...Sony Corporation is a multination conglomerate corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan , and one of the world's largest media conglomerates with revenue of US$88.7 billion (as of 2008) based in Minato, Tokyo . Sony is one of the leading manufacturers of electronics, video communications, video game consoles and information technology products for the consumer and professional markets. Its name is derived from Sonus, the Greek goddess of sound. Sony, as an organisation, must deal with the dynamic industry they operate within. They established themselves by developing a stable work environment where engineers had profound appreciation of technology and could work as freely as they pleased, focussing on developing dynamic technologies and creating products that people longed for (Mintzberg et al, 2003). Two new managers have been appointed at Sony in the last 15 years due to a number of developing problems, including the innovation ‘cogs’ within Sony slowing down, being forced into an aggressive pricing strategy, increased competition, losing the battle of VHS and Betamax, profit and sales remaining flat and the ongoing poor performance of Sony films (Mintzberg et al, 2003). Both managers initiated major strategic changes with varying degrees of success; firstly Nobuyuki Idei was appointed and initiated a major shift from analogue to digital technology, as there was a belief that Sony was falling behind the market in this respect. Idei also targeted the top position...
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...GBA490 Sony Case Study 18 October 2012 Table of Contents Appendix Exhibit 1………………………………………………………………..3 Exhibit 2………………………………………………………………..8 Exhibit 3………………………………………………………………..9 Exhibit 4………………………………………………………………..10 Exhibit 5………………………………………………………………..11 Exhibit 6………………………………………………………………..12 Exhibit 7………………………………………………………………..12 Exhibit 8………………………………………………………………..13 Exhibit 9………………………………………………………………..13 Exhibit 10………………………………………………………………14 Exhibit 11………………………………………………………………14 Exhibit 1: Dominant Economic Features Market Size and Growth Rate Record Label Market Size: * Total revenues for the music industry in 2011 was 7.4 billion dollars * Sony accounted for 27.6% of total market share * There were 231 businesses in this industry in 2011 * Regulation was heavy, the change in technology was high--causing revenue volatility--the barriers to entry were high, and competition was high. * See Photo: Market Growth Rate * Total Album Sales- Sony was second highest with 29.29% of the market share, behind the leader Universal by a slim 0.56% * Sony was still the leading holder of market share in physical album sales at 31.08% * In digital sales, Sony was still behind Universal by 2.99% and 6.76% in album sales and individual track sales, respectively. * Record labels as a whole were in decline * Regulation was high, as was change in technology * ...
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...Brian T Castagna Wilmington University BBM 402 Sony Case Study 1. Sony had been so successful in the past with the Walkman, Playstation, and other electronics because they were innovative and new for their time. They helped reshape the music and gaming industry as we know it today. Without such developments, technology might not be where it is today. Sony’s competition was also vastly different. At the time of the Walkman, there were no other major competitors and the purchase of CBS Records only furthered their stronghold on the industry. Sony’s product quality was also superior, as they were known world-wide for producing electronics of the highest design. 2. Mr. Idei stated that the integration of the divisions across the global market proved to be quite challenging, but yielded excellent lessons for future mergers. He said that he would have preferred a “soft acquisition” rather than a hard one, and in saying this, I believe he means that in order to successfully integrate new divisions in new markets, a strategic alliance would suit the company better than a straight merger. This way, the company will be able to assess the major differences in the different markets, while not sacrificing production. Mr. Idei noted that there are advantages and disadvantages of this strategy, but I believe the strategic alliance approach works best in the long run as you’ll have two strong companies, who have a strong knowledge on their current markets, working together to...
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...Sony is facing competition from other robot manufacturers, including Honda. It is also facing competition from toy manufacturers selling low-‐end knock-‐offs (e.g., Poo-‐Chi). How should these affect Sony's positioning strategy? "AIBO is not at all intended to replace live animals," said Grace Ann Arnold, spokeswoman for Sony Electronics. "It is technologically designed primarily for entertainment purposes. You can train it and teach it. It does have emotions and instincts built in. But it is not intended to replace animals." "We're keeping in perspective that it's a child's toy," said Rachel Johnson, spokeswoman for Tiger Electronics. "It's fun and exciting and a whole new level of interactive play. But it's not our goal to replace household pets." When firms adopt a reverse or breakaway positioning strategy, there is no pretense about what they're up to. Part of the appeal of their cleverly positioned product offerings comes from explicitly subverting convention through unconventional promotions, prices, and attributes. In contrast, companies that use stealth positioning adopt a covert approach. They conceal the true nature of their products by affiliating them with a different category. This is a powerful strategy for marketers when a category is in some way tainted. Consumers may feel intimidated by products in the category (as can be the case with new technologies); they may be skeptical of the products because previous offerings...
