Sony has had great historical success in implementing its strategy worldwide in consumer electronics. Its Sony...
Fantastic news! We've Found the answer you've been seeking!
Question:
Transcribed Image Text:
Sony has had great historical success in implementing its strategy worldwide in consumer electronics. Its Sony Walkman and Sony PlayStation products have been exemplary in this regard. Recently, however, Sony has experienced difficulty in pursuing its competitive strategy in the online music business. In part, its problems have been due to the same organizational structure that helped to create its past successes. Sony's decentralized product divisions have fostered innovation through an entrepreneurial spirit within its separate divisions. The organizational structure encourages competition, so that, for example, engineers in separate divisions are encouraged to outdo each other. This approach created "monster hits" that turned Sony into one of the most successful global brands in consumer products over the past few decades. However, Sony's reputation as an innovator has suffered recently because it has been beaten by the competition with products such as iPod and TiVo digital video recorders. These products require the integration of hardware, software, and online services but Sony's structure has worked against it, causing the divisions to be competitive at product efforts that require more coordination. Sony has used an SBU multidivisional structure, which allows strong decentralization to each product group or division. These groups compete for resources with each other but are highly autonomous business units focused on a particular set of related businesses. Using this structure has made it difficult to "communicate with everybody when you have that many silos." This is exemplified by the Connect service, Sony's attempt to revamp the Walkman line of products in competition with the iPod digital music players and iTunes online music distribution service by Apple Computer Company. To develop a competing product, the Connect service was created, which coordinates all the various Sony businesses. Sony's U.S.music group, which was purchased from CBS Records in 1988, however, was concerned that it would lose power to control its copyrighted music through free music downloads that might be initiated through Connect service. To make matters worse, the PC and Walkman groups had each developed competing digital music players that they wished to promote. Theoretically, given Sony's market presence and prowess in these separate areas, it could outcompete Apple iPod and iTunes. However, the Connect service required coordination with the PC and Walkman groups as well as with the music- business group, which was reluctant to participate. This significant coordination problem took center stage in 2005, ultimately causing significant product delays. As a result of this organizational debacle the then CEO, Nobuyuki Idei, was forced to retire and was replaced by Howard Stringer. Case guideline: • Answer the following questions: 1. Do you think structure and strategy are in a reciprocal relationship? Why or why not? (150) 2. Discuss the current structure of Sony and its major weakness. (150) 3. As the new CEO of Sony, what recommendation would you like to present for Sony to gain its competitive advantage? (150) • Use external resources such as; articles, and internet resources and cite these resources using APA style. Sony has had great historical success in implementing its strategy worldwide in consumer electronics. Its Sony Walkman and Sony PlayStation products have been exemplary in this regard. Recently, however, Sony has experienced difficulty in pursuing its competitive strategy in the online music business. In part, its problems have been due to the same organizational structure that helped to create its past successes. Sony's decentralized product divisions have fostered innovation through an entrepreneurial spirit within its separate divisions. The organizational structure encourages competition, so that, for example, engineers in separate divisions are encouraged to outdo each other. This approach created "monster hits" that turned Sony into one of the most successful global brands in consumer products over the past few decades. However, Sony's reputation as an innovator has suffered recently because it has been beaten by the competition with products such as iPod and TiVo digital video recorders. These products require the integration of hardware, software, and online services but Sony's structure has worked against it, causing the divisions to be competitive at product efforts that require more coordination. Sony has used an SBU multidivisional structure, which allows strong decentralization to each product group or division. These groups compete for resources with each other but are highly autonomous business units focused on a particular set of related businesses. Using this structure has made it difficult to "communicate with everybody when you have that many silos." This is exemplified by the Connect service, Sony's attempt to revamp the Walkman line of products in competition with the iPod digital music players and iTunes online music distribution service by Apple Computer Company. To develop a competing product, the Connect service was created, which coordinates all the various Sony businesses. Sony's U.S.music group, which was purchased from CBS Records in 1988, however, was concerned that it would lose power to control its copyrighted music through free music downloads that might be initiated through Connect service. To make matters worse, the PC and Walkman groups had each developed competing digital music players that they wished to promote. Theoretically, given Sony's market presence and prowess in these separate areas, it could outcompete Apple iPod and iTunes. However, the Connect service required coordination with the PC and Walkman groups as well as with the music- business group, which was reluctant to participate. This significant coordination problem took center stage in 2005, ultimately causing significant product delays. As a result of this organizational debacle the then CEO, Nobuyuki Idei, was forced to retire and was replaced by Howard Stringer. Case guideline: • Answer the following questions: 1. Do you think structure and strategy are in a reciprocal relationship? Why or why not? (150) 2. Discuss the current structure of Sony and its major weakness. (150) 3. As the new CEO of Sony, what recommendation would you like to present for Sony to gain its competitive advantage? (150) • Use external resources such as; articles, and internet resources and cite these resources using APA style.
