Executive Summary

This short paper is commissioned to examine the hybrid leadership style used by
Sony current CEO by analysing strengths and weakness as well as evaluating its
influence and effectiveness towards the future of Sony Corporation.

The research draws attention to the fact Sony has been making losses since 1995 till
to date caused by a change of leadership style that does not leverage on its core
competency of innovation and technology, does not align with the organization vision
and mission and conflicts with the Japanese culture massive restructuring through
laying off employees, selling away their profitable businesses and reducing
production line. Over the past 10 years Sony has lose its market share to
competitors like Samsung, LG and Toshiba and lose its competitive advantage in the
electronics goods industry, where they used to be called a company that was once
the premier creator and manufacturer of electronic products. Further Investigations
reveal response from media and members of the public over current leadership style
in Sony remains neutral, some who are supportive in his new strategic direction of
unifying various divisions as One Sony without changing its DNA whereas some
remain sceptical on its feasibility.

The strategy considered for implementation is to apply a transformational leadership

style, creating new organizational goals, new vision and mission in order to create a
new direction and new competitive advantage whereby employees are motivated
and convicted to follow. The real challenge of enforcing transformational leadership
in a Japanese organization that is deeply rooted in its culture is for the current CEO
to convince the entire organization that they truly need to evolve.

Table of Contents
Page No.
1.0 Introduction
1.1 Background of Sony

1.2 The Vision

1.3 The Mission

2.0 Industries
2.1 Industry Portfolio

2.2 Current Businesses

2.3 Current Competitors

3.0 Current Leadership

3.1 Background of Kazuo Hirai

3.2 The Transitional Phase

3.3 Evaluating its Effectiveness

4.0 Assess the Strengths and Weakness of Current Leadership

4.1 Motivation
4.1.1 A Positive Working Environment

4.1.2 Establishing Relationships

4.1.3 Developing Talents

4.2 Team Dynamics

4.2.1 Current Organization Form

4.2.2 Organizational Culture

4.2.3 Influence of Attitudes and Behaviours

4.3 Planning and Management

4.3.1 The Importance of Planning and Management

4.3.2 Sonys Current Planning and Management

10

4.3.3 Effectiveness of Current Leadership

10

4.4 Strategy and Decision Making

4.4.1 Hirais Strategy and Decision Making Process

11
2

4.4.2 Evaluation on Its Effectiveness

11

5.0 Effectiveness of Current Leadership towards Sonys Future

5.1 Comparison of Financial Ratios

12

5.2 The Cause of Inefficient Leadership

13

6.0 Recommendations
6.1 The Solution Transformation

14

6.2 A New Beginning

14

6.3 The 5 Is of Transformational Aspect

15

7.0 Conclusion

16

8.0 Reference List and Bibliography

17-22

9.0 Appendixes
8.1 Appendix A - Market Share Analysis

23

8.2 Appendix B - Competitor Financials

24-26

8.3 Appendix C - Board of Directors and Key Employees

27-31

8.4 Appendix D - Current Organization Structure

32

8.5 Appendix E - Consolidated Statement of Income

33-39

1.0 Introduction

1.1 Background of Sony

Peter F. Drucker once said that Management is doing things right whereas
leadership is doing the right things. In 1946, when Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita set
up Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corporation (currently known as Sony
Corporation) and became one of the pioneers in the industry, it also marked the
beginning of their leadership success. The company got on track with high
aspirations and great confidence in the 20 technologically capable engineers they
had, and became one of the most reputable mega technological giants in Japan. In
1958 the company name was changed to Sony Corporation. Over the years several
candidates had been elected as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and in 1st April 2012,
the current CEO Kazuo Hirai their took over the leadership role of the conglomerate.
(Sony, 2015)

1.2 The Vision

First founders Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita knew that they had a team of dedicated
and motivated engineers who shared the same aspirations. They thought of ways to
unite each of them, encouraging them to embrace a firm cooperative spirit and
unleash their technological capabilities without any reserve. They were clear of the
vision they had for Sony, to "Become the leading global provider of networked
consumer electronics, entertainment and services. To them, nothing was more
important than being a company that inspires with their technological spirit. (Sony,
2015)

1.3 The Mission

The corporate culture of Sony was very different from other typical Japanese
organizations. Rather than establishing a system of control, Ibuka created a pleasant
4

working atmosphere, turning it into a dynamic workplace with an open-minded

corporate culture. He created Sonys mission statement, that is to become a leading
global provider of networked consumer electronics, entertainment and services. For
many years, Sony retained their vision and mission until Kazuo Hirai, the current
CEO tried to change the company direction by shifting its focus to new businesses
and unifying the company under his One Sony plan. This marked the beginning of
his transactional leadership moves in Sony. (Wakabayashi, 2012)

