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Sony appoints gaijin as CEO
This is pretty big news. They appointed as CEO a Brit who has lived in the US for most of his life and who has headed Sony's US division for the last ~ 8 years. This is very interesting. It can't be a bad move, considering that anything would be better than previous management.
This could lead to Sony divesting its electronics group. At a minimum, Stringer is known as a cost-cutter, which could put him in some very difficult circumstances in corporate Japan.
This could lead to Sony divesting its electronics group. At a minimum, Stringer is known as a cost-cutter, which could put him in some very difficult circumstances in corporate Japan.
Sony to Name Non-Japanese Executive to Top Position
By ANDREW ROSS SORKIN
and KEN BELSON
Published: March 6, 2005
Sony is planning to name Howard Stringer as the chairman and chief executive of the company, marking one of the first times a major Japanese company has appointed a foreigner to its top position, according to people briefed on the plan.
Sony's board is expected to meet on Monday morning in Tokyo to approve the selection of Mr. Stringer, a Welsh-born executive who had a 30-year career as a journalist at CBS and most recently has held the top position at Sony's United States unit.
If the appointment is approved, Mr. Stringer would replace Nobuyuki Idei, Sony's current chairman and chief executive, these people said. Mr. Idei would step down a year ahead of his planned retirement, which was supposed to coincide with Sony's 60th anniversary next year.
Mr. Idei was the first non-engineer to run Sony, and his departure will come two years into his three-year plan to overhaul the company. During his 10-year tenure, Mr. Idei used his background in marketing to reshape Sony into a more media-focused company. He rebuilt the company's movie group and promoted the "convergence" of Sony's well-established electronics business with its music, movie and game software holdings.
Yet the strategy, which was first devised in the 1980's by the company's co-founder, Akio Morita, has been slow to evolve. Sony's engineers initially resisted the growing power of the media divisions. By the time Mr. Idei corralled them into cooperating, the company's electronics division was under attack from a host of low-cost rivals and emerging giants like Samsung Electronics and Apple Computer.
While Sony is still the world's largest electronics manufacturer, it has been readily outflanked, and its reputation for innovation has been sullied in the process.
The company has been late to introduce everything from digital cameras to liquid-crystal display televisions to digital music players.
One pet project of Idei's, the introduction of the Vaio computer line, has met with mixed results. A notable exception has been the PlayStation game console.
Sony has sold tens of millions of the machines and, as hoped, those machines now drive sales of the game software. The company's game division has been one of the few parts of the company to post consistent profits.
In other areas, Mr. Idei has been unable to resolve the many conflicts inside the company.
The music division, for instance, has been at the forefront of battles to protect copyrights, while the electronics division continues to pump out music players and recorders that allow consumers to transfer songs to others.
Mr. Idei's departure, while highly unusual by Japanese corporate standards, is in keeping with Sony's history as a company willing to take risks.
Sony was the first Japanese company to list its stock on the New York Stock Exchange, something other Japanese rivals soon copied. Sony was also one of the first big Japanese companies to invite a foreigner to sit on its board.
Allowing Stringer to take over the reins of the company is about the boldest move a Japanese company can make.
Most Japanese boards and executive ranks are filled with lifetime employees of the company who win those spots more by displaying loyalty than by displaying creativity.
Yet in appointing a foreigner to its top spot, Sony's management appears to be completing a course originally set out in the 1950's by Mr. Morita.
He recognized then that Sony had the potential to become a global powerhouse if it not only sold products overseas, but incorporated foreign thinking in its products, its brand and even its management.
Sony is now one of the most widely held Japanese companies.
Foreigners hold more than one-third of Sony's shares, and foreign investors have had a growing influence on the company's behavior.
By ANDREW ROSS SORKIN
and KEN BELSON
Published: March 6, 2005
Sony is planning to name Howard Stringer as the chairman and chief executive of the company, marking one of the first times a major Japanese company has appointed a foreigner to its top position, according to people briefed on the plan.
Sony's board is expected to meet on Monday morning in Tokyo to approve the selection of Mr. Stringer, a Welsh-born executive who had a 30-year career as a journalist at CBS and most recently has held the top position at Sony's United States unit.
If the appointment is approved, Mr. Stringer would replace Nobuyuki Idei, Sony's current chairman and chief executive, these people said. Mr. Idei would step down a year ahead of his planned retirement, which was supposed to coincide with Sony's 60th anniversary next year.
Mr. Idei was the first non-engineer to run Sony, and his departure will come two years into his three-year plan to overhaul the company. During his 10-year tenure, Mr. Idei used his background in marketing to reshape Sony into a more media-focused company. He rebuilt the company's movie group and promoted the "convergence" of Sony's well-established electronics business with its music, movie and game software holdings.
Yet the strategy, which was first devised in the 1980's by the company's co-founder, Akio Morita, has been slow to evolve. Sony's engineers initially resisted the growing power of the media divisions. By the time Mr. Idei corralled them into cooperating, the company's electronics division was under attack from a host of low-cost rivals and emerging giants like Samsung Electronics and Apple Computer.
While Sony is still the world's largest electronics manufacturer, it has been readily outflanked, and its reputation for innovation has been sullied in the process.
The company has been late to introduce everything from digital cameras to liquid-crystal display televisions to digital music players.
One pet project of Idei's, the introduction of the Vaio computer line, has met with mixed results. A notable exception has been the PlayStation game console.
Sony has sold tens of millions of the machines and, as hoped, those machines now drive sales of the game software. The company's game division has been one of the few parts of the company to post consistent profits.
In other areas, Mr. Idei has been unable to resolve the many conflicts inside the company.
The music division, for instance, has been at the forefront of battles to protect copyrights, while the electronics division continues to pump out music players and recorders that allow consumers to transfer songs to others.
Mr. Idei's departure, while highly unusual by Japanese corporate standards, is in keeping with Sony's history as a company willing to take risks.
Sony was the first Japanese company to list its stock on the New York Stock Exchange, something other Japanese rivals soon copied. Sony was also one of the first big Japanese companies to invite a foreigner to sit on its board.
Allowing Stringer to take over the reins of the company is about the boldest move a Japanese company can make.
Most Japanese boards and executive ranks are filled with lifetime employees of the company who win those spots more by displaying loyalty than by displaying creativity.
Yet in appointing a foreigner to its top spot, Sony's management appears to be completing a course originally set out in the 1950's by Mr. Morita.
He recognized then that Sony had the potential to become a global powerhouse if it not only sold products overseas, but incorporated foreign thinking in its products, its brand and even its management.
Sony is now one of the most widely held Japanese companies.
Foreigners hold more than one-third of Sony's shares, and foreign investors have had a growing influence on the company's behavior.
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