Lee Kun Hee

Lee Kun Hee
▪ 1997

      For South Korean businessman Lee Kun Hee, 1996 was a year of noteworthy events—both good and bad. As chairman of the Samsung Group of South Korea, he had left management to a corporate staff since taking over control of the conglomerate in 1987 from his late father, Lee Byung Chull, who founded Samsung in 1938. In June 1993, however, Lee Kun Hee launched a dramatic revolution from the top to make his 28 companies—the largest Asian conglomerate outside Japan—internationally competitive. Declaring that Samsung was "second rate" by global standards, he called on each employee "to change everything but your family." Lee attributed the shortcomings of Samsung to basic weaknesses in Korean society, including an educational system that stressed learning by rote and an authoritarian style of leadership. He ordered radical reforms. Under what Lee termed a "new management" concept, Samsung insisted that subordinates point out errors to their bosses. It also stressed quality of products over quantity, promoted women to the ranks of senior executives, and discouraged bureaucratic practices. By 1996 Samsung Electronics ranked as the world's leading exporter of memory chips, and the entire group's revenues in 1995 totaled $87 billion, equivalent to about 19% of South Korea's gross domestic product.

      Lee was born on Jan. 9, 1942, in the town of Uiryung, Kyongnam province, Korea. He majored in economics at Waseda University, Tokyo, and earned a master of business administration degree at George Washington University, Washington, D.C. Lee joined Samsung in 1968 as the quiet understudy of his father, who exercised absolute control over his conglomerate and decided against making two older sons his successors. The youngest Lee thus inherited control of a huge enterprise engaged in electronics, machinery, chemicals, and financial services.

      Having emerged from a shy figurehead to an assertive chief executive, Lee pushed Samsung into many new activities, such as automobile manufacturing. Bolstered by a surge of investment, he aimed to make 20% of Samsung's products outside South Korea by the year 2000. Consequently, he built an electronics manufacturing complex in Wynyard, Eng., and semiconductor plants in both Austin, Texas, and Suzhou, China. He also acquired such companies as the U.S. computer maker AST Research, Rollei Camera in Germany, and Lux, a Japanese manufacturer of audio products.

      An active sportsman, Lee spent his leisure time riding horses, racing sports cars on a private track, and raising dogs. In addition, he was president of the Korean Amateur Wrestling Association and was involved with a professional baseball team and amateur athletics. In July 1996 he was elected a member of the International Olympic Committee.

      Lee was among 11 prominent South Korean businessmen drawn into a political scandal over corporate contributions to former president Roh Tae Woo. A court ruled that such payments—though customary in South Korea—were bribes. In August 1996 Lee was sentenced to two years in prison, but the punishment was suspended for three years. (See Korea, Republic of .) (LOUIS KRAAR)

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Lee Kun-Hee — Lee Kun Hee, est né le 9 janvier 1942 et préside actuellement la société Samsung. Lee possède un diplôme en économie de l Université Waseda, à Tokyo et un MBA obtenu à l Université George Washington, aux États Unis. Il est aussi trilingue, il… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Lee kun-hee — Lee Kun Hee, est né le 9 janvier 1942 et préside actuellement la société Samsung. Lee possède un diplôme en économie de l Université Waseda, à Tokyo et un MBA obtenu à l Université George Washington, aux États Unis. Il est aussi trilingue, il… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Lee Kun-hee — Lee Kun Hee, est né le 9 janvier 1942 dans le comté de Uiryeong et préside actuellement la société Samsung. Lee possède un diplôme en économie de l Université Waseda, à Tokyo et un MBA obtenu à l Université George Washington, aux États Unis. Il… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Lee Kun-hee — Koreanische Schreibweise Siehe auch: Koreanischer Name Koreanisches Alphabet: 이건희 Chinesische Schriftzeichen: 李健熙 Revidierte Romanisierung: I Geon hui …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Lee Kun Hee — Koreanische Schreibweise Siehe auch: Koreanischer Name Hangeul: 이건희 Hanja: 李健熙 Revidiert: I Geon hui McCune R …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Lee Kun-hee — Infobox Celebrity image size = 150px name = Lee Kun hee birth date = Birth date and age|1942|1|9|mf=y birth place = Daegu, South Korea death date = death place = occupation = Chief executive officer salary = networth = profit $3.4 billion USD… …   Wikipedia

  • Kun-Hee Lee — Koreanische Schreibweise Siehe auch: Koreanischer Name Hangeul: 이건희 Hanja: 李健熙 Revidiert: I Geon hui McCune R …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Lee Byungchul — Lee Byung chul (22 février 1910 – 19 novembre 1987), est le fondateur du chaebol Samsung. Il a démissionné en 1966. C est son petit fils Lee Kun hee qui est actuellement à la tête du groupe. Au total, Lee Kun hee et sa famille détiennent des… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Lee (Name) — Lee ist ein häufiger in englischsprachigen Ländern sowie in Südkorea und anderen asiatischen Staaten verbreiteter Familienname, seltener auch ein Vorname. Herkunft und Bedeutung Bei dem Namen Lee handelt es sich um eine historisch bedingte… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Hee — may refer to:= * Bak Sin Hee, a Korean voice actor * Cho Won Hee (born 1983), a South Korean football player * Choi Kang hee (born 1977), a South Korean actress * Clayton Hee (born 1953), a Native Hawaiian politician * Hon Chew Hee (1906 1993),… …   Wikipedia

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