Sony plants in the world. legal information

03.12.2020

Gadget manufacturers

Sony Corporation is a Japanese multinational conglomerate. Its diversified business is focused primarily on electrical engineering (TV, refrigerators, game consoles), as well as entertainment and financial services. The company can be called one of the leading manufacturers of electronic products for the consumer and professional markets. Sony ranked 105th in the 2014 Fortune Global 500.

Sony Corporation is the electronics business unit of the parent company Sony Group. Four main operating segments - electronics (including video games, network services and the medical business), motion pictures, music and finance - make Sony one of the most complete entertainment companies in the world.

Different departments are responsible for different segments. Sony is one of the Top 20 leaders in semiconductor sales, and is also the third largest TV manufacturer in the world (after and).

The Sony corporate group focuses primarily on the electronics and financial services industries (such as the insurance and banking sectors). Its foundation is associated with the names of Akio Morita and Masaru Ibuki.

They chose the name "Sony" as a derivative of "sonus" (translated from Latin as "sound"), as well as from the word "sonny", which in English means "sons" (in the early 1950s in Japan, "sonny boys meant presentable and intelligent young people).

By the way, the use of Latin letters in the name was very unusual for the Japanese company. It was Morita who insisted on such a name, demanding that it not be tied to any industry (despite the fact that many were against).

The future Japanese industrialist and co-founder of Sony, Masaru Ibuki, was born in 1908. He graduated from Waseda University in 1933, after which he got a job in a photochemical laboratory, where the film was processed. Following this, fate decreed that he entered service in the Imperial Japanese Navy.

During the Second World War, Ibuka was a member of the Naval Research Committee. In 1946 he left the laboratory and the navy, and founded a radio repair shop.

Akio Morita is the co-founder of the new venture.

In doing so, Masaru was instrumental in licensing transistor technology to Sony in the 1950s. As a result, Sony was one of the first to use this technology for peaceful purposes. Ibuka was president of the firm for over twenty years and then chairman between 71 and 76.

In 1961 he was awarded the Medal of Honor with a blue ribbon, and in subsequent years - also various orders and titles. Masaru held an honorary doctorate from the Sofia University of Tokyo. He is the author of books on child psychology and education.

Ibuka died in 97 at the age of 89. He was posthumously awarded the Grand Ribbon of the Order of the Rising Sun.

Akio Morita, future Japanese businessman and co-founder of Sony, was born in 1921 in Nagoya. His family has been making miso, soy sauce and sake in the village of Kosugaya (now part of Tokonoma city) on the western coast of the Chita Peninsula in Aichi Prefecture since 1665.

Akio was the eldest of four children and was trained by his father so that he could later run the family business. However, Morita found his true calling in something completely different thanks to his passion for physics and mathematics. In 1944, he graduated from Osaka Imperial University with a degree in physics.

During World War II, he also served in the Imperial Japanese Navy and worked for the research committee, where he met Masaru Ibuka.

The Akio Morita family was the largest shareholder of Sony and invested a lot of money, supporting it financially early on. In 1950, the firm sold its first tape recorder in Japan; then came the turn of the pocket radio. Akio Morita was the initiator of many of Sony's inventions.

It was he who came up with the idea of \u200b\u200bgiving the radio a "pocket" format. In 1994, Morita stepped down as chairman of the company after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage. He was replaced by Norio Oga. Akio Morita was the author of books on schooling; also wrote an autobiography.

His most scandalous work was co-authorship with politician S. Ishihara. In this paper, they criticized the American business world and called on the Japanese to adopt an independent position in their own affairs. These chapters were later removed from the English version of the book.

Like Ibuka, Akio Morita has won various medals and awards, including the Royal Society of Arts Medal in '82, the Legion of Honor two years later and the Order of the Sacred Treasure from the Emperor of Japan in 1991.

In 1993 Morita received the British Knightly Order, and so on. He died in 99 at the age of 78 from pneumonia. He was posthumously awarded the Grand Ribbon of the Order of the Rising Sun.

So, Sony's company traces its history actually from the time of the Second World War, when its two founders met. In 1946, Masaru Ibuka opened an electronics store in a Tokyo department store hit by bombing. The new firm had a start-up capital of $ 530 and a total of eight employees.

The next year, Masaru was joined by his colleague, Akio Morita, and they founded a company called Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo.

It was this company that became the creator of the first Japanese cassette recorder (model Type-G). In the summer of 1955, the first Japanese transistor radio, the Sony TR-55, appeared. In 1958 the company name was changed to Sony.

In 1975 Sony launched a new format for recording videotapes - Betamax. Unfortunately, the following years were marked by the infamous "video format war". In the 1980s, Sony supplied Betamax systems for VCRs, competing with JVC's VHS format.