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...Sony case study Introduction Sony 5 Image 1Throughout the 20th century, the pace of technological advancement has increased dramatically. The digital revolution, now upon us, will see further massive steps forward. This case study looks at the ways in which Sony has been able to stay at the leading edge of the new technologies. Sony Corporation is the leading manufacturer of audio, video, communications and information technology products for the consumer and professional markets. Its music, pictures and computer entertainment operations make Sony one of the most comprehensive companies in the world. Founded in 1946, Sony has been at the forefront of technological advances and now has 1,041 consolidated companies, 65 affiliated subsidiaries and employs more than 177,000 people throughout the world. Sony recorded world wide sales in excess of $56 billion in the year ending March 1999. Sony has developed a wide product portfolio which includes goods that have become integral parts of modern lifestyles; the first Japanese magnetic tape and tape recorder in 1950, the transistor radio in 1955, the first all-transistor television set in 1960, the first colour video cassette recorder in 1971. In 1979, Sony launched the Walkman Personal Stereo, which has sold 150 million units world wide. It is the single best selling consumer electronics product ever and has become a way of life for a generation. The compact disc and MiniDisc systems have radically changed the music industry and,...
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...Adam Seyburn Marketing Sony Case Study 3-18. Microeconomic factors that affected Sony include Sony not changing their mission and company strategies to better fit the way the technology world was evolving, major suppliers being destroyed by natural disasters and fires, losing out in the smartphone race and video game console race to other competitors due to being blinded by their own arrogance, a CEO stepping down, and a giant hacking that breached the privacy of many Sony users that led to a complete shutdown of the PSN and riots from unhappy members of the public. 3-19. Macroeconomic factors that affected Sony include changing the demographic they marketed their video games to, going from kids to a more encompassing family entertainment unit. They failed to price it well, leading to 300 dollars lost per unit sold and on their projected comeback year estimating a 2.2 billion dollar profit, they ended up turning about 3.5 million in the red. Natural disasters in Japan wiped out a lot of their inventory. Developments in technology also limited Sony’s ability to retain market share in various technological field because they were consistently too late to the game. 3-20. Sony will be challenged in finding a new way to reach customers without repeating models that are already in use. For example, the CD market they were prominent in is now virtually nonexistent, so to compete in the music market, they will have to come up with what will most likely be another streaming...
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...CHAPTER SIX – SONY 1. How did Sony internationalize its R&D activities? What were the initial motivations for Sony to establish technology centres abroad? How would Kuemmerle categorize the R&D centres at Sony? 2. How have the motivations for internationalizing R&D changed over time? 3. Why did Sony feel the need to internationalize its R&D activities in the late 1980s and early 1990s? 4. How did Sony manage its overseas R&D activities? How did the managerial approach evolve over time? 5. What have been the problems with Sony’s way of managing R&D activities? 6. Besides in-house restructuring to strengthen its technological capabilities, what did Sony do to rejuvenate its businesses? 7. Can you provide an update on the internationalization of Sony’s R&D activities, using materials available on the Web? CHAPTER SIX – SONY 8. How did Sony internationalize its R&D activities? What were the initial motivations for Sony to establish technology centres abroad? How would Kuemmerle categorize the R&D centres at Sony? 9. How have the motivations for internationalizing R&D changed over time? 10. Why did Sony feel the need to internationalize its R&D activities in the late 1980s and early 1990s? 11. How did Sony manage its overseas R&D activities? How did the managerial approach evolve over time? 12. What have been the problems with Sony’s way of managing R&D activities? 13. Besides in-house restructuring to strengthen...
