Featured Profiles

• Alexander AthanassiouUniversity of Pennsylvania, Wharton School of Business and Lauder Institute for International Affairs, Class of 2009 (MBA, MA) More

  Previous Experience Prior to working in GSG

  I spent 7 years as a management consultant for Oliver Wyman in Boston, MA. I advised senior executives of Fortune 500 manufacturing, transportation, and energy companies in the US, Canada, South Africa, the Middle East, and Germany. I also led project teams in variety of areas including commercial strategy, sales force effectiveness, operational improvement, and procurement.

  Areas of Interest

  Function – Strategy, Sales and Marketing, Operations; Industry – Consumer Electronics

  Recent Project

  Worked with Samsung’s Health and Medical Equipment business on their US entry strategy.

  Project Highlight

  When we advised Samsung’s Chairman’s Office on the impact of mobile devices and workplace technologies on global printing demand and saw how our recommendations changed Samsung’s capital investment decisions.

  Words of Wisdom

  Take pride in your work and put the client first. Business is fundamentally about people, so take care of your team, and they will take care of you. Remember to be open-minded, friendly, and humble.

• Alice BoshkinColumbia Business School, Class of 2012 More

  Previous Experience Prior to working in GSG

  Prior to joining GSG, I spent close to 7 years in management consulting with Booz & Company (now Strategy&) based in the New York office. I worked across industries on strategy, operations, and organizational transformation projects. During my MBA, I interned with Anheuser Busch InBev in trade marketing for Central and Eastern Europe.

  Areas of Interest

  Strategy and business development at the intersection of consumer products and entertainment content. I’m interested in how people spend their free time and how companies can create products that genuinely engage users.

  Recent Project

  Exploring the Cinema Exhibition space for new business opportunities: including market research, partnership discussions, and end-to-end market entry strategy.

  Project Highlight

  Sharing our perspective on the future of a core Samsung Electronics industry with 40+ executives at a Silicon Valley summit – the GSG team did solid research and our viewpoint was very well-received.

  Words of Wisdom

  Flexibility and an open mind are key to success in an new culture, especially one as unique as the Korean culture. There will be frustrations, but there will also be opportunities that you will not find anywhere else.

• Derrick MorseMIT Sloan School of Management, Class of 2012 More

  Previous Experience Prior to working in GSG

  Prior to joining GSG, I worked for a boutique engineering firm in Boston, MA for 7 years. I am a registered professional engineer and served as a regulatory policy expert, focusing primarily on large-scale real estate development projects. Before Boston, I lived in Washington, D.C. where I worked for the US Department of Defense, serving as a research engineer involved in the planning and execution of large scale fire tests.

  Areas of Interest

  Function – Social and Environmental Responsibility, Operations; Industry – Renewable Energy, Construction

  Recent Project

  I recently worked with Samsung Card to evaluate the feasibility of entering the capital equipment leasing market in Thailand. We identified the market size, recent trends, and market entry requirements. We ultimately made detailed recommendations regarding legal registrations, funding mechanisms, and risk management practices.

  Project Highlight

  My most memorable moment at GSG is from my “Country Marketing” project in the first quarter of 2013. We traveled to Paris, France and chatted over lunch with the CEO of a top tier EPC firm.

  Words of Wisdom

  No matter where you go in the world, we laugh and cry the same. Remember that some things are universally human; they transcend borders and truly bind us together.

• Abhishek SharmaAbhishek Sharma, Fuqua School of Business (Duke University), Class of 2014 More

  Previous Experience Prior to working in GSG

  Before Samsung, I spent 4 years as a strategy consultant at Strategic Decisions Group in Southeast Asia and China. I worked on a range of projects such as business turn-around, market entry, portfolio strategy and growth strategy with top 10 global companies. I spent my MBA summer at Bain & Co in Singapore as a Summer Associate where-in I helped a top 5 global CPG major to re-design its organizational structure in sync with its growth strategy. Prior to SDG, I worked at P&G for 2 years. I led setting-up a greenfield manufacturing facility for Hair Care in India.

