Samsung Business Analysis Essay Requirements
Assignment 1: Business Analysis (Samsung)
Due Week 3 and worth 160 points
The intention of this assignment is to develop your critical analysis skills around assessing a business environment. You will need to identify strengths and weaknesses in the company where you currently work, would like to work, or one in which you have an interest. Please review the concepts in Chapter 1, Chapter 3, and Chapter 4 of your textbook.
Write a three to four (3-4) page paper in which you:
- Provide a brief description of an organization where you currently work, would like to work, or one in which you have an interest that you have chosen for this assignment.
- Assess
three (3) factors, either economic, social, or both, impacting the performance
of the organization you selected. Then, select the two (2) factors that you
believe are the most critical to pay attention to in order for the organization
to remain competitive. Explain and support your reasons.
- Tip: Check Chapter 1, page 4. Click here for help accessing a specific page number in your eBook.
- Propose three (3) business actions to overcome the factors you identified in number 2.
- Use at least two (2) quality academic resources you have located using the Strayer Learning Resources Center (LRC) / Strayer databases in this assignment. Note: Wikipedia does not qualify as an academic resource, and neither do web-based blogs.
Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:
- Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA format.
- Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, your name, your professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.
The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:
- Examine the private enterprise systems, drivers of change on the system, ethical and social responsibilities of business, and the requirements for success in today’s business environment.
- Analyze the factors that drive supply and demand, different types of market structures in a free enterprise system, and factors of stability in a nation’s economy.
- Use technology and information resources to research issues in contemporary business.
Write clearly and concisely about contemporary business using proper writing mechanics.
Solution
Business Analysis: A Case Study of Samsung Electronics
Company Description
Samsung Electronics is a multinational company from South Korea. It has its headquarters in the city of Suwon. It is the biggest part of the larger Samsung Group – a conglomerate of businesses from South Korea. Since the year 2009, Samsung Electronics has been at the peak in the information technology industrial sector as the company with the largest revenue. The company features sales networks as well as assembly facilities in over 80 countries across the globe. Additionally, the global human resource statistics for Samsung Electronics indicates that it has almost 400,000 employees. Although currently popular for its Samsung Smartphones, the company has an extensive history and reputation in the manufacture of other electronics such as computer hard drives, semiconductors, lithium-ion batteries, flash memories, LCD televisions, and chips among other numerous electronics. Ideally, Samsung plays a very integral part of the South Korean economy (Samsung Group, 2016).
Factors Affecting the Performance of Samsung Electronics
Notably, every organization must face some factors that affect its business operations irrespective of its size or position in its industry of service. In light of the above, Samsung Electronics is no exception and faces some notable factors that influence the extent of its overall business performance and competitive success.
One such first factor relates to the political environment affecting the performance of Samsung Electronics. The factor, in this case, is the political stability in South Korea in – especially about the attitude of the government towards Samsung Electronics and its entire industrial sector in South Korea. Ideally, Samsung Electronics has had a significant history of political scandals with their roots in its South Korean market. For example, URI party’s representative Mr. Lee Kwang-jae officially agreed to have received billions of money from the Samsung Group in the form of bonds aimed at helping Roh Moo-hyun in his presidential campaigns in the year 2002 (David McNeill, 2013).
Another factor relates to the economic environment relating to the performance of Samsung Electronics. Specifically, it has to do with the fact the currency in South Korea (Won) is significantly strong and stands out as a primary economic factor with detrimental effect upon the revenues by Samsung Electronics. The appreciation of the Won in the year 2014, for instance, resulted in the decline in the profits of the company in the second quarters of the year 2015 – to the tune of 25% (The New Economy, 2014). Irrespective of the factors affecting the Won, that is, either domestically in South Korea or globally, the appreciation and depreciation of the Won mean apparent impact on the performance of Samsung Electronics.
Last but not the least is a factor that relates to the social environment affecting Samsung Electronics. Specifically, it has to do with the choice of Samsung Electronics products, especially the Smartphones, concerning the rising importance of social network sharing as in Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Google+ among others. Social networks characterizing today’s world have overly tremendous power in influencing the opinions as well as the attitudes of any products – and Samsung Electronic products are not an exception.
Explaining the Two Critical Factors
In light of the extent of the influence of the factors discussed above, among many others, it is possible to identify the most critical amongst them. Notably, political and economic business environments are overly essential in affecting the performance of any company operating in any economy. Therefore, the most critical factors from the ones discussed above are the political stability of the South Korean government as well as the stability of the South Korean currency both domestically and from a global perspective. The rationale for the above reflection finds its basis upon the following. First, political stability is important since it means that the current good relationship between the government of South Korea and Samsung Electronics is vital for the continuous growth of the company domestically – which is essential for the continuity of the enterprise. Secondly, the stability of the Won (South Korean) currency is overly important since it has a direct relationship with the financial performance of Samsung Electronics. Notably, domestic factors affecting the Won resulted in the losses recorded by Samsung Electronics in the second quarter of the year 2014. Additionally, the global finance of the year 2008, although not affecting South Korea to a significant extent also resulted in notable losses for Samsung Electronics (The New Economy, 2014). In light of the above, the above two factors stand out as the most critical in the pursuit of determining the factors affecting the performance of Samsung Electronics.
Business Actions to Overcome Challenges from the Above Factors
For every barrier and challenge in the
business environment, there is a business action that strategically helps to
overcome it. The case of Samsung Electronics is no exception. The first
business strategy, in this instance, is selling a part of their stake to the
government. In so doing, it does not matter what party is ruling in South
Korea. As long as the government has a share in the company, it will be in the
interest of any government to ensure that Samsung Electronics does well
businesswise. The second business action is operating opening foreign accounts
where the company holds vast reserves in foreign currencies such as the USD,
GPB or the EUR. The essence of the above is hedging any occurrence of financial
losses resulting from the appreciation or depreciation of the Won as a result
of various economic reasons. Last but not least, Samsung Electronics should
engage in massive social media marketing and branding. The rationale for the
above finds its basis in the fact that such an action will promote more sales.
Ideally, the increase in sales volume is also a hedge against low product
prices that may happen as a result of various economic or political reasons.
References
David McNeill, D. (2013). Tax Evasion, Bribery and Price-Fixing: How Samsung became the Giant. The Independent. Retrieved 26 January 2016, from https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/tax-evasion-bribery-and-price-fixing-how-samsung-became-the-giant-that-ate-korea-8510588.html
Samsung Group,. (2016). Samsung – Our History. Samsung. Retrieved 26 January 2016, from https://www.samsung.com/us/aboutsamsung/samsung_group/history/
The New Economy,. (2014). Samsung’s Profits Fall Again as Smartphone Market Declines. The New Economy. Retrieved 26 January 2016, from https://www.theneweconomy.com/technology/samsungs-profits-fall-again-as-smartphone-market-declines