Manufacturing history: Sony Corporation - Essay Example

Manufacturing history: Sony Corporation Introduction Originally Sony Corporation was known as (TTK) Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo or (Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Company). Its roots can be traced back over 50 years ago when it was founded by Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita. Sony Corporation which today is the leading producer of electronic entertainment gadgets and facilities globally was started as a radio repairing and manufacturers of small voltmeters company. Masaru and Akio had future plans of developing, designing and manufacturing brand new electronics. The two later came up with their first innovation which was a rice cooker. The innovation was however limited due to lack of technological advancements. They later crossed border to USA and later to Europe to expand their business and it is by then the company’s name was changed from TTK to Sony; which comes from two Latin words Sonus meaning sound and sonny. The name was however officially changed in 1958. Sony was the first Japanese company to open in U.K (Paul pp. 154-150). Services offered Sony corporation is globally recognized due to its functions of selling, marketing and manufacturing of electronics like computers, televisions, radios, camcorders, cameras, I-pods, speakers, headphones, car audio and video accessories, home theaters, play stations and many more electronic entertainment equipments (Andrew 2003). The company has advanced tremendously due to the advancement in technology and the transformation from analog to digital. The company basically deals with five segments of operation; electronics, games, financial services, entertainment and others. This has made Sony the most comprehensive entertainment company globally. It also has Sony Pictures Entertainment which is involved in production of media content like movies, adverts, promotions, documentaries to mention just but a few. Management Sony Corporation has had a stream of managers who have played huge roles in running the company. The company is currently run by Howard Stringer who is the Chairman and the Chief Executive and the President of Sony Corporation. Nicole Seligman is the vice president and the general counsel of the organization. Howard took the Chairmanship on 22 June 2005, after the Chairman Nobuyuki Idei stepped down. Sony has been a success due to effective management and proper running and handling of the organization’s affairs. The company has been able to improve on their products making them more complex and yet easier to use with the advancement of technology. Due to the profitability and strong competition from other organizations, they have accelerated their production by innovating more products and services which have enabled them to pursue even under the global economic crisis (Paul pp. 154-150). The company is unique in that it offers a variety of many products that have made a big impact in the entertainment scenes. With the latest technology, the company has had a great benefit while offering services like selling, marketing and even manufacturing new innovations. Services offered by Sony Corporation include Sony financial holdings group, Sony pictures entertainment, Sony music entertainment, Sony Ericson mobile communications, Sony computer entertainment, Sony network entertainment and Sony discs and digital solutions (Andrew 2003). The global platforms that have led to the success of Sony Corporation include; global sales and good marketing platform, manufacturing, procurement logistics, CS platforms and having a common software platform. It procurement activities are grounded on two basic principles. First, is meeting the customers’ expectations globally. Their main objective of Sony Corporation is to meet the demand of the customers by providing high quality products and services at minimum cost possible. Their services and products are meant to provide a high value level for their money. The second principle is based on their relationship with their suppliers. Sony has a vast number of suppliers worldwide. As a result they have to maintain a very good relationship which has its base ground on cooperation and mutual. A good relationship is very essential between the supplier and the customer to enhance growth of any organization. Sony believes that each organization and their suppliers ought to be good partners for them to provide high valued products to meet the customers’ demands and expectations (John & Houghton 1999). Sony Corporation also believes that they have a role to play in corporate social responsibility; as s result they have teamed up with different organization to help the society. One of such initiative is the Sony Global Environmental Plan. This plan is aimed at promoting a natural healthy by making lifestyle of today and tomorrow fulfilling. The plan has set its goals on dealing environmental problems like climate change, preserving the environment, controlling chemical substances and promoting biodiversity. It as also partnered with UNDP to raise awareness about HIV /AIDS and finally joining support in football to promote developments (Paul pp. 154-150). Challenges faced by Sony Corporation Every successful organization has challenges it encounters on its way to the top. Sony Corporation journey to the top has been faced by many challenges which have made be one of the most comprehensive entertainment companies in the universe. One of the challenges has been financial difficulty. Sony being a multinational corporation, it requires great strategies, planning and hence it requires a lot of finances to run it effectively (Brian & David pp.238-236). New innovations require a lot of capital to put them together and getting profits require patience and sacrifice .As a result the capital expenditure ratio and return in investment ration becomes the main problem. Competition from other companies producing the same brand of products and services has become another challenge for Sony to deal with. Other organization like JVC, Samsung, Phillips and many more have been a major threat to Sony Corporation. This is because they bring into the market the same products and service like Sony Corporation. Despite Sony being the leaders and the pioneers of many electronic equipments and service, other well established companies have posed a threat by making the same products and services and selling them at affordable prices (John & Houghton 1999). Another major problem that has been part of Sony Corporation has been lack of direction. This was brought about after the retirement of the founders and the symbolic leaders of Sony; Ibuka and Morita. The succession problem has been initiated by lack of guidance and the bridge between the top management and the main engineers of the company ­­(George pp.84-80). This leads to lack of proper communication between the two groups of people and this poses a threat in disintegration of the company with some people threatening of duplication of resources. Finally, another challenge Sony faces is lack of strategy in product development, marketing and manufacturing and hence they lack a