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...1. How did Sony internationalize its R&D activities? What were the initial motivations for Sony to establish technology centers abroad? How would Kuemmerle categorize the R&D centers at Sony? • In the early 1950s Sony first started to internationalize its activities as early as the 1950s, in an incremental and cautious way. • Sony started only exporting product through foreign agencies or its own sales offices when entering foreign markets. • Overtime Sony moves again incrementally establishing overseas technology centers once the overseas sales and manufacturing subsidiaries were successful. • The centers were built by their Japanese business divisions/labs or foreign subsidiaries. The motivation for Sony’s foreign subsidiaries to establish R&D activities is to: o Solve problems faced by local sales and manufacturing activities. o To modify products for local markets and provide technological support to overseas plant At the early Internalization period Kuemmerle would categorize this as Home-base-exploiting sites because their main goal is to support manufacturing facilities in foreign countries also to adapt local demands in the foreign markets. The information flows to the foreign laboratory from the central lab at home. However, in the late 1980s and early 1990s it changed towards Home-base-augmenting sites because their goal was to gain knowledge in advanced technology locations. The information flows from the foreign laboratory to the central lab at home...
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...After Miles Flint’s decision to establish 12 separate business teams, Sony BPE transformed from a geographical divisional structure, Sony BPE transformed into a matrix structure – a structure of which individuals and resources categorized by both functional area and by project (Jones, 2007). The 12 distinctive business teams each was fully accountable of the performance of its own product groups over a zone (Quintane & Mol, 2007). Business teams’ heads have the authority to make decisions and have its own strategic plans regarding to the specific country they were in charged with. However, both business team heads and country heads are required to report independently to the European headquarters (Quintane & Mol, 2007). The 12 business teams also each consisted of team members, who were dispersed geographically, depended on which country the team was operating in. Furthermore, it was important that the team members report back to their business team heads regarding to the specific information about the country and demonstrate their expertise to their teams as they may need to adjust its strategic operation plan for the team. The communication between the Country Heads and Business Teams heads occupied a significant role on ensuring the overall success of the business. While Business Teams heads were responsible to ensure that the teams achieve the strategic business goals, Country Heads were accountable for the performance of all business teams present in their country...
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...Sony Playstation 3 Case analysis I. Improving Sales In the time since the release Sony has made numerous attempts at turning around sales. One of the biggest moves was to drop the price drastically. This gave a lot of consumer’s confidence to spend their money on the system. Some consumers rationalize the purchase as a reasonably priced Blu-ray DVD player. Sony also introduced a new peripheral that emulates a lot of the functionality of the Nintendo Wii’s “Wii-mote”, which will most likely sway new buyers away from Wii. Sony has also built a library of very popular games that was a major weak point at the time around release. While many of these moves are a step in the right direction, they were almost expected. For Sony to truly bring back the following they once had with the Play Station 1 and 2, they need to go back to the fundamental mentality of game content. Many of the popular games are now released for all three systems (PS 3, Xbox, Wii), which makes the unique value of having PS3 limited. Sony needs to help developers create highly unique and innovative games that are exclusive to the Playstation 3. While there are a handful of name titles that are sole residents on the PS 3, they do not have the ability to build the brand loyalty in game products that PS 3 needs to convert consumers. Wii has also created opportunity in the market, as they have expanded the consumer market drastically. Sony needs to capitalize on this by creating an alternative brand...
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...Comments TECH 2/09/2014 @ 9:00AM 23,771 views Forbes.com Sony Spins Off TV Business In Bid To Reconquer Market BY mark Sparrow Comment Now Follow Comments If you’re of a certain age you’ll probably remember growing up with a Sony Trinitron TV in your living room. Back in the late 1970s when I grew up in England, when Europe still produced most of its own televisions, Sony dominated the TV market with its superbly sharp Trinitron screens boasting rich blacks and saturated colours. Indeed, at one time there really was no alternative. Gradually the likes of Philips ,Hitachi , Grundig and countless other small European producers fell by the wayside, even with the help of high import tariffs to protect the European TV business. To get around this protection, Sony set up an EU television factory in the UK and soon cornered the market. For a decade or more the huge lumbering CRT screens with their shiny Sony name badges stared back at viewers. If you didn’t have a Sony it was probably because you couldn’t afford one; and that’s the way the market looked until the advent of flat-screen technology. The problem for Sony was that it was caught unawares by the sudden popularity of flat screens, perhaps because it was too busy enjoying its dominance in the conventional CRT market. Sony intends to spin off it TV business by the summer and concentrate on high quality 4K screens. Without the facility to produce its own LCD panels Sony found itself forced to buy in components from the likes...
