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its foundation for future growth.
Samsung’s transformation was not
yet complete, however—the Asian
financial crisis of the late 1990s
forced the company to reinvent
itself yet again. Adapting its process
turned Samsung into a more
market-focused and consumer-
friendly brand. Since then the
company’s efforts, particularly in
the cell-phone industry, have been
based on constant attrition,
reinvention, and adaptation.
Long-term survival
Few businesses survive without
adaptation or reinvention. Products
such as Kellogg’s Cornflakes and
Heinz Beans—products that have
not changed in decades—are rare.
Even when a product has not
changed, many of the processes
used in its manufacture,
distribution, and marketing have
altered dramatically. The factories
of 100 or 50 years ago were very
different than today’s, where many
tasks are automated and fulfilled by
computers and robots. Promotions
have also adapted to fit changed
consumer demographics, globalized
markets, and customer preferences.
Even established brands cannot
avoid reinvention.
Truly successful business
transformation is rarely due solely to
discovering and commercializing
bold new ideas, technologies, and
products. The most successful
businesses know that reinvention isSTART SMALL, THINK BIG
a continual process. Social media,
for example, has created a market
shift that has required businesses of
all types to adapt; even record labels
now embrace the promotional value
of websites such as YouTube.
The ecosystem in which a
business operates is rarely, if ever,
static. Corporations exist in these
ecosystems as living organisms
that must adapt to survive; great
leaders know that failure to adapt
leads to extinction. ■Born on January 9, 1942, Lee
Kun-Hee is Chairman of the South
Korean conglomerate Samsung.
Holding an economics degree from
Waseda University in Tokyo,
Japan, and an MBA from George
Washington University in the US,
Lee Kun-Hee joined the Samsung
Group in 1968 and succeeded
his father as Chairman on
December 1, 1987.
Samsung is the quintessential
example of a chaebol, a uniquely
Korean conglomerate that mixes
Confucian values with family ties
and government influence. Under
Lee’s stewardship, the companyLee Kun-Hee has been transformed from a
Korean budget brand into a
major international force and,
alongside Sony, is one of the
world’s most prominent
Asian businesses. Samsung
Electronics, the conglomerate’s
most famous subsidiary,
is a leading developer of
semiconductors, TV screens,
and cell phones—with its
smartphones even outselling
the iPhone in many markets.
The Forbes 2013 Rich List
recorded Lee as the world’s
69th richest billionaire, and
the richest Korean.When processes evolve they may
create new jobs or cause existing ones
to disappear. The manual switchboards
of the old ztelephone system were soon
replaced by faster, automatic ones.