  Areas of Interest

  Function – Corporate and business strategy, Marketing; Industry – Mobile.

  Recent Project

  Worked with Samsung North America to develop a robust business plan to turn around its tablet business over the next two years.

  Project Highlight

  The head of the Tablet business and head of Strategy for North America highly appreciated the rigor that GSG team infused into the business plan and ‘thinking on the feet’ mindset to help create strategic initiatives.
  Having a conversation with Tim Baxter, President - Samsung Electronics America.

  Words of Wisdom

  Samsung with a wide range of businesses, truly global operations and a new culture offer a perfect cocktail to explore and challenge yourself

• Jean-Philippe BahuaudLondon Business School, Class of 2011 More

  Previous Experience Prior to working in GSG

  During my 7 years at PSA Peugeot Citroën, my career spanned the technical, managerial and international business fields. Before doing my MBA in London, I was Executive Deputy Manager of Iran Operations and was in charge of the negotiations of industrial agreements with a partner in Iran. I've spent most of my time between Paris, Tehran, and our plants in France.

  Areas of Interest

  Industry – Automotive, Private Equity

  Recent Project

  Worked with Samsung SDI to design the corporate strategy of their affiliate company for xEV batteries.

  Project Highlight

  The first dinner with the project stakeholders. Everybody remembers it. Well, almost everybody.....

  Words of Wisdom

  Before finishing 1st, finish the race.

• Jasen BellJasen Bell, Berkeley-Haas, Univ. of California, Class of 2014 More

  Previous Experience Prior to working in GSG

  Prior to Samsung I spent 3 years with J.P. Morgan in the Asset Management business working on cross-sell opportunities and business development with our large institutional investor clients including corporate and public pension funds, as well as large endowments and foundations.  I spent the summer during my MBA at ConnectSolutions, a technology start-up out of San Francisco, where I did marketing analytics and strategy, towards growing their small and medium sized client portfolio.

  Areas of Interest

  Function – Corporate strategy; Market entry and expansion strategy; Marketing/Brand Strategy

  Recent Project

  Worked with Samsung Biologics to assess an overseas joint venture opportunity with a major biopharmaceutical firm.

  Project Highlight

  The opportunity to learn an entirely new and exciting industry, as well as a major growth area for Samsung for the future. Touring the drug manufacturing plant, and seeing healthcare and technology come to life!

  Words of Wisdom

  Moving to a new country, culture, company, and job all at once, can be terrifying, challenging, and all together stressful; but it has also been exciting, eye-opening, adventure-filled, and fun. It has provided me an incredible opportunity to grow both personally and professionally, and everyday I’m grateful that I was brave enough to take the chance.

• Stefano InvernizziHarvard Business School, Class of 2004 More

  Previous Experience Prior to working in GSG

  Before Joining Samsung, I spent most of my career working as a consultant, first with McKinsey and Company (6 years, based in Milan, Italy, and covering Europe), and later with Oliver Wyman (3 years, in London, covering the UK). During the good part of 8 years, I focused on Financial Institutions, working on strategy, operations and organization topics, mostly in insurance and retail banking. I also spent 18 months working for the strategy team of Barclays Retail Bank, in London, right after the Great Financial Crisis of 2007 – 2008.

  Areas of Interest

  Function: Strategy; Organization and HR.
  Industry: High Tech, with a focus on B2B topics.

  Recent Project

  Supported Samsung Design Team to uncover opportunities to partner with the Fashion industry, and worked with our System Integrator company (Samsung SDS) to design their US go-to-market strategy for Enterprise Mobility Solutions.

  Project Highlight

  Many… I guess the most rewarding time was being praised for the quality and insights of our work after presenting to the CEO and the top executives of Samsung SDS, while on the fun side it was great meeting with top executive at leading fashion brands!

  Words of Wisdom

  Always keep in mind you need to learn before you can teach. This will also apply to your career in Samsung.

