Organisational Culture of Samsung

(Freepik, 2021)

Introduction

In this blog, I will explain and analyse about the organisational culture in Samsung company.
I will use 3 modules/theories of business explain about the organisational culture.
– Handy’s framework to clarify the exist organisational culture
– Iceberg cultural module to identify the problems
– Mckinsey 7S framework to recommend the Samsung business

I hopefully this blog will help you to more understand 3 of these modules.

What is “Organisational Culture” ?

Organizational culture is a meaningful difference between companies that consistently outperform typical benchmarks as well as those who barely meet standards. Culture, on the other hand, can be imprecise and difficult to describe. The infographic below shows the five components that make up corporate culture. (Blue Beyond Consulting, 2020)

(Blue Beyond Consulting, 2020)

Heinz, K. (2021) said that in this present year, 2021, the organisational culture would have 4 types. The first type is clan culture. This type would be focused on mentorship and teamwork. The second type is adhocracy culture, this one is focused on risk-taking and innovation. Next is market culture and focusing on competition and growth. And the last one, it is hierarchy culture. The primary focus is structure and stability.

About Samsung company

Samsung company is a South Korean electronics producer that is one of the worldwide companies. It is because Samsung manufactures a board variety of consumer and industrial electronics, including appliances, digital media devices as well as semiconductors, memory chips, and integrated systems. An outstanding 25% of South Korean exports are now related to this one of the most well-known technical manufactures. (Bondarenko, 2021)

This is the History of Samsung company since 1938 until this year (2021)

History of Samsung Company 1938-2021 (2021)

Bondarenko (2017) still claimed that even if the main chairmen of Samsung (Lee Kun-Hee in 1996 and his son, Lee Jae-Yong in 2017) got arrested under the government policy. But Samsung still can continue the business in the electronics, technologies, semiconductors and LCD screens. This company was climbing continuously into the top five of the global market shares.

The target of the company is to devote for the new technology, create the best product and services that impact and contribute to be a better world (Samsung, 2021).

Identified Organisational Culture of Samsung by Handy’s framework

(AQA, 2017)

The Samsung company could use Handy’s framework for clarifying the organisational culture. Charles Handy has four classes of culture like in the picture above: Power culture, Role culture, Task culture and Person culture.

About Samsung company, because this company is established in Southeast Asia. So, most staffs have the region in Asia. The touchable culture that everyone can see is about seniority in role culture. They are more caring about the position than the skills. Also, in some countries in Asia area, only the power people can make the decision (Power Culture). The problem is about privilege persons in the company that they can control the direction of the organisation even if it is the wrong way. In another cultures, even if it is a small problem, it can affect the overall organisation.

Identified Samsung’s problem by Cultural Iceberg Model

Like I said before, the main problem of this organisation is about Role culture and Power culture. So, this blog would identify the problem by Iceberg cultural module.

(Personio, 2020)

The cultural iceberg model is the one of models that use to identify the problem in the organisation.

LYNCH (2017) stated that under the water line shows the concept of what is wrong and right, good and bad. It is about individual attitudes, priorities and values. You can see that the personal of power is stay under this line. So, the question is how you can fine the problem specifically and how you can adjust it.

Samsung company faces the situation when it wants to expand many branches around the world. Because the structure and system of the company in different area is not the same. It should have to change the plan to manage the organisation. Then, I will move on to the conclusion and recommendation part.

Conclusion and Recommendation

To sum up, because Samsung company is the big company in Southeast Asia and well-known around the world. The main problem is about the power culture. Like I mentioned before, someone who has a power doesn’t mean they can manage well. They should work on their capabilities and respect the other’s efficiency. The second problem, the organisation will get the different culture when the company want to expand so, it has to adapt all Mckinsey7S framework for all employees and employers when they have to work together.

