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    Case Study

    Family leadership challenges: Disrupting the momentum at Samsung

    By Denise H. Kenyon-Rouvinez, Jung Eung Park and Marc Chauvet
    18 pages
    October 2018
    Order this case study
    Reference: IMD-7-1934

    Samsung is a Korean conglomerate (or chaebol) founded in 1938. Once a sole trading company, it has grown into a myriad of companies generating over $380 billion globally in industries as varied as construction, semiconductors, shipbuilding, banking and entertainment. Like most Korean conglomerates, an unusual feature of Samsung is that it has no overarching holding company; it is a constellation of companies sharing a common name and tightly interwoven cross-ownership ties. This ownership structure allows the third-generation descendant of the family business, Jae-Yong Lee, to control the conglomerate with shares in only a few affiliates. The case focuses on three pivotal moments of the Lee family’s leadership of the Samsung Group: the leadership transmission from the founder Byung-Chul to the second generation; the hospitalization of the visionary leader Kun-Hee and the succession to the third generation; and Jae-Yong’s arrest and later conviction, causing a leadership vacuum within the group.

    Learning Objective
    • The case describes multiple events throughout the company’s 80-year history and illustrates diverse aspects of a family business.
    • It also presents an interesting account of the business, economic, political and social development of South Korea since 1930s.
    • The instructor can use the case to provide real examples of some or all of the following topics: the role of vision in business, family business succession, and ethical leadership.
    Keywords
    Strategy, Family Business, Disruption, Ethics, Leadership, Conglomerate
    Settings
    Asia, South Korea
    Samsung Electronics, Manufacturing, Electric and Electronic Equipment
    2017
    Type
    Published Sources
    Copyright
    © 2018
    Available Languages
    English
    Related material
    Teaching note
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    Reference IMD-7-2620
    Copyright ©2024
    Copyright owner IMD Copyright
    Organization Daikin Industries
    Industry Consumer Goods, Home Appliances
    Available Languages English
    Contact

    Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

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    By Kazuo Ichijo and Yunfei Feng
    Case reference: IMD-7-2618, © 2024
    Read more
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    By Joep de Caluwé
    in I by IMD
    Summary
    Learn why flashy innovation often fails and how a strategic, fact-based approach can drive real innovation success in corporate environments. Insights from industry experts.
    Read more
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