#valuedisciplines

Today, Samsung Electronics is one of the most innovative product driven companies world-wide. Since the beginning, their vision was product driven. In 1971, only two years after their launch, the goal was to "develop models based on advanced products". 20 years later, they established an industrial design department but designers still reported to engineers, who had the final word. They were building products thinking of quality first and not necessarily of the experience. In 1996, however, the chairman decided to make a lot of changes and called this the first revolution. He announced that design was a "strategic edge and priority for investment" and that strength should be used to develop unique designs. It was all about developing a "premium brand". From that moment on, they made changes to the people hired and recruited designers worldwide to bring different perspectives, they organized a design course for senior managers and managers were supposed to "adopt a designer's mindset". In this change, they also changed their facilities into design centers by "building a state-of-the-art R&D center", creating Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology, right next to the factory and opening a design center with strategists and researchers. All these changes only brought positive outcomes as they won more and more awards including 62 design prizes worldwide just in 2005. In the second design revolution, they understood IDEO's frameworks and applied a human emotional connection to their products. They invented the Quatro refrigerator for example, which can

adapt temperatures in different compartments. It was about understanding the needs of different people and different foods. Today, Samsung is still designing for human desirability, connecting with users in an innovative manner.  Sources: Customer Intimacy and Other Value Disciplines by Treacy & Wiersema

Innovation, growth and getting where you want to go by Jacoby and Rodriguez