Likely to Implement Executive Personnel Changes Focused on Stability Amid Change
[Asia Economy Reporter Dongwoo Lee] Samsung Group is reportedly highly likely to carry out its regular executive personnel reshuffle for 2020 starting this week, including the presidents of major affiliates.
Industry insiders speculate that although the personnel reshuffle had been delayed past the new year due to the ongoing trials of Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong and other company executives, the decision was made that the reshuffle could no longer be postponed.
According to the business community on the 19th, major affiliates such as Samsung Electronics have been notifying executives subject to retirement about their contract status since the 16th. Notification to retiring executives is a customary procedure before the personnel announcement, signaling that the announcement is imminent.
Within and outside Samsung, it is strongly anticipated that from as early as the 20th, electronics affiliates including Samsung Electronics and financial affiliates such as Samsung Life Insurance will sequentially announce their regular personnel reshuffles.
A Samsung official stated, "We understand that interviews with key executives are currently underway." It is also reported that within the company there is a perception that the personnel reshuffle should be completed before the Lunar New Year holiday begins.
Samsung traditionally announces the president-level and subsequent executive personnel reshuffles in December, after which the new management holds a global strategy meeting.
However, in December last year, the personnel reshuffle was disrupted due to unprecedented circumstances, including the ongoing retrial of Vice Chairman Lee, and the legal detention of Chairman of the Board Lee Sang-hoon and Executive Vice President Kang Kyung-hoon, who were on trial for union dissolution charges.
With various trials and delays in personnel decisions increasing organizational fatigue, and with the recent announcement of the Compliance Committee leading the 'changes,' there have been calls inside and outside Samsung that the personnel reshuffle and organizational restructuring can no longer be delayed if they want to accelerate these changes.
Following the executive personnel reshuffle including the president-level, an organizational restructuring focused on change and innovation is also expected. The issue of filling the vacant chairmanship of the board, left open by the legal detention of Samsung Electronics Board Chairman Lee Sang-hoon, must be resolved, and major affiliates need to hold board meetings within this month to form the Compliance Committee scheduled to launch in early February.
The business community views this Samsung personnel reshuffle as being based on the fundamental principle of meritocracy, with the keyword being 'change within stability.' This reflects a realistic recognition that, given the still significant internal and external uncertainties such as trials, a drastic reshuffle that shakes the organization could potentially harm future competitiveness.
The three-person representative system of Samsung Electronics?Vice Chairman Kim Ki-nam (DS Division Head), President Kim Hyun-suk (CE Division Head), and President Ko Dong-jin (IM Division Head)?is expected to be maintained. There are rumors in the industry that some CEOs in financial affiliates have expressed their intention to retire voluntarily, so some replacements for generational change are anticipated.
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