'The only way for Samsung SA to grow its business is to grow the economy'

Since entering SA at the dawn of democracy, multinational electronics company Samsung Electronics SA has focused on harnessing the power of technology to make a positive difference.

Inspired by the transformative power of economic investment that took South Korea from one of the poorest countries in the world to one of the most successful economies, Samsung SA has been a strong supporter of economic transformation, making a significant contribution to the ICT sector through a number of empowerment, entrepreneurial and skills-based projects. 

In 2019, the company launched an equity equivalent investment programme (EEIP), which is expected to have a measurable affect on job creation, with an expected contribution of more than R1bn to the local economy.

The programme is aligned to the department of trade, industry & competition's black industrialisation programme through e-waste recycling and beneficiation. This has resulted in investment in at least one black, female-owned entity operating in the full value chain of e-waste. 

Samsung SA’s EEIP also focuses on enterprise development and capacity-building in ICT and is developing 4IR skills in partnership with a number of higher learning institutions.

The Samsung Engineering Academy and Samsung Innovation Campus programmes offer electronics, coding, software development, IoT and AI skills to develop technicians, technologists and engineers across the country to address the critical technical and engineering skills shortage.

While learners in grades 10 and 11 in 51 schools across the country participate in Samsung’s Solve for Tomorrow, a  STEM competition that encourages innovative thinking, creative problem-solving and teamwork to nurture social innovation ideas that address the community's most pressing problems.

Driving these various initiatives is Hlubi Shivanda, director of business operations group and corporate affairs at Samsung Africa.

An executive board member at Samsung SA, Shivanda is responsible for heading up the logistics, supply chain management, order management and process innovation divisions under the business operations and innovation group portfolio, as well as transformation, public affairs and corporate social responsibility. 

Passionate about gender equality, he says Samsung SA has adopted a deliberate focus on upskilling young SA women to address the traditional gender skew in the ICT space.

“I’m very proud that we’re making progress in terms of addressing the gender bias, while at the same doing our part to address the unemployment challenge the country faces,” he says.

Samsung SA’s corporate social investment (CSI) programme is not wholly altruistic, he says. “Nobody needs an expensive new TV or an updated phone every two years. The only way for Samsung SA to grow its business is to be part of the corporates that actively grow the economy and put more people into employment so that they can have the disposal income to afford our products. Our philosophy, therefore, is that the more investment we can plough back into the country, the more we will address unemployment.”

Shivanda joined Samsung SA in 2005 in sales administration and quickly rose through the ranks of the company, assuming various roles in sales, distribution and logistics. Today, he manages a team of about 50 people. One of his strengths, he believes, is that having worked in so many different roles within the company, he understands the challenges facing his various teams. 

His advice to young graduates looking to climb the corporate ladder is to find a niche, sector or industry that resonates and then to be patient about their growth.

“Graduates today are impatient to be promoted rather than focusing on understanding their vertical thoroughly and then using that expertise to add value in another area,” he says.

“In my own career, the experience and expertise I’ve gained in one role has opened up opportunities in other departments. Those opportunities would never have happened had I been impatient and had I not been prepared to learn and bide my time.”

Career success, he says, requires that expertise is built up incrementally and deliberately. “Graduates who want to climb the corporate ladder too quickly rob themselves of the opportunity to acquire knowledge and expertise that will position them to add value further on in their careers,” he says. 

Describing his leadership style as “servant leadership” and consultative, Shivanda says he tends not to micromanage his staff as people “need to make mistakes and learn from them”. 

He encourages continuous learning and development and ensures he meets each of his team one-on-one on at least a quarterly basis to find out how they are doing, where they need support and what they need to grow. This approach has ensured a reliable and consistent team — the average tenure of his staff members is between five and seven years. 

Admitting that he was an introvert when he was younger, Shivanda has since become a confident public speaker with an extensive network of contacts in the public affairs space and has been instrumental in increasing Samsung SA’s visibility with government stakeholders.

This article was paid for by Samsung SA.