Sony Corporation is a leading Japanese manufacturer of electronic devices, games and entertainment products which incurred huge amount of loss for four consecutive years. The company declared that it incurred a total loss of 6.4 billion dollars for the year end in March 2012. The company’s main weakness lies in the numerous product lines In addition to this problem, the company also faces both internal and external challenges. Thus, a SWOT analysis and Porter’s Five Forces Analysis is carried out to understand the basic strengths and weaknesses of the organization. This helped to find out the basic reason behind the poor performance of Sony Corporation. Based on the analysis, a-five year recommendation plan have been framed that consist of four basic steps. Following this plan would help the organization to improve it current position in market.
The Analysis Of Business Strategy and Objectives Of SONYAmelia Jones
Read this report to know about the foundation and development of SONY. It also explains about the business strategy and the development objects of the term.
The Analysis Of Business Strategy and Objectives Of SONYAmelia Jones
Read this report to know about the foundation and development of SONY. It also explains about the business strategy and the development objects of the term.
It is a descriptive presentation of Sony's marketing strategies. All you need to know about the strategies of Sony corporation is here in this small presentation.
SAMSUNG: Comprehensive Strategic Analysis from International Business Managem...Aziza Zaldarriaga Sadain
Provides a comprehensive strategic analysis from the perspective of international business management in regards with Samsung.
The outline is written below:
Overview: Current Global Performance of Samsung and Business Models
Comprehensive Strategy Formulation (Input Stage)
Comprehensive Strategy Formulation (Matching Stage)
Comprehensive Strategy Formulation (Decision Stage)
Analysis of Business Strategy: Organizational Culture
Politics of Strategy Choice & Governance Issues; Current Challenges
Conclusion
It is a descriptive presentation of Sony's marketing strategies. All you need to know about the strategies of Sony corporation is here in this small presentation.
SAMSUNG: Comprehensive Strategic Analysis from International Business Managem...Aziza Zaldarriaga Sadain
Provides a comprehensive strategic analysis from the perspective of international business management in regards with Samsung.
The outline is written below:
Overview: Current Global Performance of Samsung and Business Models
Comprehensive Strategy Formulation (Input Stage)
Comprehensive Strategy Formulation (Matching Stage)
Comprehensive Strategy Formulation (Decision Stage)
Analysis of Business Strategy: Organizational Culture
Politics of Strategy Choice & Governance Issues; Current Challenges
Conclusion
Running head ASSIGNMENT TWO1SUPPLY CHAIN9Assignme.docxjoellemurphey
Running head: ASSIGNMENT TWO1
SUPPLY CHAIN9
Assignment two
Executive Summary / Abstract
The performance of a company in both national and international market is dependent on various factors. These factors are both internal and external. To further analyze the factors that affect the performance of a company in the market, we interrogate the performance of Sony Corporation a Japanese Multi National Company which majors in the production of electronic equipment. The analysis is based on the competitiveness of Sony and its performance against that of its competitors. The ability of the management at Sony to comply with both the national and the international regulations is also analyzed. Key to the viability of the strategies that are applied by a company in its marketing is the competitive advantage that is held by the company. For this reason, the competitive advantage that Sony holds forms the basis of analysis of the paper. The market of products that are produced by Sony can be classified into different categories (Michael, & Mark, 2013). Each of these categories is analyzed to gauge the performance of each of the market segments and even answer the popular question; could the management have done better to improve its markets. This is done so as to value the optimization of the ready market. The paper adopts the LASA analysis model to come to its conclusion and recommendations.
