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Research |
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Samsung The Samsung Economic Research Institute
(SERI) spends a lot of time thinking -- and doing research. South Korea's largest
private think tank, SERI performs in-depth research on economic, management,
and policy matters in both North and South Korea and Japan; it then passes
the information on to investors, opinion leaders, and the general public.
SERI specializes in management research (strategy, technology, industry,
human resources); economic research (macroeconomy, global economy, finance,
China research); public policy; and research planning and coordination. SERI
was conceived in 1986 and is affiliated with the Samsung Group. The institute
boasts more than 850,000 members. SERI signed an agreement with Japan
Research Institute in February 2006 for a joint 3-year research agreement.
The agreement also calls for boosting cooperation in personnel and data
exchange. Their first project was to tackle to the subject of dividing roles
among Asian countries in the IT sector. Sony Sony and Bertelsmann might soon be seeking
music to mend a broken merger. The future of Sony BMG Music Entertainment, a
50-50 joint venture between Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann, is
uncertain after a European court annulled the European Union's approval of
the merger that created the company. The #2 record company in the world
(behind Universal Music Group), Sony BMG operates primarily through its
stable of recording labels, such as Columbia, Epic, and RCA, and boasts an
artist roster that includes Aerosmith, OutKast, and Britney Spears. The
court's surprise 2006 decision could force the company, formed through the
2004 merger of Sony Music Entertainment and BMG Entertainment, to be unwound. While the mega-sized merger
was able to catapult Sony and BMG (previously the third- and fifth-largest
record companies, respectively) past EMI and into the #2 spot, the deal came
as somewhat of a surprise given the industry's three-year-long slide in album
sales. The delicate act of combining former rivals was achieved by stitching
together a management team that gave equal representation to both Bertelsmann
and Sony. That balance was upset by internal squabbling and the departure of
COO Michael Smellie at the end of 2005. The following year CEO Andrew Lack
stepped down to become chairman of the board. |
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