2.0 Industries

2.1 Industry Portfolio

Sony has a diverse industry portfolio. They are involved in electronics, games,
music, movies and financial services. With a passion to create new markets, Sony
was an early creator and dominator of consumer electronics and became famous for
being the creator of Walkman and Discman in 1979 and the worlds first portable
TV in 1960. Sonys breakthrough in technology and innovation became their platform
to enter the international markets. According to Forbes, (2015) although Sony faces
challenges from competitors, its strong brand equity and corporate image remains in
the hearts of their loyal supporters.

2.2 Current Businesses

Sony only focuses on 3 main industries; entertainment, games and electronics at

present. Warmen, (2014) commented that ever since the previous CEO Nobuyuki
Idei took over the leadership role in 1997, he changed the entire structure of Sonys
operations, deviating from the original organization vision and mission which was set
by the early founders, that is to pursue innovation and creativity, and to develop new
technologies and products. Thereafter, his style of leadership was adopted by the
CEOs who succeeded him. According to Adelstein and Stucky (2012), it was evident
that this change caused Sony to lose its competitiveness which resulted in the
company making huge losses. Having lost millions over the years, the current CEO
5

Hirai decided to focus on manufacturing products instead of pioneering new markets

as reliable products of quality used to be their core competence, and that is what
consumers still seek for.

2.3 Current Competitors

In todays competitive business environment, organizations without a competitive

advantage and strong leadership will lag behind in the industry. (Khan and Adnan,
2014) Sony faces strong competitors in every sector of their business. Big players
like Panasonic, Philips, Sharp, Toshiba, Samsung and LG already hold bigger
market shares than Sony. Countries like Korea, Taiwan and US have also outshone
Sony in terms of technology and innovation. With respect to the games industry,
Microsoft and Nintendo are the 2 other major players that are competing with Sonys
Playstation. As Maznevski, and Chudoba (2000) have mentioned, organizations face
multiple challenges in todays market. As such, survival in the present competitive
environment requires prudent and well planned strategies that help to improve
operational performance and create its competitive advantage. (Please refer to
APPENDIX A and APPENDIX B for current market share and competitor financials)

3.0 Current Leadership

3.1 Background of Kazuo Hirai

Current Sony Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Kazuo Hirai who took over the reins
since 2012 was 24 years old when he first joined Sony. Born in Tokyo in the 1960s,
he studied in an American university in Japan and graduated with a bachelors
degree in Liberal Arts. His father was a banker who worked in U.S and his family
lives in Canada therefore since young had the opportunity to travel too and fro these
places, allowing him to pick up fluent English language skills. According to
Bloomberg, (2015) he began his career with Sony Inc. (previously CBS) in 1984. His
strategic and intellectual competency in his work performance helped him rose
through the ranks and moved to Sony Music Japans New York office, where he led
6

the Sony Computer Entertainment Japans international business affairs. His years
of hard work and perseverance paid off when he was appointed as the president and
CEO of Sony in 2012. According to Alabaster, (2012) he was known as a charismatic
veteran who has been groom to lead Sony. The fact that Hirais bilingual and
bicultural background, and training under Howard Stringer has shaped him to
become who he is today. Like previous CEO Howard Stringer, he also felt that Sony
needs to go through restructuring and cut down its loss but the DNA of Sony will
remain.

3.2 The Transitional Phase

Sony has been making losses since 1995 during ex-CEO Nobuyuki Ideis era and
ex-CEO Howard Stringers era. When Hirai was made CEO, he was tasked with the
mission of reviving Sony and it back to its competitiveness in its products. In an
interview with Wall Street Journal, (2015) Hirai affirmed Sonys commitment to
innovation, commitment to bringing out new products whether its software or
hardware contents or services, and their commitment to touch the emotions of
consumers will not change, however at the same time, he was challenged with
conflicting thoughts. He knew that to achieve corporate objectives, he would have to
implement huge changes to Sony by adopting his own leadership style but at the
same time, he was faced with the same issue like the 2 CEOs before him, and that is
to retain Sonys culture (Sanchez-Runde et al., 2011)

In the case of Sonys current leadership, it is likely that Hirai has adopted a mixture
of leadership styles. During the time of his leadership, Patel, (2015) mentioned that
Sony was no longer an electronics company because Hirai sold away the companys
VIAOs personal computer unit and announced he would spin off the TV and Audio
businesses into a wholly owned subsidiary. Hirai further comment he may consider
to sell off Sonys Smartphone and TV businesses entirely and focus more on the
media and gaming units because he hopes to achieve his plans of reducing loss and
regaining profits. The rationale behind his actions reminds us of what ex-CEO
Howard Stringer had in mind, and that was to reduce loss.