Introduction to Company
Sony Corporation is a multinational Company that is based in Tokyo Japan. As noted earlier in this paper, the Company which is owed fully by Sony Group operates in Electronic products. The Company also operates in entertainment products as well as financial services. By the fall of 2012, Sony Corporation was ranked 87th among the 500 Fortune Global. The company has grown from the eight employees and its initial worth of $530 since its incorporation in 1946. The word Sony is an acronym for sound in the Japanese language. The entrepreneurs who came up with Sony needed to be sound in their investment and were ready to take the market head on. To start with, they took advantage of the wreckage that was left after the war and came up with a refurbished store house (University of Portsmouth, 2013). After its first product Type-G which was a tape recorder, the proprietors were convinced on the future of their business (Michael, & Mark, 2013). Acquisition of the license of Bell Lab’s transistor gave them a boom in the radio market in America and from there the success story never stopped a bit. The acquisition of the license was also a step that helped the management of Sony to believe in the new technologies. The company has thus been in the frontline both in the research on new technology and in the usage of the technology. As note earlier most of its products are information based.
Value proposition
The value of Sony speaks a lot of the fortunes of the company. At the end of 2012, Forbes an international company that is recognized for nea ...
Running head: SONY 1
Sony 2
Sony
Name
Institutional Affiliation
Sony
Executive Summary
Sony being a multinational company needs to pursue better IT strategies and planning so that it can staple its authority in the technological industry. It should also consider diversifying its operations and incorporating an efficient Research and Development strategy to come up with the best and most profound technologies in the market both in its software and hardware components. Studying the risks and challenges, the study views that the market is very competitive and the conclusion should be to incorporate a rigid IT strategy that will repel competition from other big players in the market such as Apple and Samsung but its innovation spirit should remain intact.
Business Goals and Objectives
Sony Corporation, one of the largest Japanese conglomerates that have its headquarters in Tokyo is a diversified business that primarily deals with electronics, entertainment and games and is ranked as one of the leading electronic companies in the world. This study will carry out an explicit analysis on this company with the aim of unearthing the business goals for the company in the next two years and some of the IT infrastructure and strategies that have contributed to its immense success.
Specific business goals for the next two years with an explanation of the business’ rationale for the goal
There has been increasing losses in the company in the recent years and Sony has projected to cut over 10000 jobs in order to thwart and mitigate these loses. 2011 for instance the losses had a sharp increase from $2.7billion to $4.6billion.
There are also plans to reduce the number of TV Screens in the next two years. This will give the company the opportunity to focus on other electronic devices for instance games, mobile electronics and digital cameras (Asakura, 2005). The new president and CEO of the company held a press conference recently and reinstated that the most urgent and vital goal for Sony at the moment was to rebuild and grow the electronic business to escalating heights.
Objectives for each business goal that explain what the company needs to do to achieve its goals
There has been raging debate on whether cutting jobs is the most viable solution for averting the losses that are been experienced today since this move may have some undesired consequences in the future. This has triggered controversy across the business circles with some asserting that it may dwindle the investors’ confidence and would also be nerve cracking for anyone who hears the news. Some business however, feel that this is the best move for the company and that it is a necessity today to avoid more losses in the future since i.
A case study is a part of an academic curriculum. It involves intensive study about a particular person or company. Many students seek case study help to achieve better grades in exams. We learn from Sony case study how it grew over the years and what makes it still a popular brand.
Apple’s SWOT AnalysisPoints of Strength· Globally Recognize.docxarmitageclaire49
Apple’s SWOT Analysis
Points of Strength:
· Globally Recognized Brand: Since its establishment, Apple has built an astounding reputation of being one of the most reliable companies providing technological services and solutions. It has one of the largest customer bases to ever exist, making it the first company ever with a stock price of one trillion dollar.
· Demanded Brand: Apple is a highly demanded brand all over the globe, it is the number one choice in America for smart phones, accessories and corporate office supplies. It has a technology that is suitable for every age and domain.
· Focus on Research & Development: Apple as a company puts a lot of its efforts and money into product design, manufacturing, quality, and marketing. A lot of studies and researches are conducted before product release that are based on customer needs and demands.
· Innovation: Apple changed the way people interact and communicate back in June 2007 when they introduced the IPhone, and that trend continued on when they introduced the IPad in April 2010. Apple shed a new light on the way people use their smartphones and tablets. Nowadays these products are an essential part of work and everyday life.
