Samsung

Camp Samsung

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A group of Samsung Emplyees'(planners, designers, programmers and engineers), pledged to enter the Value Innovation Program(VIP) Center, which was just south of Seoul. They were asked to outline the the features and design of the company's mainstay flat-screen TV. The code name of the TV was Bordeaux. After an introductory ceremony attended by senior executives of Samsung's video division, the team joined a dozen or so similar groups at the VIP center and got down to work. The VIP center is a place where people throughout the company come together and brainstorm day after day and nite after night. The employees study what their rivals are offering, examine endless data on suppliers, components and costs, they also argue over designs and technologies. The Bordeaux team hammered out the basic look, feel, and features of the model. Over the next few months designers and engineers worked out the details and by February the TV's were rolling off of Samsung assemblies line. The TV's came into stores starting off at the price of $1300 for a 26-inch set. Kim Minsuk, and official at Samsung LCD TV product planning groups says, "This is the first time in our company history that we developed a TV appealing to out customers lifestyles."

Samsung next agenda for their product was how to make it more innovative. Yun Hong Young, Samsung's 62-year old chief executive, says that " His company is second to none when it comes to manufacturing." Yun set up the VIP program in 1998. By bringing everyone together in the very beginning to thrash out differences, he believed the company could stream line its operation and make better products. Samsung has many other products that have come from the VIP center, such as a notebook computer, that doubles as a mobile TV. The Bordeaux team shows how the VIP center works, there goal