Sustainable Practice and Operations Management for Samsung

This report discusses sustainable practices and operations management for Samsung, a multinational company in the electronics industry. It covers their eco-management, eco-design, energy-efficient products, economic value creation, product portfolio, and sustainability challenges. It also explores their vision and impact on the external environment using SWOT analysis. Additionally, it highlights the sustainability issues faced by the company and the concerns of indigenous communities in New Zealand regarding the use of lithium by Samsung.

Running head: SUSTAINABLE PRACTICE AND OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
Sustainable Practice and Operations Management
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1SUSTAINABLE PRACTICE AND OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
TASK 1
Part A
Introduction
For this report, the chosen company is Samsung. It is a multinational company which has
diversified its business into food processing and the textiles and also the insurance, retail and
securities. Later in the 1960’s it started its business in the electronic technology.
Eco-Management
Samsung aims at providing solutions which is very responsive in nature; thereby it is
creating a sustainable future. The company is trying to reduce GHG emission which helps the
environment. They are trying to provide their consumer and stakeholders (Silberman et al.,
2014).
Eco-Design
The organization is taking the effort to consider impacts that affect the product life cycle
stage. They want to promote energy, efficiency and recyclability. The always do research with
their product and tries to develop their product.
Energy Efficient Products
The company has come up with different new technologies that help in conservation of
energy. They have come with several products which will help to conserve energy which helps to
save energy (Lee & Vachon, 2016).

2SUSTAINABLE PRACTICE AND OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
Economic Value Creation
Samsung endeavors to bring some innovation in technologies and product the give way
the path that fetches the company huge profits. The company tries to help building the eco
system which helps to develop innovation.
This electronic business has grown in these times very fast. Thus Samsung has globalized
its mobile phone and electronic business. The Samsung Electronics has grown and now it has
become a global leader in technology and it has around 200 subsidiaries all over the World
(Adhami, Sabbagh & Mirahmadi, 2014). This company has home appliance and TV’s,
refrigerator and home appliances. Samsung is thus dedicated to improve their business globally
so they can constantly pursue innovations and create value for their products. The main Branch
of the company is in Oman (Cardoso , 2017).
Product Portfolio
Their product range from the tablets, mobile phones, smart phones. Their electronics
items are television, LED’s, LCD’s, HDTV, camera, camcorders. They range from refrigerator,
air conditioner, washing machine, micro ovens (Castro, 2016). Their IT products are such as
Laptops, printers and accessories (Cortez et al., 2015).

3SUSTAINABLE PRACTICE AND OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
Part B
Sustainability challenge being faced by Samsung in the following:
Social Principles
The vision of the organization is to acquire the maximum share in the market and to come
up with products which are extremely advanced in nature and which are being able to satisfy the
need of the consumer. They want to reduce and kind of material which may cause any kind of
substantial damage to the environment (Dermawan, 2014). There are many finite and semi-
renewable global resources available in the ecosystem so as to absorb the resources and exceeds
the consumption and it was limited in nature and was perceived to be a constraint for the
development of the production system to fuel the economic growth .The future of assets which
are limited seemed to be distant (Gaziulusoy, Boyle & McDowall, 2013).
Ethical Principles
Samsung follows all the rules and regulation that are to be followed and they have gone a
step further to take initiative that will eventually protect the environment. In the next ten years
the organization is looking forward to become the most eco-friendly organization. They maintain
a hundred percent transparency and consumer friendly. This set of criteria means that the ethical
principles should be there between generations and international (Ernst & Fischer, 2014) to aim
for zero hazardous wastes.

