Tuesday, December 15, 2009
South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. announced a major restructuring for the second time in 11 months Monday (Dec. 14), appointing a new CEO and changing its reporting structure to give business units greater autonomy.
Samsung (Seoul) named Geesung Choi president and CEO. Choi was previously president and head of the company's Digital Media and Communications Business. Prior to that he had been president of Samsung's Telecommunications Networks and Digital Media businesses.
Hoping to establish more autonomy at the business unit level, Samsung is replacing its two business divisions—Digital Media & Communications and Device Solutions—with seven independent companies under a single corporate entity, the company said. Each of these seven units will be managed similarly to a stand-alone company, with its own president and its own chief financial officer, Samsung said.
Samsung also appointed Jay Y. Lee to the newly created position of chief operating officer and named Ju-Hwa Yoon as chief financial officer.
Yoon-woo Lee, formerly CEO and vice chairman, was appointed chairman of Samsung's board of directors, the company said. Yoon-woo Lee, an engineer and 40-year veteran of Samsung, was appointed vice chairman and CEO in May 2008, according to Samsung's website. He is also a former chief technology officer at Samsung, according to the site.
According to a report by South Korea news service Yonhap News Agency, Jay Y. Lee is the only son of Lee Kun Hee, the former Samsung chairman who was found guilty of a breach of trust over fraudulent bond deals in 2008.
Effective immediately, Samsung said, the heads of all business divisions report to Geesung Choi and the rest of Samsung's executive management team, referred to the company as "the new C-suite."
Under the new corporate structure, subsidiaries outside South Korea, responsible for components such as semiconductors and LCD panels, will continue to operate as fully independent entities separate from Samsung's IT and consumer electronics subsidiaries, Samsung said.
Samsung also announced it would adopt the International Financial Reporting Standards, global accounting principles established by the International Accounting Standards Board, beginning with the first quarter of 2010.
In January, after Samsung stunned the industry by posting its first ever quarterly loss, the company reshuffled its executive ranks to jumpstart the company's slumping bottom line.
By: DocMemory
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