Points of Weakness:
· High Prices: Apple products are generally considered in the market as a luxurious items due to their premium prices. These products are more oriented towards middle to high income customers than low income.
· Incompatibility: Apple is considered a unique product when it comes to software and cross platforming. Items purchased from Apple whether they are computers, phones, tablets, or accessories will only function on a particular software produced by the company which leaves small space for sharing and cross platform.
· Competitive Market & Penetration: Although Apple has a solid place in market, it does not lower the chances of growth of competitive brands such as Sony, Samsung, Google, and Microsoft. In 2018 a research was conducted stating that while IOS software (Software used by Apple) is dominant nationally, 72.23 of the global market uses Android (Software produced by Google).
· Underwhelming Marketing & Promoting Efforts: Due to its solid reputation in market place, Apple has a bad reputation for promoting or marketing their products. They have poor marketing strategies the barely promotes the products and depend solely on their name to attract customers towards their products.
Opportunities:
· Focus on Services: While the main source of profit is from smartphones and tablets, Apple gets a decent amount of revenue from the services that they offer. Apple gains revenue from selling products like IPhone or IPad to every customer once every year, while they can gain profit from their services on a daily basis. These services include Apple Pay, Apple Care, Apple Music…etc. It is estimated that if Apple can put these services into good use, the company can gain up to 10 million dollar in a quarter of a year.
· Partner.
This is the PowerPoint presentation of a Marketing/Business Plan me and four of my classmates made for Sony\'s consumer electronics market for our Marketing Management class.
The significance of strategic planning for organizations in current highly competitive business environment is evident and systematic and strategic planning is required must for companies that aspire to become a major player in the respective industry. Strategic analysis is considered as the objective assessment and understanding the existing market condition of a company and the costs and capabilities that forms a foundation for the development of strategic process (Graham, 2008). This analysis helps in applying creativity with numerous opportunities that can be used to build and enforce a strong strategic plan in a new or existing market.
Read and reflect on the case study about Sony on page 119 of the cou.pdfvenkatesh24685
Read and reflect on the case study about Sony on page 119 of the course textbook. Consider the
CEO\'s reorganization. What environment constructs were involved? Why did the CEO have to
adapt, control, and reduce uncertainty? Identify the mechanistic versus organic structures and
how contingency theory was or was not applied in this case study.
CASE FOR ANALYSIS Sony’s “Gaijin” CEO is Reorganizing the Company
Sony, the famous Japanese electronics maker, was renowned in the 1990s for using its
engineering prowess to develop blockbuster new products such as the Walkman, Trinitron TV,
and PlayStation. Its engineers churned out an average of four new product ideas every day,
something attributed to its culture, called the “Sony Way,” which emphasized communication,
cooperation, and harmony among its company-wide product engineering teams.36 Sony’s
engineers were empowered to pursue their own ideas, and the leaders of its different divisions,
and hundreds of product teams were allowed to pursue their own innovations—no matter what
the cost. While this approach to leadership worked so long as Sony could churn out blockbuster
products, it did not work in the 2000s as agile global competitors from Taiwan, Korea, and the
United States innovated new technologies and products that began to beat Sony at its own game.
Companies such as LG, Samsung, and Apple innovated new technologies such as advanced LCD
flat-screens, flash memory, touch-screen commands, mobile digital music, video, and GPS
positioning devices, and 3D displays that made many of Sony’s technologies, such as its
Trinitron TVs and Walkmans obsolete. For example, products such as Apple’s iPod and iPhone
and Nintendo’s Wii game console better met customer needs than Sony’s out-of-date and
expensive products. Why did Sony lose its leading competitive position?
