Samsung Exec Praises Company

Lured by the promise of free 256 megabyte USB flash drives, over 800 students flocked to a speech by the President and CEO of the semiconductor division at Samsung Electronics at the Harvard Business School’s Burden Auditorium yesterday, though some were disappointed when the free, pocket-sized memory disks ran out early.

In his speech to the packed auditorium, Chang-Gyu Hwang both detailed the accomplishments of his company, particularly in the semiconductor technology field, and gave a subtle recruiting pitch targeted at Harvard Business School (HBS) students.

The heart of Hwang’s speech focused on lauding Samsung as a company. Among other things, Hwang chronicled how Samsung has the highest growth rate among any semiconductor brand, how it is one of only 10 companies that achieved one year profits of over $10 billion in history, and how it had an impressive 49 percent growth rate in 2003-2004.

While Hwang’s recruiting pitch was muted, it was evident throughout the speech, and cards for prospective job-seekers to fill out were placed in the notes handed out at the entrance of the auditorium.

Hwang also detailed the perks of working at Samsung, stating at one point that the salaries of core employees can sometimes be higher than the CEO’s. He followed this by repeating “sometimes”, with emphasis, to chuckles from the audience.

Still, the details of Hwang’s speech were far from the only reason that students arrived at Burden Auditorium en masse. Advertisements promising a free flash drive—a compact, pocket-sized device that can be attached to a computer via a USB port, and stores data in much the same fashion as an internal hard drive—was a major factor in some students’ decision to attend the speech.

The free USB flash drives, which were gift wrapped, are not for sale to the general public, but comparable products retail for more than $30.

HBS student Vishnu Srinivasan said that he came out largely because he had a business school case on Samsung, but added that the prospect of technology giveaways was attractive.

“The free flash drive definitely played into my decision to attend,” Srinivasan said.

The planners for the event appeared to underestimate the number of attendees, as an originally cordoned-off part of the auditorium had to be opened up to provide seating for the overflow crowd, and organizers ran out of USB flash drives early.

“I’m flaming with rage,” Andrew D. Einhorn ’07 quipped after not receiving a USB flash drive.

But not all attendees came for the flash drive.

While noting the recruitment pitch and freebies, Victor V. Bicalho ’06 said that he personally went to the lecture to learn more about Samsung and came away impressed.

“I didn’t know that much about Samsung coming in, but I’ve learned a lot and am impressed with their business strategies,” Bicalho said.