Eventually, VHS managed to become a global standard, and Sony used this format as well. Nevertheless, it is worth noting the following fact: although Betamax can already be considered an outdated format, the professionally oriented format Betacam (based on Betamax) is still used, especially in the television industry, albeit to a lesser extent due to the spread of digital technologies. and high resolution.

1985 saw the introduction of Handycam products and the Video8 format, which became popular in the consumer market. Two years later, a new digital audio standard 4 mm DAT appeared.

In 1979, the firm introduced the world's first Walkman portable music player that supported compact audio cassettes. In 2004 Sony released Hi-MD. It was a format that allowed audio to be played and recorded on the new 1 gigabyte Hi-MD discs.

In addition to this, the new format made it possible to store computer files - documents, videos and photographs. It should be added that the S / PDIF format was developed by Sony together with the SACD audio system. Subsequently, the consumer still gave preference to CDs. Other Sony products include disk storage and flash memory.

Sony's current portfolio includes a variety of consumer electronics products, including portable audio and video players, computers, and more.

In 2011, Sony launched its Sony Tablet series running Android in an effort to enter the tablet market.

Since 2012, products based on this platform began to enter the market under the Xperia brand (smartphones could also be attributed to them).

The company's portfolio also includes a wide range of digital cameras (including Cyber-shot models), televisions, semiconductors and electronic components (image sensors, laser diodes, OLED panels, and so on). The manufactured image sensors are widely used in Sony digital cameras, tablet computers and smartphones.

The company also has businesses related to medicine, biotechnology and healthcare. In the fall of 2012, Sony announced a joint venture with Olympus to develop new surgical endoscopes. Sony Olympus Medical Solutions was created the following year.

In 2014, P5 was established (with Illumina and M3) to support research and development.

The company successfully manufactures portable gaming equipment. By the way, the best-selling video game console of all time is the PlayStation 2. In 2014, a new virtual reality technology was announced for the PlayStation 4.

Sony's mobile division is headquartered in the Japanese capital. It was founded in the fall of 2001 as a joint venture with Ericsson. Sony acquired a stake in the Swedish firm in the winter of 2012.

In 2013, the flagship Xperia Z3 appeared. The smartphone ran on the Android platform and was equipped with a 5.2-inch display with Full HD resolution. The mobile device had a 3100 mAh battery and a case with a high degree of protection against moisture and dust.

Back in the early 90s, Ericsson collaborated with General Electric in the United States. They were called Ericsson Mobile Communications. This name was not chosen by chance, and primarily to make the company recognizable in the United States. The chips for Ericsson's phones were supplied by the Philips plant in New Mexico.

In 2000, a fire broke out at this facility, and production was suspended indefinitely. While we have already established supplies from alternative sources, we faced serious problems. The company has been in the mobile market for decades and has achieved significant success.

As a result, there were numerous speculations about the possible sale of the mobile division, although the President of Ericsson himself denied this, noting that the mobile phone is a core business. At the time, Sony was a minor player in the global device market, with a market share of less than 1%. The final terms of the merger of the two companies were announced in the summer of 2001.

The combined company strategy included the release of new models with digital photography and other multimedia capabilities. For this, Sony Ericsson has specially released several mobile devices with a camera and a color screen.

Despite the success of selling new products, the joint venture continued to suffer losses. In 2005, the K750i was introduced. The device had a 2 megapixel camera.

Another notable device is the W800i. It was the first phone in the Walkman series capable of playing music for up to 30 hours.

In 2007, the first 5-megapixel camera phone, the K850i, was released, and the following year a device with an 8-megapixel camera. At the 2009 exhibition, the company presented the first device with a 12 megapixel camera - Satio.

It is known that in those years they also became sponsors of professional sports teams many times.

In 2011, Sony announced the acquisition of a stake in Swedish partner Ericsson for $ 1.47 bn. This buyback was approved by the European Union in 2012. Around the same time, the company decided to focus entirely on the production of smartphones, excluding the release of all other mobile devices.

To support the gaming industry, Sony is also buying out the Gaikai cloud service. The Sony logo was replaced with a new power button, and these changes were clearly visible to the consumer after the new mobile devices in the Xperia series in 2013. The Z and ZL models were introduced in the same year. This was followed by the flagships Z1 and Z2. In 2014, the Z3 was also announced.

Since 2012, all of the company's mobile products have been released within the Xperia line. The next year, a design known as "OmniBalance" emerged. Since 2014, more and more attention has been paid to high-end products, while the budget segment is almost completely ignored.

The company is also involved in the production of televisions and film products. There is a special division called Sony Pictures Entertainment, and Sony Music Entertainment, the second largest record company in the Big Four, based on the acquisition of CBS Records and the takeover of Bertelsmann.