One reason was that Sony’s organizing approach no longer worked in its favor because the
leaders of its different product divisions worked to protect their own personal empires and
divisions’ goals and not those of the whole company. Sony’s leaders were slow to recognize the
speed at which technology was changing and as each division’s performance fell, their leaders
felt threatened and competition between them increased as they sought to protect their own
empires. The result was slower decision making and increased operating costs as the leaders of
each division competed to obtain the funding necessary to develop successful new products.
By 2005 Sony was in big trouble; and at this crucial point in their company’s history, Sony’s top
managers turned to a gaijin, or non-Japanese, executive to lead their company. Their choice was
Sir Howard Stringer, a Welshman, who as the head of Sony’s U.S. operations had been
instrumental in cutting costs and increasing profits. Stringer’s was known to be a directive but
participative leader; although he was closely involved in all U.S. top management decisions he
nevertheless then gave his top executiv.
The Roman Empire A Historical Colossus.pdfkaushalkr1407
The Roman Empire, a vast and enduring power, stands as one of history's most remarkable civilizations, leaving an indelible imprint on the world. It emerged from the Roman Republic, transitioning into an imperial powerhouse under the leadership of Augustus Caesar in 27 BCE. This transformation marked the beginning of an era defined by unprecedented territorial expansion, architectural marvels, and profound cultural influence.
The empire's roots lie in the city of Rome, founded, according to legend, by Romulus in 753 BCE. Over centuries, Rome evolved from a small settlement to a formidable republic, characterized by a complex political system with elected officials and checks on power. However, internal strife, class conflicts, and military ambitions paved the way for the end of the Republic. Julius Caesar’s dictatorship and subsequent assassination in 44 BCE created a power vacuum, leading to a civil war. Octavian, later Augustus, emerged victorious, heralding the Roman Empire’s birth.
Under Augustus, the empire experienced the Pax Romana, a 200-year period of relative peace and stability. Augustus reformed the military, established efficient administrative systems, and initiated grand construction projects. The empire's borders expanded, encompassing territories from Britain to Egypt and from Spain to the Euphrates. Roman legions, renowned for their discipline and engineering prowess, secured and maintained these vast territories, building roads, fortifications, and cities that facilitated control and integration.
The Roman Empire’s society was hierarchical, with a rigid class system. At the top were the patricians, wealthy elites who held significant political power. Below them were the plebeians, free citizens with limited political influence, and the vast numbers of slaves who formed the backbone of the economy. The family unit was central, governed by the paterfamilias, the male head who held absolute authority.
Culturally, the Romans were eclectic, absorbing and adapting elements from the civilizations they encountered, particularly the Greeks. Roman art, literature, and philosophy reflected this synthesis, creating a rich cultural tapestry. Latin, the Roman language, became the lingua franca of the Western world, influencing numerous modern languages.
Roman architecture and engineering achievements were monumental. They perfected the arch, vault, and dome, constructing enduring structures like the Colosseum, Pantheon, and aqueducts. These engineering marvels not only showcased Roman ingenuity but also served practical purposes, from public entertainment to water supply.
Unit 8 - Information and Communication Technology (Paper I).pdfThiyagu K
This slides describes the basic concepts of ICT, basics of Email, Emerging Technology and Digital Initiatives in Education. This presentations aligns with the UGC Paper I syllabus.
Welcome to TechSoup New Member Orientation and Q&A (May 2024).pdfTechSoup
In this webinar you will learn how your organization can access TechSoup's wide variety of product discount and donation programs. From hardware to software, we'll give you a tour of the tools available to help your nonprofit with productivity, collaboration, financial management, donor tracking, security, and more.
Model Attribute Check Company Auto PropertyCeline George
In Odoo, the multi-company feature allows you to manage multiple companies within a single Odoo database instance. Each company can have its own configurations while still sharing common resources such as products, customers, and suppliers.
Ethnobotany and Ethnopharmacology:
Ethnobotany in herbal drug evaluation,
Impact of Ethnobotany in traditional medicine,
New development in herbals,
Bio-prospecting tools for drug discovery,
Role of Ethnopharmacology in drug evaluation,
Reverse Pharmacology.
