Sony Breaks With Tradition -- Recognition of Leadership

When I was with NEC back in early 80's perhaps I am the 1st foreigner to have a desk in front of Chief International Marketing. Then I was working on the papers on the Business Strategies for the total NEC offering.. & the Converge of Computers & Communications. Then in 1983, I am back again to convince the Board to have the PC for MSDOS version, later know as APC (Advanced Personal Computer).

It is a hardwork & relationship affairs for a foreigner to convince those Directors' & Board members, as then I can only converse limited Japanese language. The Hierachical Structure of the Corporate Management system is totally Homogenous as its Nation.

Then, the same saga I have been experienced during my career with ICL now is ICL/Fujitsu!!

Again, in my career with Philips N.V., I have been going thru the same experiences again. In My paper "Creating Excellence Philips Corporate Culture" I have single out the inmportant of having:

Multi-Races Management & Corporate Culture

Continue Process To Identify Leader's for the Longevity of The Corporation

Recognitions of Leadership Regardless of the Races or Country of Origin


BeforeSony; the other corporation have install foreigner to the high office is Nissan.

Installing a Head of Corporation is one thing. Most Important thing is that the Trust & the Freedom for the Leader to perform to it's best. Rather than having the his/her time in fighting for the internal politics within the corporation.Due to the Races & Cultural differences for the Longevity of the Corporation.

Sony breaks with tradition
By David Lieberman, USA TODAY

NEW YORK — After years of losing ground to rivals including Apple (AAPL) and Nintendo, the Sony (SNE) board voted today to make Howard Stringer the first non-Japanese CEO of the Tokyo-based consumer electronics and entertainment colossus.

Sony's board met in an emergency session where Nobuyuki Idei agreed to step down as CEO and turn the company over to Stringer, 63, who has overseen its U.S.-based movie and music operations. (Audio: Sony needs to change, Stringer says)

The change would take place following a shareholder vote June 22. Stringer was also nominated for a seat on the board of directors.

"Sony has an unparalleled legacy of boldness, innovation and leadership around the world," Stringer said in a statement. (Related: Japanese carmakers keep grip on control)

"Together we look forward to joining our twin pillars of engineering and technology with our commanding presence in entertainment and content creation to deliver the most advanced devices and forms of entertainment to the consumer."

The ascension of Stringer, one of the media industry's most erudite executives, would have been unthinkable years ago. Japanese companies rarely give such power to foreigners and often protect each other in cartels known as keiretsu.

But years of restructurings failed to lift Sony's consumer electronics business out of its funk.

Chinese manufacturers have pushed prices down. And Sony has failed to keep up in key markets.

It stuck by its MiniDisc portable music players while consumers flocked to Apple's iPods. And Nintendo has control of the portable video game market.

But the entertainment unit that Stringer oversees has lifted Sony's fortunes.

With help from its blockbuster Spider-Man 2, Sony's movie operation was No. 1 in U.S. theatrical market share last year, with 14.3% of ticket sales. That plus robust holiday sales of DVDs of TV hit Seinfeld sent Sony Pictures Entertainment's operating profit up 232%, to $181 million, on revenue of $1.97 billion, up 12%.

Stringer's been an active dealmaker: He led last year's merger of Sony Music with BMG, and recently led a consortium that agreed to buy MGM. That deal is awaiting approval from European antitrust officials.

That's quite a change from the career originally planned by Stringer, who was born in Wales, became a U.S. citizen in 1985, and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth in 1999.

He's an award-winning journalist who rose up the ranks at CBS News before 1988 when he was named the network's president.

His life as a corporate executive almost ran aground after 1995 when three regional Bell phone companies hired him to run Tele-TV, a firm designed to help them compete with cable. The operation fell apart when the companies shifted their focus to long-distance.

Sony hired Stringer in 1997 to run its entertainment units, including Columbia Pictures and the then Sony Music. Stringer current position will not be filled. The entertainment units will continue reporting to him.

Stringer quickly adapted to the Japanese style of management, which eschews fads and focuses on long-term performance. For example, he avoided major investments in Internet companies, leaving Sony relatively unscathed when the bubble burst.

Idei said the time was ripe to hand over leadership to a new team to ensure Sony continues to grow as a global company.

"I am proud to have been a part of the changes at Sony for a decade, including shifting from the analog to digital era," Idei said in a statement.

Contributing: The Associated Press
USATODAY.com - Sony breaks with tradition