• Paolo AlfieriPaolo Alfieri, IMD, Class of 2011 More

  Previous Experience Prior to working in GSG

  Before Samsung, I spent 4 years in corporate banking at the Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ in London and 4 years in management consulting in PwC Advisory in Rome. As a banker, I was responsible for the coverage and execution of the bank's lending operations to large Italian customers, a portfolio of 40+ companies across a wide range of sectors. In PwC, I was mainly involved in the production of financial models and business plans for medium to large Italian corporate

  Areas of Interest

  Function – Corporate and business strategy, Inorganic growth opportunities Industry – Consumer Electronics, Financial Services

  Recent Project

  Worked with Samsung Electronics Mobile division to develop a sustainable strategy for our mobile payment solutions globally

  Project Highlight

  I would say that working at the same time with our offices in the US, China and Europe was an extremely challenging but rewarding experience – the team could really understand the global nature of Samsung business and how challenging it can be to balance global aspirations and local needs. On the fun side, it was exciting to try Samsung mobile payment solution three months before market launch!

  Words of Wisdom

  Embrace diversity, be curious and patient - give yourself enough time to understand cultural aspects behind business decisions. Make the most out of this unique learning opportunity and be an agent of positive change for the organization

• Alex CaterUniversity of Pennsylvania, Wharton School of Business, Class of 2015 More

  Previous Experience Prior to working in GSG

  I spent 4 years working as a consultant to U.S. government agencies in Washington, DC with a focus on economic and business analysis. I crafted methodologies for cost mitigation and authored positions on the financial impact of proposed economic policies. I spent time during business school at Illuminate Ventures and IncubateNYC conducting due diligence and assisted with developing valuation for potential acquisitions.

  Areas of Interest

  Function – Strategy, Market Entry/Expansion, Operations
  Industry – Consumer Electronics, High Tech

  Recent Project

  Worked with Samsung Electronic Thailand to develop a mid-term growth strategy for mobile and consumer electronics products in Myanmar.

  Project Highlight

  Having the opportunity to travel to emerging countries such as India and Myanmar with my teammates to see firsthand how we can best serve the people around the world through our products and social initiatives.

  Words of Wisdom

  You don’t have to inherently change who you are – just be open-minded and show a willingness to learn about the culture and way of doing things from those around you.

• Jessica NeufeldChicago Booth, Class of 2015 More

  Previous Experience Prior to working in GSG

  As a strategy consultant at Accenture, I focused largely on innovation and business transformation programs for Fortune 500 clients. I have experience with enterprise transformation, disruptive innovation, product portfolio growth strategy, business analytics, strategic planning, governance and organization design, shared service implementation, and project management. Most of my experience was in oil and gas – ‘well to wheel’ is how I described it. My project experiences took me from the oil sands of Northern Alberta, to the thousands of wells being fracked in the Bakken shale play in North Dakota, to Houston and Louisiana where oil product was refined into gasoline and other chemicals, back up to Chicago where the product is distributed to provide the energy needed to support millions of peoples’ everyday lives.

  Areas of Interest

  Competitive strategy, sales, innovation management

  Recent Project

  Working with Samsung Electronics’ US subsidiary to grow TV revenue to meet aggressive 2020 targets

  Project Highlight

  A whirlwind trip to Europe for Samsung’s software business where we visited London, Frankfurt, and Amsterdam over 6 days and worked with the local sales team to pitch a fledgling mobile banking product. We met with over 15 companies ranging from “big 3“ UK banks to 10-person start-ups to take the temperature of the market, capture the voice of the customer, and qualify leads for the sales team to further pursue. We also squeezed in a conference where we got to try out the latest biometric (fingerprint, iris scan, voice recognition, etc.) technologies in the market and hear the perspectives of the most brilliant technologists in the field.

  Words of Wisdom

  Enjoy your MBA! Working is fun but sometimes I miss the late starts and other perks of student life.

• Clare HunterKellogg School of Management, Class of 2015 More

  Previous Experience Prior to working in GSG

  Prior to GSG, I worked at the United Nations Foundation, an affiliate of the UN focused on marketing, partnerships, and policy. As an early member of their internal strategy group, I helped build global campaigns and platforms related to global health, energy, and women. I also spent several years as a private sector consultant with PwC and worked closely with a home automation start-up, Autom8, while pursuing my MBA which fueled my interest to pursue a post-MBA career in technology with Samsung.

