Four things Samsung Men shouldn't do

“If you have extramarital affair, end the relationship.” This is what recently-promoted directors at Samsung are told by instructors when they are under training programs.

The most forbidden thing for Samsung directors is having an affair because Samsung thinks ‘unhealthy relationship’ to result in unnecessary spending which in turn might lead to misappropriation of company money and unfair trades with other companies it has business with. There is a popular saying within the company that no extramarital affairs ensure a three-year director position. Of course, the company doesn’t block in-house dating between single employees.

Gambling is also strictly banned because gambling for just fun would be OK but beyond that could disrupt family as well as company lives and in the worst case, embezzlement can happen.

Restriction on stock investment is aimed at preventing productivity loss and interest intervention. The company is worried that if employees are too indulged in online stock investment, they are greatly distracted. But the company doesn’t bother much about long-term investment.

A senior Samsung employee said “excessive gambling and playing the market can easily lead to unhealthy relations with other companies we do business with, which in turn can incur critical damage to Samsung. That’s why we strictly ban such things”

At Samsung Electronics, only employees higher than manager-level can play golf because it is not good for employees who can’t afford the ‘expensive spare-time sports’ to be addicted to playing it. Samsung executives can freely enjoy the sports since it is regarded as a necessity for doing business in Korea.

The senior employee said “over 90 per cent of cases of ‘problematic employees’ who are caught by in-house audit fall into the categories of either extramarital affairs, stock, gambling, or golf.” “If caught, the person is subject to personnel reshuffle.”