The Samsung Man’s Path to Success: Turning crisis into breakthrough

By Sung Yoon

As Samsung Africa’s former President and CEO, Sung Yoon was a first-hand witness to the company’s journey to becoming a global brand. Despite challenges, he turned Samsung’s Africa business into a success over four years. In a career spanning more decades, he contributed in numerous capacities, heading up sales not only in Africa but in three different overseas assignments.
Yoon offers insights that shed light on the challenges of making business decisions and taking calculated risks. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kwela
• Release date: Mar 17, 2023
• ISBN: 9780795710797

Sung Yoon

Sung Yoon is the former CEO and President of Samsung Africa, with executive experience across three continents. He has a proven track record of turning around difficult business situations and significantly growing both new and existing business categories. He lives in South Korea but still travels to South Africa for business. 

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The Samsung Man’s

Path to Success:

Turning Crisis into Breakthrough

Sung Yoon

Kwela Books

Acronyms

AI artificial intelligence

B2B business to business

B2G business to government

B-BBEE Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment

CES consumer electronics show

CIO Chief Information Officer

CMO Chief Marketing Officer

CPFR Collaborative Planning, Forecast and Replenishment

CRT cathode-ray tube

EDI Electronic Data Interchange

EEIP Equity Equivalent Investment Programme

HR human resources

IOC International Olympic Committee

IoT Internet of Things

LCD liquid crystal display

MEC Member of the Executive Council

MNC multinational corporation

MOU memorandum of understanding

NFL National Football League

OEM original equipment manufacturer

PC personal computer

PGA Professional Golfers’ Association

P/L profit/loss ratio

PM project manager/management

POD point of deployment

QBR Quarterly Business Review

QLED quantum light-emitting diode

RFQ request for quotation

SABC South African Broadcasting Corporation

SCM supply chain management

VCR video cassette recorder

VMI vendor managed inventory

Preface

After I retired I felt as though I’d lost my centre of gravity. For one, my once jam-packed schedule was suddenly completely cleared. What would I do with so much free time? During this disorienting stage of trying to figure out where I was headed, this book helped me keep my bearings. Writing gave me an opportunity to look back at the trajectory of my life and reflect on the significance of my experiences. It was during this time that I decided to relocate to the city of Sejong, near my wife’s place of work.

For the first time in a long while I was allowing myself to be guided by something other than the demands of work. My wife, and not my career at Samsung, became the backdrop of my life. As an inexperienced house-husband my new lifestyle took some getting used to, but before long I found myself enjoying my early morning routine of making coffee and preparing breakfast. In my new environment, I was able to relax and take the time to remember and recall events and people I hadn’t been able to give more than a passing thought to in the business of the daily grind. Moreover, I had time to focus on the future and on preparing for the next chapter in my life. All of these elements came together to make it possible for me to publish The Samsung Man’s Path to Success just a year into my retirement.

The feedback I received from readers was highly encouraging. I received numerous comments from people saying that the candid personal experience format made the book fun and easy to read. Others said they were able to gain a good understanding of how Samsung grew into a world-leading company. As for my colleagues at Samsung, they expressed great pride in the book as the first ever detailed account – a historical record – of all of the thought and deliberation and strategising that fuelled Samsung’s journey from unseating Sony as the top global TV brand to edging out Apple to get Galaxy smartphones into first place.

I was also grateful to receive warm responses from the friends I’d made at the boxing gym where I started most of my mornings following my retirement. Most of the other gym members were housewives or small business owners. Some told me they had been deeply impressed by the different stories I shared about overcoming language barriers and cultural differences, which they could only imagine had not been an easy task. Some of the housewives with young children said they’d been especially touched by my account of supporting my son and helping to resolve the situation after his unexpected suspension as an elementary school student. Others were excited to tell me that after reading my book they’d gone from having only a distant, casual interest in Samsung to becoming true blue Samsung fans. One of my fellow gym-goers was kind enough to tell me that he hadn’t known I was a former Samsung executive before reading the book. I’ve been bragging to all my friends and family that I box at the same gym as a successful author like you!

After several articles about my book appeared in major daily newspapers and magazines I was lucky enough to be invited as a speaker to events organised by business associations as well as schools. These moments made the past toil of writing my book feel worthwhile. I was also gratified at the enthusiastic reception of the people who attended my lectures. Several came up to me and said they had found my real-life stories fresh and interesting. I also met audience members who worked for start-ups and small and medium sized companies who said they especially appreciated the chance of hearing about my actual experiences helping Samsung make creative and strategic inroads into the market at a time when it was still an unknown brand, ultimately paving the way to its current success. They remarked also that my lectures were a welcome change from the textbook and theory-focused presentations of typical speakers. A few employees from medium-sized companies asked if I might mentor them, and I was more than happy to accept. Sharing my global experiences was the reason I’d written the book in the first place.