Recommendation by Mckinsey 7S Framework

The Mckinsey 7S framework is “a toll that analyses company’s organisational design” (CFI, 2021). The elements are including:

Strong elements (3 elements)

1. Structure – The corporate structure, chain of command, and divisional composition

2. Systems – All systems in the company: the daily routines, processes, and decisions that make up the normal operations within the company system

3. Strategy – The plan to manage organisation’s resource to reach the goal

Soft elements (3elements)

4. Staff – All positions in the company including training, preparing and setting the tasks.

5. Skills – Include of the organization’s workforce and management’s talents and abilities,

6. Style – Knowing the way to approach the management skill

and the last one is in the middle but sometime is in the soft elements,

7. Shared Values – Related to the worker’s behavior within the workplace

(CFI, 2021)

Mckinsey 7S framework would help the employers more understanding about the organisation. They would understand the strengths and weaknesses of the company also, knowing the value and easily to determine the organisational cultural quickly (CFI,2021)

Mckinsey 7S module has a strong link between elements. When one element changes, all elements would change. In this blog, I will use two strong elements to give my point of view of the recommendation

  • Strategy: “Samsung business strategy is mainly based on market leadership” (Dudovskiy,2017). It means that the company should separate the branch depend on the location and market share. For example, in Asia, the most electronic that popular is mobile phone and semiconductor.
  • Structure: Because the news of the imprisonment of director, Lee Jae-Yong. So, the structure of the company have to change. The main three products are IT and mobile communications (IM), Consumer Electronics (CE) and Device solutions (DS). In my opinion, Samsung company is very famous in IM and the connection around the world. So, in my opinion, Samsung should pay attention to the strongest structure in the company.

Charter statement: Also, Evans (2019) claimed that the way that Samsung company uses to cooperate the business are
1. Giving the opportunities for all staffs (Don’t care who they are and where they come from)
2. Listening for all suggestions and everyone passion
3. Continuously develop the company
4. Integrity’s ethical establishing
5. The priority is on everyone’s development

You can see that all of the recommendation from Evans (2019) and I totally agree that Samsung should take care of the people value because this is the big company also, having many branches around the world. The organisation should pay attention in the capability of individual person and manage to be the best proportion in market share. This is all my information in “Organisational Culture Blog”.

Hope this blog will help all of you guys more understanding about Samsung’s culture. Thank you for reading

If you need more information, don’t hesitate to contact me via comment. Thank you again!

Reference list

AQA. (2015). Handy’s culture. [Image]. AQA. https://www.aqa.org.uk/resources/business/as-and-a-level/business-7131-7132/teach/teaching-guide-handys-culture

BLASTERTECHNOLOGY. (2021, January 27). History of Samsung Company 1938-2021. [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMOm6-TJSdQ

Blue Beyond Consulting. (2020). What is Organizational Culture?. https://www.bluebeyondconsulting.com/thought-leadership/what-is-organizational-culture/

Bondarenko, P. (2021, October 1). Samsung South Korean company. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Samsung-Electronics

CFI. (2021). McKinsey 7S Model. https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/knowledge/strategy/mckinsey-7s-model/

Evans, L. (2019, March 18). Samsung’s Organizational Culture & Its Characteristics (An Analysis). http://panmore.com/samsung-organizational-culture-corporate-cultural-characteristics-analysis

Heinz, K. (2021, November 9). How These 4 Types of Organizational Culture Define Your Company. https://builtin.com/company-culture/types-of-organizational-culture

Kenton, W. (2021, August 14). McKinsey 7S Model. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/mckinsey-7s-model.asp

LYNCH. (2017, July 19). THE CULTURAL ICEBERG EXPLAINED. https://www.lynchlf.com/blog/the-cultural-iceberg-explained/

Personio. (2020). The cultural Iceberg Model. [Photograph]. Personio. https://www.personio.com/hr-lexicon/corporate-culture-models/

SAMSUNG. (2021). Our mission & values. https://www.samsung.com/uk/about-us/company-info/

Wong, K. (2020, May 7) Organizational Culture: Definition, Importance, and Development. https://www.achievers.com/blog/organizational-culture-definition/

Contemporary leadership styles: How relevant are they in today’s changing world

Introduction

In this blog, I will talk about the leadership theories and how to adapt for the future. Nevertheless, I would have two examples: one is about leader who can lead his company in a changing world, and another is the example of the industry that can also pass through this situation.

