Fully 65% of Samsung's approximately 800 executives and 85% of its 1,400 headquarters employees were reassigned to the field yesterday. Also, 100% of its overseas corporation heads were replaced with younger executives.
The company also consolidated itself into only two divisions - parts and sets. The official name of the sets division is Digital Media and Communications, while the sets division will have the title Device Solutions. Reports differ on how many divisions the company had before the consolidation - some sources say 4 while others report 6.
These drastic changes are said to be in response to the global economic downturn, and are designed to allow more flexibility and split-second decisions from other members of management. The inflexible, top-down style of Samsung management had a reputation previously of requiring two to three days to make any decision.
Samsung is expected to report its first quarterly loss in eight years later this week.
In one final blow, executives cut their own salaries about 20%.