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...Strategic Management: Case Study – Sony Corporation – Future Tense? Table of Contents Table of Contents ………………………………………………………1 1 PART 2 – INTRODUCTION ………………………………………2 1.1 CASE STUDY ………………………………………2 1.2 COMPANY BACKGROUND ………………………………2 2 PART 2 – QUESTION 1 ………………………………………………4 2.1 TOPIC ………………………………………………………4 2.2 ANALYSIS … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … 4 3 PART 2 – QUESTION 2 ………………………………………………9 3.1 TOPIC ………………………………………………………9 3.2 ANALYSIS … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … 9 4 PART 2 – QUESTION 3 ……………………………………………………15 4.1 TOPIC ……………………………………………………………15 4.2 ANALYSIS ……………………………………………………………15 5 REFERENCES ……………………………………………………………21 6 ATTACHMENT – FORUM POSTS…………………………………… .23-63 Part 2 Assignment OSC1: Strategic Management: Case Study – Sony Corporation – Future Tense? 1 PART 2 - INTRODUCTION 1.1 CASE STUDY I have chosen the case study - Sony Corporation – Future Tense? (2009) to complete Part 2 of the assignment. 1.2 COMPANY BACKGROUND Sony is a diverse Japanese based corporation, founded in 1946 to manufacture telecommunications devices. In its first five decades Sony grew from its humble origins to become a world leader in the areas of electronic equipment, gaming, motion pictures and music. The company is considered to be an innovator and developed a number of new technologies through that time, most notably the Walkman and Blu-ray disc players. Its natural expansion to film and music was to allow it to not only have...
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...12th Feburary,2018 Mr. John Gaval Recruiter Sony PlayStation 2207 Bridgepointe Pkwy San Mateo, CA,94404 Re: Application for Business Development Associate Dear Human Resource, My name is Shahwaiz Chaudhry. I am writing to express keen interest in obtaining position at Sony PlayStation as Business Development Associate. I have read the advertisement of this position with interest and would like to use this opportunity to apply for said position. My experience in synchronizing with cross-functional teams on product roadmaps, beta programs, sales enablement and go-to-market events, and working constantly on finding new ideas, customer accounts, proposals and business opportunities positions me to greatly impact your organization. My work experience...
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...How Matsushita electric and Sony manage global R&D Research Technology Management; Washington; Mar/Apr 1999; Sadanori Arimura Duns:00-891-9813 Duns:69-055-3649 Volume: 42 Issue: 2 Start Page: 41-52 ISSN: 08956308 Subject Terms: Electronics industry Foreign investment R&D Management styles Multinational corporations Case studies Classification Codes: 9179: Asia & the Pacific 1300: International trade & foreign investment 2200: Managerial skills 5400: Research & development 8650: Electrical, electronics, instrumentation industries 9110: Company specific/case studies 9510: Multinational corporations Geographic Names: Japan Companies: Matsushita Electric Corp of America Duns:00-891-9813 Sony Corp Ticker:SNE Duns:69-055-3649 Abstract: As companies transfer their R&D activities abroad, they will have to confront a challenging management issue: how to successfully operate R&D laboratories dispersed around the world. Both Matsushita Electric and Sony seem to have coped with this issue successfully by introducing new management systems and practices - redefining the mission and goals of their global R&D, assigning two types of projects at the same time, rather than specializing projects among different labs, coordinating not by large-scale committees or meeting but through human relationships among a small number of top R&D mangers, drastically changing their organizational structures. It appears that both companies have already realized some...
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...The Sony Corporation: A Case Study in Transnational Media Management by Richard A. Gershon, Western Michigan University, U.S.A. and Tsutomu Kanayama, Sophia University, Japan The transnational corporation is a nationally based company with overseas operations in two or more countries. What distinguishes the transnational media corporation (TNMC) from other types of TNCs, is that the principle product being sold is information and entertainment. The following paper is a case study analysis of the Sony Corporation; a leading TNMC in the production and sale of consumer electronics, music and film entertainment and videogame technology. There are two main parts to this study. Part I. examines the history and development of the Sony Corporation. It builds on the theoretical work of Schein, (1984, 1983), Morley, Shockley-Zalabak (1991) and Gershon (2002, 1997) who argue that the business strategies and corporate culture of a company are often a direct reflection of the person (or persons) who were responsible for developing the organization and its business mission. Second Part examines the Sony Corporation from the standpoint of business strategy. Special attention is given to the subject of organizational culture and strategic decision-making. A second argu- ment of this paper is that while Sony is a TNMC, the organization is decidedly Japanese in its business values. This is beginning to change in the face of global competition and the need to improve business performance. This...
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