4SUSTAINABLE PRACTICE AND OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
Financial Principles
In the financial year 2016, Samsung Securities’ total assets hit KRW 31 trillion, up
20.3% year on year on a consolidated basis. Total equity capital have gone up by 2.8% from the
previous year to reach KRW 3.5 trillion, a that includes common stock capital, which was worth
KRW 394.2 billion. As of end of the FY, the company held 6,329,040 treasury shares,
representing 8.28% of all outstanding common ones, which amounted to 76,435,165 shares
(Giachetti & Torrisi, 2017). In the upcoming ten years ahead the organization wants to see itself
as a strong financially developed organization which controls the maximum share of the whole
market.
Environmental Principles
Climate change is a global issue that will affect all countries. New Zealand's economy
relies on our environment and the primary production. In the next ten years they have decided to
manufacture products which are economically friendly and have no or least harm over the
environment (Gleick, 2014).
There are risks and opportunities we know New Zealand will face:
 Climate change will affect what and how much New Zealand can grow or harvest both on
the land as well as in the sea.
 Increasingly unpredictable weather cycles could make some years more or less
productive than others (Glowik 2016).
 Some regions will become better suited to growing crops and producing goods than
others.

5SUSTAINABLE PRACTICE AND OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
 Increased rainfall can result in erosion and increase sediment in our waterways. Soil loss
can damage the stability of land and reduce its productivity (Vergragt, Akenji & Dewick,
2014).
 The variety of pests and diseases we are vulnerable to could change.
Complexity of sustainability challenges and recommendation of long term vision for ten
years
Attention is being given by the company for going green and Samsung plays a important role
to solve sustainability problems. It has been studied that the management too effect sustainability
and change management. It has been seen that the sustainability related issues that are being
imposed on the companies are very complex in nature. The following are the sustainability issue
that is being faced by the companies.
 There is volatility of the resources available and the prices are very high. In the country
of New Zealand there is a lack of resources and raw materials and even there is lack of
technologies for innovation of the electronics goods and thus the demand for electronics
goods of Samsung is little low (Hecht, Fiksel & Moses,2014).
 The impending regulation and the legal issues that are being faced by many companies
are complex. Companies like Apple, Samsung face a lot of challenges and legal
problems.
 The customer demand is usually very high for Samsung because of the brand value but
they face a lot of competition from many other companies which are growing and making
a place in the growing economy of New Zealand. Companies like Huawei have won over
the market (Sorrell, 2015).

6SUSTAINABLE PRACTICE AND OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
 Emergence of new market and end of the old ones. – With the liberalization and changes
in the economy the old electronics products and mobile phones have been outdated and
the new android system has captured the market. This has posed a tremendous pressure
on these companies. With the fast changing world it is important for the companies to
catch up with the latest trend and to serve the people with the latest technology. Thus
they can remain sustainable on a long term basis (Adombent et al., 2014).
 Pressure from communities and various groups of people – There is pressure posed on the
these companies since people are changing life style at a rapid pace and they always need
the latest product. Thus Samsung needs to continuously innovate and bring in advanced
products for the consumers.
 Necessity for collaboration across boundaries – With the globalization and liberalization
strategic alliance has become a crucial weapon to sustain in this world. With this comes
the concept of cross-border alliances. This is a strategic approach followed by many
companies to sustain their business and to reduce their cost and grow and flourish in the
market (Wiek & Iwaniec, 2014).
 The need to cultivate resilience – There can be at times when the organization or the
companies have to face any harm so it is very important to cultivate resilience to heal
itself from any kind of probable damage that and organization can face.

7SUSTAINABLE PRACTICE AND OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
TASK 2
Part A
Vision of the company Samsung and the impact on the external environment.
Political
Samsung has set up its business in many parts of the Countries. The company faces
challenges from some remote places because of the political instability and Samsung sometimes
faces political pressures from some Countries where the political environment is also
unstable .There are many finite and semi-renewable global resources available in the ecosystem
so as to absorb the resources and exceeds the consumption and it was limited in nature and was
perceived to be a constraint for the development and growth. (Harutyunyan, Jiang &
Narasimhan, 2016).
Economic
There is opening for Samsung and the market is developing to develop the global
footprints. There is global crisis which have reduced the consumers buying power forcing
Samsung to enter into the market while seeking profitable. The company Samsung operates
globally with uncertainty and volatility which leads to Samsung making strategies accordingly
(Hasan 2013).

