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Samsung Electronics cultural issues causing disasters in foundry, LSI, DRAM

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Re: Samsung Electronics cultural issues causing disasters in foundry, LSI, DRAM

#161

Post by cjbgkagh »

Sakos wrote: post #156
httpz wrote: post #38

While Samsung's culture could be considered toxic, blaming their recent issues on culture would need more backing. Samsung has seen good growth and has been one of the top semiconductor companies for the past decade. It's not like their culture drastically changed in the recent years. It's the same "toxic" culture that got them here and blaming the culture for their recent hiccups just seem like a sensationalist writ…

This is an odd stance to take. Just look at Boeing. Unless you were directly involved with Boeing, you likely weren't aware of the cultural issues in the company. Up until the Max crisis, it looked like a successful, well-run business. Cultural issues can fester for a long time and get worse and worse before they finally reveal themselves in poor performance, accidents or other issues later on. In Boeing's case, it's…

Al Jazeera did an investigation into Boeing ages ago (I think pre 2013) that convinced me there were problems.

Re: Samsung Electronics cultural issues causing disasters in foundry, LSI, DRAM

#162

Post by xadhominemx »

throwaway201025 wrote: post #129

As a Samsung employee, I've been continuously being disappointed by the company culture. Recently, the company introduced a new policy that prohibits phone usage while walking inside the company building, due to "safety concerns". Samsung employed ~20 safety guards to supervise and monitor phone usage throughout the campus and if you're caught by them, you will be warned. If you are caughted twice, your team lead wil…

This is a rule in many manufacturing environments. Intel has had the same exact rule for a very long time.

Re: Samsung Electronics cultural issues causing disasters in foundry, LSI, DRAM

#163

Post by borner791 »

jitl wrote: post #10

Even in the Bay Area, the Samsung culture is extremely top-down and overwork focused. I’ve heard too many stories of whole departments needing to throw everything out and build something totally different at the very end of year-long projects because on an executive’s whims. On the other hand their cafeteria food is supposedly very good (especially if you like Korean and Japanese).

The SRA caf was super nice, and extremely subsidized... It was a nice trip out there.

Re: Samsung Electronics cultural issues causing disasters in foundry, LSI, DRAM

#164

Post by Ekaros »

timthorn wrote: post #148
userbinator wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

but that doesn't directly reflect on 5000 years of western culture. There hasn't even been 5000 years of western culture...

Stonehenge dates from 3000BC

And we have little idea who build it and for what. I expect at least those basics down for anything to be called part of our culture. At least for back-dating purposes.

Re: Samsung Electronics cultural issues causing disasters in foundry, LSI, DRAM

#165

Post by [deleted] »

xattt wrote: post #130
throwaway201025 wrote: post #129

As a Samsung employee, I've been continuously being disappointed by the company culture. Recently, the company introduced a new policy that prohibits phone usage while walking inside the company building, due to "safety concerns". Samsung employed ~20 safety guards to supervise and monitor phone usage throughout the campus and if you're caught by them, you will be warned. If you are caughted twice, your team lead wil…

> … submit a written apology. What the hell kind of mentality is this? I’ve been in a workplace that cracked down on phone use. Everyone was pissed. I considered carrying a small block of wood painted black in act of subversion.

[deleted]

Re: Samsung Electronics cultural issues causing disasters in foundry, LSI, DRAM

#166

Post by [deleted] »

xadhominemx wrote: post #162
throwaway201025 wrote: post #129

As a Samsung employee, I've been continuously being disappointed by the company culture. Recently, the company introduced a new policy that prohibits phone usage while walking inside the company building, due to "safety concerns". Samsung employed ~20 safety guards to supervise and monitor phone usage throughout the campus and if you're caught by them, you will be warned. If you are caughted twice, your team lead wil…

This is a rule in many manufacturing environments. Intel has had the same exact rule for a very long time.

