Samsung

Yesterday we visited the Samsung Digital Complex in Suwan, just south of Seoul. I think this was my favorite visit thus far. Samsung Digital is on a gigantic campus that is almost a small city. They even have dorms for the single workers. Security is very tight - they did background checks on all of us before we arrived - and no pictures were allowed within the gates.

We started with a tour of their various products. It was amazing! Huge, 80" flat screen LCD tvs that are 2" thick, cell phones that have a dial on it so you can use it like a rotary dial, cell phones that can project up to a 52" screen so you can watch a widesceen movie on your phone, cool laptops, mid-blowing surround sound, and cute refrigerators. It's too bad it's going to take so long for the technology to hit the US. It was really impressive.

After our tour of the current technology, we toured an assembly plant. It was difficult to hear our interpreter over the noise but it was very interesting to see how un-automated it was. Even though it was "people powered", it was still very efficient and mindful of mistakes. The various components being assembled are placed under a camera and the display will show areas that need work (screws around the frame, for instance). When an area is done, the display will show it as "good" and it is passed on to the next station.

After the factory tour we met with two of the HR specialists. One was from France so the discussion was a bit more open than I think it would have been if there were two Koreans. The bulk of our questions pertained to HR since this is the first time we have met with someone from that area. A lot of questions about the interview process. However, the part that I found most interesting was the discussion on change.

Samsung recently went from five divisions within the Digital Complex to just two. They totally reorganized the workflows so that there was a more logical bundling of like products. They decided to do this at the beginning of the economic downturn because they knew production would be slower for a while. While this was a time of great stress for the company, everyone from management down viewed it as an opportunity. That was the message that was conveyed everywhere. They did not try to sugar-coat the process but they focused on the positive.

I couldn't help but compare it to the changes that are happening at LCC (on a much smaller scale). While our president views our changes as a potential opportunity, no one else does. No one in middle management is portraying a positive attitude. They are all talking about how terrible it is. Even though LCC has layed off some workers, I wonder if the attitude to the college wouldn't improve if management began broadcasting a positive message as a unified front. Banish the thought of "you thought yesterday was bad just because you didn't know about today". Instead, focus on growth and rebirth.

Korean Stock Exchange and SK Telecom

We had two business meeting today (well, three if you count the little lecture by US Embassy's Commerce Attache).

The first was to the Korean Stock Exchange (KRX). The main exchange is in Busan but they have a branch in Seoul. Even though it was just a branch, I was expecting something like this. Instead, the exchange floor has been turned into a museum - it was totally silent! They went completely digital in 1997! There's still workers about and they have the board up but that's it.


I can't imagine the New York Stock Exchange doing something as drastic as this! I think the US is too attached to tradition in some areas and the NYSE is one of those areas! Korea is not afraid to jump in an make massive changes, though. That is something that is becoming very clear on this trip.

Our second visit was to SK Telecom. They are a HUGE telecommunications group and are one of the six main chaebol's (family run business conglomerate, Hyundai and Samsung are others). While their main focus is on wireless, they are expanding rapidly into other areas. Part of our tour today was to visit some displays that show possible future technology. Those who wanted to wore a special devise that created an avatar for you which acts as your tour guide. We then visited various "future" areas, the first of which was the future home. In it, your avatar interacts with you throughout the house, constantly reading your bio signals and making adjustments, suggesting things, etc. I found this highly creepy. I think what bothered me most is we aren't talking something from the Jetson's where George is dressed on a conveyor belt while a machine brushes his teeth. This is technology that is, at most, 5 years out. Maybe I've seen too many Terminator movies but I couldn't help but think of Skynet. I heard a few others making the same comment.

Once we recovered from the avatar invasion, we were able to enjoy our surroundings after hearing a presentation by some of the SKT VPs. We were on the 32nd floor and the scenery was amazing! Even the bathrooms had floor to ceiling windows! You can view the pictures here. (The first picture is supposed to be the last. Picasa is not winning any brownie points with me!)

Next up, the Korean barbecue we had for dinner...