3.3 Evaluating Its Effectiveness

Things may be looking up for Sony at the moment under Kazuo Hirais leadership
but in the long run, the future of Sony is still highly uncertain. Since its establishment,
Sony successfully created an incredible brand name, however, its legend seem to
fall apart ever since the past CEOs restructured the company as prior to that,
strategic issues arose, and caused the company to experience declining profits.

According to Bloomberg, (2012) since Hirai took over the leadership role, he started
executing his restructuring plan by closing down several factories, laying off
employees, reducing the production of TVs and selling away VIAOs personal
computer unit. It was because he had in mind his One Sony concept thus he
believes that he should cut down on the operating cost of products that werent
making profits, sell away products that werent making profit and accumulate funds
to focuses on the 3 main industries; entertainment, games and electronics. On top of
that, Hussain, (2012) said, that Hirai spent millions of dollars to acquisit cloud
gaming venture, medical equipment manufacturers and bailout of Olympus, claiming
that these were part of his plans to revive Sony. Hirais acquisition strategy appears
to be different from the previous CEO however it still did not leverage on the core
competency of Sony. Although the changes in practices were suppose to help steer
Sony towards growth but somehow there isnt enough evidence to justify whether
these changes are successful or not.

4.0 Assess The Strengths and Weaknesses of Current Leadership

4.1 Motivation

4.1.1 A Positive Working Environment

Like what Khan and Adnan, (2014) mentioned, leadership style does matter
and contribute towards overall performance of any organization. It also plays
a significant role in motivating and enhancing individuals and organizational
performance. For the case of Sony, Smith, (2011) identified how Hirai
8

managed to keep his employees motivated by providing a positive working

environment. As the CEO, he abides by human rights which involves the
safety, healthy and efficient working environment. To prevent discrimination
among their diverse group of employees, he established the Diversity
committee which reports directly to him, and formulated the Diversity Policy as
a common diversity statement for Sony Group. (Sony, 2015) and established a
rewards system whereby employees gets rewarded based on their individual

performance and implemented the Flexi Hours Scheme so that employees

get to spend time with their families, for he knew that having such schemes
allows employees to satisfy their physiological and safety needs. (Lee et al,
2014)

4.1.2 Establishing Relationships

Apart from having a good working environment, Lee et al, (2014) also note
that under current leadership, employees could be assigned to higher level of
the company based on their performance. Communication among employees
is enhanced through team-based working environment as Hirai believes in
engaging

everyone

to

establish

relationships.

Through

engagement,

employees are highly motivated as they are shaped to believe they are valued
by the company, satisfying the belonging, self esteem and self actualization
needs. Like what Warman, (2014) mentioned, the current leadership strategy
of unifying the different divisions through the One Sony concept had
somehow created a positive drive in employees and led them to generate
more ideas.

However, all these mentioned will only occur if the higher management
acknowledges the efforts of the employee, for under the current leadership
laying off employees that are deem as incompetent is still inevitable.

4.1.3 Developing Talents

To react to ongoing loss, Hirai tried to salvage the situation by laying off
workers. This decision caused many employees to feel insecure and greatly
damaged their morale. As such it prevents Sony from retaining good
employees and attracting new talents for culturally, Japanese are known to be
loyal to their company and will work till retirement. In certain aspect,
Wakabayashi, (2012) commented, that the current leadership style and
change in corporate culture caused some employees to go through
psychological distress which may affect their work performance.

Despite so, Hirai also understands the importance of retaining Sonys human
assets and emphasized the career development scheme for those
employees who displayed outstanding performance. Lee et al, (2014)
mentioned, under current leadership, Sony provides training and career
development which can give employees a chance to get higher level of
position at work. Selected candidates will be sent to Sony University where
they train and develop skills of the managers and senior executives, for Hirai
believed by investing on their managers and equipping them with additional
set of skills enables them to create a better and efficient working environment.