After the publication of my book I also received messages of heartfelt congratulations and encouragement from abroad. Friends and colleagues I’d met during my four years in South Africa and my travels to other parts of Africa, as well as those I’d befriended during my sixteen years in the United States, said they couldn’t wait for an English translation of my book so that they could read it for themselves.

I recently became an independent board director for the South African telco company Telkom, which I was fortunate enough to build a good relationship with during my time in South Africa. I’m hopeful that my decades of experience with Samsung will enable me to make meaningful contributions to the growth and successful management of Telkom. Not long ago, I had the chance to visit my beloved South Africa for the first time in a long while to attend a Telkom board meeting. I was excited to discover that I still felt like part of the community. And it was gratifying to learn that my feelings were not only my own. During my trip I stopped by the Centurion Shopping Mall near Johannesburg to run some errands. I was passing a line of people in front of a bank when a woman suddenly called out my name. I recognised her face, but I couldn’t remember her name.

I thought you’d left Samsung Africa and returned to Korea, Mr Yoon! she exclaimed. Have you come back to Africa?

I explained that I was there on other business and asked her if she still worked at Samsung.

She replied, I work for a cleaning company, Mr Yoon. When you were head of Samsung Africa, I cleaned the Samsung offices. She told me she was now working at a different location but that she remembered her time at Samsung fondly. She even shared that I had been very popular with the other cleaners.

Before parting ways, she said, It would be wonderful if you could come back to South Africa, Mr Yoon. I left the mall feeling quite moved. I told myself that I would make sure to publish an English version of my book, if not for myself then at least for the kind and generous people who still remembered me. After all, my book is a record not only of our precious shared memories but also of the incredible things we accomplished together for Samsung Africa.

It is my great fortune to have the opportunity to partner with NB Publishers in South Africa to publish the English edition of this book. Na’eemah at NB Publishers has told me that she felt the collection of over a hundred different real-life experiences which I have compiled in my book would be a rich source of insight not only for CEOs and senior executives but also for new and junior-level employees as well as middle management. I was also happy to hear that my intention to donate all royalties from the English edition of my book (as I have with the Korean edition) to the Nelson Mandela Foundation resonated deeply with her. I am very excited to be able to share my story and the story of how Samsung grew into a world-leading brand with English-language readers in Africa, and around the world through the print and e-book editions of this book. I am sincerely grateful to NB Publishers for this opportunity.

Introduction

The story of my three-decade journey with the Samsung Group began in January 1989. I joined the company as an entry-level employee, planning to get two years of experience before setting out to start my own business.

At the time, the Samsung Group hired new employees through a general group-wide recruiting process that culminated in a month-long offsite training programme. Towards the end of the programme, trainees were asked to indicate which Samsung organisation they wished to be assigned to. Final assignments were decided after an interview and announced on the last day.

Prior to joining Samsung I had worked briefly at a medium-sized company that exported natural silk clothing to the United States and Europe. So it seemed a natural choice to apply for assignments at Samsung subsidiaries in the textile business, like Samsung C&T or Cheil Industries. But at the end of the month I learned that I had been assigned to the Information and Telecommunications Division at Samsung Electronics.

This came as a complete surprise. I wondered if it was better to quit, even though I was only a month in. I took my concerns to my programme mentor, a Samsung employee several years my senior who had overseen my team for the duration of the training.

I’m a humanities major, I told him. What will I be able to do at Samsung Electronics?

My mentor was equally puzzled. I had scored highly in the entrance exam prior to being hired and had done well throughout training. My training grades alone ranked me third among my peers. My assignment interviewer had even commended me for my good work and wished me luck at either of my desired assignments.

At least talk to someone back at HR before making any decisions, my mentor advised me.

So I did just that. As soon as our bus full of trainees arrived back in Seoul I headed straight to the HR department. When I sat down with the gentleman who had interviewed me during training he explained that he had based my assignment on a holistic assessment of my attitude and skills.

Samsung Electronics has made sizeable investments in new technologies in recent years, he said. The company needs people who are not only enterprising but also have the right kind of experience.

Apparently my time at the export company had been considered a good springboard for a role in Samsung Electronics’ new telcos business. My interviewer explained he had felt my assignment would be in the best interests of the company as well as my own personal development.

After some thought, I concluded that this was a fair enough argument. After all, it wouldn’t hurt to get some exposure to electronics, even if it wasn’t my area of expertise.

So I stayed. And this decision quite literally changed my life. I went on to spend a total of 32 years at Samsung, some three decades more than I had originally intended. Every year came with new roles and responsibilities, and I ended up having little time or room to entertain other possibilities. I went from an entry-level hire to managing numerous major buyers and being entrusted to grow the business on my own initiative. Challenges were inevitable, but there was never a moment that I didn’t genuinely enjoy what I was doing. I relished the feeling that came with successfully solving all manner of new and unforeseen problems on a daily basis.