The subsidiary that develops and publishes video games is called Online Entertainment. There is also a label ATV Music Publishing. Fun fact: The label owns most of The Beatles' publishing rights.

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Confucius
Confucius about business

LLC "Creative Job", 2015

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Introduction

It would seem, what can be in common between the famous Chinese thinker Confucius, who formulated the concept of ethical and philosophical teaching based on humanism and devotion to the Way of Tao, and modern business, with its fierce competition and periodic shocks? What connection can there be between the ideas of the great Teacher, who lived two thousand years ago, and the technologies of the 21st century?

The answer is obvious if we turn to the experience of the Far Eastern countries, which in the most difficult times for them were able to quickly restore their economies, and some of them showed the world an “economic miracle”. It turns out that the main reason for the rapid economic growth and incredible resilience from internal and external crises in countries such as Singapore, South Korea, Japan and China was the practical use of the canons of Confucian teachings.

It is Confucianism, the basic components of which are the pursuit of order and law, the harmonization of all spheres of life, the continuity of the spiritual tradition, moral values, that became the foundation of the public administration system and an effective strategy that ensures success for managers of all levels.

Confucianism links all spheres of life into a single whole. Spiritual and material, personality and society, man and nature - everything is subject to the general order and one laws in the Universe. The differences are only in particular manifestations of the operation of these laws. Knowledge of these basic laws guarantees success in business, personal life and in general in any business. That is why, for Japanese or Chinese businessmen, the teachings of Confucius are not questions of morality or religion, but pure pragmatism.

The moral categories and general guidelines discussed in this book are unlikely to satisfy the practical manager. But Confucius' thoughts on how to manage, what qualities a "noble husband" (read - a leader) needs to possess, what strategies will allow the company to stay afloat in this stormy sea teeming with economic monsters, fully meet the needs of modern business, as well as the needs of any a person who has taken the path of personal development.

By becoming perfectly wise on the inside, you can solve the problem of external kingship. So spoke the sage Confucius.

Chapter first. "He who knows the will of Heaven." Biography of Confucius

One of Confucius' contemporaries wrote: "The Celestial Empire has long been in chaos, but Heaven wished to make the Teacher a bell that wakes everyone up." In those distant times, during the decline of the Zhou empire, when the emperor's power was formal, the places of the clan nobility were illegally taken by ignoble and greedy officials, the ancient foundations of family life were trampled, the people were in poverty and suffering, and the country was shaken by internecine wars, Heaven sent the Teacher, so that he would lead people out of the darkness of ignorance and show people the true path - the Path of Tao.

1.1. Childhood and youth

August 27, lunar calendar 551 BC, in the town of Qufu of the Lu kingdom of the Chinese Zhou dynasty, in the family of a noble but poor warrior, a boy was born who was destined to become the greatest teacher. He was the long-awaited son of the brave 66-year-old Shu Lianghe and his third wife, young Yan Zhi. Before, in the first marriage, Shu Lianghe had only girls, and in the second marriage, a crippled son was born.

The newborn boy, who acquired the family name Kong, was named Qiu (hill), and also received the nickname Zhong (second son) Ni (clay), since he was born in a cave of a clay hill, which was considered a magical place by the inhabitants of the kingdom of Lu. Therefore, in the East, Confucius is known as Kun Qiu, or Kun Fu Tzu (teacher from the Kun clan), and also as Zhong Ni.

The father's happiness was short-lived - he died when his son was barely two years old. Left alone with a small child in her arms, Yan Zhi received the aristocratic status of a dafu widow, but the family's material support was extremely difficult. From dawn to dawn, Qiu had to do hard physical labor: clean the house, grow vegetables, carry heavy weights, in order to make the life of her beloved mother at least a little easier, who, from grief and evil gossip, closed in herself and found an outlet in sacrifices. Therefore, Qiu was well acquainted with mourning ceremonies and ancient sacred rituals from childhood, but this did not leave a mournful stamp on his character. On the contrary, he grew up cheerful and had a cheerful disposition. At the same time, Kun-tzu had a heightened sense of justice, great respect for elders, an ardent love for antiquity and a great desire to spend as much time as possible in conversations with sages.

From birth, Confucius was endowed with a lively mind, good health, and hard physical labor developed remarkable strength in him. Wanting to get out of poverty and achieve success in his career, the young man persisted in mastering the six arts that were necessary at that time for an educated person who claimed spiritual supremacy in China. He had to be able to count, read, drive a chariot, shoot a bow, understand music, and know rituals.

If Confucius was tormented by any question, he, without any hesitation of his ignorance, sought an exhaustive answer. He thirsted for knowledge, studied the structure of states, thoroughly mastered the rules of conduct and ancient Chinese written culture, which later allowed him to write his famous books, which became monuments of literature.

