Samsung, the pride of Korea

I read an article which told me that Samsung marked the 70th anniversary of its founding on March 22. It was very interesting because I didn’t know that Samsung had a long history like that.

Samsung is one of the most successful corporations in Korea. Needless to say about its influence on Korean economy, it actually marked its sales to 152 trillion won in 2006, 14.2 trillion won in net profit, and 64 trillion won in export. But then, now what? So far, Samsung seems to be the most successful company in Korea. However, there are some critical threats that can damage Samsung’s strength seriously.

Samsung is now facing a huge legal problem. The lawyer who worked for Samsung came out of the company, and he revealed some serious illegal actions that Samsung did in the past. Even though no one thinks that Samsung will collapse because of this matter, Samsung is having a hard time. In addition, the global market seems to be not so easy to Samsung. Although Samsung did make a great job in the past, there is no certain prediction that Samsung will go on its business successfully in the future. In short, Samsung is now facing some threats that can seriously damage its business career, which means Samsung is in need for solutions.

There are two kinds of solutions that can be done to help Samsung come out of this situation. First, the government and social organizations should give Samsung some kind of a favor. Even though Samsung made some illegal mistakes, why don’t we give it a break? Korea is now the 12th rich nation in the world, and everyone agrees that Korea is going its way to become an advanced country. However, without Samsung still competing in the global market, Korea will not be strong enough to keep on developing. It is certain that Samsung got lessons from this matter, so why don’t we just give it a favor?

Second, Samsung itself should keep go on developing its strength. Great deeds in the past and possessing lots of money in current situation, doesn’t mean that it will be the same in the future. Samsung should make some dramatic movement to fulfill the challenge that it’s facing. They should invest more money on R&D, and they should pick great young people to lead its future. Not only excellent in academic skills, but also fulfilling the need of honesty in the environment. In short, they should pick HGU students.


Reference : http://news.naver.com/main/read.nhn?mode=LSOD&mid=sec&sid1=108&oid=014&aid=0001955903


20700273 Entry 4

Woori Bank to Cut Money Transfer Fees

          Having money transfered in Korea always has been a pain of the neck since the transaction fees were too high compared to any other countries. Unless you are covered with some sort of special promotion or on a contract, some customers have to pay the fees even the transation was happened within their bank.

          From this Friday, Woori Bank announced that it would decrease its transation fees at its offline outlets nationwide to help people who are using the service instead of online banking which the fee is much cheaper.

          According to the article, Woori Bank will "...lower charges on remittance of less than 100,000 won ($103) for Woori customers to other banks to 1,000 won ($1.3) from 3,000 won. " (BusinessWeek). Also, the commision on transactions of 100,000 won to 1 million won will be lowered to 2,000 won from 3,000 won. The fees for the intra transfers will be also cut down to 500 won and 1,000 won depending on whether the amount is less or more than 1 million won.

          In an effort to decrease the transaction fees, the government also played an important role to pressure the major banks to cut down its fees. The Fair Trade Commission charged 9.59 billion won in fines last month on eight mojor banks in Korea for fixing foreign currency commission fees. Some pundits are worrying that if the government gets into the action directly, it might promote those major banks to work together and protest against the goverment's action; however, since so many citizens or their service users are finding that the fees are too high in Korea, the article states that other banks are more likely to follow Woori Bank's steps.

          I think it's about time for banks in Korea to lower their service charges. When I had accounts with Bank of America or HSBC Direct, they didn't charge that much for the services, and often they even eliminated the fees if I was using their ATM machines. Therefore, I strongly agree with their efforts to meet customer's demand and needs.

