entities. It has established nearly 300 legal entities and offices in nearly 70 countries and regions, with a total of 196,000 employees. Its business involves electronics, finance, machinery , chemistry and many other fields.

Three companies under the group entered the Fortune Global 500 in 2003, among which Samsung Electronics ranked 59th, Samsung C&T ranked 115th, and Samsung Life ranked 236th. In 2003, the turnover of Samsung Group was about 96.5 billion US dollars, and the brand value was as high as 10.85 billion US dollars, ranking 25th among the world’s top 100 brands, and becoming the fastest growing brand for two consecutive years. Samsung Electronics, the flagship company of the group, ranked third in the 2003 “Business Week” IT Top 100, and has increasingly become the industry leader, and its influence has surpassed many traditional giants in the industry.

Development path

On March 1, 1938, Mr. Lee Byung-chul, the former chairman of Samsung, established the “Samsung Chamber of Commerce” in Daegu, South Korea with 30,000 won. In the early days, Samsung’s main business was to export dried fish, vegetables, and fruits from South Korea to Beijing and Manzhouli in China. Soon after, Samsung built another factory to start production and sales of flour and sugar.

In 1948, Samsung moved its office to Seoul, the capital of South Korea, and established the “Samsung C&T” company. “The establishment of Samsung C&T marks the official start of Samsung’s international trade business. At a time when the corporate atmosphere was relatively conservative, Samsung allowed employees to participate in investment and profit sharing, and rewarded employees who made outstanding achievements. Samsung’s distinctive management style Became famous in Korea.

Entering the production field to support the recovery of the Korean economy

South Korea got rid of Japanese rule in 1945, but the South 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 is developing steadily, lost almost all of its property due to the war, but Samsung did not fall down because of this. In 1951, Samsung transferred the company to Busan, a port city in southeastern South Korea, and established Samsung Trading Co., Ltd. At a time when South Korea’s supplies were extremely scarce and various daily necessities were heavily dependent on imports, Samsung began to develop in the field of production in order to help restore and develop South Korea’s economy and realize its concept of “serving the country”.

In 1953, Samsung established “CheilJedang”, which ended the history of South Korea’s dependence on imported sugar; in 1954, Samsung established “CheilJedang”, which created the era of South Korea’s self-produced fabrics. 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 ties in schools, families and relatives. Samsung took the lead in establishing a personnel system for open recruitment, and made efforts to improve labor efficiency and employee benefits.

Enter the electronics industry and pursue business expansion

In the early 1960s, the political turmoil in South Korea still seriously affected social and economic development. Samsung has also experienced a lot of difficulties because of this. Despite the difficulties, Samsung, whose mission is to rejuvenate the country, is preparing to rebuild the Korean economy once again. In 1969, Samsung Electronics was formally established. According to Mr. Lee Byung-chul’s analysis at the time, the electronics industry was the most suitable industry for South Korea’s national conditions in terms of technology, labor conditions, added value, and export expectations. Judging from Samsung Electronics’ success in the world’s semiconductor field, he couldn’t have been more correct at the time.

In addition, Samsung also established the Korea Fertilizer Production Company in an effort to achieve self-sufficiency in Korea’s fertilizers. Samsung began to pursue expansion in several major industrial fields and began to become the leader of Korean companies. Since then, Samsung has not only focused on business operations, but has also begun to focus on the development of Korean social education and culture. The company has invested a lot of money in talent training in Daegu and Sungkyunkwan University. In order to repay the society, Samsung established the Samsung Award Society in January 1964. In April 1965, the Samsung Cultural Foundation was established and began to play an important role in the development of Korean society and culture.

Enter chemical and heavy industry

From 1962 to 1972, the Korean economy achieved sustained high growth. In 1973, the Korean government decided to encourage the development of heavy chemical industry in order to promote further economic development and achieve a high degree of economic independence. Samsung responded to the government’s call to lay the groundwork for several future strategic industries in South Korea, including heavy industry, chemicals and petroleum. In August 1973, Samsung proposed the “Second Five-Year Management Plan”, made concentrated investments in the heavy industry and chemical industry, and decided to set up a shipbuilding department. Samsung has also successfully achieved the integration of textiles from raw materials to end-product production.

In 1974, Samsung Heavy Industries was established; in 1977, Samsung Shipyard and “Samsung Precision” (the predecessor of Samsung Techwin). In the early 1970s, Samsung began to produce TVs, VCRs and other household appliances and began to enter the international market. In 1974, after acquiring a 50% stake in a Korean semiconductor company, the myth of Samsung Electronics in the semiconductor field began.

Entering the international market with technology and “secondary 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 (now SDS) was formed. The establishment of the Samsung Economic Research Institute in 1986 and the Samsung Institute of Technology in 1987 promoted the expansion of Samsung in the fields of electronics, semiconductors, polymer chemistry, genetic engineering, optical communications and aviation industry, laying a solid foundation for the future development of the group. technical foundation.

After the death of Samsung founder Mr. Lee Byung-chul on November 19, 1987, Mr. Lee Kun-hee succeeded his father as the new chairman. At the celebration of Samsung’s 50th anniversary in 1988, Li Jianxi announced the group’s “second venture” and set Samsung’s development direction as “a world-class enterprise in the 21st century”. In the process of “Second Entrepreneurship”, Samsung made active business restructuring 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.

Step into 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 a movement aimed at realizing the transformation from “quantity management” to “quality management” through positive changes from individual employees to the entire enterprise, and thus to achieve world-class corporate management innovation. Taking the “new management” as an opportunity, Samsung began to carry out all-round quality management and the world’s top strategy, and implemented the business development strategy of “selection and concentration”. Focus on investment in business and strengthen research and development efforts.

In terms of enhancing quality, Samsung Electronics and Samsung Electro-Mechanics have implemented a “stop line” mechanism: that is, if a substandard product is found in 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 lectures for all Samsung customer service personnel.

The Shilla Hotel, which is owned by Samsung, also provides etiquette training courses for employees of Samsung Life, Samsung Securities and Samsung Credit Card. The “new management” had a profound impact on Samsung’s development. During the implementation of the “new management”, Samsung strengthened the company’s business foundation through changes in business structure, talent training, product design and production, process control, etc., thus stably weathering the Asian economic crisis and achieving an amazing high-speed Growth, and quickly enter the ranks of world-class enterprises.

In 2003, 10 years after the start of “new management”, three companies under Samsung entered the ranks of the world’s top 500 companies, and nearly 20 products ranked first in the world in terms of market share. In the past ten years, Samsung’s annual turnover has increased by 3.4 times, its profit has 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 the world’s first-class company and the world’s most respected company. Samsung people, who are diligent, progressive, global-minded, and always pursue the first, are making solid strides towards this goal.

On November 8, 2016 local time, South Korean prosecutors raided the offices of Samsung Electronics in Seoul as part of an investigation into the “political interference” of Choi Soon-sil, a close friend of South Korean President Park Geun-hye. The prosecution’s search concerns whether Samsung improperly provided financial help to Choi Soon-sil’s daughter.