After marriage, at the age of 19, and the birth of a son named Bo Yu, Confucius entered the service in the house of one of the noblest aristocratic family Ji, where he became the keeper of barns and herds.

"My accounts must be correct - that's the only thing I have to care about."

"Bulls and sheep should be well fed - that's my concern," - said Confucius.

The Cultural Society of the Celestial Empire noticed the virtues of the diligent and talented twenty-five-year-old Confucius, and he was invited to visit the capital of China. This road became the culmination of the life of Confucius, during his journey he decided to create his own school that teaches people to learn the laws of the world order and the nature of the human soul, becoming an integral person capable of benefiting the state and society.

1.2. Ethical and philosophical doctrine of Confucius

By the age of thirty, Confucius had already clearly formulated the concept of his ethical and philosophical doctrine, which represented a model of government and society, as well as a model of human relationships.

1. The first concept, based on humanity, philanthropy and the rules of etiquette, reflected the teacher's views on the structure of the state and society.

2. The second concept, which was based on such qualities as loyalty, honesty, respect for the rulers, explained what the state system of government should be.

3. The third concept warned against going to extremes, but admonished to follow the middle path.

4. The fourth concept combined the principle of justice and the concept of power.

5. The fifth concept taught a person to be adamant about the faith he professes.

6. The sixth concept concerned the will of Heaven and completely denied the existence of spirits.

Confucius's teachings were an integral part of his life. With his words and actions, he supported his philosophical views. Confucius equals knowledge and virtues.

1.3 Confucius the official

Can a state develop successfully thanks to the efforts of one person? Maybe if the name of this person is Confucius. After Confucius became famous and was recognized by all as the heir and guardian of the ancient tradition, he was offered the post of governor of Zhongdu county. Being engaged in bureaucratic activities, he introduced his teachings, guided by the principles of justice, morality, mutual respect and reverence. During his reign, theft disappeared in the county, much attention was paid to funeral rituals, and the tax system began to change.

1.4. Sacred Mission of Confucius

When Confucius was 52 years old, he was appointed Minister of Justice in the kingdom of Lu. During his three years in this extremely responsible position, Confucius managed to accomplish a lot and prove himself as an outstanding politician. However, the successes of the "husband without vices", which contributed to the strengthening of the kingdom of Lu, aroused fears in the neighboring principalities. Ruler Lu succumbed to slanderous slander from his neighbors and stopped listening to his wise advisor. Confucius had to leave his high post in the prime of his career and go to wander around the country. He hoped to realize his practical experience by meeting a ruler who shared his ethical and political teachings. However, there was no such ruler, and Confucius devoted himself entirely to pedagogical activity.

He willingly shared his knowledge with everyone, regardless of class and financial situation. "My duty extends to all people without distinction, for I consider everyone who inhabits the earth to be members of one family in which I must fulfill the sacred mission of the Mentor." Confucius professed the Will of Heaven, adhered to the ideal of human perfection, and strove to live in harmony with nature. With all his heart, he wanted to see his country not immersed in chaos and internecine strife, but prosperous and strong, where each inhabitant corresponds to his place.

1.5. "Only at the age of 60 I learned to distinguish truth from untruth"

Despite the fact that, carrying his teaching to the masses, Confucius was faced with the dissipation, negligence of the top, the lack of spirituality of the people, the unwillingness of people to follow the path of Tao, the Teacher remained faithful to his Teaching. He demonstratively refused the post of an adviser offered to him by the illegal ruler Wei, who, through the wise Kun-tzu, wanted to strengthen his power in the state.

Confucius understood that he would not achieve any practical steps from those in power. Therefore, sincerely believing that good was originally in every person, he spent almost the rest of his life walking with his closest disciples in ancient Chinese principalities, teaching people of various origins four things: honesty, devotion to learning, performing rituals and reading written monuments.

Died Confucius at the age of 73. The burial place of the great teacher on the Syshuy River has become a place of pilgrimage for many people around the world.

Chapter two. How Confucian Values \u200b\u200bHelped Japan Success

Among the book heritage left by Confucius to descendants, special attention should be paid to the "Four Books" (in Chinese - "Sy-shu"), which contains the most significant works of the Confucian classics. The Four Books is the official canon of the Chinese spiritual and political culture, which has had a tremendous impact on the spiritual culture of Japan, Korea, and Vietnam. Singapore. In these countries, there is a tradition to study the Four Books in general education and higher schools.