4.2 Team Dynamics

4.2.1 Current Organization Structure

According to Chatterji et al, (2012) Hirai announced a new management

structure with effect on the day he officially took over the CEO position. He
mentioned these changes were intended to drive revitalization and growth
across Sonys core electronics business, deliver compelling user experiences
through convergence of the unique assets in place throughout the Sony
Group. To achieve that, he reorganized Sony into three primary divisions
namely Sony Electronics, Sony Entertainment, Sony Financial Services and
unite the

Global Sales & Marketing, Corporate R&D, Manufacturing,

10

Logistics, Procurement & Quality, into common platforms, retaining the old
reporting style. Ultimately, he believes these changes will help to establish
rapid and optimized decision making process as One Sony, which will
significantly reinforce and accelerate Sonys overall business management.
(Sony, 2012)

Despite implementing all these changes, the hierarchical functional structure

of typical Japanese companies remained. Kimura, (2012) commented,
Japanese firms widely exhibit political behaviours especially factional disputes
and slow decision making process all because of the tall hierarchy in the
organization therefore to complement the new management structure, the tall
hierarchy have to be eliminated. (Please see Appendix B for
.

4.2.2 Organization Culture

It has been noticed by Chatterji et al, (2012) that the new management team
is made up of key executives who were responsible for the past successes of
Sony therefore it showed evidence that Sonys culture places a high premium
on consensus building and longevity. As Hirai personally advocates culture
diversity thus the Sony board of directors not only comprised of selected
members of the executive management committee and non-employee
veterans where among them, some of them were from different nationality.
The current management team has broad industry experience, whereas the
board of directors also have vast industry experience and seemed to be a
power top management team but the mid to lower level employees thought
otherwise. As the traditional Japanese culture values were deeply rooted in
the minds of the veterans, many continued to oppose the changes that Hirai
had made.

11

4.2.3 Influence of Attitudes and Behaviours

According to Alabaster, (2012) Hirai was classified as a charismatic leader

and enjoys building rapport with his employees. Although he knew that not
everyone in Sony approved of the changes he had done to the organization,
he maintained his cool and continued his employer-to-staff interaction. His
positive attitude somehow paid off sometime in January 2015, when derailed
launch of The Interview movie in United States was hacked by cyber
hackers and caused a great hassle. Graaf, (2015) said that in the entire
incident Hirai took his stand and commented his employees were the victims
of a vicious and malicious cyber-attack. Despite facing various speculations
from media and public that the hacker could be someone from Sony, Hirai
stood firm on his stand and said that he was proud of his employees for
standing against this hacker incident.

4.3 Planning and Management

4.3.1 The Importance of Planning and Management

With the increase in innovation and competitors all over the world in the
recent years, this has led to an erosion of Sonys hold on the television and
electronics industry. This coupled with the change in leadership over the
years has resulted in Sony losing its competitiveness and creating massive
losses. (Adelstein and Stucky, 2012)

As such, planning and management is extremely crucial in the future of Sony

as it creates direction and ensures that Sony is well prepared to deal with the
current crisis as well as future events. (DeWitt and Meyer, 2004)

12

4.3.2 Sonys Current Planning and Management

According to Chatterji et al, (2012) Kazuo Hirai who is the current CEO of
Sony has attempted to take ownership of the situation and implement
changes in Sony that he believes will bring Sony the old glory it once had.
Kazuo Hirais main goals are to minimize losses and increase profitability in
the long run. To achieve those goals, he has attempted to restructure how the
company functions as a whole by reorganizing the top management
employees.

4.3.3 Effectiveness of Current Leadership

Kazuo Hirai first began his career selling music for Sonys record label, and it
is known widely that he is not extremely knowledgeable about the technical
aspect of products. However Alabaster, (2012) argued that does not imply
that he would be unable to lead Sony to a better position in the industry. As
mentioned earlier, the previous CEOs of Sony found it challenging to make
tough decisions as they were afraid of the backlash that the changes could
potentially bring.

With respect to Kazuo Hirais leadership of Sony since 2012, things have
been looking up. He has been able to make radical changes like shifting away
from the traditional consumer electronics businesses. His ability to plan and
manage Sony as a whole has been a commendable effort. However, in order
to stay in line with Sonys vision and mission which focuses on innovation and
quality products, which is also one of the few ways to be the industry leaders,
Kazuo has to shift his focus from cost cutting to increased innovation. In
Inagaki, (2015) opinion, it is only with increased innovation that Sony might
possibly achieve success once again.