Palestine last event orientationfvgnh .pptxRaedMohamed3
An EFL lesson about the current events in Palestine. It is intended to be for intermediate students who wish to increase their listening skills through a short lesson in power point.
Operation “Blue Star” is the only event in the history of Independent India where the state went into war with its own people. Even after about 40 years it is not clear if it was culmination of states anger over people of the region, a political game of power or start of dictatorial chapter in the democratic setup.
The people of Punjab felt alienated from main stream due to denial of their just demands during a long democratic struggle since independence. As it happen all over the word, it led to militant struggle with great loss of lives of military, police and civilian personnel. Killing of Indira Gandhi and massacre of innocent Sikhs in Delhi and other India cities was also associated with this movement.
2. 2
Executive Summary
Sony Corporation is a leading Japanese manufacturer of electronic devices, games and
entertainment products which incurred huge amount of loss for four consecutive years. The
company declared that it incurred a total loss of 6.4 billion dollars for the year end in March
2012. The company’s main weakness lies in the numerous product lines In addition to this
problem, the company also faces both internal and external challenges. Thus, a SWOT
analysis and Porter’s Five Forces Analysis is carried out to understand the basic strengths and
weaknesses of the organization. This helped to find out the basic reason behind the poor
performance of Sony Corporation. Based on the analysis, a-five year recommendation plan
have been framed that consist of four basic steps. Following this plan would help the
organization to improve it current position in market.
3. 3
Introduction
Sony Corporation is one of the leading electronic companies which hold the power and
leadership of the electronic market. The company mainly deals with designing,
manufacturing and developing various sort of audio and video related products,
communication devices, televisions etc.
Figure 1: Sony Logo
(Source: Sony.net, 2016)
However, poor performance of SONY has led it loose 2.1 billion . The organization seems to
have overestimated the sales of its smartphones and tablets for the year. Even the company
marketed its unprofitable VAIO laptop brand and reinvested a huge amount of money in its
detriment smartphone line. The company also sold its products with little profit margins in
order to gain more market share, but the plan did not work out. In order to recover from this
situation, the company is planning to concentrate on its premium lineups in certain key
markets and by considerably reducing the number of models in its mid-range line-up. The
ineffective performance of Sony Corporation has resulted in huge loss. Considering this
issue, a recovery plan have been framed for five that would help the management of Sony
Corporation to make improvement.
4. 4
SWOT Analysis for Sony Corporation
A SWOT analysis is carried out to identify the basic strengths and loopholes that can be
improved in context to Sony Corporation.
Strengths
● Rich heritage of technological
expertise
● Strong corporate brand identity
● Projected growth in the consumer
electronics market
Weaknesses
● Substantial retirement benefit
commitments
● Poor estimation of production
● Huge loss due to ineffective business
strategy
Opportunities
● Planning to venture the healthcare
sector
● Sony Ericsson joint venture
● Advantage from its movie and music
business
Threats
● Continued economic slump
● Emerging competition from brands
like Apple
Table 1: SWOT of Sony Corporation's
(Source: Larkin, 2010, p.50)
Sony has built a brand name whose identity is deeply rooted and well established in the
minds of latent customers. This fact can be upheld by the 2011 survey where Sony was
declared as Asia’s most valued brands. Apart from designing and manufacturing Trinitron
Color Television and VCR, the company also developed magnetic tape, compact disc and
Blu-ray disc which are highly used nowadays as a medium for high definition video
playback. The Consumer Electronics Market can be expected to grow at a rate of 7.2%
annually (Roberts and McClure, 2009, p.90). Sony can easily take advantage of this increase
too. The organization has the opportunity to step forward towards healthcare sector in a
significant way through a possible acquisition of 30% stake in Olympics. Again, the Sony
Ericsson joint venture has enabled the organization to act independently in the smartphone
and tablet market. It has an added advantage from its movie and music business along with
its experience in the gaming sector in order to provide a value added content to buttress its
5. 5
product line. The company has proposed a four screen strategy in order to implement this
idea.