2.1. A story about two boys

A short story about two boys, told by the largest Russian scientist, a specialist in the study of the works of Confucius, Leonid Perelomov, to the journalist of the Psychological Newspaper: We and the World. Both boys lived in the East. One boy is in Japan, the other is in China. When they were six years old, they, in accordance with the tradition of classical Confucian education, had to memorize the texts of the Four Books. The Chinese boy was raised by his grandfather. He believed in the talent of his grandson, but the granddaughter was so lazy that he did not want to learn the texts by heart. When the time came for the boy to become a student, when passing the entrance exams, instead of writing an essay on a given topic, he passed a written work, which consisted entirely of incoherent quotes from different treatises. The examiners thought it was a bold and original trick and they noted his resourcefulness with the highest score. This boy, who did not like Confucianism and who later became the head of the Communist Party of China, was called Chen Du-hsiu.

The second boy lived in Japan with his industrial parents, who wanted to give their son a Confucian education. The hired Chinese teacher persistently forced the boy to memorize the texts from the Four Books. The boy taught them diligently. After a while, his matured son was sent by his father to the West "to see another life." While traveling in European countries, the curious guy was interested in Protestant capitalism, but decided that this model could not be applied in Japan. Confucian ethics best suited the business of the Land of the Rising Sun. Inspired by these ideas, he sat down to write a book. He called his book Lunyu and Accounting, and it became very popular among Japanese managers. This boy's name is Shibusawa Eiji. Subsequently, he took over as head of the tax department, developed the Japanese tax reform system, and became the "father of industry and banks."

2.2. Confucian capitalism theory and moral economics

So, Shibusawa Eiji, diligently studying the canonical treatises from an early age, came to the conclusion that the moral and ethical teachings of Confucius ideally correspond to the principles of the development of trade and crafts in Japan, and built the theory of modernization of the country and the organization of management on the interpretation of the famous work of Confucius "Lunyu" - the theory of Confucian capitalism.

Let's go back for a while to the times of Confucius, when seven major principalities of the Celestial Empire were at odds with each other for the title "ba" (it is also called "hegemon"), and at the same time the political and legal culture of China was born. The invaluable experience of governing the state and society was accumulated on the basis of various principles, which were adhered to by different principalities. In addition to the external struggle, within each principality, the Vans (rulers) fought fiercely for the fullness of power against the aristocracy. From time immemorial, all the main posts were occupied by the clan nobility, and the Vanam, who did not have a noble birth, had to deprive the aristocrats of this privilege, remove them from their posts. All this internal and external confrontation gave rise to a great demand for scribes (in Chinese - "shi"), such as Confucius. As bearers of intellectual capital, they were engaged in working out the optimal model for building the state and society, the relationship between the state, society and individuals. The people exist for the state or the state for the people - this dilemma was solved by two schools: the Legists and the Confucians.

This ancient weighty intellectual baggage, based on Confucian traditions, was used by Shibusawa Eiji for the good of his country. Shibusawa Eiji is not only the creator of the theory of Confucian economics, but also a practical entrepreneur who has implemented his ideas in business. The eminent Japanese entrepreneurial scientist owned fifty types of business (banking, real estate, insurance, railways, and others) and traveled around the world giving lectures on Confucian capitalism.

In his book Lunyu and the Accounting Account, Shibusawa Eiji wrote: “In order to achieve material well-being, a person must follow the Bushido (“ the way of the warrior ”), but if someone wants to enter the business, following only Bushido, without having commercial talent, he is doomed to death. Developing a commercial talent, a person should not only read many books, but he should also follow the moral instructions of Lunyu ... Commercial activity without morality, based only on cunning, is amateurism. "

Shibusawa Eiji saw the similarities between Bushido and Confucianism. Confucius believed that a noble husband in a low position should not compromise his moral principles. Also, according to the principles of bushido, a samurai will never take a single coin if it violates his moral code.

“[…] In the past, for many of our entrepreneurs, wealth and nobility were paramount, while moral principles were secondary,” notes Shibusawa Eiji. - It was a huge mistake! I believe that the moral criteria of "bushido" are necessary not only for samurai and Confucians, they should become the moral foundation of a modern industrialist and entrepreneur. " Agree, these are very relevant words for the Russian business reality, where you will never find responsible and guilty.

The book of Confucius "Lunyu", worked out by Shibusawa Eiji, is to this day a textbook on "business ethics" for Far Eastern entrepreneurs. The merits of a "noble husband" according to Confucius formed the basis of the Japanese entrepreneur model. “Tradition formed the image of an ideal virtuous person who, in all spheres of life, in all life manifestations, acts in accordance with the general canons of morality, besides, he clearly knows his place in society and strictly observes the relevant rules. A huge role in the formation of the national character was played by the idea of \u200b\u200bhonor, of "face".

According to Western tradition, global philosophical truths have nothing to do with real-life problems. For business people of the East, who study ancient philosophical treatises throughout their lives, this point of view is fundamentally wrong. The mind of an Eastern businessman will always associate the bankruptcy of corporate monsters or the collapse of dizzying careers with the manifestation of the Way of Tao.

