Global Company Analysis - Research Paper Example

? The Sony Corporation is a Japanese multinational corporation. Its headquarters is in Minato, Tokyo Japan. It is the fifth largest media conglomerate in the world. They are manufacturers of different sectors such as picture, computer and music entertainment. Their main focus is on the innovation of electronics such as telephones, televisions and gaming counsels. The company was founded at the end of the Second World War. The founders Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita started the company in the basement of an old department store as a radio repair shop. The launch of the first transistor radio was in the late 1950’s, although it was not the first of its kind to be invented; it was however the first to be marketed out to the general public. Sony corporation has been a publicly traded company since 1958 (Akio Morita 1986). At the beginning they relied heavily on investors to help fund and operate the company. As well as the use of non-traditional marketing tools such as the hiring of regular spokespeople to use Sony products within the general public and asking them to try it. Sony managed to stay ahead of its competition by being the leaders of innovation in the electronic market. They focused their energies on inventing rather than market research, bringing the latest and newest products out on the market before there was a demand for it. Such inventions included the portable cassette player known as the “walkman”. Besides being well known for its quality in personal recording and storage devices, Sony Corporation is also the leader of quality sound systems used in major motion pictures. It is a well known global company, which offers a variety of products around the world. Sony is subdivided in two sections. The Sony Corporation is the holding and electronics portion of the organization and the Sony Group which is branched out into other sectors, such as computer, motion picture and music entertainment. These groups have put Sony as the leaders in the entertainment and electronic industries as well as being the most diverse company in the world. Sony has offices which expand through Asia, Europe and North America; however their product distribution is spread over approximately 150 countries worldwide. (Sony Website) In 2010 the sales and distribution reports showed total revenue of $88,205 billion U.S dollars and according to Forbes, Sony’s current stock exchange rate is $27.58 U.S dollars, which is down by 2.30% since last year. Although the company has seen a decline in overall revenue in 2008, there has been a slow increase in sales in 2010. The sale of video gaming consoles and systems as well as the entertainment industry continues to be the company’s largest source of income. The company’s overall goal is in maintaining their reputation as leaders of technological advancements throughout its global structure. The company was originally founded on the Japanese principals of creating a “family like” atmosphere by preserving strong relationships between management and the employees. However, as the company expanded its resources on the international scale, keeping in line with the same values and principals becomes a challenge. Akio Morita believes that the only way for a company to be successful is by its people. (Akio Morita 1986). This is the value that Sony tries to uphold throughout all its global sectors. The Sony Corporation human resources department is actively involved in group wide initiatives to help new recruits as well as existing members in enhancing their abilities and skills in order to become successful within the company. They are continuously working at implementing global strategies in order to maintain a unified goal. The Sony Group’s global initiative in developing business leaders is an important asset to the company’s overall success. In 2008, Sony implemented “global talent directors” (Sony website), their job is to seek out and train potential recruits into business leaders. To help maintain company unity, Sony also launched a job rotation program. This plan allows interested individuals to work in a variety of sectors throughout the organization. Sony also encourages job placements from other regions in order to exercise individual abilities in new environment. This has also assisted in the unification of the company on the global scale. Advancements in telecommunication have also allowed management to stay connected. In Europe for example, the company opened a web portal designed to enable employees to learn about the importance of leadership as well as offer a platform to share experiences and opinions. Sony’s “cross border” (Sony website) job placements have been the success to keeping all sections from within the organization’s infrastructure on the same level. The program is offered to every region and is designed as a career building initiative, giving a chance for interested individuals’ room to advance at any level within the company. Besides the implementation of career building programs, Sony has also been working on strategies to ensure its reputation for technological excellence. They encourage innovation and the merit shown by employees by awarding such individuals with incentives such as the “Sony MVP award”. (Sony website) Sony also encourages community activities between the engineering departments from different regions in free discussions of idea and theory sharing. These activities are to maintain Sony’s goal of improving and upholding its technical standards and to achieve their goals in the training of future generations of technical experts. Sony also utilizes a series of various training programs for all level employees. The head office in Japan offers more than 300 training programs, all of which use current employees from within the company to develop and train new recruits. In order to keep ahead with new trends, Sony has also developed programs using the knowledge of outside experts to train engineers in their related fields. The Sony Corporation is active in helping its employees achieve their personal goals. They have incorporated external support to their employees such as language classes’ lectures and specialized courses. Such programs are designed to help individuals build a strong career foundation as well as enable them with the right tools to grow within the organization. The methods employed by the Sony Corporation in developing strong relations within the managerial sector to their employees have revitalized working environments. With web portals, onsite training and virtual classes, employees are not only free to choose which sector they want to work in but also from which part of the world. Sony Financials: As of a report written in 2010, Sony Corporation and subsectors have a total of 167, 900 employees actively working within the company. More than 50% of the electronics are produced in Japan, however more than half of the annual production is destined for other regions. The higher income regions remain constant in the United States and Europe. The 2010 income statement taken from the stock analysis showed the following numbers: Revenue: 88,205 Billion Operating Income: 342,000 Million Net Income: 437,000 Million Total Assets: 137,694 Billion Total Equity: 31,741 Billion The numbers reveal that despite some operating regions are suffering from economical crisis; it has not greatly affected the overall revenue of the company. Although Sony has seen some drop in overall sales distribution in 2008, the numbers have once again begun to climb in 2010. Sony continues to implement strategies to achieve profitability and the overall success of the company to optimize individual and organizational growth. Opinion: In reviewing all aspects of Sony Corporations initiatives in the development of their human resources department and of ensuring profitability by expanding on individual employee growth, it is my opinion that a more “unified” strategy should be implanted. Although they have designed programs to help individuals wanting to learn and expand in outer fields and regions from within the company, the focus seemed to be on Japan soil. As a globalized company these implementations should be on an international level as well. If the Sony Corporation were to expand their resources to all levels from within the company, this would in turn unify the organization on a global level. Only then would Sony be able to fully achieve their goals in innovation and individual advancements. Rather than maintaining their focus on the Asian market, they need to expand these same ideas to their European and North American counterparts. Sources: Akio Morita, Edwin M. Reignold, Mitsuko Shimomura. Made in Japan. 1986 Sony consolidated financial statements. 2008 Stock analysis on net. 2011 Official websites: Sony-europ.com; Sony.com. Forbes website. 2011 Read More