Sambasiva Rao Kandula

Introduction Samsung is a global conglomerate that operates in the “White Goods” market or the market for consumer appliances and gadgets. The company that is a South Korean family owned business has global aspirations and as the recent expansion into newer markets has shown, Samsung is not content with operating in some markets in the world but instead, wants to cover as many countries as possible. Therefore, the focus of this article is on the external environmental drivers of Samsung’s strategy. Political In most of the markets where Samsung operates, the political environment is conducive to its operations and though there are minor irritants in some of the foreign markets like India, overall Samsung can be said to be operating in markets where the political factors are benign. However, in recent months, it has faced significant political headwinds in its home country of South Korea because of the country’s tensions with North Korea wherein the company has had to take into account not only the political instability but also the threat of war breaking out in the Korean Peninsula. Apart from this, Samsung faces political pressures in many African and Latin American countries where the political environment is unstable and prone to frequent changes in the governing structures. Of course, this is not yet a major cause for worry as the company has more or less factored the political instability into its strategic calculations. Economic This dimension is especially critical for Samsung, as the opening up of many markets in the developing world has meant that the company can expand its global footprint. However, this dimension is also a worry since the ongoing global economic crisis has severely dented the purchasing power of consumers in many developed markets forcing Samsung to seek profitable ventures in the emerging markets. The key point to