The rise of socio-economic indicators in newly industrialized countries (Republic of Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong) is a vivid example of the implementation of classical Chinese strategies that ensure business prosperity. Confucian morality is at the heart of economic growth in the Far Eastern countries. And if we observe problems in some of them today, this is due to non-observance of the basic principles of the Teaching.

Most Western businessmen consider morality and ethics as something secondary, worthless things. Viable greed, depravity, cruelty are selling much better. Impudence is recognized as a second happiness. Things are quite different in the Far Eastern states, where capitalism is built on traditional spiritual values, in particular, Confucianism. The moral and ethical principles of Confucius penetrating into all spheres of society help businessmen in Japan, Korea, China to successfully conduct their business and emerge victorious in the conditions of the fiercest competition.

A vivid example of the application of the principles of Confucian morality is the world-famous Japanese company "Sony". The main direction of activity at the enterprise is concluded in the following words: "To contribute to the happiness of mankind and to the development of society." The main goal of the company is not profit, but development. If we compare the wages of Sony employees with the wages of employees at a similar American enterprise, then the Japanese have several times less, which does not negatively affect labor activity. The principle of nepotism is a determining factor in the work of the company, which likens the leader to the father who cares for his children, and the whole company to the big family. In such a value system, overtime does not become a heavy yoke and can be done for free. The most senior Sony employees receive wages no more than 6 times the salaries of ordinary workers, while in Western countries this gap can be up to 50 times, and in emerging economies this gap is hundreds of times higher.

Chapter three. Building a "small welfare society" or "Confucian socialism" in China

The great defender of conservative values, dreaming of creating a "civilized and harmonious state", Confucius was infinitely revered in China. The Chinese called him the Perfect Wise, Teacher of ten thousand generations.

In 1979, when many people in China became disillusioned with socialist utopias, the Chinese politician and reformer Deng Xiaoping decided to build "Confucian socialism" - a "society of average prosperity" based on Confucius's concept of "Xiaokang". In the interpretation of Confucius, this concept meant "a society of small prosperity." Governance, according to Confucius, must be based on rules and duty, otherwise the people will not recognize you.

The Confucian "Four Books" begins with the thesis of "twinning with the people." Deng Xiaoping voiced the same ideas in his speeches. The ideals of socialist spiritual culture were formulated, which included the material aspect. The country's leader Deng Xiaoping himself expressed deep concern about the spiritual vacuum that had formed in society with the advent of market relations. At the All-China Conference of the Communist Party of China, he made the following words: “We are fighting for socialism not only because under socialism the productive forces are able to develop faster than under capitalism, but also because only socialism can eliminate those inherent in capitalism and other exploiting systems. phenomena of greed, moral decay and injustice. Without intensified construction of spiritual culture, the construction of material culture is destroyed. " Jiang Zemin, general secretary of the party's central committee, echoed him: “It is also necessary to see that the vices and negative factors of the market can affect the ideology of people and relations between people, while such phenomena as monetary fetishism, hedonism, extreme individualism easily arise. ".

It was decided to hold various cultural events promoting the achievements of traditional and modern culture. A special program for building civil morality was developed. At that time, he was pulled out of oblivion and the image of a "Confucian entrepreneur" was cultivated.

Attention! This is an introductory excerpt from the book.

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Case "Organizational structure of SONY corporation"

Let's analyze, using the materials of this chapter, a Japanese multinational company SONY.

General characteristics of the company

Corporation SONY has a divisional structure (M-form: independent profit centers). The corporation's activities are concentrated in the following areas (Table 2.10).

Areas of the companySONY

Table 2.10

Corporation SONY has all the hallmarks of a company:

1) SONY is the primary unit of business, as it performs the functions of production on an industrial scale;
2) the factories of this corporation are located all over the world, including in the UK, USA and Germany;
3) headquarters SONY located in Tokyo (Japan). The president of the corporation is Kazuo Hirai. Legal address: 1-7-1 Copap, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-0075, Japan;
4) the company independently decides what to produce, where to produce, how to produce and how to distribute the result. So, in 2013, the corporation turned its attention to the medical market, expecting to receive from this a return of 200 billion yen per year by 2020;
5) the corporation produces goods and provides services. The main products of the company are listed in table. 2.10;
6) the company generates profit;
7) and finally a corporation SONY has many brands.

Company SONY operates in various markets, for the analysis we will restrict ourselves to

a market that will include household electronic devices, namely the first three areas of activity listed in table. 2.10.

