Samsung switches documents first: English-only policy accelerates push for a ‘global one team’

Unified decision-making, reporting, and collaboration framework
Korean-language–centric system overhauled to global standards
Greater participation by locally hired staff at overseas subsidiaries expected

Samsung Electronics has introduced a policy to standardize all official documents exchanged between its Korean headquarters and overseas subsidiaries in English. Following a one-month pilot, the measure will be fully implemented in March. The move is widely seen as an effort to eliminate communication inefficiencies caused by translation and duplicate documentation, while establishing collaboration practices aligned with global standards.

The change also coincides with a broader shift among major Korean conglomerates toward English as a working language and is expected, over the medium to long term, to influence how locally hired staff abroad are integrated into organizational processes and culture.

Faster communication expected

According to business sources, Roh Tae-moon, President and Head of Samsung Electronics’ DX Division, said in an internal message that the company would “standardize written communication between the Korean headquarters and overseas subsidiaries to global standards so that colleagues worldwide can operate as a single global team and collaborate organically.” Samsung’s newly released Global Communication Guide will complete its pilot phase in February and take full effect in March. The policy will apply first to Samsung Electronics, followed by Samsung Display and Samsung Biologics, and will later be rolled out across other affiliates in the group.

Under the guidelines, all work-related emails and attached documents exchanged between the Korean headquarters and overseas subsidiaries must be written in English from the outset. Official reports prepared within overseas subsidiaries are also required to be in English, covering both regular and ad hoc reports as well as formal documents created in Excel, PowerPoint, Word, and similar formats. Oral communication, messaging apps, personal notes, draft materials for review, and informal working-level coordination documents are excluded. For non-English-speaking subsidiaries, official documents used solely within the local entity may continue to be written in the local language, a provision intended to minimize confusion arising from a blanket language shift.

The guide addresses limitations in Samsung’s previously parallel communication practices. Since 2023, the company had encouraged overseas subsidiaries to prepare internal reports and meeting materials in English, but documents exchanged between the Korean headquarters and overseas units were excluded, often requiring both Korean and English versions. This led to frequent duplication and time lags caused by translation. Expanding the scope of the policy is intended to resolve such inefficiencies and improve consistency in information sharing across the organization.

Changes in Samsung’s global workforce structure are also cited as a key backdrop. In 2022, Samsung launched the STEP (Samsung Talent Exchange Program), which facilitates reciprocal secondments between domestic and overseas staff, steadily expanding cross-border personnel exchanges. As a result, as of the end of 2024, Samsung Electronics employed about 137,000 people overseas, surpassing its roughly 125,000 employees in Korea. Standardizing the language of official documents is seen as a way to institutionalize a shared information baseline within an increasingly global organization.

Minimizing information asymmetry and delays

Efforts to eliminate inefficiencies stemming from the use of multiple languages are not unique to Samsung. Companies with a high share of global business are gradually expanding the use of English in meetings, reporting, and documentation, as a Korean-language-centric system can limit the simultaneous sharing of information as the proportion of foreign employees grows. In organizations where collaboration with overseas subsidiaries is routine, language choice is increasingly viewed not merely as an individual communication tool but as a factor that directly affects decision-making speed and information alignment companywide.

Hyundai Motor Group offers a representative example. For years, Hyundai has effectively used English as the default language for official communication with overseas subsidiaries. While it did not publish a single unified guideline, the multinational composition of management and working-level staff at key overseas units meant that English functioned as the practical default. Given that global strategy, investment, and production adjustments are discussed simultaneously across multinational teams, relying on a single national language was seen as impractical. Hyundai has maintained Korean-language communication domestically while clearly defining English as the standard for global decision-making contexts.

Some companies have formalized such practices. In March 2024, Hankook & Company Group issued and distributed guidelines designating English as the common language for major meetings, communication with overseas sites, and internal shared documents. This shift also influenced meeting composition and staffing practices: meetings dealing with global issues increasingly favored participants capable of discussing issues in English, and language proficiency began to shape access to information. The change highlighted how language policy can affect who participates in decision-making.

In some cases, English is already the default working language. At Coupang, both the parent company, Coupang Inc., and its Korean entity routinely operate in English. With many senior executives being non-Korean, meetings and reports are conducted in English, and even Korean-language materials are translated. Coupang employs around 200 in-house interpreters and translators designated as “bilingual specialists,” with dedicated interpreters accompanying C-level executives even in informal meetings. Across such companies, the shared view is that English usage directly influences organizational competitiveness and collaboration speed.

Indirect impact on organizational culture

Business circles note that shifting the working language could gradually change how overseas subsidiary personnel are utilized. Historically, locally hired staff often handled operational tasks but were excluded from core decision-making and strategic discussions, with language barriers cited as a major factor reinforcing such asymmetries. Differences in communication speed and contextual understanding frequently concentrated final decisions at headquarters.

By contrast, European multinationals offer a different model. Companies such as Germany-based Linde, the UK’s Flutter Entertainment and Ferguson, and Ireland-based CRH have tended to manage talent based on roles and expertise rather than nationality as they expanded globally. Linde actively absorbed existing employees during its merger with U.S.-based Praxair, while many of Flutter Entertainment’s analysts are American.

Within Korean companies’ overseas subsidiaries still show that negative experiences among locally hired employees remain prevalent. On Blind, an anonymously operated workplace community, users have shared cases stating that “because they were employed by a local subsidiary rather than the Korean headquarters, they received different treatment from expatriates and faced restrictions on transfers to headquarters or broader career advancement paths.” Comments on the same post added that “gaps in benefits such as housing, education, and vehicle support are common, and even training and job scopes promised in contracts are frequently reduced in actual operations.”

Standardizing document and reporting language in English is unlikely to resolve such structural issues immediately. Nevertheless, it strengthens the preconditions for locally hired staff to access the same information and materials as their headquarters counterparts. When strategic documents and official reports are shared in a single language, organizations gain greater scope to clarify participation, accountability, and roles. Language standardization can thus be seen as a starting point for cultural change—one whose ultimate impact will depend on how effectively global companies redefine their talent utilization frameworks.