it's difficult to imagine how the disparate business units would come together to create synergies and drive innovation if one considers a quote by the CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment, Michael Lynton,
"I'm a guy who doesn't see anything good having come from the Internet...(the Internet) created this notion that anyone can have whatever they want at any given time. it's as if the stores on Madison Avenue were open 24 hours a day. They feel entitled. They say, 'Give it to me now,' and if you don't give it to them for free, they'll steal it." (cited in Rosenberg, 2009).
After posting a loss of $1 billion dollars for the year ended March 31, 2009, Sony has not put the bad news behind the company (Kelly, 2009). In fact, the company expects to lose another $1.2 billion for its current fiscal year (Kelly, 2009). The company's primary response has been cost cutting and restructuring. In December 2008, Striker announced plans to close eight plant and 16,000 jobs (Kelly, 2009). Then, in May 2009, he revealed plans to cut costs by an additional $2,8 billion through more layoffs and production cuts and a greater reliance on outsourcing (Kelly, 2009). In addition, Stringer asked Sony president, Ryoji Chubachi, to step down in April 2009 (Ricker, 2009). According to Ricker, Chubachi became a vice chair while Stringer took direct control of Sony's core electronics division.
Perhaps one positive note for Sony is that its 2009 financial results have been prepared in accordance with GAAP / IFRSs and have been fully audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers (Documents submitted to the SEC (EDGAR) Form 20F and others). At that time, the company had more than $6.8 billion in cash assets, indicating long-term financial stability even if the company continued to lose money at the rate of $1 billion...
Further, so far, the bleeding isn't as bad as Sony had anticipated for the fiscal year 2010. Its loss for the fiscal first quarter was $391 million (Documents submitted to the SEC (EDGAR) Form 20F and others) which came in better than the company's forecast.
In summary, the market segments Sony competes in are extremely competitiver and demand cost efficiency and innovation. Strikers says he's focused on both, but his belief in business unit synergies to foster innovation doesn't seem convincing. If Blu-ray does fall apart, this could drag down many businesses. The company lacks a culture for innovation and remains too slow to respond to market trends and too proprietary.
Bibliography
Documents submitted to the SEC (EDGAR) Form 20F and others. http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/IR/library/sec.html
Harris, R. (2008, October 28). Blu-ray is dead -- heckuva job, Sony! http://blogs.zdnet.com/storage/?p=365
Kelly, T. (2009, May 14). Stringer sticks knife deeper into Sony. Forbes. http://www.forbes.com/2009/05/14/sony-stringer-nintendo-markets-equities-loss.html
King, D. (2008, June 26). Sony shoots for $10 billion in Blu-ray sales by 2011. Video Business. http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6573434.html
McIntyre D.A. (2009, June 7). Sony (SNE) will have to sell its studio business, could get $6 Billion. http://247wallst.com/2009/06/07/sony-sne-will-have-to-sell-its-studio-business/
Ricker, T. (2009, February 27). Sony's Howard Stringer consolidates power as president resigns. http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/27/howard-stringer-consolidates-power-at-sony-president-resigns/
Rosenberg, D. (2009, May 16). Sony Pictures CEO hates the Internet. http://news.cnet.com/8301-13846_3-10242526-62.html