formal direction. The company does not have a short term strategy in its mission statement which has to-date become outdated. This means that there is minimal emphasis and lack of accountability of research conducted on developments of new and existing products. Strengths of Sony Corporation Sony being one of the leading multinational entertainment companies, it has great support from people all over the world. Therefore it relies on human capital to run its businesses. Their regular innovations are essential for all the costumers all over the globe and hence their profit relies on the purchases from the society .Due to the advanced technology, the company has had an easy way of maintaining progress and thus enhancing constant supply of services and products to their customers. Having satisfied employees has also played a great part in production of quality products and services. The employees are self motivating and hence the high rate of quality products. The company also understands the needs of the customers and thus meeting them is easy (George pp.84-80). Sony being involved in entertainment facilities and services, marketing is a very easy task to carry out. They use their own innovations to advertise other products or services in the market or intending to be in market. Sony has also been a successive company due to its generous funding in huge projects in the society which portrays Sony as a socially responsible company. Sony has also been successful due to the fact that it has dominated the field for long and hence its standards have been set up high as compared to other companies. Through the rise of Asian market, Sony has had the chance to market their products for cheap labor (Ellen pp.178-165). Diversification has also played a big role in the success of Sony Corporation. Sony concentrates on different direction on electronic producing a lot of diverse range of products and services. Due to this they have broaden their market and their customers have increased. This has enabled Sony to increase on their supply as their products’ demand rise. Diversification should put its emphasis on transforming business supplies a major shareholder of Sony Corporation. This would be a vey good strategy that would make Sony achieve its goals. Recommendations Every successful organization always has its weak points which need to be addressed to ensure proper functioning of the organization. Sony being a multinational company with a reputable name due to quality services and products, they need to improve on management by ensuring cooperation. The cooperation attitude is an essential ingredient to easy running and management of any organization. Lack of cooperation leads to lack of team work which affects the productivity of the organization (Paul pp. 152-150). Sony Corporation has been known for its success by people in high level social class. Their products mostly targets high earning homes in the society and the poor people have a negative perception about them. The poor argue that Sony is for the rich only. Sony should come up with services and products that cater for the people in the society earning low income. This would be another boost to their market an increase their productivity. High costs products pose a big threat to any company if they are not bought on time (Brian & David pp.240-233).They lead to losses and affect any organization earnings monthly r annually. This can be solved by cutting costs to assist in improving the profit margin of the organization. Refining of old products rather than inventing new ones could be a good way for cutting cost while they achieve great automation. Another way of cutting cost would be use of cheap labor form Asian countries that are still developing. Strategies are essential in future planning of any company. Sony being a multinational corporation with customers and employees in many different countries, new strategies should be set out to achieve the corporate goal of the organization. This entails recording of profits and defining the responsibilities of the stakeholders in the sharing the profit. Designing, integrating the company, production and marketing should be promoted with effective communication between the staff and the management Sony should also form alliances with their competitors to enhance mutual benefits. This will enable them to share ideas on how to improve on their products and adapt new decisions from their alliances. Alliances should be involved in setting up the industry standards for competitors and the convectional suppliers and producers (Brian & David pp.240-233). Integration of production, designing and marketing; these are three stages that if not well handled create conflicts in the organization, Designing requires experience, skills and knowledge to come up with a good design than marketing which requires research and market only. Designer should come up with designs that will be easier to market and hence making it easy for marketers to find a ready market for the products .If designing and marketing are empowered they make a very big impact in the market leading to high levels of productivity. Both can achieve a very good synergy. Freedom enhances a designer innovate great ideas and the team makes a greater responsibility in fitting any product in the market with the current marketing and production goals (John & Houghton 1999). Conclusion Many electronic manufacturing companies have come up posing a major threat to Sony Corporation. However, its success has always been based on the quest for excellence and innovative spirits of the employers, employees and the customers’ need to satisfaction. Sony main objective should be putting together talents by having common goals, priority and future plans due to the increase of competition in the market. Sony’s ground was set many years ago and they have all they need to succeed (Brian & David 1995). They have proved to the world they manufacture high quality products as well services and this has earned them credibility in the society. Setting new strategies and maintaining on their quality of products will always make Sony remain a great successful company. To enhance effective running and management of the organization, the top management and the other staff have to push and have same goal to benefit the organization and all the workers working altogether. Moreover they should provide specific long term and short term goals and strategy. Sony Corporation will be and always remain the most comprehensive entertainment company in the world. Works cited Andrew, Davey. Detail: Exceptional Japanese Product Design. Laurence King, 2003. Brian, Hunt & David, Targett. The Japanese Advantage?: Competitive IT Strategies Past, Present And Future Management: Today Series. Butterworth-Heinemann, 1995. 230-246. Ellen, Flint. Legal Careers: Do Your Future Justice: Career FAQs Series. Career FAQs, 2007. 168-180. George, Taliashvili. Joint Venture Company - JVC under German and UK: Jurisdictions Akademische Schriftenreihe. GRIN Verlag, 2009. 80-84. John Nathan & Houghton Mifflin, Sony: The Private Life. 1999. Paul, Du Gay, Doing Cultural Studies: The Story of The Sony Walkman. SAGE, 1997. 150-154 Read More