13

4.4 Strategy and Decision Making Process

4.4.1 Hirais Strategy and Decision Making Process

36 years ago, when the concept of portable music devices was absolutely
foreign to the world, Sony introduced the iconic Walkman. A company once
known for its innovation has now been reduced to a company that is barely
surviving and producing run of the mill products. (Hartung, 2012)

Hitt, et al, (2014) emphasized that each companys strategy and decision
making process should be moulded by the mission and the vision of the
company. In the case of Sony, this would be the aim to "become the company
most known for changing the worldwide poor-quality image of Japanese
products", and to become a leading global provider of networked consumer
electronics, entertainment and services. (Sony, 2015)

Apparently it is observed by Hussain, (2012) that Sonys strategy under the

leadership of Kazuo Hirai is to sell off assets and restructure loss-making
units such as its TV business as it tries to get back to profitability.

4.4.2 Evaluation on Its Effectiveness

Strategy and decision making is an ongoing process that involves the

assessment of Sonys observed outcomes and implementing changes that
aim to rectify and improve its current situation. In the case of Sony, where
their short term goal is to reduce net loss, they have been very successful
thus far. Ando, R. (2015) commented, in February 2015, Sony forecasted an
operating profit instead of a loss for the financial year ending March 31. But it
still expects to book a net loss in 2014/15, albeit a smaller amount than
previously estimated.

To do so, Sony has made the decision to sell off its personal computer
division and spin off the TV business. It has also axed thousands of jobs. It
14

was reported by Reuters, (2015) that Kazuos strategy to cut costs and focus
on the sales of camera sensors and video games won him the support of 88%
of Sonys shareholders, despite the low returns on equity.

However, as much as Sony may be doing well currently in the sales of

camera sensors and video games, success will be limited. Factors like
increased competition as well as volatility in the industry may potentially
worsen Sonys losses. Diversification and innovation are two strategies that
Kazuo could implement, both of which are in line with Sonys mission and
vision statements. (McDonald, 2013)

5.0 Effectiveness of Current Leadership Towards Sonys Future

5.1 Comparison Of Financial Ratios

To determine the effectiveness of current leadership, Hitt et al, (2014) suggests

using four types of financial ratios to compute the financial statistics and evaluate the
organizations performance. To test the effectiveness of Sonys current leadership, a
comparison has been done based on financial data from past CEO Norio Ohga and
current CEO Kazuo Hirai. Through this assessment we will be able to justify whether
the current leadership is effective towards the future of the organization.

Ratio

Formula

Year
March 31, 1994

March 31, 2014

(JPY in Millions)

(JPY in millions)

Profit
Return on

Net profit before

Investment

taxes/Total Assets

102,162 / 4,269,885= 25,741 /

0.024

15,333,720= 0.002

15

Liquidity
Current Ratio

Current
Assets/Current

2,023,728 /

4,204,886 /

1,407,639= 1.44

4,783,614= 0.88

1,436,561

12,546,464

/4,269,885= 0.34

/15,333,720 =0.82

3,733,721/

6,682,274 / 733,943

671,992=5.56

=9.11

Liabilities
Leverage
Debt to Asset

Total Liabilities/Total
Assets

Activity
Inventory

Sales/ Inventory

Turnover

Above table shows the financial ratios under the two different leadership: Norio Ohga
(1994) versus Kazuo Hirai (2014)

It is evident from the table that the current leadership style which Kazuo Hirai used to
manage Sony is inefficient. Based on the above ratios, we can see the difference in
every aspect.

5.2 The Cause of Inefficient Leadership

The fact that Kazuo Hirai sold away Sonys profitable businesses such as VAIO
computers, Spiderman copyrights and attempts to reduce its production of TVs
impacted most of the employees. According to Hartung, (2012) these decisions
stirred up employees emotions causing them to fear losing their jobs and resulted in
them losing interest towards their work. To them, they felt the change in company
culture very much overwhelming, causing them to feel conflicted in their beliefs,
especially those senior employees whom had worked in Sony since its early years.
Many of them whom had pioneered with Sony could not adapt to the drastic change
of leadership because they felt that the leader of Sony had lost sight of its original
vision and mission, and the direction which its supposed to be heading.

16

6.0 Recommendations

6.1 The Solution - Transformation

Sony needs a complete transformation in their leadership practice if they wish to

survive in the industry. Although it has been identified that current CEO Kazuo Hirai
uses a hybrid of leadership styles however it is seems not effective. Kimura, (2012)
mentioned, several of Sonys previous employees commented the recent slump of
Sony was caused by the spreading of an introvert attitude and a decline in market
orientation due to organizational politics. In order to revive Sony and resume its
former glory, Hirai needs to be a transformational leader. Lowe et al. (1996)
mentioned that a successful transformational leader is capable of articulating a vision
of the future that can be shared with peers and subordinates, intellectually stimulates
subordinates and pays high attention to individual differences among people. Most
importantly, they do not merely react to environmental circumstances; instead they
will attempt to shape and turn them into favourable outcomes.