[deleted]

Re: Samsung Electronics cultural issues causing disasters in foundry, LSI, DRAM

#167

Post by sidewndr46 »

cxr wrote: post #34
jason-phillips wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It has been clear to us for years that Samsung has baaad internal communication issues... It's clear that Samsung culture prevents people from admitting mistakes... Jesus H. Christ on a fucking hockey stick. I doubt I've ever read such a breathless hit piece with so many unsupported assertions summarily presented as fact. I worked for Samsung Semiconductor for ten years and left as a software engineering manager. N…

NB: Jason is referring to "S2" aka Samsung Austin Semiconductor. I'm familiar with Jason's previous comments in threads about Samsung, but outside of that I don't know him (even, say, by name). This makes sense, given the separation between the work of an SE manager and the actual day-to-day operations that are involved with getting wafers fabbed and shipped. I worked at SAS in lots of different areas—Metro, Photo, a…

I've personally known a number of SAS employees and even more secondhand. My general impression was that it was dysfunctional.

One guy I know works 6 days a week, Monday-Saturday. He goes in on work around 2pm Sunday to get caught up. This isn't the 'crunch' schedule. It's just his regular work schedule.

Re: Samsung Electronics cultural issues causing disasters in foundry, LSI, DRAM

#168

Post by tough »

djmips wrote: post #143
xattt wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> … submit a written apology. What the hell kind of mentality is this? I’ve been in a workplace that cracked down on phone use. Everyone was pissed. I considered carrying a small block of wood painted black in act of subversion.

I had to do worse than that when I worked for a Japanese company (with a Korean-Japanese president). I was forced by him to apologize to the entire assembled staff for a 'big mistake that I had made'. Except it wasn't really my mistake it was a foundry change which caused a timing change that affected the code in a vendor's startup for a chip we were using. I was so burned out from crunching on the project (14 hour d…

I really won't be working in japan I think LOL

Re: Samsung Electronics cultural issues causing disasters in foundry, LSI, DRAM

#169

Post by throwaway201025 »

xadhominemx wrote: post #162
throwaway201025 wrote: post #129

As a Samsung employee, I've been continuously being disappointed by the company culture. Recently, the company introduced a new policy that prohibits phone usage while walking inside the company building, due to "safety concerns". Samsung employed ~20 safety guards to supervise and monitor phone usage throughout the campus and if you're caught by them, you will be warned. If you are caughted twice, your team lead wil…

This is a rule in many manufacturing environments. Intel has had the same exact rule for a very long time.

Does Intel also enforce such a rule to office workers, like Samsung does? I can partly understand the desire to control accidents in manufacturing environments, but we're not exactly at such a place. Samsung's rule is applied to all workers regardless of campus, including the inside of a building consisting of mostly software engineers and office workers. It almost feels like the company wants social equality among employees or something.

Re: Samsung Electronics cultural issues causing disasters in foundry, LSI, DRAM

#170

Post by iforgotpassword »

ookblah wrote: post #153
throwaway201025 wrote: post #129

As a Samsung employee, I've been continuously being disappointed by the company culture. Recently, the company introduced a new policy that prohibits phone usage while walking inside the company building, due to "safety concerns". Samsung employed ~20 safety guards to supervise and monitor phone usage throughout the campus and if you're caught by them, you will be warned. If you are caughted twice, your team lead wil…

people getting a slight glimpse of korean work culture, top-down old school butts in the seat type stuff. it's changing but there's a long way to go.

But they had to get to where they are now somehow. It's hard to believe this exact company culture could habe achieved anything more involved than cloning overseas electrical devices like toasters and microwaves. So was the culture different in the past in some way at least? Like, at least having more technically knowledgeable people in upper management, if not more creative freedom for engineers et al?

I'd like to believe the process has to be at least a little bit similar to how agile, innovative and leading companies in the West can within a decade or two turn into stiff, burocratic slow moving behemoths that at best manage to buy any upcoming competition instead of innovating on its own.

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