Church of Samsung
THE CHAIRMAN WAS BUILDING a quasi-religious corporate culture, what
South Koreans called “emperor management.” But there was a problem.
“These were not, at the time, very well organized messages,” said
Hwang. The chairman gave Hwang the job of disseminating his philosophy
throughout the company. “He just poured out what he had in mind.”
With a team from the chairman’s office, Hwang was tasked with
designing a book about the chairman’s philosophy, a comic book, and films
and pamphlets to ensure Samsung’s hundred thousand managers and
employees understood the chairman’s message.
Samsung began distributing the book of proverbs, called Change Begins
with Me: Samsung’s New Management, and a raft of other educational
materials to every recruit.
“It was kind of like Chairman Mao’s red book,” joked former vice
president for sales and marketing Peter Skarzynski, “but it was Chairman
Lee’s blue book.”
Executives would read the chairman’s proverbs and some hung them up
on their walls:
“Neglecting to nurture talent is a kind of sin.” (February 1989)
“A genius is one in 100,000. South Koreans alone won’t fulfill our need
for genius, so we need to expand our horizons overseas.” (June 1993)
“In the future, one person will be feeding thousands more.” (June
1993)As I sifted through these internal documents and old news reports, five