Sony Corporation commits to provide retirement benefits to its employees by issuing pension
to each of its employee. This will lead the company to make repeated cash contributions thus
diverging money from product related issues (Roberts and McClure, 2009, p.95). The
organization also seemed to have overestimated its sales regarding its smartphones which
proved to be a huge loss for the company. This also throws light on the fact that the company
needs to implement effective business strategies for its growth. The company fell victim of
the unfavourable economic conditions in Usa, Japan and Europe which has lead to the
decrease in company’s revenue to a great extent. This condition also lead to emerge several
competitors against Sony in the electronic market such as Apple, which has managed to
mainly focus on fewer number of products to build competency and make them
extraordinarily successful.
Porter’s Five Forces Analysis
Porter’s Five Forces Analysis is carried out to provide a industry and competition analysis for
Sony. According to this analysis Sony suffers from high internal rivalry, high buyer power,
low supplier power, high barriers to entry to new industry and high threats from substitutes.
6. 6
Figure 2: Porter’s Five Forces Analysis
(Source: Larkin, 2010, pp.33)
Internal Rivalry
Sony has setup various industries and thus suffer intense rivalry across sectors. Electronics,
game, pictures etc constitute the main market segment. Sony’s intense rivalries include
Apple, Microsoft etc who exhibited stronger economical results. Apple Inc.’s economic
growth almost remained undisturbed even in the recent economic crisis. But Asian firms
incurred huge loss by the economic crisis (Valentin, 2010, p.67). Samsung, LG and other
organizations suffered from low revenue and profit in 2014 and 2016. Samsung’s profit
margin bounced back rapidly but LG and other organizations had slow recovery from this
crisis. In case of Sony, its ample competitors affected most of its ventures. Sony has lost
numerous market share in the audio sector. Within information and communication, Sony’s
VAIO line of laptops represents 5% of the market, and sales numbers surpass the industry
average, likely due to the growing popularity of Microsoft’s Windows 7 operating system.
Entry
According to economies of scale, companies can decrease their costs when increasing output,
which new entrants can accomplish without years of experience. Thus the threat of new
entrants is relatively low. Sony has this advantage (Valentin, 2010, p.72). Requirement of
capital to enter this sector is high as the products are high end, expensive luxury goods. The
new entrants in Sony’s industry needs a strong set of technological skills. Finally, patent
protection and various government regulation keeps the threat of new entrants low.
Substitutes and Complements
Sony mainly targets high end customers with their expensive product line. Though Sony tries
to make different designs and models for each of its product, but in practical sense it suffers
from a lot of substitutes and complements. Many of its competitors who manufacture
substitutes for Sony’s product, maintain a very low profit margin and offers products at a
considerably lower price. An increase in price of Sony products will lead the customers to
divert to close substitutes of the same product (Rand et al. 2012, p. 88).
Supplier Power
The company faces low supplier power. Sony seeks to choose raw materials from various
suppliers in order to produce high quality luxurious products. While opting for suppliers,
Sony aims to develop new technologies in order to attract more customers, keeping prices
low utilizing e-commerce website to advertise the products and retaining a competitive edge
7. 7
in the market. For the software part, Sony aims to choose high quality security so as to
prevent from any sort of vulnerabilities.
Buyer Power
A buyer can gain information related to any product by going through online reviews of the
products. With the help of this information, buyers can switch from one brand to another
without incurring any transaction costs (Rand et al. 2012, p.93). Though Sony tries to
develop new technologies and designs for each of its products but it is difficult to fairly
differentiate between the products thus it leaves price elasticity high and buyer power high.
Future Challenges of Sony
Being one of the leading electronics company, Sony has to face various challenges in
maintaining its standards and market position.