Reference;
http://koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/biz/2008/04/123_21942.html

20601008 - 4th Entry

LG Telecom Launches Open Internet for Mobiles

LG Telecom mad a new challenge to local mobile internet environment by launching an open, full-browsing internet service at a low price. They Launched the Oz service on Thursday, with an attractive fixed-rate plan that allows unlimited data download for 6000 won per month (It is $6 per month). The CEO of LG telecom, Jung ll- Jae said that before Oz, phone users had to visit firms’ portal sites to gain access to the mobile Internet and they had to pay for information which was free for PCs. Now they will develop an open Internet world for mobile phones where everyone can enjoy the Internet. Mobile Internet services in Korea are provided in a closed portal from each telecom companies. Mostly, they are slow, hard to customize. Also, users, internet companies and foreign phone makers were frustrated by this too. Portals are notorious for charging users for services and data subscription fees were much higher than broadband Internet fees for PCs. The CEO had decided that it is time to open up the mobile Internet environment for users to freely go to the websites just like using PCs. LG telecom first introduced two premium handsets from LG Electronics and Japan’s Casio for the launch of the Oz service. However, the CEO’s mind is to sell more than ten models in 2008. Just the reminder, the overall users for each top three Telecom firms in South Korea is 22.4 million for SK Telecom, 13.9 million for KTF and 7.9 million for LG telecom. SK Telecom and KTF have been investing to establish the third-generation (3G) platform(WCDMA), which allows face to face video call services. LG telecom has gone a separate way and improved its existing 2G network with much less investment. They focused on implementing the full screen PC internet interface onto the small phone screen.

http://koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/biz/2008/04/123_21896.html

20620042 entry #4

Google's green light: turbulent ad war

I read a article that Google's aquisition is approved. Recently, the Microsoft, dominant software company, tried to take over Yahoo. And Google, dominant serching company, now try to take over DoubleClick. In the searching service industry, the advertising power is very important. And it decides the market share of the company. Google occupied almost 70 percent of the search market. And the second is Yahoo.

The EU approved Google's extension. Even before that time, EU thoroughly regulated monopoly. But now Google has the rights to occupy the Europe market. On the other hand, Microsoft didn't get approval to merge Yahoo. Microsoft is already a huge and monopolic company in software market. If Microsoft occupy the searching and displaying market, Microsoft can become a supernational company. In America, the antitrust law is very powerful. Then, why the government don't regulate Google? It's because the government admited somewhat monopoly. But they regulate the conglomerate monopoly.

What are advantages of that companies by taking over other internet companies? The article says it's because the share of ad banners. You see everyday ad banners everywhere. And you might think 'Why companies try these things? I think it's wastes of money.' . But actually the influences of that ads are very effective. And that's the reason companies try to influence their share in the ads market like banners. Google's aquisition will bring many powerful influences in search market.

I think the monopoly is the common flow of the world. But excessive monopolies must be regulated by governments or nonprofit organizations. If we could't defend this flows, and someday the basis of capitalism will crumble

20700067 entry 4

reference: http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/mar2008/tc20080311_855889.htm?chan=innovation_branding_top+stories

Strenght Weakness Opportunities and Treats analysis

SWOT Analysis, is a strategic planning tool used to evaluate the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats involved in a project or in a business venture. It involves specifying the objective of the business venture or project and identifying the internal and external factors that are favorable and unfavorable to achieving that objective. the awot anylysis provides information that is helpful in matching the firm's resources and capabilities to the competitive enironment in which it operates. As such, it is instrumental in strategy formulation and selection. The following diagram shows how a SWOT analysis fits an enironmental scan. STRENGHTS: A firm's strenghts are its resource and capabilities that can be used as a basis of developing a competitie advantage. example of such strenghts include: patients, strong brand names, good reputation among customers, cost adantages from propriety know -how, exclusive access to hig grade natural resources, favorable to distribution networks. WEAKNESS: the absence of certain strenghts may be viewed as a weakness .For example lack of patient protection, a weak brandname, poor reputation among customers, high cost structure. I n some cases weakness may be the flip side of a strenght. for example a firm has a large amount of manufacturing capacity . while this capacity may be considered a strenght that competitors do not share, it alos may be a considered a weakness if the large investment in manufacturing capacity prevent the firm from reacting quickly to changes in the strategic environment. OPPORTUNITIES The external environmental analysis may reveal certain new opportunities for profit and growth. fro example an unfulfilled customer need, arrival of new technologies, loosening of regulations, removal of international trade barriers, TREATS Changes in the external environmental also may present treats to the firm. For example shifts in customers tastes away from the firm's products, emergence of substitute products, new regulations, increased trade barriers. SWOT Matrix: The SWOT Matrix helps visualize the analysis. Also, when executing this analysis it is important to understand how these element work together. When an organization matched internal strengths to external opportunities, it creates core competencies in meeting the needs of its customers. In addition, an organization should act to convert internal weaknesses into strengths and external threats into opportunities. http://www.quickmba.com/strategy/swot/ postes bu 20700735 entry number 3

