Tuesday, October 07, 2008

Too Lee’ttle, too...

Lee’s exit looks positive, hopefully the law will take its course

‘Once bitten, twice confident’ – Though antipodal, the tad goes well with Lee Kun-hee, Chairman of the world’s largest electronic company – Samsung Electronics. Lee, son of Samsung group founder Lee Byung-chul, resigned from his post on April 21, 2008 following his alleged involvement in the slush funds scandal. And along with him resigned his son and heir to the company, Lee Jae-yong and Vice Chairman Lee Hak-soo. But before one thinks that the allegations against Chairman Lee might be a mite too heavy (as being opined by company insiders and even some analysts), one perhaps forgets that in 1996, Lee was fully convicted on the charges of bribing ex-presidents of South Korea. It was only a presidential pardon (!) that allowed him to return to the company, and that too, at the helm of affairs! But the bigger question now is, will Lee’s resignation actually work positively for the group? Or is it the clichéd tale of too Lee’ttle, too late?

An alumnus of George Washington University, Lee took over the baton in 1988. It was under his leadership that Samsung Electronics became one of world’s leading manufacturers of semiconductors. In January 2008, a special investigation was carried out, instigated by Samsung’s former Chief Lawyer Kim Yong-chul, after he issued public allegations of financial irregularities....Continue

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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