Expert Answer:
Answer rating: 100% (QA)
1 Yes I think that structure and strategy are in a reciprocal relationship A companys organizational structure can help to create and shape its competitive strategy and in turn the companys competitiv... View the full answer
Related Book For
Posted Date:
Students also viewed these finance questions
-
Trusted Technologies Ltd. (TTL) provides technology solutions to manufacturing companies. TTL is a wholly owned subsidiary of Global World International Inc. (GWI), a publicly owned conglomerate. In...
-
During the last week of August, Muir Companys owner approaches the bank for a $100,000 loan to be made on September 2 and repaid on November 30 with annual interest of 12%, for an interest cost of...
-
During the last week of March, Harlan Stereos owner approaches the bank for an $80,000 loan to be made on April 1 and repaid on June 30 with annual interest of 12%, for an interest cost of $2,400....
-
In Problem perform the indicated operations and reduce answers to lowest terms. 2 4 ? 16 x? + 4x
-
In a study of computer use, 1000 randomly selected Canadian Internet users were asked how much time they spend using the Internet in a typical week (1psos Reid, August 9, 2005). The mean of the...
-
The Concorde supersonic transport cruised at \(M=2.2\) at \(17 \mathrm{~km}\) altitude on a standard day. How long after the aircraft passed directly above a ground observer was the sound of the...
-
Locate a sample settlement brochure. What type of case are settlement brochures best used for?
-
The Metropolitan Park District of Tacoma gave Griffith a concession to run the districts parks. The agreement gave the right to occupy the parks and use any improvements found therein. The district...
-
Given the information in the table, what is the average tax rate of a corporation with a $70,000 taxable income? Taxable Income, Dollars Tax Rate (%) 0-50,000 15% 50,001-75,000 25% 75,001-100,000 34%...
-
Dr. Smith learned that one sorority on campus had purchased several Macintosh computers and another sorority had purchased several Windows-based computers. Dr. Smith was interested in whether the...
-
watch the film" The Scarlet Letter" Then consider the following: How close does the movie resemble the novel:? does the movie successfully portray the novels themes' symbol archetypes? How is the...
-
Tennis Apparel has two classes of stock authorized: 4 % , $ 1 0 par preferred, and $ 1 par value common. The following transactions affect stockholders equity during 2 0 2 4 , its first year of...
-
== A bar of aluminum (bar A) is in thermal contact with a bar of copper (bar B) of the same length and area (see the figure below). One end of the compound bar is maintained at T = 78.5C, and the...
-
Balloons By Sunset (BBS) is considering the purchase of two new hot air balloons so that it can expand its desert sunset tours. Various information about the proposed investment follows: (Future...
-
Write the PL/SQL code to create a procedure with only one IN parameter. Name the procedure as follows: -- The first 2 letters of the procedure name will have your INITIALS (in my case is NC) -- the...
-
What neurological mechanisms underlie the process of resilience-building, particularly regarding the plasticity of neural networks and their response to stressors?
-
Cost Flow Relationships The following information is available for the first month of operations of Bahadir Company, a manufacturer of mechanical pencils: Sales Gross profit Cost of goods...
-
Use the information given about the angles and to find the exact value of: (a) sin( + ) (b) cos( + ) (c) sin( - ) (d) tan ( + ) (e) sin(2) (f) cos (2) (g) sin /2 (h) cos/2 cos = 4/5, 0 < < /2; cos =...
-
Why are fixed costs depicted as a horizontal line on a CVP chart?
-
Refer to the information for Leila Company in QS 6-3. Compute the contribution margin for this company.
-
This chapter identified many decision contexts in which variable costing information is more relevant than absorption costing. However, absorption costing is still used by many companies and remains...
-
When the primary direct crank of a reciprocating engine is positioned at \(30^{\circ}\) clockwise, the secondary reverse crank for balancing will be at (a) \(30^{\circ}\) anti-clockwise (b)...
-
Two heavy rotating masses are connected by shafts of length \(l_{1}, l_{2}\), and \(l_{3}\) and the corresponding diameters and \(d_{1}, d_{2}\), and \(d_{3}\). This system is reduced to a...
-
The given Fig. 32 depicts a vector diagram of forces and displacements in the case of Forced Damped Vibration. If vector \(A\) represents the forcing function \(P=P_{o} \sin \omega t\), vector \(B\)...
Study smarter with the SolutionInn App