From the 5th to the 7th, Samsung Electronics will sequentially carry out personnel changes for the president, executive personnel, and organizational reorganization. Although this is the first appointment since Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong took office, the continuity is expected to continue as there were significant changes in management last year. The business world speculates that Samsung’s personnel management style will not replace management following evaluating management performance in a short period of one year.
In the notification of retirees, which began late last week, it is understood that many executives born in 1964 or earlier are among the retirees. It is predicted that young leaders in their 30s and 40s will be selected as new vice presidents. This is the background of expectations that the organization will become younger with this personnel appointment.
According to the business world on the 4th, Samsung Electronics will carry out organizational reorganization and executive personnel in sequence following the personnel reshuffling of the president group on the 5th at the earliest.
Samsung started to notify those who are scheduled to retire late last week. Usually, personnel announcements were made immediately following notification of the person scheduled to retire, but this year, it is said that there was a grace period for several days until the personnel announcement. Chairman Lee is known to have approved the personnel plan last week.
The business world expects that there will be no major changes in each division of Samsung Electronics in this personnel appointment. This is from the viewpoint that it is still too early to evaluate management performance as most of the business department heads were appointed last year.
Accordingly, it is expected that the ‘two-top system of CEOs’ between Vice Chairman Han Jong-hee (head of the DX division) and President Gye-hyeon Gyeong (head of the DS division) will be maintained. Vice Chairman Han currently serves as the head of the DX division, as well as the head of the video display division and the home appliance division. Among them, there are observations that the head of the home appliance division will be maintained and a new person will be in charge of the image display division. Inside and outside the business world, Vice President Choi Yong-hoon (head of the global operation team for video display) is being discussed. President Noh Tae-moon, who oversees smartphones, is expected to retain his position as head of the MX division.
In the DS division, while there are observations that President Jung-bae Lee (head of the Memory Business Division) and President Yong-in Park (head of the System LSI Business Division) will remain in office, the possibility of change is raised in the Foundry Division. Vice President Nam Seok-woo (DS Division Chief Safety Officer, CSO) is mentioned as the head of the foundry business.
At this personnel meeting, it is also of interest whether a person promoted to vice president will appear. First of all, attention is being paid to the promotion of Hotel Shilla President Lee Boo-jin and Samsung Welfare Foundation Chairman Lee Seo-hyun, who are members of the ‘owner family’. Boo-jin Lee, president of the company, has been promoted to president from executive director in 2010 and has maintained the position of president until now. President Lee Seo-hyun was also promoted to president in 2013.
The possibility of promotion to vice chairman of President Kye Hyun-hyun is also being discussed. President Kyung was promoted to president in 2020 and took over as CEO of Samsung Electro-Mechanics, before returning to head of Samsung Electronics’ DS division in December of last year. Among the vice presidents, it is predicted that Jung Hae-rin, head of the management support group (vice president) of the wireless division support team, will be promoted to president. Vice President Jeong is currently a former business support task force (TF) in charge of Samsung Electronics’ ‘control tower’ role.
It is predicted that Samsung will select many young leaders in their 30s and 40s as vice presidents in this personnel appointment. As it is known that most of the candidates for retirement were notified last week that they were born before 1964, it is expected that the Samsung Electronics organization will become even younger. Last year, Samsung Electronics simplified the position system below the vice president to vice president and managing director by integrating the vice president and managing director positions, and promoted 198 executives, including four managing directors in their 30s and 10 vice presidents in their 40s.
Samsung Electronics is expected to hold a global strategy meeting in the middle of this month to discuss next year’s business plan following completing regular personnel and organizational reorganization. The global strategy meeting is held in June and December every year, and in December, not only new management and executives, but also heads of overseas corporations returned home to attend the meeting following the year-end greetings.
[최승진 기자 / 오찬종 기자]
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