8SUSTAINABLE PRACTICE AND OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
Socio-Cultural
Samsung is primarily a South Korean multinational company. There are many aspects
that one needs to adapt in the local conditions of the market (Hartley 2017).Apart from this;
Samsung has many products that are launched in the fast changing consumer preferences
markets where it operates.
Technological
Samsung aims at maximization of the technology in the upcoming years where it aims at
technological advancement so that it attains the tag of the most advanced organization. Samsung
is one of those branded leading companies. It has the power of technology for sustainable
business (Khan, Alam & Alam, 2015).
Legal
Samsung had to pay many legal fines and penalties since it imitated and this has led to
the company taking violating legal norms according to public perceptions and consumer
approval. It was difficult for the company to wriggle out of the legal maze and lawsuit (Lee,
2014). The legal system should be kept in mind while taking any decision and they should keep
in mind and keep them updated with the legislation of the country of New Zealand which will
enable them to achieve their goals in the long term.
Environmental
The ethical consumers are able to make their products socially and environmentally
responsible. This electronic business has grown which the organization have decided to take the
maximum advantages by staying and environment friendly organization which is being

9SUSTAINABLE PRACTICE AND OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
appreciated by the consumer as it is good and positive for the environment.. (Kim. & Mauborgne
2014).
Part B
External environmental analysis using SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis of Samsung is as follows:.
The Strengths of the organization is as follows:
Samsung is the market leader of all the electronics company. The mobile or smart phone is
one of their greatest strengths (Menzel, 2013). Its main source of revenue is the sale of smart
phones. Samsung with its strong manufacturing and marketing team is capable of doing a very
high research and development (R&D).
The Weaknesses is as follows:
Samsung is a company which is dependent on the consumer electronics sales in markets.
They have a very small place for their growth, in some of the places of the United States for
generation of revenue (Rapp, 2014).
The Opportunities is as follows:
The market is growing for smart phones, tablets and other mobile devices, where at one point
of time the consumers are unfamiliar with PCs (Pae et al., 2015). The growth in the middle class
in this century are increasing their demand for consumer electronic items thus there is
opportunities to develop social responsibility in lesser demographics

10SUSTAINABLE PRACTICE AND OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
The threats are as follows:
Currently, the threat of new viable competitors and launch of new technology smart
phones has a good fight in this industry. The substitutes continuously put pressure on Samsung.
The consumer replaces Samsung with cheaper phone of Xiaomi and Huawei thus their share
grew in these years (Salah, 2015). Consumers can easily switch to Apple products since their
product IOS is much recognized than the Samsung tablet. Thus Apple entered the home
appliance and consumer market too.

11SUSTAINABLE PRACTICE AND OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
TASK 3
Part 1
New Zealand is trying to be much responsible so as to give justice to its indigenous
peoples. The indigenous people of Maori over represented it which was a matter of concern in
the socio-economic which goes a long way so s to ensure the unique status and rights to the
indigenous people so that they are respected and protected (Sheppard, 2016). This struggle done
by them for justice goes beyond the heart of how the democracy works and it has shown that the
democracy needs to be reviewed (Singh & Uncles,2016).
Samsung is an electronics company and it need lithium to for it products thus the
company takes million of dollars from the land. This is a problem which is faced by the
indigenous communities in New Zealand. The people argued on the fact that these companies are
aware and being conscious about the problems but they do not do anything to recover from it
(Tar, 2013).
Part 2
There is sustainability issues that is faced by the company, the people of the indigenous
communities are very worried that the lithium used by the technology company Samsung have a
huge impact on the indigenous communities (Xu, 2015). They said that these companies such as
Samsung think the indigenous are like stones in the road.
The people of the communities said that it is difficult from them to know where the
lithium is extracted and where does it goes. Companies like Toyota, Apple , Samsung said that

12SUSTAINABLE PRACTICE AND OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
they does not buy lithium directly but tries to minimize the suppliers’ impact on local
communities, and also said that they will take action and inform their suppliers to take actions in
a concern to the indigenous communities.
The lithium is used by consumer companies such as Samsung for refusal to divulge their
suppliers (Ying, 2016). Apple too published a list of its top suppliers. But companies like
Samsung declined to reveal.
Topic: Improvement between Samsung and the indigenous population
Source: (Yang et al., 2015)

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