Winning the standards war
There always remains a fierce competition among the rivalries. Thus it is of utter importance
to maintain the standards of the products manufactured and thus maintaining its position in
the market. In order to avoid any failure, Sony should explore joint alliances for joint
standard specification (Hernández-Espallardo and Delgado-Ballester, 2009, p.480).
Competition vs Collaboration with Conventional & Non-Conventional Competitors
Sony has to compete with both conventional and non-conventional rivalries. Again Sony has
explored the sectors of these rival companies in computer, laptops, gaming, smartphones etc.
In the world of digital convergence, a company like Sony needs to cooperate selectively with
its rival companies. Sony has already started outsourcing and collaborating with its
competitors and it should explore if it can do more.
Technology Adoption
Despite elaborate preparation for the next generation of networked entertainment, the
networks themselves remain conspicuously missing. From mid 2003, not a single product of
Sony has incorporated any of the next generation features (Hernández-Espallardo and
Delgado-Ballester, 2009, p.489). In the year 2002, around 30% of Sony’s walkman sold still
used traditional cassette tape. Perhaps, Sony should form alliances with some telecom
companies and find ways to expedite progress.
8. 8
5-Year Recovery Plan
According to Powell (2009, p.35) contrasting to the above analysis, it is observed that
competition, catastrophe, currency, macro-risks and economic downfall has become the most
relevant issues of challenge for Sony. Sony can implement these plans as the implementation
will help Sony to procure a profit of $4.2 billion in revenue by the year 2018 without
destroying target sales of the company. Moreover, it will help them to incur another $50
million revenue in the preceding two years. A strategic plans for Sony has been developed
based on four basic criteria to cope up with the poor performance and minimize all its
deficiency. The recovery plan would enable Sony to gain competitive advantage, preserve
the reputation of the company and controls the lawsuit damages. The macro-risks are targeted
in the last phase. The five year recovery plan has proved to be of great success for Sony. the
recommendations are discussed below.
Finding a Segment Focus
According to Hulland and Richard (2009, p.200) Sony was established on the year 1946
basically as an telecommunication company. After this they have expanded their business in
many sectors such as games, electronics, pictures and financial services. Furthermore they
have expanded their business in many diversified fields such as in R&D, unrelated areas of
customer service and marketing. In each of this segment Sony has to face many of their
competitors which has not allowed them to be successful in any of the segments. For this
reason they have reconstruct their policies in each of the field to prove their success and make
them the leading company.
Reconstructing the their plans with the recommendation will help them to emphasize and
apply all their resources in all the segment in a productive and fruitful way. The segments
which have produced the least profits to the company will either be closed or merged into the
main segment of the company. Reconstruction of the plan will motivate the company in
developing an entire group of Sony hardware and Sony software which will be used
collaboratively as used by Apple products. The centerpiece of this collection will be the main
segment. This will help Sony to suppress its competitors and reach the leading position as
their variety of segments have spread into many resources which there other companies are
not been able to do. Furthermore this changes in the plan will help sony to cure the motion of
downward trend of the customers for their company into a positive one (Powell, 2009, p.20).
9. 9
The features that the focused segment has to incur are as follows. The focused segment has to
be the main segment. The focused segment has to have the potentiality to merge all the other
segments so that Sony is able to grasp all the current resources. There should be a moderate
competition in the market. Lastly, these plans can be implemented when Sony will have a big
share in the market.
Acquiring Aggressively
The establishment of the focused segment by Sony is done then they will be able to start
acquiring aggressively in this segment. The acquisition will help Sony in gaining the market
share, accessing into new technologies and patents and manufacturing costs will be reduced.
According to Hitt et al. (2012, p.45) the capturing of market share will help Sony in
producing higher pricing power, productivity will be raised by the economies of scale, and
the reduction in manufacturing costs will help the company in price competition, Sony will
be able to fasten their innovative progress by assessing the new technologies and patents
otherwise the company will be running in loss. If the company does not take up these plan
they won’t be able to incur their losses and make the estimated profit of $4.2 billions in
revenue. Keeping in mind the financial condition of Sony they should start acquiring small
companies in the focused segment rather than overpaying premiums. In this way they will be
able to capture the market again and be the leading company in all the segments.
