Loss of credibility hurts
Fast Company first highlights the success of Samsung in terms of popularity among users as well as sales volume. The hard-won position as a leading brand is now gone. When the first 35 explosions happened, Samsung started exchanging the phones. The replacement phones, however, exploded as well.
Nevertheless, the company continued exchanging the phones and tried to supply customers with new devices as quickly as possible. Although the sale and even production of Galaxy Note 7 has finally been stopped, it's still not clear what exactly caused the fault. In the coming months, we can see how the company will cope with the damage to its brand.
Samsung should have faced the whole problem directly right from the beginning and recalled the phones until the problem was solved. Many companies have had to recall their products and their customers accepted it. Whatever the exact reason for the Galaxy Note 7 fault is, the responsibility lies with the company's management.
The Samsung top management now has an opportunity to learn from their mistakes and ensure that it's headed by strong leaders who are able to remove the weak points in corporate culture and processes. It's impossible to maintain a strong brand and good relations with the public without strong leadership.
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