6.2 A New Beginning

For the case of Sony, the CEO first needs to introduce change by creating a new
DNA through establishing new organizational structure, goals and objectives.
According to Khan and Adnan, (2014) studies show the leadership style of the leader
in the organization has a strong impact on the performance of the organization thus
every strategic plan for Sony should be directed towards long-terms aspects and
aligns with a new organization vision and mission. While Ejere and Abasilim (2013)
defines transformational leadership as the process of influencing major changes in
attitudes and assumptions of organisational members and building commitment for
the organisation's mission and objectives, it is also essential for a transformational
leader to raise followers consciousness levels about the importance and value of
designated outcomes and ways to achieve them. The transformational leader should
constantly motivate followers to transcend their own immediate self-interest for the
sake of the mission and vision of the organisation.

17

6.3 The 5 Is of Transformational Aspect

As part of the change process, Ejere and Abasilim, (2013) suggested that the
transformational leader should include these five variables that forms the essential
aspects of the leadership. They are namely the idealised attribute, idealised
influence,

inspirational motivation,

intellectual stimulation and

individualised

consideration.

To further illustrate Ejere and Abasilim, (2013) explained; idealised attribute are
noticeable when followers report that their leader is charismatic. Idealised influence
allows a leader to instil pride, faith, and respect in followers causing them to connect
and imitate their leaders. Inspirational motivation represents behaviour that provides
symbols and simplified emotional appeals and these help to raise expectations and
optimism amongst followers. Intellectual stimulation triggers followers on new ways
of problem solving through proactive thinking. Individualised consideration is present
when a leader delegates assignments, stimulates and coaches followers on an
individual basis.

Like what Lowe et al, (1996) quoted, transformational leadership augments

transactional management to achieve higher levels of subordinate performance with
the primary difference residing in the process by which the leader motivates
subordinates and in the types of goals set. Therefore it is believed that the above
mentioned will help Sony in its full revival.

7.0 Conclusion

Based on the various research, it is evident that Sony has not been doing well since
the change of CEO in 1995, when Nobuyuki Idei took over and the situation worsen
after Howard Stringer took over in 2005. Although Hirai has proven to lead Sony with
a much efficient way as compared to the 2 ex-CEOs, however whether will his hybrid
style of leadership succeed? No one knows. But the fact that he was bold enough to
implement a completely new One Sony concept in a Japanese firm that is deeply
rooted to its strong culture values shows that he really advocates what he said when
18

he replied in the interview with The Wall Street Journal, (2015) saying Sony must
evolve. Although there are reports commenting, ever since Hirai took over the
leadership role, there was an improvement in the profits. But many also criticised him
for selling away Sonys valuable assets to create those profits which are only shortterm measures, for they believed that if Sony doesnt ride on its core competency of
utilising their innovations and technological strength to strengthen their competitive
edge over competitors, it would be useless to execute any strategy.

Therefore in the case of Sony, it is suggested for Hirai to be decisive and decide on
a full transformational leadership style rather than adopting a mixture of leadership
styles. Sonys brand equity still holds weight in many consumers heart but the
negative impact caused by inappropriate leadership over the past 10 years still
lingers around. Through a transformational leadership whereby a new organization
goal, new vision and new mission is set and carried out by a charismatic leader
nominee Hirai, chances are high that he will be able to wield positive influences not
only to his staff but also to consumers that grew along with Sony. If Hirai succeeds in
doing that, Sony will truly experience a breakthrough.

19

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Alabaster, J. (2012) Computer World: Sonys Hirai, exec who led playstation
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Ando, R. (2015) Reuters: Sony sees 25-fold profit jump by 2018; could exit TVs,
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Bloomberg (2015) Sony-Corp Sponsored Adr (SNE: New York). Available at:
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Chatterji, D, Schildwachter, H, and Harrison, J.S. (2012) Sony Corporation:

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8.0 APPENDIX

APPENDIX A: MARKET SHARE ANALYSIS

Source: Statista. (2015) Global market share held by LCD TV manufacturers from 2008 to 2014.
Available at: http://www.statista.com/statistics/267095/global-market-share-of-lcd-tv-manufacturers/
(Accessed on 18 June 2015)

26

APPENDIX B: COMPETITORS FINANCIALS

Source: Hoovers Inc (2015). LG Electronics Inc. Revenue and Financial Data. Available from:
http://www.hoovers.com/company-information/cs/revenuefinancial.LG_Electronics_Inc.70e242f293f08235.html (Accessed on 6 July 2015)