Refining Quality Control
According to Mauri and Michaels (2010, p.215) the main strength of Sony company lies in
their brand name and brand value. The brand name helps Sony in capturing the market up to
an certain extent. Customers believe in the quality of the products as reliable and good due to
its brand name. For the last few years the quality of the product has been questioned. This has
caused a severe bad impact on the brand name of the company. In the year 2010 Sony has
launched a huge number of laptops naming ‘Vaio’ which could not create a good market as
the laptops had overheating issues. In the year 2006 Sony recollected eight models of digital
cameras as they had the problem of image pick-up. All these issues not only hampered the
profit of the company it ruined the image as well as the reputation of the company. Sony
produce good quality products in the market but some series of this laptops and cameras have
been giving issues which has caused the downfall of Sony’s image and reputation (Freeman,
2010, p.27).
After the above incidents Sony paid their most attention on their quality control it is predicted
that they will face more problems and challenges as Sony relies mostly on their external
partners in business. Furthermore, it would be difficult for Sony to control the quality of
10. 10
products in the near future if they start acquiring aggressively. In the year 2011 they
improved their quality control. Sony has made a drastic improvement in their system but the
plans suggest more evaluation in the mechanism and strong monitoring system in their each
manufacturing processes. Though the problems discussed so far in Sony are caused by small
components they should distribute all their efforts in the ‘component level’ for more
effectiveness. They should be more effective in the scrutiny of the components in a
specialised way to regain their market position. They should not take their attention away
from the components for maintaining the quality of assembling process. By following these
plans Sony will be able fill up all the loopholes they have formed in the recent years thus
once again capturing the market position and regain their corporate image to greater extents.
This will also help Sony to incur the loss of $2.1 billion in revenue and furthermore make a
profit of $4.2 billion in revenue within the year 2018 (Mauri and Michaels, 2010, p.218).
Figure 3. Sony's current Quality Control System
(Source: Powell, 2009, pp.25).
Sony Corporation Headquarters
Corporate Executive Officer in
Charge of Top Management
Corporate Executive in Charge of
Product Quality and Safety
Head of Quality Center
Business Unit
Head
Quality Officer
Product Compliance
Regional HQ
Head
CS Officer
Product Compliance
Manufacturing
Sales
Sales
Company
OEM
Supplier
11. 11
Exploiting the Playstation brand
According to Freeman (2010, p.65) Sony has a very positive image in the manufacturing its
playstation versions. The quality of all the versions of playstation has proved healthy. This
product has helped Sony to make a huge profit in the world market as well as helped them to
reconstruct their corporate image. This sector of Sony is a ‘stable profit generator’ and they
should be focused in this segment. According to this plan, Sony has to focus on their existing
quality products so that it will help in regaining their lost image in the market and try to
improve more in this sector so that the customers do not lose faith on their brand name.
Consequently they should look after the quality control of the focused segment which will
further help them stabilise their brand name and increase their brand value. By
implementation of these plans Sony will be able to regain its status in the world market and in
the hearts of people and help in incurring the losses faced in the recent years and start
achieving their goals (Hitt et al. 2012, p.39).
Conclusion
It can be concluded from the report that Sony is going through a turmoil in the past and recent
times in their business strategies and plannings. Many models have been taken up to show the
analysis of Sony’s traits and positiveness. Some series of products like laptops and digital
cameras is the main downfall reason for Sony due to unwanted product defects. The five year
plan has to be implemented by Sony so that they can incur the losses they have faced and
achieve their aim of earning a profit of $4.2 billions in revenue by the year 2018. This plan
will also help them to gain their lost image among its customers and again capturing the
market to regains the leading position.
12. 12
References
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