Ebook: Maintaining the "Single Samsung" Spirit: New Challenges in a Changing Environment

The case examines how Samsung has grown to become one of the world's leading global companies. It presents a detailed description of Samsung's "Top priority to the People' philosophy, and its strong cultural values; both of which have been instrumental in ensuring its continued success in the past few decades. Since 1982, Samsung Human Resource Development Center (SHRDC) has played a critical role in supporting Samsung's corporate strategy of achieving global competitiveness, through programs that focus upon maintaining Samsung values and developing a cadre of effective next generation leaders. New Employee Orientation (NEO), an intensive four-week in-house program for all Samsung employees, is one example of an SHRD program that helps provide a strong foundation of Samsung's unique culture among the new employees. Most importantly, NEO aligns employees across Samsung affiliates to its strategic direction, thereby fostering a stronger "Single Samsung" culture.

In recent years, however, NEO has been faced with new challenges. First, Samsung's pool of new employees has become more diverse, with the recruitment of more experienced and foreign (non-Korean) employees who are being targeted in addition to the fresh college graduates whom Samsung has always relied upon. Second, Samsung has become aware of stark value differences between the older employees, who are obedient and easily follow rules, and the younger 'digital native' employees, who are more individualistic and prefer egalitarian and open policies. Managers at SHRD are concerned that the "Single Samsung" spirit, which forms the core of Samsung culture, is being threatened from within.

Students must address issues related to the need for maintaining a unified organizational culture among diverse groups of employees whose values conflict with each others, and propose ways for Samsung to effectively employ and utilize all of its employees.