> In 1995, as part of the emphasis on quality, he visited a Samsung plant in the town of Gumi after a batch of cellphones was found to be defective. > [...] > Together they watched as $50 million worth of phones, fax machines and other inventory was smashed to bits and set ablaze. The employees wept.

Interesting, in a documentary (puff piece) by Singapore-based news organisation CNA, I heard a near identical story about faulty fridges made by the China-based manufacturer Haier [1] being smashed by their workers in a similar way in 1984 after an order by CEO Zhang Ruimin: https://youtu.be/WK7mxBy1fNw?t=594

Sounds like it's a a common strategy for low-quality manufacturers trying to improve themselves (other than Kaizen / The Toyota Way)

Ngl, heard a similar story about Konosuke Matsushita at Panasonic. I think it's a cultural thing, but why would Haier do it in the 1980s, I don't know. Chinese products were known as being shit well into the 00s.

Not working for me, but this one is: https://beta.trimread.com/articles/45951

Much more detailed article. Thanks!