Dead or Alive.. Your coming with me: A Sony Overhaul

While the times of technology are changing considerably, and new products are coming out based on the demands of consumers. There has been a variety of manufactures on board with technologies rapid changing environment. Some of the major manufactures encompassed in this movement are: Samsung, Sony, LG, and of course Apple. All of which are trying to compete with each other on numerous parts of the electronic industry.

I recently came across an interesting article in the wall street journal, that involved the (former) Sony Chief Executive stepping down and giving the role to a new Chief Executive named Kazuo Hirai. In my perception what was most interesting about this article was the fact that Sony’s old Chief Exec. was this charismatic man from great Britain who in 2005 managed to become the CEO, yet couldn’t turn around Sony’s electronic business. Now this was interesting to me on various occasions, in your perception why was Sony’s Gaming/Entertainment division prospering, while the rest of its electronics and accessories were at a decline.

Hirai made his name in the PlayStation video games division, once a key profit driver for Sony that fell into the red for four consecutive years until he took the reins and pulled it back into the black two years ago. His incentives are to specifically drive the growth of Sony’s core electronics businesses — primarily digital imaging, smart mobile and games; to turn around the television business; and to accelerate the innovation that enables the company to create new business domains.

Once upon a time ago, Sony used to be the worldwide leader in innovative technology, with its release of the Playstation 2 (which, at the time was the biggest gaming console release in the world). What happened?!

I decided to reflect on this article with you all for various reasons. Throughout the quarter in operations management we had talked about the various processes that encompass a supply chain, and briefly on how in many aspects of business ‘supply chain is everything’. I couldn’t agree more, although in my personal opinion I believe that Sony is doing the right thing in appointing a new CEO, who may very well understand its consumers better.  The word of the evening is “innovation”, as Sony innovated the consumer electronic industry (gaming) in functionality for its products. I firmly believe the same ‘idea’ must be implemented in order for Sony to sustain growth.

With a new CEO its going to be interesting to see the overhaul Sony partakes in, and what it could become. Dead Or Alive Sony needs an overhaul.

 

 

 

13 thoughts on “Dead or Alive.. Your coming with me: A Sony Overhaul

  1. This change in CEOs might be a positive step for Sony to take. As you said, Sony has only been doing well in the gaming industry lately–its most recent success in large part to the PS3. If Sony can bring the innovation back to all of its electronics as it has to the PS3, then it should be able to sustain maturity, rather than fall into decline.

  2. I agree as well, I think the change in CEO’s will be a good thing for Sony. They need a new perspective on the outlook of the company and the industry. Also, I think that Sony just did not keep up in this volatile market. They put all their eggs in one basket with the Playstation and did not put enough time into R&D for the next big thing.

  3. Sony is beginning to look like the American auto industry; always behind the curve. The company was in need of change at the top, because over the years the company had lost its touch. Sony just recently came out with a tablet, well behind its peers. The once innovative company is beginning to look like a company whose strategy might be shifting to copying the products others innovate. The future of Sony depends on its ability to align its core competencies with a strategy that focuses on bringing Sony back to life.

  4. Sometimes it takes a new CEO to mix things up just enough to make the consumers feel like its a different era for a company. With all of the recent problems that Sony has been facing, and all of the bad press that they got when members of their online community had information that should have been stored with higher security parameters. This might be the start to a new Sony. Hopefully they will turn into a company that will one day become the leading innovators in gaming and electronics again.

  5. I believe that getting a new CEO to change things up a bit will be positive for Sony. Since Sony’s PS3 is doing well in the market and all the other Sony products aren’t, I feel they have regressed and started following the technology trends instead of leading it with innovation. The recent hacking of their PlayStation network community surely doesn’t help their case either. Hopefully with the new CEO in place and additional research and development, Sony can turn it around and become innovators and trend setters once again.

  6. Very interesting that the video games industry of Sony is what kept it alive. It is possible that due to many different divisions of Sony, the divisions did not work and collaborate together much less with the CEO. As we have learned in class, it is important to be able to communicate between divisions and work together rather than as a company within a company and not have any idea what other departments are doing.

  7. I think this post was articulated very well. One interesting thing that I’ve noticed about Sony is that even though their products are lacking in innovation, their components are being used by a lot of companies. So I think instead of being a manufacturer of consumer products they may switch to a be a supplier in the next few years.

  8. I think your post was very interesting, I have seen many people using Sony products. They might lack in their innovation, but they make that up with their customer loyalty and that SONY is trusted by many people. I am sure if SONY comes out with more innovative products they will be accpeted by all. SONY just has that impact on all of us, when you hear SONY, you know its a trusted brand. So when the CEO starts innovating, their target market should expand.

  9. Sony has fallen behind its competitors and might find itself currently struggling to hold market share in a segment that they use to dominate. At times, companies like Sony lose focus on what they’re doing right and what works. Their industry is sales driven and this type of competition could blur their overall perspective of the company. They lose sight of their goals and let other segments falter because of that. A new CEO might not be exactly what they need but it sure is a start. Innovation will help them gain back their competitive advantage.

  10. I believe that appointing a new CEO for Sony is a positive move that will drive and enhance innovation and creativity in the company. The new CEO should be creative in developing other segments such as smart phones and tablets in order to compete with its competitors. Morevoer, Sony should invest in research and development in order to develop newer products before its competitors that will satisfy the needs and requirements of its target market in order to increase its market share and its profit by utilizing the first mover advantage. In adition to that, the new CEO should develop new goals and objectives and then create strategic plans to achieve those goals and objectives.

  11. “Product Life Cycle” is an important model every company needs to adapt in terms of determining its growth. In our case Sony is a business functioning in an industry that is growing rapidly and within a time period where customization is a must to meet customer satisfaction! Therefore; the new CEO is a good idea to help Sony continue its journey of success by emphasizing on “innovation” and considering the tough competition, since cameras, games, entertainment and even TV are available among different devices to everyone everywhere!

  12. I believe that Sony is a leading company and it is successful for many years , but your article let me think what will happened to Sony when apple release there touch TV to the market by the end of 2012 or at the begging of 2013 is there TV market will slow down , I think there new CEO have to take an fast action and try to find out how they going to compete with Apple and there new TV, even there camera will face a decline in there payment after everyone is having his camera in his I phone or Samsung tab so what is the use to have a Sony camera, I really believe that the company Is going to struggle from now.

  13. Huge responsibilities are given to Hirai , it’s not easy to become a market leader especially in this high competitive market. What made Sony loose its position in my opinion is that it lost the customer’s taste in one hand. On other matters new entrants joined the industry of television and started selling the TV sets at lower prices which cut through the market share of the business. Lastly the competitors like Sharpe , Samsung and other major companies focused on becoming early entrants in the new markets like the HD TV and LCD etc..

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