What is “Leadership”?

Leadership means the essentials of being ready and willing to inspire others (Ward, 2020). In addition, John A. Passanate (2018) claimed that the duty of the leader is a responsibility to aim the goal by creating favourable conditions for individual employees to reach their capabilities. Plus, listening and learning from all feedback in all levels of the organisation, being positive person and performing a positive culture in the company.

Leadership theories

CFI (2020) claimed that Leadership theories are points of view that aim to show how and why personally become leaders. The theories assert the characteristics and activities that people can use to improve their leadership qualities and skills..

(Indiafreenote, 2020)

The definition of 7 theories of leadership by Simplilearn (2021)

1. Great Man Theory : The best leader are born, not any skills. Also, the leadership skills are charisma, education, self-assurance, communication skills, and communication competence.

2. Trait Theory : This theory improve from the Great Man theory. Believing that leaders are born with their own capabilities that making they are suitable to be the leader than others who lack those talents.

3. Behavioral Theories : This theories is the opposite of the Great Man Theory. It shows that a person can learn to be a perfect leader who can manage the organisation. These theories is the best one theories.

4. Contingency Theories : The leader in this theories depends on his adaptation. A leader’s ability is to be able to cope with change. The best leaders not only have the right traits, but also the capacity to recognise their people’ demands, analyze the needs, and act properly.

5. Charismatic Leadership Theory : A trait-based leadership theory in which leaders act as visions motivated by their values and use their charm and persuasiveness to motivate their followers to work for a common vision.

6. Transactional Leadership Theory :  These leadership theories base their evaluations on benefits and punishments. This is a common business idea to control the employees because this theory is the normal thing in life. This is one of the most usually applied business concepts.

7. Transformational Leadership Theory : Another name is Relationship theories. Focusing on the relationship between leaders and employees. These leaders are all concerned with the team’s success, on the other hand, caring about presenting individual team members with the necessary inspiration to reach their full capabilities. Plus, these theories will assist you in developing your capabilities.

Also, Leadership theories separate into three phases: Traditional Theories, Modern Theories and New theories. (Ola and Lok, 2019, p. 11)

(Ola and Lok, 2019, p. 11)

What is “Contemporary leadership”?

Gordon, J. (2021) said that contemporary leadership can separate into 4 modules:
Transformational leadership – As means of leadership, the transformational leadership approach reveals leader charisma, inspiring motivation, intellectual challenge, and personalized consideration.

Leader-member exchange (LMX) – LMX approach the relationship between leader and employees. Trust-based connections is the key point of leadership effectiveness.

Servant leadership – Caring about the customer-oriented feedback and another recent focus is on the importance of being loyal to yourself as a leader.

Authentic leadership – Focusing on the element that the leader wants to know. Great leaders should adapt themselves depend on the demands of the situation, values and moral compass.

Leadership style

(Live and learn, 2021)

About leadership style, it has 6 different in Business module. It would separate by the job role in the workplace. (Live and learn, 2021)

1. Autocratic Leadership Style – A direct and forceful style in which leader can complete authority and control over their subordinates. Leaders who follow an autocratic style tend to rule through force and fear. They are outstandingly goal-oriented and self-motivated to reach their goals.

2. Visionary Leadership Style – This style is a leader who are self-confident in engaging people, brainstorming and innovating a new direction of the organisation.

3. Affiliative Leadership Style – Tend to lead by using relationships. Focusing on strengthening relationships, increasing trust of the employees, and creating a strong team connection.

4. Democratic Leadership Style – The ideal leadership style. This style is allowed all staffs can share their ideas and encourage teamwork. Employees feel completely more valued in their career field when they have a say.

5. Pace-Setting Leadership – Leaders who set the pace expect their teams to achieve high performance; they are extremely motivated and expect others to follow in their footsteps. This style is not suitable for long-term basis.

6. Coaching Leadership Style – This leadership style highlights positive encouragement while developing every team member’s skill set and traits. This style is suitable for long-term basis.