My experience was further enriched by the fact that twenty of the thirty-plus years of my career were spent outside of Korea. Two decades of working on assignment in foreign countries broadened my horizons and gave me the opportunity to cross paths with people from all over the world. During my time in the United States and Africa, especially, I was fortunate enough to build relationships with industry pioneers who shared generously from their knowledge and experience. Thanks to their support – and my own tenacious love of a good challenge – I continued to achieve the breakthroughs I needed to keep going.

This energising life at the forefront of the Samsung Electronics business came to an abrupt end with an international phone call I received one morning while on assignment in Africa. I was told that the time had come to hang up my hat as a Samsung man, and that my beloved Africa would be the stage for this final act. With a heavy heart, I prepared to say my goodbyes. But in the days leading up to my departure friends and colleagues started coming to me and saying the same thing: why not share with other people the goldmine of my experiences – all I’d seen and learned through the twists and turns of my journey with Samsung – in the form of a book? I decided yet again to take on the challenge, and what you are holding in your hands is the outcome: my curtain call, in my own words.

Of course, my story is not mine alone. Countless dedicated individuals strived with me over the years to make amazing things happen. They were my fellow players on the stage and, though my words could never be sufficient, I hope to pay them a small fraction of the tribute they deserve.

My objective in writing this book is clear. While plenty of excellent books have been published on Samsung Electronics’ path to global leadership, few to none of these bear witness to the critical role that its global sales organisation played in such a success. I hope to shine a light on the unsung heroes and share the wealth of lessons I learned on the front lines of global sales.

In Part 1, I explore the values that drive a so-called Samsung Man, from being forged in the fires as a new hire to becoming more resilient with experience. I also share the most helpful advice I got early on from my more experienced, highly successful colleagues: always to prioritise investing in the trust of customers and retail partners. The unspoken motto of the Samsung sales organisation is that answers are always found on the ground. I unpack this philosophy of learning in the trenches and how my efforts to put this into practice opened the door to formative experiences that would equip me in invaluable ways.

In Part 2, I reflect on the journey that took me to the United States on my first expat assignment outside Korea, and how this opened my eyes to the world of global sales. I look in particular at my experience partnering with IBM for original equipment manufacturer (OEM) monitor sales, and what my exposure to IBM’s way of working taught me about a transparent, fair, and well-ordered sales culture.

In Part 3, I detail how Samsung TVs became Number 1 in the world. It’s no secret that Samsung televisions unseated Sony from three-plus decades of unchallenged market leadership on the strength of increasingly competitive technology. But I seek to offer fresh insight into the important contribution of the sales organisation, in particular our strategic partnerships with major buyers. I also unpack how effective supply chain management put more Samsung products in in-store showrooms and enabled a win–win for us and our partners.

In Part 4, I offer a behind the scenes look at how Samsung made such remarkable strides in closing the gap with Apple and its iconic iPhone, even as a latecomer to the smartphone space. I highlight the exhilarating victory of our successful partnership with American telco provider AT&T and the boldness with which we challenged Apple on its own turf by leveraging new technology to engage its once exclusive partner.

In Part 5, I recount my experiences working to unlock new possibilities for growth in an initially wholly unfamiliar market as Regional CEO of Samsung Electronics Africa. I address in particular the importance of understanding what makes the peoples of Africa unique, objectively analysing the needs of various African consumers, and effectively meeting those needs. I came to know first-hand that much more interest and investment needs to and should be directed to Africa today than is currently provided. And most of all, I learned how much the peoples of Africa have to teach us. The Mandela spirit, in particular, is something that modern society, and in particular modern Korean society, to which I belong, urgently needs, and so I devote some pages to explaining its essence.

In Part 6, I share some truths that were reinforced in me when I climbed Mount Kilimanjaro for the first time, and the feeling I had at its peak, having metaphorically reached a similar pinnacle in my life. They say that the higher you move up the corporate ladder, the lonelier you get. My experience on Kilimanjaro drove home for me the truth that successes are meant to be shared; great heights can only be scaled in good company. And even then, one day, it will be time to come down the mountain.

In Korea we have a saying that ten years can transform whole mountains and rivers. Likewise, I know that my 32 years’ experience may no longer be as applicable in today’s environment as it might have been in years past. As with everything else, sales too must be adapted flexibly to be relevant in a changing world. For this reason, my aim is not to try to teach or pass down sales knowledge to younger generations. The Internet is much more efficient for such purposes and will better satisfy personal preferences.

Instead, I hope to communicate the message that sales will always play an important role, no matter the industry, whether it’s hardware, software, games, energy, or completely new platforms or solutions. Even at a time of heightened excitement as well as uncertainty about the future, every industry will need the function of sales to be sustained and to grow.

