Glorious Chairman!
IN FEBRUARY 1993, CHAIRMAN Lee II gathered his executives for a
conference in Los Angeles at the Century Plaza Hotel.
“Come and see for yourself how our products [have become] worthless
in the American market,” the chairman told his executives. He led them to
a nearby department store, where they peered at Japanese and American
televisions on shelves at eye level, while Samsung products were gathering
dust at the bottom.
The chairman barked that these products did not deserve the name of
Samsung. He later told BusinessWeek, “But they didn’t listen.”
Eager to get around his executives, who told him little about what was
going on in the company, the chairman summoned reporters from the
Samsung Broadcasting Center, the company’s internal television news
channel, and ordered them to place hidden cameras in a plant in South
Korea. He would watch the video of his employees later.
That Samsung’s business was in trouble was no mystery to Lee. But he
didn’t realize how bad things were. Lee wanted an outside appraisal. As
Samsung’s journalists set out on their investigation of the company’s
business practices, Lee consulted the Japanese—who had been faithful
teachers and tough competitors—for wisdom and guidance. On June 4 of
that year, he traveled to Japan, where he invited his Japanese advisers to his
suite at the Hotel Okura, where his father used to stay.
Leading the Japanese delegation was a soft-spoken industrial designer
named Tameo Fukuda, who’d been helping Samsung for the past three
years out of an office in Osaka. It was his first meeting with the chairman.
“Tonight you should tell me straightforwardly how you feel about
Samsung Electronics,” the chairman requested.