case study
Case Study: Samsung: From gallop to run
Q1: How was Samsung able to go from copycat brand to product leader?
Samsung was a copycat brand from the time it started to around the 90s. Some of the first items they made were calculators and black and white TVs. In 1993 Samsung unveiled a new strategy that they called “New Management”. They made the decision not to be a cheap copycat brand anymore. Samsung cut ties with low end retailers like Kmart and Wal-Mart. They started distributing at stores like Circuit City and Best Buy. They started making innovated electronics and coming up with new ideas instead of just copying other brands. Today their goal is to keep coming up with new ideas.
Q2: Is Samsung’s product development process customer-centred? Team-based? Systematic?It seems that Samsung’s product development process all these three approaches since the “new management” is a top-to-bottom strategy; it requires various company departments to work together. In addition, every new Samsung product had to pass the “Wow!” test: If it didn’t get a “Wow!” reaction during market testing, it went straight back to the de-sign studio. It is definitely creating more customer satisfying experiences, and the test is also how Samsung review, evaluate and manage the new products. They develop a lot of products at the same time. All the products are developed by specialized teams of designers who make the product from start to finish. However they have combined their approach with the customer centered approach to gain a competitive edge by getting new products to the market faster. This is probably why BusinessWeek places them higher on their list of most innovative company’s every year. Samsung's technological History „New management“ New goal Change of target group
Q1: How was Samsung able to go from copycat brand to product leader?
Samsung was a copycat brand from the time it started to around the 90s. Some of the first items they made were calculators and black and white TVs. In 1993 Samsung unveiled a new strategy that they called “New Management”. They made the decision not to be a cheap copycat brand anymore. Samsung cut ties with low end retailers like Kmart and Wal-Mart. They started distributing at stores like Circuit City and Best Buy. They started making innovated electronics and coming up with new ideas instead of just copying other brands. Today their goal is to keep coming up with new ideas.
Q2: Is Samsung’s product development process customer-centred? Team-based? Systematic?It seems that Samsung’s product development process all these three approaches since the “new management” is a top-to-bottom strategy; it requires various company departments to work together. In addition, every new Samsung product had to pass the “Wow!” test: If it didn’t get a “Wow!” reaction during market testing, it went straight back to the de-sign studio. It is definitely creating more customer satisfying experiences, and the test is also how Samsung review, evaluate and manage the new products. They develop a lot of products at the same time. All the products are developed by specialized teams of designers who make the product from start to finish. However they have combined their approach with the customer centered approach to gain a competitive edge by getting new products to the market faster. This is probably why BusinessWeek places them higher on their list of most innovative company’s every year. Samsung's technological History „New management“ New goal Change of target group