All possible types of business organization operate in this market:

1) workplace (employee plus means of production) - since SONY is a horizontally integrated company, it also owns retail outlets and an online store. Currently, a fairly large share of the small business market is occupied by individual entrepreneurs who resell equipment via the Internet through their own sites;
2) office / workshop - many companies, and those engaged in the same sale, organize an office for greater coordination with large volumes of purchases. Workshops are used to assemble technical equipment such as system blocks NK for the purpose of subsequent sale;
3) plant / enterprise - a large number of workshops working on order or manufacturing individual components on a serial scale. Such workshops are typical for China and other developing countries with technological knowledge and relatively low cost of human resources;
4) this market is also characterized by holdings, trade unions and trade and industrial associations, which include the corporation itself SONY. An example would be a strategic alliance to advance technology blue-ray or using the system Android jfor smartphones. In 2012, together with other Japanese electronics manufacturers ( Toshiba, Hitachi), as well as a public-private corporation INCJ nred r and i t was created jar a n Display, engaged in the production of screens for mobile devices.

There are also limitations in this market. Technological - due to the rapid pace of development of the industry, technological limitations constantly arise, related, among other things, to the impossibility of producing a large number of products due to too rapid a change in technology, and, as a result, constant modernization of production facilities. This limitation is also associated with the activities of competitors, who, focusing on such a well-known brand, very quickly master new technologies and innovative products of the corporation. SONY, no longer waiting for the economic effect of this innovation, which indicates its effectiveness, as it was before. Competitors' activities also impose significant restrictions on costs (financial constraints), new technologies and marketing.

Since the IT market is currently developing at a high pace, it is necessary to constantly overcome the demand constraint, expanding the market capacity by finding new niches. Government regulation imposes its limitations: the largest of them is the patent limitation, which is used by some firms that buy patents. These firms focus on litigation with companies that use their patents without permission. Also, the state often sets up barriers to restrict firms' access to local markets or imposes direct restrictions (for example, the United States imposed restrictions on Japanese goods in the middle of the last century). Japanese legislation is aimed at encouraging innovation, therefore, from the point of view of the tax burden, the corporation SONY does not experience significant pressure.

Currently, companies such as Apple, promote ecology and nature conservation. They do not use long-term decomposing components such as polyethylene in their packaging, and their production and service centers are increasingly switching to renewable energy sources. This trend could impose ethical restrictions on the entire IT industry in the future. Time constraints also exist, since due to the rapidly growing market, it is necessary to be constantly on the move, the operating time of a certain technology is measured in months.

Since the IT market is huge, the types of production differ. SONY.It is most convenient to express them in the form of the Cobb-Douglas production function.

The linear production function is also characteristic of this company due to the constant improvement of technology: when introducing new technology for processing parts or manufacturing boards, it is impossible to quickly re-equip the entire production. On the other hand, the company SONY preaches a policy of life-long employment, with the improvement of technology, personnel are gradually retrained, and therefore, the linear production function can be applied to the number of retrained workers and those who are still learning new technologies and whose productivity is lower. The complementary resources include people and production facilities; various types of raw materials, as well as devices for their processing, are interchangeable. Anti-resources are production waste associated with the processing of parts.

There is almost no scale effect in this market, rather the opposite. The larger the scale of production, the more difficult it is to rebuild it in the event of a change in technology, so the company produces products in small batches. This was also mentioned by Akio Morita in his book SONY. Made in Japan". In this market, the effect of diversity is more likely to apply. There are many strong competitors here, and the competition is on a global scale, so the more people with diverse tastes the products can reach SONY, the greater the competitive advantage. Currently, the market is striving for greater individuality of its products and the possibility of their rapid adaptation to a specific individual, and not to a group of people, therefore the effect of diversity plays a key role.

After Howard Stringer came to power in 2005, the company finally lost its innovative nature, focusing on cost reduction. The idea of \u200b\u200bminimizing costs canceled all the founders' undertakings SONY, which led to the termination of development and focus on momentary benefits. Having ceased to be engaged in innovations and having lost its leading position, the company lost the main meaning of vertical integration "forward" (retail trade), since the integration pursued two goals, which are currently not relevant:

1) demonstration of an innovative product in order to create the impression of its necessity to a potential buyer;
2) feedback with the buyer in order to improve the quality of goods.

Hence, we can conclude that at the moment, while cutting costs, the company can abandon the retail chain of stores, limiting itself to only an online store.

From the point of view of horizontal integration, the situation is the opposite: the company has the necessary competencies to expand its areas of activity. With the chosen strategy of minimizing costs, related diversification is possible, which also helps to reduce them and gives competitive advantages in the new market. However, the strategy of minimizing costs leads to a gradual degradation of the company and its collapse, so further it is proposed to abandon this strategy in favor of differentiation. In this case, on the contrary, one should strive for vertical integration and focus on a small number of markets in order to maximize control over the quality of the equipment produced, as well as on targeted investment in R&D.

