Sony in the New Millennium
SONY CASE STUDY
QUESTION
Outline and evaluate Sony’s strategic position at the end of the case study, including its management of change. What strategic changes (if any) would you now recommend to Sony’s Management?
Introduction
1.1 Sony’s fate through the 1990s has been characterised by grave vagaries of events in its fifty years of operation. Enormous successes from 1946 has been attributed to the collaborative venture between Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita whom due to health issues had to retire from the scene for another generation of management. Diversification into the US saw Sony’s biggest demise in the year 1995 to the tune of US$3.3 Billion. Sony’s conglomerate incorporation of multimedia facilities into its stream of entertainment business is till date yielding sizable profits from the bumper shares of the new economy E business. Currently, the company’s innovative foresight into the future of digital electronics is peaked by fierce competition from US consumer electronic magnate Apple and South Korea’s Samsung Electronics on the international front hence Sony needs to revamp its strategic positioning and restructuring activities to cut cost drastically as an attempt to sustain profits in the face of an economic turmoil judged by a US$10 Billion loss within 8 years of operation till date with a further US$6.4 Billion loss recorded for March 2012 and announced in May 2012. This analysis seeks to evaluate Sony’s various strategies with a SWOT analysis and consider Sony’s Annual Reports and Accounts Statistics from the year 1989 to 2009. Strategic recommendations for the ailing company will also be asserted at the end of the analysis
SWOT ANALYSIS on PRODUCT-BASED
SONY’s STRENGTHS
1.3 One of Sony’s greatest achievements is set from its game business with the PlayStation game console launched in December 1994. Even with precedence by Sega and Nintendo as well as antagonistic debunking
QUESTION
Outline and evaluate Sony’s strategic position at the end of the case study, including its management of change. What strategic changes (if any) would you now recommend to Sony’s Management?
Introduction
1.1 Sony’s fate through the 1990s has been characterised by grave vagaries of events in its fifty years of operation. Enormous successes from 1946 has been attributed to the collaborative venture between Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita whom due to health issues had to retire from the scene for another generation of management. Diversification into the US saw Sony’s biggest demise in the year 1995 to the tune of US$3.3 Billion. Sony’s conglomerate incorporation of multimedia facilities into its stream of entertainment business is till date yielding sizable profits from the bumper shares of the new economy E business. Currently, the company’s innovative foresight into the future of digital electronics is peaked by fierce competition from US consumer electronic magnate Apple and South Korea’s Samsung Electronics on the international front hence Sony needs to revamp its strategic positioning and restructuring activities to cut cost drastically as an attempt to sustain profits in the face of an economic turmoil judged by a US$10 Billion loss within 8 years of operation till date with a further US$6.4 Billion loss recorded for March 2012 and announced in May 2012. This analysis seeks to evaluate Sony’s various strategies with a SWOT analysis and consider Sony’s Annual Reports and Accounts Statistics from the year 1989 to 2009. Strategic recommendations for the ailing company will also be asserted at the end of the analysis
SWOT ANALYSIS on PRODUCT-BASED
SONY’s STRENGTHS
1.3 One of Sony’s greatest achievements is set from its game business with the PlayStation game console launched in December 1994. Even with precedence by Sega and Nintendo as well as antagonistic debunking