Samsung’s next reinvention challenge is ‘reinvent itself’ & to be more innovative 

As its smartphone sales stutter and a generational leadership succession looms, Samsung Electronics Co Ltd is under pressure to reinvent itself – to be more innovative, but not lose the rigor and focus that made it a global powerhouse.
One effort this summer to foster a more worker-friendly environment and a more creative culture is to allow staff at its main Suwon campus south of Seoul to wear shorts to work at weekends. Working hours are more flexible, and female staff can take maternity leave without worrying about job security.

Samsung last month posted an unexpectedly sharp drop in second-quarter earnings, squeezed by falling market share in smartphones, and with no obvious driver in sight to reverse the decline.
“The company is in somewhat of a Catch-22 when it comes to changing its culture,” said Jay Subhash, a former senior product manager who left Samsung in April.

Samsung has long emphasized the need for creativity while hiring more foreign talent as it operates in increasingly diverse markets. Along with relaxed rules on work hours, it stresses a “Work Smart” philosophy to reduce unnecessary time spent at the office.

While it’s hoped a looser environment will help stir new ideas, some insiders say progress is slow against what’s often described as an entrenched culture of rigid, top-down management.
“Samsung’s doing some soul searching right now, it’s asking itself ‘who am I, and what should I do next?” said Chang Sea-jin, a business professor at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology and author of “Sony Vs Samsung”.

 

Source: economictimes

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