Samsung's sales-focused strategy mired the company in deep trouble uncontrolled production led to global oversupply, which ultimately meant heavy discounts on its merchandise thereby adding to its losses. But then the shift to a profit-thrust strategy that emphasizes streamlined and controlled production turned the company around.

Just five years ago, Samsung Electronics was in the muck; its earnings had largely petered out because of a steep decline in the prices of memory chips (then Samsung's main source of profit). And the company wasn't making much money on its cheap, me-too models of TVs and microwave ovens. Then there was the South East Asian crisis, which hit the Korean economy hard, deepening the problems of the company. Amidst such adverse conditions, Yun Jong Yong, who was appointed the CEO in January 1997, made certain drastic ushering in previously unheard of practices in the flagship company of Korea's most well known chaebol.

This electrical engineer and a company veteran, who had been with the company since its inception in 1969, initiated a slew of revamping efforts that yielded results in the form of improved profits and efficiency across the company. Yun killed old bad habits typical of the chaebol way of doing business and revived the company from its brink. He revitalized the South Korean corporation by chopping overhead costs and bureaucracy while speedily introducing a wide range of innovative high-tech products. In the process, he transformed the company from a copycat product maker into a leading, innovative and global electronics giant.

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