During the 2010s, Samsung opted for a unique and somewhat unconventional corporate structure for its mobile division by going with a co-CEO setup. It was a different approach than most companies that have a single CEO sitting at the top. That changed later on when TM Roh became the head of Samsung’s mobile division . But now, it looks like Samsung is returning to its tradition by announcing a new co-CEO .
Samsung mobile returns to its co-CEO structure
According to Samsung’s announcement, TM Roh has been named as the company’s Head of Device eXperience (DX) Division. Roh will join Young Hyun Jun, who is currently the Vice Chairman and Head of Device Solutions (DS) division, and both will act as co-CEOs of the company.
Samsung says, “ President Roh will continue to oversee the company’s mobile business as Head of Mobile eXperience (MX) Business, while Vice Chairman Jun will remain as Head of Memory Business. ”
The company also announced further changes to its leadership . “ To strengthen Samsung’s technology leadership, the company named Janghyun Yoon as president, chief technology officer of DX Division and head of Samsung Research, and Hongkun Park as head of Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology (SAIT). ”
Benefits of the co-CEO setup
Like we said, it’s not common for companies to go with a co-CEO setup. Most companies like Apple , Qualcomm, Intel, and NVIDIA have a single CEO. But this doesn’t mean that the co-CEO structure is bad or wrong. In fact, having dual CEOs might actually have its advantages.
For starters, it allows each CEO to focus on their areas of expertise. In Samsung’s case, Roh will focus on device experiences, while Young will focus on device solutions. There is also improved corporate agility, where instead of all divisions having to go to a single CEO, dual CEOs could allow for faster responses.
Then there is the balanced workload. Since there are two CEOs, one person doesn’t have to shoulder all the work. This can prevent burnout and keep them focused. Samsung is already one of the biggest tech companies in the world, so we have to wonder if the return to the dual CEO structure will help the company thrive even more.