Global Management, R&D to Drive Up SK

I read about an article of Korea’s third-largest conglomerate SK’s Research and Development. SK wants to expand their company globally, and is aiming to solidify its position overseas and widen research and development in the life sciences industry. SK, established SK International (SKI) this year to maximize the efficiency of all offices abroad (They have offices at U.S, China, and Vietnam.). Chey Tae-won, the Chairman of the company is searching for new opportunities to be in the top conglomerate in the world. He met several leaders during a conference called Davos and discussed constructing a U-City in Saudi Arabia and a cude oil processing plant in Kuwait with President Roh Moo-hyun. Company officials say the CEO’s strategy in global management is directly translated into company revenue. SK earned $25 billion last year and assuming approximately $27 billion this year. The Core businesses in SK are energy and telecommunications which both made an important leap outside Korea. SK telecom has selling mobile phones in U.S and China. They are searching for more countries to launch their product by entering the Indian and Indonesian markets that seems to have potentials. They are also currently carrying out exploration projects worldwide with the company currently securing proven reserves of 510 million barrels of oil in fourteen countries such as Brazil, Peru, and Vietnam.
For Research and Development, SK invested one trillion won this year for the first time which is 14 percent of the company’s annual investment. They have six operating local R&D centers and opened seven more during the same period to expand into diverse research areas. Also, there are more than 2000 staff researchers overseas such as New Jersey, Shanghai, and Bejiing to focus more on R&D. There are several successful R&D and one of the examples of it is Advanced Catalytic Olefin (ACO) technology. It gives higher overall olefin yields. The company’s investment on R&D does not stop and is planning on extend ongoing developments by setting next year’s R&D budget about 10 percent higher.

http://koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2008/03/234_14691.html


20620042 – Entry 3

SK Telecom's Discounts on Data Roaming in Asia

          In an effort to increase data usage in overseas, the largest wireless company in Korea, SK Telecom, is giving a major discount on data roaming service in eight Asian countries. The discount would be applied through a flat-rate data plan beginning on April 14, and it would allow internet users in countries like Hong Kong, Singapore, India, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Australia and Taiwan, to have an access to internet 85 percent cheaper than the normal rate. However, the discount would not be applied to the voice calls.
          This new business strategy was possible because SK Telecom and other 11 large wireless operators in Asia, SingTel of Singapore, Maxis of Malaysia, Bharti Airtel of India and Telkomsel of Indonesia, had agreed on joining the "Bride Alliance." According to the article, "the Bridge Alliance has about 200 million subscribers in 11 nations. SK Telecom joined them last year as its 10th member." (BussinessWeek)
          Although the current data usage in other countries is not that big, SKT is expecting it would fit the increasing demand of international data service. The promoting data service would be available only for SKT's WCDMA services. SK Telecom's goal is to "...encourage the use of automatic roaming of WCDMA phones and make SKT's roaming leadership concrete via partnership with global players." (BusinessWeek)
          I'm not a passionate data user since the rate is relatively very expensive and there are not that many components that I need from mobile internet service. However, I heard that many industries are now using such technology to connect employees in overseas together and communicate through mobile internet or e-mail services. I think it would be very pleasant news for many businessmen since they could save a lot of money when they use data service in some of the countries in Asia. It's yet only for SK Telecom users; however, both KTF and LG Telecom are now competing aggressively over reducing rates of both voice and data service, I think it's a matter of time that the other two would follow the steps that SK Telecom is doing now.

Reference;
http://koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/biz/2008/03/123_21508.html

20601008 - 3rd Entry