A Detailed Case Study on the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 Battery Crisis

This case study delves into the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 battery crisis, analyzing the various risk categories involved, including new manufacturing dangers, fast charging risks, and design-related risks. It explores how these factors contributed to the battery explosions and subsequent product recalls. The study further examines the impact of the crisis on Samsung's operations, including financial losses, reputational damage, and regulatory actions. It evaluates Samsung's crisis management strategies, such as apologizing to customers, taking responsibility, and implementing corrective actions. The case study also assesses the effectiveness of these strategies and suggests alternative approaches for managing similar crises in the future, emphasizing the importance of early issue identification, proactive communication, and adaptable risk management strategies. Desklib provides access to a wide range of solved assignments and study resources for students.

Running Head: SAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE 7 BATTERY CRISIS 1
Risk As Well As Crisis Management of Samsung Galaxy Note 7 Battery Crisis
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SAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE 7 BATTERY CRISIS 2
Review of Samsung Note 7 Battery Crisis
Electronics made by Samsung Company for an extended duration have remained to be
the best brands around the international marketplaces. The company produces different preferred
devices that cause the company to be preferred manufacturers of mobile devices. Besides,
products of Samsung Company have been featured on various platforms of media across the
entire global community (Vignal & Barki, 2017). The achievements of the company had been
remarkable since it majorly concentrated on the production of various appliances for home use as
well as the creation of semiconductors. When the company decided to attempt its operations on
mobile handset devices, specialists on organization turn out to be successful. Even though the
management of the organization has preserved the drive of its success in operations, it has skilled
many concerns that they require to address quickly for effective services in the global
marketplaces. The need to address the crisis such as Samsung Note 7 Battery Crisis was
necessary since the competition poses to the company by other companies that deals with the
production of phones had intensified (A Brief History of Samsung's Troubled Galaxy Note 7,
2018). The increased cases of competition made the Samsung Company focus on invest in
different innovation approaches with the focus on introducing mobile devices that are high-end
to rival those of its chief competitors. In the early days of 2016, Samsung Company faced
different crisis that linked with its advanced device of handset of model of Note. Therefore, the
primary target of this research paperwork is to examine Samsung Galaxy Note 7 battery crisis
that Samsung Company faced in the past by looking at how the organization responded to this
crisis and explaining how the crisis could have been solved differently by an individual.
Categories of the risk faced by Samsung Company

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The dangers faced by the company on production of the Note 7 battery can be the group
into three different categories (Forbes Welcome, 2018). These three categories comprise of:
 New manufacturing dangers
 Fast charging dangers
 Dangers connected with the phone design
New manufacturing danger of Samsung Note 7 battery
Samsung Company was unable to efficiently explain what went wrong with the batteries
that it had produced and released to the global markets in innovative Galaxy Note 7 devices. The
assessment of produce by the authority that deals with safety of consumer product on the issue
highlighted that the batteries of Samsung Note 7 were faulty. The organization on their
assessment claimed that Samsung Note 7 was too large to fit well into available space on the
produced gadgets (History | Company | Samsung US, 2018). The commission also pointed out
that the process of establishing produced cells into Galaxy handset would tuck the bends of the
Note 7. The crimping of the phone could then result in the cases of the short circuit. The result of
the short circuit remains to be dangerous to gadget users since it can lead to instances of
overheating and eventually result in the explosion during usage. The assessment made the
Samsung Company to replace the batteries of SDI as well as approaching the Amperex
Technology Ltd based in China for replacements (How Did Samsung Botch the Galaxy Note 7
Crisis?, 2018). Besides, batteries produced from Amperex also had the same effect of
manufacturing problems. Accordance to sediments by different investigators, the issue of the
explosion of Note 7 batteries associated with the explosions that were far beyond the batteries
produced.

SAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE 7 BATTERY CRISIS 4
Samsung Company on its operations also failed to give a concrete explanation of the
Note 7 battery crisis to the targeted customers and the public at large. The parent organization of
Amperex also was unable to comment adequately on the issue of the battery (Oddy & Rarr,
2018). The airlines that deal with the battery also lacked adequate data concerning the whole
issue that affect the production of the battery. Therefore, carriers failed to have ideas of what
they needed to share out with their esteemed as well as targeted customers.
Fast charging risks
Risk of charging fast of produced Samsung Note 7 battery became to be a major risk that
associated with the process involved in charging Galaxy Note 7 devices. According to comments
by Cho (2016), Samsung Galaxy Note 7 was established with the feature of fast charge n and this
became a vital factor in causing explosion. The risk on Note 7 battery was because of pinch
integral into processor of the handset to improve charging speed. The process of charging cells
rapidly ended Samsung Galaxy handset of model of Note 7 to be volatile to its users. Besides, if
the engine of the Samsung is pressed so tough, it is probable to detonate (Amanda, 2016). Thus,
crisis affecting cells of Note 7, it is evident that one of the components had to be interfered with
in the whole process. Therefore, the charging system of Note 7 remains to be dangers that
associates with explosion of the phone.
Risks relating to the design of Samsung Galaxy of model of Note 7
Galaxy Note 7 remained to remain as the most sophisticated mobile device of the
Samsung Company in its history of operations. In accordance to sediments by the Samsung
Company experts, the phone of Galaxy Note 7 was obtainable to confront supremacy of other
phones notably Apple around global marketplaces (Bulik, 2016). The advanced mobile device

SAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE 7 BATTERY CRISIS 5
produced within marketplace consisted of scanner of iris, techniques of border display, together
with useful methods of waterproofing. Besides, the Samsung Galaxy Note7 has the big battery in
comparison to that of its predecessor. Features of the phone devices had the symmetrical
curvature. The symmetric curvature feature of the invention remained to be the vital feature that
Samsung Company stay to be proud of achieving (The History of Samsung, 2018). The
symmetric function might have placed massive pressure on the packs of Galaxy Note 7 battery
that resulted in short circuits leading to cases of dangerous fires. For instance, there had been an
incident where the Korean protection body of consumers leaked the documentation that points to
recording that batteries of SDI were more significant as compared to the compartments of battery
phone. Moreover, plates of isolation that separated the battery cathode as well as the anode were
firmly situated at the edges of the Note 7 battery (Vignal & Barki, 2017). Furthermore, it is
probable that existent of outer force could impact nodes of isolation through procedure of
manufacturing in Samsung Company. The external force could have resulted in huge pressure
that leads to the explosion of fire on batteries during their usage.
Outcomes of the risk of Galaxy Note 7 battery crisis on operations of Samsung Company
The result of Galaxy Note 7 Battery crisis made the United Arabs Emirates authorities
that deals with aviation to ban application of handsets of Samsung on the airline. Besides, some
companies that deal with flights along with aviation system like authority administration of
federal aircraft of US also warned different passengers that board their planes against charging
on device of Note 7 within the planes (The Teardown, 2017). Other cases include the operations
that involve authorities of Thailand banning importation of goods while Canadian government
evoked it from different international marketplaces. The organization assured to engage in the
process of incorporating update of software with aim of reducing dangers of explosion of fire or

SAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE 7 BATTERY CRISIS 6
transmitting fire (Cho, 2016). Besides, the company recommends the maximum limitation fees to
sixty percent.
Following Galaxy Note 7 battery crisis, Samsung Company discontinued the process of
manufacturing along with the supply of devices of Galaxy Note 7. The company concentrated on
such operations since there exist records of the replaced devices that catch fire and explodes
when in the process (Bulik, 2016). As the result of scandals of Galaxy Note 7 handset,
organization share charge commenced reducing. The stock charge decreased by seven percent in
the marketplace. Therefore, analyst of finances predictable that company of Samsung may record
loss of approximately five billion US dollars of total revenue following the recalls of its Galaxy
Note 7 battery products. By September 14, 2016, Samsung Company had lost about ten billion of
its value in the international marketplaces (Tech, 2018). Besides, Samsung Company
experienced the delay in the launching of its new battery products and other products due to the
loss of market value. The suspension was not only experienced in Indian markets but also in
other substantial global markets.
According to Bulik (2016), there exist various modes of strategies in the management of
crisis applicable in the management of Galaxy Note 7 battery crisis that company of Samsung
can apply. Company of Samsung employed policy of apologizing to targeted customers and
entire globe in response to the Note 7battery crisis. Therefore, Samsun Company and its
management team took full responsibility as well as apologizing to their stakeholders for the arm
that their products might have caused. For instance, President of Samsung Company went ahead
and released a video that showed how the company accepted the mistake that leads to Note 7
battery crisis. The video released by Samsung President also emphasized the importance that the
company considers to attain safety of customers (Samsung's Success in Crisis Communications,

SAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE 7 BATTERY CRISIS 7
2018). Therefore, it was clear that there were various risks from the scenario that the company
management need to set in place to help in designing an appropriate plan for control of the
production of new products like Galaxy Note 7 battery. Therefore, the company had
concentrated on ideal ways on how to rebuild the lost value of its brands and instill confidence in
the esteemed and target clients that were essential for the company to retain its market position in
the field of production of different Smartphone.
How management of Samsung Company handled Galaxy Note 7 battery crisis
There were different forms of the model that management of Samsung Company used to
manage the Galaxy Note 7 crisis. They concentrated on necessary steps to ensure that they
maintain the crisis. The management identifies not only the nature of the crisis, but they also
defined the scope of the problem that leads to Galaxy Note 7 crisis (Samsung Story - History,
2018). The other step that the management used to control the crisis remained to be the capacity
of fixing the issues on battery crisis by making everything to be right with the affected customers
and other stakeholders. Additionally, the additional step that management of Samsung Company
had used to manage the Galaxy Note 7 crisis entailed the idea of taking actions targeted at
ensuring that the issue will not occur once more (Samsung's Success in Crisis Communications,
2018). These three basics steps continued to be the most straightforward process that the
management of Samsung Company took to manage Galaxy Note 7 crisis. Besides, the successful
operation of the management process entirely depends on the step of identification of the nature
and scope of the crisis. The step allowed the management to identify the issue at an early stage
by defining it accurately and quickly thus making it possible for the company to prevent its
operations from being terrified into bureaucratic fear (Bulik, 2016). Conversely, company has

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existed the inherent political concern so as to interfere with the whole activities of the Samsung
Company on the production of new devices.
The actions were not sufficient since the management of the firm should have
concentrated on ideas of adopting the adaptable along with suitable crisis as well as the
management strategy for the risk of Galaxy Note 7. It was essential for the Samsung Company to
have the comprehensive, sustainable, together with the plan that is adaptable for management of
crisis affecting their operations in the production of the battery (Vignal & Barki, 2017). For
instance, Samsung Company and its management should have concentrated on developing risk
management plan that they used to respond to the crisis from the beginning along with sustaining
the twists and turns brought about by the reputational issues on Galaxy Note 7 battery. Besides,
Galaxy Note 7 batter crisis had the other turmoil on the battery’s quality, safety, together with
health of the targeted and esteemed users. Amanda (2016) laments that the Samsung Company
should have stayed prepared to handle the crisis by having the team along with the plan and
scenario exercise set in place to help in the management of different critical issues. The
management of Samsung Company considers the idea of creating as well as adopting a team to
mitigate and manage the future occurrences of Galaxy Note 7 crisis.
Globalizing of the plan for managing crisis in Samsung Company: According to
sediments by Bulik (2016), risks along with management of crisis of the globe together with the
complex concern should stay local. Besides, the scope of management needs to be customized to
aim at meeting different requirements of every locality that the Galaxy Note 7. Conversely, the
range needs to be tailored to attain needs of each location presenting crisis of Galaxy Note 7
itself. In case of handling crisis like Samsung Galaxy Note 7, organization endangered its status
in some of its massive along with the reliable segment of marketplace within the globe (Cho,

SAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE 7 BATTERY CRISIS 9
2016). Therefore, it would be vital and recommendable for the company managers to focus on
the examination of all its modes of operations around the global marketplace.
Recommendations and suggestions
Based on the development of Galaxy Note 7 battery crisis, there are several steps that the
firm can consider to manage the battery crisis. These steps may be long-term along with short-
term in handling cases of battery crisis.
Short-term measures
The management of Samsung Company should have focused on reviewing its plan for
managing risk to ensure it is comprehensive, updated, and robust in handling crisis locally and
globally. Therefore, the company needs to have the intelligence of culture, surrounding of media,
along with platforms of social channel for targeted clients to increase communication. The
management of Samsung Company needs to have the best coordination of management of public
relations, coordination of planning and its interaction with clients (Refurbished Samsung Galaxy
Note 7 to be called Galaxy Note FE, 2018). The improvement in communication needs to
comprise of use of social media training for every senior manager in the given region.
Long-term measures
There is the need for the company to focus on identifying, analyzing expectations, as well
as prioritizing the concern of stakeholders to improve on management of the different crisis. It is
clear from the case of Samsung Galaxy Note 7 battery crisis that the stakeholders comprise of
prospect clients, the clients, the media, regulators, along with third parties like vendors (Oddy &
Rarr, 2018). The company needs to concentrate on conducting the exercise and expectations of
its targeted customers so as they can understand reputation opportunity along with risk.

SAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE 7 BATTERY CRISIS 10
Company and its management need to participate in the analysis of gap in operations, evaluation
of risk management, along with reform. The mentioned ideas need to be coordinated with the
team of executive, the team dealing with the management of battery crisis for Galaxy Note 7
together with the board in an actionable manner to manage the crisis in operations of the
company (How Did Samsung Botch The Galaxy Note 7 Crisis?, 2018). The company of
Samsung will then be capable of performing well it has the reputation risk along with the ideal
plan for managing crisis for all operations.
In case of Samsung Company, management of its operations remained to be skeptical in
the account of the client of the Galaxy Note 7 dangers, and they were having inadequate idea on
how to react to such issues effectively. The reaction by the management could be credited to
inadequate clarity of ideas that causes the problem (Forbes Welcome, 2018). The company
lacked the management quality on the issue of Galaxy Note 7 battery crisis. Besides, the
company lacked quality on how to deal management of condition on the subject. The
administration of the company could have acknowledged the feedback of the client. The
acknowledgment arises due to the input that remains to be essential for successful business
operations (Oddy & Rarr, 2018). Moreover, feedbacks from different stakeholders along with
targeted clients should undergo through the process of documentation, evaluation, and receive a
practical solution with immediate effect. Therefore, it is vital for the management of the
Samsung Company to posse’s different abilities. Some of these abilities consist of
comprehensive plan together with the quality process. They should remain to operate while they
possess principles that deal with customer-driven standards, procedure, and policies (Cho, 2016).
They need to communicate with all stakeholders as well as create a team that deals with activities

SAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE 7 BATTERY CRISIS 11
of solving rising problems in manufacturing, marketing, and distributions of new products in the
global marketplaces.
Conclusion
The team that deals with technical concern need to concentrate on changing their
techniques of testing of all new products that the company produced before they launch their
sales in local along with international marketplaces. The idea of checking products remains to be
essential as it helps in eliminating cases of prospect failures that will then be examined as
ineptitude model. The excellence declaration of any company continues to be the critical factor
that Samsung Company needs to deal with to ensure sufficient battery crisis together with
management of such turmoil.

SAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE 7 BATTERY CRISIS 12
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