Over 30 years Samsung Electronics has effectively remade itself from a mediocre mid-tier brand to a globally recognised market leader. I consider it my great fortune to have been a small part of this larger story, helping to power the sales-related successes that propelled Samsung beyond seemingly invincible incumbents and insurmountable challenges to its current place in the world. And it is my humble hope that my experiences in the field will help more people to appreciate this less understood aspect of Samsung’s triumphs.

I have never forgotten the words of the 50 or so local staff who came all the way to my hotel on my last day in Africa to say their goodbyes. Through tears, they asked me to tell our shared story – the story of our beautiful memories, the story of the amazing transformation of Samsung Africa over our four years together, and above all, the story of Africa’s unimaginable potential. I will do everything in my power to keep my promise to them.

Part 1

The Samsung Man’s Rules for Success

Invest in building trust

Responsible management in action

In October of 2003, while on assignment in the United States, I witnessed a series of events that gave me a first-hand appreciation for responsible management, a foundational principle of Samsung Electronics.

At the time, I was managing Samsung Global Display’s IBM account. Earlier that year, IBM had signed an exclusive agreement to supply US brokerage firm Fidelity Investments with 3 000 18-inch Samsung liquid crystal display (LCD) monitors.

Fidelity was one of the largest fund management providers in the world, and at 30 million dollars, this was no small deal. IBM’s reputation and Samsung’s technology, especially in the 18-inch category where we were at least a full year ahead of competitors, had proved to be a winning combination. Spirits were understandably high at both IBM and Samsung.

But ten months after the monitors had been shipped out Fidelity had returned several units for fine discolorations and spotting on the screens. I in turn had immediately sent the defective units back to headquarters for a full analysis by the Service & Development team as well as recommendations on the next course of action.

Finally, I got a call from the head of monitor exports back at headquarters.

It’s been decided, he said, that you will be replacing all of the units we’ve supplied to date, effective immediately, to prevent future defects before they happen.

I was taken aback at first. A single 18-inch LCD monitor cost some ten thousand dollars; replacing all 3 000 units would set us back at least 30 million dollars. This could not have been an easy decision, but I learned that GS Choi, then head of the LCD Division, had been firm in his resolve. The export head told me to inform the team at IBM straight away.

Samsung and IBM had been operating a joint task force since the defect issue first came to light. Daily conference calls were held where IBM staff shared updates and information gained on the ground, and Samsung headquarters shared the findings of their analysis. Through this process, it had been discovered that the LCD panels on the monitors had been built with several defective components. Moreover, as these components had been used for the entire shipment, it was only a matter of time before the defects would appear on the remaining units. That was why all units would be replaced, even if they seemed okay at the time. The risk of defects appearing later could not be ignored.

When I relayed the news, IBM management was both surprised and grateful. As the monitors bore the IBM logo, IBM would have been in a difficult position without Samsung’s support. Fidelity’s management thanked us also for our forward-looking decision and clear communication. The defect had appeared in only ten of the 3 000 monitors, meaning minimal inconvenience for the time being, but we had been prompt and transparent in finding and communicating a solution. A problem that could have strained our relationships with our partners had turned into an opportunity to solidify their trust in us.

All of this took place behind closed doors, but it was simply one lesser-known example of Samsung Electronics’ famous responsible management in action.

A much more visible display of this principle was the much-publicised March 1995 mobile phone bonfire, when Samsung employees smashed and set fire to over 150 000 of the company’s Anycall brand mobile phones on an empty athletics field outside the Gumi manufacturing plant. Over 50 billion won’s worth of devices was reduced to a pile of ashes.

The order for the mass incineration came from the late chairman Lee Kun-hee, whose infuriation at the continuing surge in Anycall manufacturing defects had prompted him to ensure that employees never again took quality lightly. This incident signalled the beginning of Samsung Electronics’ focus on responsible management and eventual ascent to the ranks of the world’s leading global companies.

Until early 1993, Samsung Electronics had been a mid-to-low price maker associated with mediocre quality. But Chairman Lee’s post-bonfire announcement of his now widely known New Management Initiative set the company on a new course marked by an uncompromising commitment to quality in product development and manufacturing. These quality standards were what guided the decisive response of headquarters to the Fidelity situation and resulted in the successful replacement of 30 million dollars’ worth of monitors.

Moreover, neither Samsung executives nor working-level staff pointed fingers or blamed anyone for the situation. Our collective focus was solely on fixing the problem at hand. As a result, what could have been a potentially damaging situation ended up boosting our competitiveness in the market. More and more companies started coming to Samsung for their monitor needs. Replacing 3 000 monitors may have been costly in the short run, but I believe this decision was a significant driver in Samsung’s eventual expansion to market leader, and thus a valuable investment for the future.

Personally, what I observed