Sony and Samsung - Essay Example

Samsung has continually invested more than any of its rivals on its research and development, rising during the past couple of years to almost 9 percent of its revenue. It has a large and growing force of designers and engineers working in 17 research centers located all around the world (see Exhibit 6). Yun has also forced Samsung's own units to compete with outsiders in order to speed up the process for developing innovative new products. Samsung has also created the post of chief design officer to make sure that designers can get their ideas to top managers.

Yun appears to be well aware of the challenges that lie ahead for Samsung. He understands that his firm must keep investing heavily into R&D and keep developing new factories in locations that offer lower costs. Sony probably restructure for a number of reasons. Companies typically restructure when they need to correct poor financial performance or to capitalize on market opportunities or to strengthen corporate value. Each of the five main change programs presented reasons why they were introduced.

The changes are clearly sub-headed in the case and you'll find that towards the end of each main section, reasons are given for the next change in line. Just go through each section meticulously, and select a few relevant points to include. Centralized decision-making t. Companies typically restructure when they need to correct poor financial performance or to capitalize on market opportunities or to strengthen corporate value. Each of the five main change programs presented reasons why they were introduced.

The changes are clearly sub-headed in the case and you'll find that towards the end of each main section, reasons are given for the next change in line. Just go through each section meticulously, and select a few relevant points to include. 3. To what extent did Sony's restructuring efforts centralize or decentralize decision-making within Sony Centralized decision-making tends to come from a particular group or at a particular location, usually from the senior team/HQ and is typical of hierarchical structures where information is passed down through the layers from the top.

Decentralized decision-making suggests greater autonomy and the delegating of decision-making to lower levels of management or to different strategic business units. Sony seems to drift in and out of different approaches to decision-making - sometimes a centralized, sometimes a more decentralized approach. Scan the case and look for information relating to how decisions are made and look for some relevant points to include. At a couple of places in the case, there is direct mention of the terms decentralization and centralization. 4. How culturally diverse do you think the different Sony businesses were, for example, consumer electronics, entertainment, insurance, etcInclude just a few brief points here and one or two assumptions.

Is there likely to be different cultures in operation due to the nature of the businesses involved Would you expect a different level of cultural awareness and sensitivity in the