Source: Hoovers Inc (2015). Panasonic Corporation Revenue and Financial Data. Available from:
http://www.hoovers.com/company-information/cs/revenuefinancial.PANASONIC_CORPORATION.d06ee749b8495923.html (Accessed on 6 July 2015)

27

Source: Hoovers Inc (2015). Koninklijke Philips N.V. Revenue and Financial Data. Available from:
http://www.hoovers.com/company-information/cs/revenuefinancial.Koninklijke_Philips_NV.e365f2b0ec2860c6.html (Accessed on 6 July 2015)

Source: Hoovers Inc (2015). Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd Revenue and Financial Data. Available
from: http://www.hoovers.com/company-information/cs/revenuefinancial.Samsung_Electronics_Co_Ltd.a166cb2c88a2e408.html (Accessed on 6 July 2015)

28

Source: Hoovers Inc (2015). Sharp Corporation Revenue and Financial Data. Available from:
http://www.hoovers.com/company-information/cs/revenuefinancial.SHARP_CORPORATION.08be94e9230b9527.html (Accessed on 6 July 2015)

Source: Hoovers Inc (2015). Toshiba Corporation Revenue and Financial Data. Available from:
http://www.hoovers.com/company-information/cs/revenuefinancial.TOSHIBA_CORPORATION.ebe2542309947e1d.html (Accessed on 6 July 2015)

29

APPENDIX C: BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND KEY EMPLOYEES

Board Of Directors (As of 19 June 2014)

Chairman Of The Board:
Chairman of the Board Osamu Nagayama
Members of the
Board:
Kazuo Hirai

Representative Corporate Executive Officer,

President and Chief Executive Officer

Kenichiro Yoshida

Representative Corporate Executive Officer, EVP and CFO

Kanemitsu Anraku

Director, Mizuho Financial Group, Inc.

Osamu Nagayama

Representative Director, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer,

Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd

Takaaki Nimura

Certified Public Accountant

Eikoh Harada

Chairman, Director,
Macdonald's Holdings Company (Japan), Ltd
Macdonalds Company (Japan), Ltd

Joichi Ito

Director, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab

Tim Schaaff

Retired President, Sony Network Entertainment International LLC

Independent Start-up Advisor

Kazuo Matsunaga

Retired Vice-Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry

Koichi Miyatai

President, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc

John V Roos

Former United States Ambassador to Japan

Eriko Sakurai

Chairman and CEO, Dow Corning Toray Co., Ltd

Source: Sony Corporation (2014) Sony Corporation Executive Appointments. Available at:
http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/News/Press/201406/14-061E/index.html (Accessed on 6 July
2015)

30

Corporate Executive Officers (As of 23 June 2015)

Representative Corporate Executive Officers:

Kazuo Hirai

President and Chief Executive Officer

Kenichiro Yoshida

Executive Deputy President and Chief Financial Office

Corporate Executive Officers:

Tomoyuki Suzuki

Executive Deputy President

Officer in charge of Device Solutions Business and
RDS Platform
President of Device Solutions Business Group

Shiro Kambe

Executive Vice President

Officer in charge of Legal, Compliance, Corporate
Communications
CSR and External Relations

Masashi Imamura

Executive Vice President

Officer in charge of Manufacturing, Logistics,
Procurement,
Quality and Environmental Platform and Engineering
Platform

Shigeki Ishizuka

Executive Vice President

Officer in charge of Imaging Products & Solutions
Business
President of Professional Solutions Group
President of Digital Imaging Business Group
Executive Vice President, Sony Group China
Representative
In charge of Disc Manufacturing Business

Shoji Nemoto

Keiichiro Shimada

Senior Vice President

In charge of Mid-to-Long term Technology, RDS
Platform
In charge of Technology Policy and Relations

Yoshito Ezure

Senior General Manager of Energy Division,

Device Solutions Business Group
Representative Director and President,
Sony Energy Devices Corporation

Toru Katsumoto

President of Medical Business Unit

Representative Director and President,
Sony Olympus Medical Solutions Inc
31

Fumiaki Sakai

Chief Information Officer

Hideyuki Furumi

President of UX, Marketing Group, UX Platform

Masayuki Hattori

President of System R&D Group, RDS Platform

President of Device & Material R&D Group, RDS
Platform

Teruo Hirayama
Toshimoto Mitomo
Toshihiko Ohnishi

In charge of Intellectual Property

Deputy President of Imaging Products and Solutions
Sector
Deputy President of Professional Solutions Group

