▲ Samsung. 240524 Photo = Reporter Jeong Sang-yoon
While Samsung Electronics‘ management directly acknowledged the crisis and expressed its will to completely reform, analysis was raised that Samsung Electronics is giving strength to ‘learning from Japan’ by analyzing the businesses of Japanese electronics companies.
In Japan, there are quite a few companies that have overcome crises by attempting to ‘discover new businesses’ and ‘improve business structures’ in response to changes in market conditions over the 100 years since their founding. A representative example is Sony, which recently changed its structure from an electronics company to a software company.
The industry predicts that Samsung Electronics will come up with a strategy to overcome the crisis by actively studying electronics companies with a long history in advanced markets such as Japan, the United States, and Europe.
According to the Nippon Keizai (Nikkei) newspaper on the 16th, Samsung Electronics has recently been conducting research on Japanese electronics companies through its Future Business Planning Team.
In particular, the topic of intensive research is ‘the decline and revival of Japanese electronics companies’, and it is known that the study is looking into Sony and Hitachi, representative Japanese companies.
The reason Samsung Electronics began researching Japanese companies was to conduct case studies in the Japanese electronics industry. The goal is to learn about overall management, including the know-how for discovering new businesses from companies that have been in business for a long time in Japan, as well as improving business structure and structure.
Hitachi Manufacturing, founded in 1920, faced the risk of bankruptcy around 2010, but succeeded in revival by reorganizing its business structure. Hitachi Manufacturing Company has concentrated its massive business structure into digital, transmission and distribution, railroad, and semiconductor manufacturing equipment. Sony, founded in 1946, also overcame its management crisis by starting content and software businesses such as movies, games, and music.
It is reported that Samsung Electronics will take a general look at and benchmark traditional Japanese electronics companies, including how they discovered new businesses and continued management.
Nikkei said, “We plan to analyze high-profit businesses among a wide range of industries, reaching 110, and find and foster fields that Samsung can enter.”
At the same time, he pointed out that Samsung Electronics has not changed its business structure centered on semiconductors, smartphones, home appliances, and displays for over 10 years, and analyzed that it is looking back on former Chairman Lee Kun-hee’s management philosophy due to the recent crisis in its main business.
Previously, when Samsung employees reported in the late 2000s that “we have surpassed Japan,” former Chairman Lee said, “Why don’t you look at Japan’s potential? We also need to change our business structure.” Nikkei reported that it was based on this anecdote that the Future Business Planning Group began studying cases of Japanese companies.
Separately, Samsung Electronics is also working to establish a cooperative system with Japanese companies.
In particular, there is a possibility that Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong will hold a meeting called ‘Lee Kun-hee and Japanese Friends (LJF)’ within the year with major Japanese parts partners. This meeting is a private meeting that has been held since 1993 by former Chairman Lee to cooperate with parts and material companies in the semiconductor and home appliance fields in Japan.
In October last year, Chairman Lee presided over an LJF exchange meeting at Seungjiwon in Seoul for the first time since taking office.
Samsung Electronics is also building a semiconductor research center worth 300 billion won in Yokohama, Japan to expand cooperation with Japanese semiconductor companies.
Meanwhile, Samsung Electronics’ Future Business Planning Group, a key organization in discovering new businesses, was newly established in November of last year and is concentrating on research to benchmark electronics companies not only in Japan but also in advanced markets such as the United States and Europe. In May, President Kyeong-Hyeon took office as general manager.
An industry official said, “Samsung is expected to look not only at new businesses during a crisis, but also at cases of Japanese companies overcoming crises.”