  Areas of Interest

  Function – Strategy and Organization, New Business Development, CSR; Industry – Mobile, Consumer Electronics

  Recent Project

  Working with the Myanmar branch office to develop growth strategies.

  Project Highlight

  This past winter I looked into innovative technologies for Samsung to consider. We spent a lot of time talking to futurists and leading tech experts to figure out what the world will look like in 2025. The experience was extremely insightful and exciting, and with the emergence of things like Pokémon Go, I find myself reflecting back on our team discussions again and again.

  Words of Wisdom

  GSG takes “drinking out of a fire hose” to a whole new level. You’re working with extremely diverse teams in foreign cities on products you may have never heard of before. Samsung provides a once in a lifetime experience to gain an exceptional skillset, make the most of it

• Serena CheungBerkeley-Haas, Univ. of California, Class of 2015 More

  Previous Experience Prior to working in GSG

  Prior to joining GSG, I spent 4 years with ZS Associates in their New Jersey office focusing on marketing consulting for pharmaceutical companies. I coordinated and managed consumer studies and interviews to help guide product launch and marketing decisions.

  Areas of Interest

  Function – strategy and marketing; Industry – consumer tech

  Recent Project

  Worked with Samsung Electronics Mobile division to develop sales and marketing strategies

  Project Highlight

  Our work has been exposed to and received positive response from many senior leaders in the mobile division; some of our recommendations are even in the process of being implemented!

  Words of Wisdom

  Step out from your comfort zone and take some risks in this new environment!

• Stephan DoldINSEAD, Class of ‘11D More

  Previous Experience Prior to working in GSG

  Prior to joining GSG, I spent 5+ years in IT consulting with Hewlett-Packard and Deloitte & Touche. I specialized in business intelligence consulting across manufacturing, retail and automotive clients throughout Europe and the US. We helped clients along the full process from design to implementation and finally testing and training.

  Areas of Interest

  Function – Corporate & Business strategy; Industry – Semiconductors & components

  Recent Project

  Worked with Samsung’s Thailand and Myanmar offices to define a Myanmar growth strategy for the Mobile, TV and Home Appliance segments 

  Project Highlight

  My team was asked to look into the ‘Office of the future’ and the impact on the IT infrastructure. We traveled around the world to meet with some of the most innovative designers, entertainment and media companies CTOs, construction companies and leading players in the IT industry to come up with our market assessment and recommendations for Samsung. It was a great learning experience to look into a really innovative topic and also a lot of fun.

  Words of Wisdom

  Treat every experience as a learning opportunity and always try to see the positive side of everything.

• Erick BarborColumbia Business School, Class of 2012 More

  Previous Experience Prior to working in GSG

  Before joining Samsung, I spent 7 years in a number of different industries and roles. I began my career as a financial analyst at J.P. Morgan Chase & Co, and then followed my interests to Walt Disney Studios where I worked in internal strategy. After business school, I joined a management consulting firm, Booz & Company, focusing on media and technology.

  Areas of Interest

  New Market Entry – provides an interesting blend of creativity with high level strategic thinking. Retail Channel Strategy – a mix of strategic positioning and tactical execution, crucial for survival in B2C. Technology and media – extremely fast moving and easily relatable industry.

  Recent Project

  We evaluated Samsung’s “right to win” in future TV technologies, in collaboration with our Chairman’s Office. The work required us to understand interaction between Samsung's different businesses, to dig into vertical integration strategy, and to align on overall vision. Ensuring a cohesive strategy in the face of a dynamic market is critical, and made for an interesting challenge.

  Project Highlight

  We recommended that a Samsung affiliate develop a specific new component technology, which would be a pivot from the current business model, allowing for a leap in the value chain. Six months later I read a press release that we had done exactly that. It showed how unafraid Samsung is to change, and the desire to continue to innovate.

  Words of Wisdom

  Embrace differences in opinion, we all have a lot to learn from each other.