Terushi Shimizu
Natsuko Takei

Deputy President of Device Solutions Business Group

Senior General Manager of Legal & Compliance
Department

Hiroichi Kawahira

President of Advanced Materials Laboratories,

Device & Material R&D Group, RDS Platform

Kazushi Ambe

In charge of Human Resources and General Affairs

Hiroyuki Sato

Deputy President of Digital Imaging Business Group,

Imaging Products and Solutions Sector

Kazuhiko Takeda

In charge of Accounting
Senior General Manager of Corporate Planning &
Control Department

Source: Sony Corporation (2015) Sony Corporation Executive Appointments. Available from:
http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/News/Press/201505/15-049E/index.html (Accessed on 6 July
2015)

32

Group Executives (as of 23 June 2015)

Michael Lynton

CEO, Sony Entertainment Inc.

Chairman & CEO, Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc.
CEO, Sony Corporation of America

Katsumi Ihara

Executive President and Representative Director,

Sony Financial Holdings Inc.
Chairman, Director, Sony Life Insurance Co., Ltd.

Nobuki Kurita

Chairman and President, Sony (China) Co., Ltd

Doug Morris

CEO, Sony Music Entertainment

Andrew House

In charge of Game & Network Services Business

President and Global CEO, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.

Martin Bandier

Chairman & CEO, Sony / ATV Music Publishing LLC

Hiroshi Kawano

President, Corporate Executive, Representative Director,

Sony Marketing of Japan Inc.

Masaru Tamagawa

President, Sony Europe Ltd

Nicole Seligman

President, Sony Corporation of America

President, Sony Entertainment Inc.
Senior Legal Counsel, in charge of Information Security, Sony Group

Kunimasa Suzuki

Executive Vice President, Sony Entertainment Inc

Hiroki Totoki

In charge of Mobile Communications Business

President & CEO, Sony Mobile Communications Inc.

Izumi Kawanishi

Director, EVP, Sony Mobile Communications Inc.

In charge of Solutions Software Development,
Professional Solutions Group, Sony Corporation (Advisory role)

Ichiro Takagi

In charge of Home Entertainment & Sound Business

In charge of Consumer AV Sales Platform
33

Representative Director and President, Sony Visual Products Inc.

President of Video & Sound Business Group, Sony Corporation
Yasuhiro Ueda

President, Representative Director, Sony Semiconductor Corporation

Michael Fasulo

President and COO, Sony Electronics Inc.

Tomoo Hagimoto

President, Representative Director, Sony Life Insurance Co., Ltd.

Michinori Mizuno

Representative Director and CEO, Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc.

Hidehiko Teshirogi

SVP, Deputy Head of Product Business Group,

Sony Mobile Communications Inc.
In charge of TS Business, Sony Corporation

Source: Sony Corporation (2015) Sony Corporation Executive Appointments. Available from:
http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/News/Press/201505/15-049E/index.html (Accessed on 6 July
2015)

APPENDIX D: ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE

34

Source: Sony Corporation (2015) Organization Data. Available at:

http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/CorporateInfo/Data/organization.html (Accessed on 6 July 2015)

APPENDIX E: CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF INCOME

35

Source: Sony Corporation. (2014) Financial Report for 1994. Available at:
http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/IR/financial/ar/8ido18000005flqz-att/1994-E.pdf
(Accessed on 30 June 2015)

36

Source: Sony Corporation. (2014) Financial Report for 1994. Available at:
http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/IR/financial/ar/8ido18000005flqz-att/1994-E.pdf
(Accessed on 30 June 2015)

37

Source: Sony Corporation. (2014) Financial Report for 1994. Available at:
http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/IR/financial/ar/8ido18000005flqz-att/1994-E.pdf
(Accessed on 30 June 2015)

38

Source: Sony Corporation. (2014) Financial Report for 1994. Available at:
http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/IR/financial/ar/8ido18000005flqz-att/1994-E.pdf
(Accessed on 30 June 2015)

39

Source: Sony Corporation. (2014) Financial Report for 2014. Available at: Available at:
http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/IR/investors/97_Consolidated_Financial_Statements.pdf (Accessed on
30 June 2015)

40

Source: Sony Corporation. (2014) Financial Report for 2014. Available at: Available at:
http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/IR/investors/97_Consolidated_Financial_Statements.pdf (Accessed on
30 June 2015)

41

Source: Sony Corporation. (2014) Financial Report for 2014. Available at: Available at:
http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/IR/investors/97_Consolidated_Financial_Statements.pdf (Accessed on
30 June 2015)

42