Have SONY there is a possibility of vertical integration "back" due to the fact that some of the components for the production of its own equipment by the company are not produced by the company, however, this integration will in no way reduce vertical costs, since there are not many small suppliers left in the market due to tough competition. The company mainly uses components of large companies such as Qualcomm, which manufactures processors for mobile phones. The market value of this company back in 2013 overtook Intel. Integration with such companies will not cover the gain from reducing transaction costs, although it can be viewed as the acquisition of a unique resource.

Due to the fairly large volume of activities, the corporation SONY faces all kinds of costs.

Fixed costs include employee wages, rental of premises, and other production and marketing factors. Quasi-fixed costs include electricity consumed by conveyors and lighting, warehouses, rental of premises, etc. Variable costs can also include electricity, the cost of purchasing resources used in production such as materials, component base, etc., as well as costs of warehouses, logistics, survey, rejection risks, etc. With reasonable costs SONY each subsequent release of a product in excess of a limited batch can be counted. For each individual market, the value of marginal costs is different. So, for example, the company still cannot identify them in the smartphone market. In October 2014, the company had to abandon the release of two flagship smartphone models a year, as this strategy led to losses. This indicates the impossibility of accurately predicting variable costs, which include the costs of implementation.

Fatal costs are incurred by management, maintenance personnel, building rentals, etc. Eliminable costs include the cost of equipment, warehouses, trading floors, managers of some areas, etc.

Opportunity cost is very difficult to analyze due to the size of the firm. The company's operating income for the 2013 fiscal year was 7,767,300 million yen. However, the company still suffers losses. Anything that can bring profit can act as an opportunity cost in this case. In fig. 2.21 shows the possible opportunity costs.

Figure: 2.21. Company Opportunity Cost SONY

Organizational structure of the company

From the point of view of the basic approach, the internal organization of a given firm is an M-form (independent profit centers). SONY Corporationis part of SONY Group. SONY Group are shown in Fig. 2.22.

Figure: 2.22. Main operating segments SONY Group

The characteristic organizational structure for this company is program-targeted with the transition to independent profit centers and a holding.

At the beginning of its activity, the company SONY possessed a design structure. From the very first day of its existence, May 7, 1946, the company has set itself the goal of innovation. Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita (founders SONY) understood that they couldn’t compete with huge corporations, so they focused on opening new market segments not yet occupied by other market participants. At first, the team consisted of no more than 30 people, but by the mid-1950s. an active process of creating a divisional structure began.

The company was forced to constantly look for new sources of profit. Large corporations began to pay more and more attention to it, and if earlier competitors took a wait-and-see attitude, watching the effect of the introduction of another innovation, then later they began to produce analogs, without waiting for favorable economic indicators.

According to the corporate strategy SONY for 2015-2017, the key areas of the company's activity will be to provide even more autonomy to its divisions (independent profit centers) and a clearer positioning of each business. This is likely to lead to possible changes in the operating segments of the corporation.

The corporation's strategy continues to be focused on maximizing profits, which will force the company to reduce the number of profit centers. So, in February 2014 the company SONY decided to withdraw from the personal room market, leaving only support for existing customers, and decided to focus on three core businesses: multimedia technology, video games and mobile technology. In accordance with the adopted strategy, SONY plans to rebuild the internal structure with the aim of more formalization, defining clear responsibilities for each employee and speeding up decision-making processes (most likely through formalization). It is also planned to spin off operating segments into independent profit-generating centers (subsidiaries). Thus, by October 1, 2015 it is planned to separate operating segments into a subsidiary SONY Music Entertainment and SONY BRA VIA.

The main positive element of this structure is the complete autonomy and independence of individual business units. This contributes to good control over subsidiaries, the formation of a different corporate culture more suitable for each individual market segment, as well as greater control over profits. The downside to this structure is transaction costs and the cost of hiring additional staff, and strong key metrics will force employees to pay more attention to events inside the company than outside it.

The optimal structure of this company should remain program-targeted (Fig. 2.23), but with a greater bias in project activities.

Figure: 2.23

Departure into formalization and strict adherence to instructions, and, consequently, reducing costs and focusing on momentary profits is an unconstructive path. Corporation SONY becomes a hostage of passion for the development of industrial products, forgetting about the need to develop new markets. We need to get back on the path of innovation and new markets. Self-sufficient profit centers should not be overly important, but should be sources of funds for innovation.

Case study presented by HSE student Ya. A. Migalev.
URL: http://www.sony.net/SONYlnfo/CorporateInfo.
URL: http://vvw.sony.net/SonyInfo/News/Press/201502/15-017E/index.html.
URL: http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/News/Press/201402/14-019E/index.html.

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