Directions: Read the Case Study, Samsung’s Environmental
Responsibility: Striking the Right Note for Corporate Survival
(Case #31) on page C-432 of your textbook. Complete the Final Case
Study Analysis of this company by using the required Case Study
format on pages CA1 through CA11 of the textbook.

Samsung Electronics (Samsung) was considered a pioneer in the
field of electronics. It was one of the leaders in the global
smartphone market because of its innovative products such as the
Galaxy S. The Samsung Galaxy S2 was selected as the ‘Best
Smartphone of the year’ in 2012, while the company was conferred
with the ‘Device Manufacturer of the Year’ award at the Mobile
World Congress in 2011.

In addition, Samsung Electronics received 30 awards for
innovation at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2012 and 44
awards at the international if Design Awards 2012. In order to
fulfill its environmental responsibility, Samsung Electronics
introduced the ‘EcoManagement 2013′ initiative in 2009. As per the
initiative, Samsung took up various environmental programs
including reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and the development
of best quality ecofriendly products. However, reports claimed that
Samsung did not follow the guidelines related to environmental
norms in many of its production plants. Though Samsung stepped up
to compensate for the harm caused to the employees as well as
repair the damages caused to the environment, apprehensions still
lingered regarding its viability in the long run.   case
study would be an attempt to highlight the environmental
initiatives taken up by Samsung. It would also analyse the impacts
of these initiatives and assess the sustainability of these
initiatives.

CORPORATE ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY: AN INSIGHT

In practice corporate environmental sustainability gained
prominence in the business world since the concept of sustainable
development grew in popularity during the late 1980s. The mounting
pressure for environmental protection forced organisations to
implement a number of measures and technologies to minimise and
control pollution and improve their ecological effectiveness. Of
late researchers and practitioners developed several approaches for
achieving corporate environmental sustainability. The approaches
included ecoefficiency, triple bottom line, natural step,
ecological footprint and carbon footprint, Eco effectiveness, and
cradle to cradle design. Analysts observed that these frameworks
provided guidelines to reduce the ecological damage caused by
organisations and offered assessment tools to support decision
making by managers.

Through corporate sustainability, organisations were expected to
generate longterm value for the consumer and the employees by
adopting ‘green’ strategies for environmental protection and by
considering the social, cultural, and economic aspects of the
company’s operations. From a broader perspective, corporate
sustainability described business practices revolving around social
and environmental considerations. As per the Brundtland
Commission’s Report—‘Our Common Future’, sustainable development
was described as, “development that meets the needs of the present
without compromising the ability of future generations to meet
their own needs.” While experts analysed three strategic principles
of corporate sustainable development such as transparency, employee
development and resource efficiency, they highlighted the triple
bottomline approach as one of the commonly used approaches.
According to this approach, business goals were inseparable from
the societies and environments in which they operated. Analysts
identified a number of organisations which accepted corporate
sustainable development as a key strategy. Global companies such as
Microsoft Corporation, Intel, Apple Inc, AT&T, and many other
leading electronics companies focused on environmental issues in
their corporate sustainability programs.

Originating as a small export business in Taegu, Korea, during
the 70s, Samsung Electronics (Samsung) went on to become one of the
world’s pioneering electronics companies. Samsung was a specialist
in manufacturing digital appliances and media, semiconductors,
memory, and system integration. It had a wide range of businesses
that connected speed and creativity and had the efficiency to
invent, develop and market the products.

Samsung displayed all the qualities expected of a leader. It was
a leader in digital technology, had ethical business practices, a
wide range of companies and above all displayed global citizenship.
The company had a simple philosophy—to make proper utilisation of
its talent and technology to create superior quality products and
services for the benefit of the society across the globe. Samsung’s
core values consisted of its people, a passion for excellence,
change and innovation, integrity in its operations, and
coprosperity.

Samsung’s new vision for 2020 read as “Inspire the World, Create
the Future”, which reflected its commitment to inspire citizens by
making efficient use of its strengths namely—new technology,
innovative products, and creative solutions and promoting value for
the industry, its partners and its employees. To fulfill its
vision, Samsung incorporated three strategic approaches in its
management: such as creativity, partnership, and talent. Apart from
this, Samsung had plans to explore new avenues in health, medicine
and biotechnology.

As of 2011, while Samsung’s total assets amounted to $343.7
billion, the net sales were recorded as $220.1 billion and net
income was $21.2 billion. As part of this vision, Samsung aimed to
generate revenue of $400 billion and achieve the position among the
world’s top five brands by 2020. As a responsible global citizen,
Samsung made efforts to generate economic profits and at the same
time endeavoured to tackle global issues such as social, economic
and environmental issues.

The key elements of its sustainability management agenda
included the economic, social and environmental aspects of its
operations. The organisation laid strong emphasis on shared growth
in its business management. As part of its shared growth
initiatives, Samsung introduced programmes such as ‘Globally
Competitive SMEs’, a ‘Supplier Support Fund’ and ‘New Technology
Development Contest’ to facilitate financial assistance. Samsung
also took up measures for the benefit of second and thirdtier
suppliers from its shared growth initiatives.

In 2011, Samsung launched a program titled ‘Samsung Hope for
Children’ which dealt with various social contribution activities.
The programs included activities such as ‘Hope Children’s Learning
Center’ for students coming from low income households and the
‘Stepping Stone Scholarship Program’ for college students with
disabilities. These programmes were organised in different regions
of the world with the sole purpose of focusing on health and
education of children and youth.

this is the Case Study format on pages CA1 through CA11 of the
textbook

Step 1: a. In general – determine who, what, how, where and when
Gaining familiarity (the critical facts of the case). b. In detail
– identify the places, persons, activities and contexts of the
situation. c. Recognise the degree of certainty/uncertainty of
acquired information.

Step 2: a. List all indicators (including stated ‘problems’)
that something Recognising symptoms is not as expected or as
desired. b. Ensure that symptoms are not assumed to be the problem
(symptoms should lead to identification of the problem).

Step 3: a. Identify critical statements by major parties (e.g.
people, Identifying goals groups, the work unit, etc.). b. List all
goals of the major parties that exist or can be reasonably
inferred.

Step 4: a. Decide which ideas, models and theories seem useful.
Conducting the analysis b. Apply these conceptual tools to the
situation. c. As new information is revealed, cycle back to
sub-steps (a) and (b).

Step 5: a. Identify predicaments (goal inconsistencies). Making
the diagnosis b. Identify problems (discrepancies between goals and
performance). c. Prioritise predicaments/problems regarding timing,
importance, etc.

Step 6: a. Specify and prioritise the criteria used to choose
action Doing the action planning alternatives. b. Discover or
invent feasible action alternatives. c. Examine the probable
consequences of action alternatives. d. Select a course of action.
e. Design an implementation plan/schedule. f. Create a plan for
assessing the action to be implemented