The example of the leader who can lead the industry in a changing world

In this blog, the example is Steve Hare, who is the CEO of multinational software firm Sage (Technology industry).

Blain (2020) claimed that Steve Hare is the one in the top ten list who can hold the company in the pandemic situation. In addition, valuing work-life balance, looking after employees’ overall health, offering workable and flexible and/or remote working rules, establishing health benefits, and maintaining frequent and clear communication channels are common factors among the most highly rated CEOs during COVID-19.

(ICAEW, 2021)

Steve Hare (2020) said that the pandemic situation made the economic uncertainly. He cannot predict or design the company’s plan in long-term basis. However, before caring of his business, he thought that the government should recover the small and the medium organisation first. Because it was the fundamental of the economy.

Those who recognise and adapt to the fundamental change we are facing will win easily from this crisis. Those who try to continue to “business as usual” in a changing world that has changed without awareness will be the losers (Hare, 2020)

However, Graham, J. (2021), who is the HR of Sage company, states that leaders need new skills and capabilities in the post-pandemic era. For example, “Global and Local mindset” – Leaders will be required to think and act on a global scale. However, in this digital age, leaders must be aware of and responsive to the needs and preferences of different customers, local communities, and also the internal communities wherein they operate.

Nevertheless, we know that the pandemic situation still continuing so, we are facing the “unknowable future”. The first thing after leaders adapting themselves is supporting the employees who have high capabilities. (Graham, 2021)

Conclusion

In a changing world situation, in my opinion, adaptability is more essential than the theory. You can care you employees, but you have to care the environment in the business too. Like Graham, J. (2021) said, the leader should adapt their attitude like thinking out of the box. Challenging a new world in this situation without any surprised by what the future might be. Furthermore, Hudson (2020) claimed that no ideal way in leadership theories and styles for all management situations.

(Hudson, 2020)

Hope this blog will help all of you guys more understanding about Leadership style in a changing world. Thank you for reading

If you need more information, don’t hesitate to contact me via comment. Thank you again!

Reference list

Blain, R. (2020, September 23). Top 10 CEOs: Who makes a good leader during the pandemic?. https://www.humanresourcesonline.net/top-10-ceos-who-makes-a-good-leader-during-the-pandemic

CFI (n.d.). Leadership Theories. https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/careers/soft-skills/leadership-theories/

Gordon, J. (2021, July 19). Contemporary Leadership Theories – Explained. https://thebusinessprofessor.com/en_US/management-leadership-organizational-behavior/contemporary-leadership-theories

Graham, J. (2021, July 16). Leadership Development Post Pandemic. https://blog.sage.hr/hr-leadership-development-post-pandemic-human-resources/

Hudson. (2020). Leadership strategy that drives your business today and tomorrowhttps://au.hudson.com/employers/leadership  

ICAEW. (2021, August 12). ICAEW Business Spotlight: Steve Hare, CEO of Sage, on leading through a crisis. [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xd9gJXR7sLA

Indiafreenotes (2020, March 10). Theories of leadership. https://indiafreenotes.com/theories-of-leadership/

Live and Learn (2021). 6 Different Leadership Styles Every Leader in Business Must Know. https://www.liveandlearnconsultancy.co.uk/different-leadership-styles/

Ola, B. and Lok, A. (2019). Leadership and medical leadership. Chapter 2. Routledge. https://www.researchgate.net/figure/The-development-of-leadership-theories_fig1_341576997

Passante, J. (2018, June 22). Guest Commentary: The Duty Of Leadership. https://www.aftermarketnews.com/guest-commentary-the-duty-of-leadership/

Simplilearn (2021, September 29). 7 Major Leadership Theories Every Manager Should Master in 2021. https://www.simplilearn.com/top-leadership-theories-every-manager-should-know-article

Steve Hare (2020, May 9). Let’s use local shops and save our vital national champions, says boss of software giant Sage. https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/comment/article-8304023/SAGE-BOSS-Lets-use-local-shops-save-champions.html

Ward, S. (2020, September 17). What Is Leadership? . https://www.thebalancesmb.com/leadership-definition-2948275