Sony company

Sony’s humble beginning started in Japan in 1946 from the sheer determination and hard work of two bright and enterprising young men. Both Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita joined hands in making their dream of a successful global company a reality.

Sony’s HR Transformation

Sony Electronics decided to make the leap to an HRO model for its new HRIS system. Three years ago, Sony Electronics took a hard look at its HR information system and didn’t like what it saw. Only 18 percent of 14,000 employees in six locations consistently used the HR applications, leaving the HR department knee-deep in paper.

HR undertook an intensive, frank process of internal evaluation, leaving no stone unturned in its quest to transform HR into a world-class organization and HR specialists into bona fide corporate strategists. It succeeded on both counts by adopting an HR Outsourcing model.

Back in 2000, Sony Electronics realized its outdated, inflexible HR system no longer met its needs. The varied applications used across the organization had created inefficiencies and missed opportunities. HR data often was unreliable or hard to access, limiting the effectiveness of other technology initiatives. To better manage and reduce the cost of HR service delivery, an HR Outsourcing model was evaluated as the solution.

After receiving senior-level sponsorship of the outsourcing strategy, Sony HR inked the deal with Hewitt Associates. Both then moved in parallel paths led by a joint steering committee, which Cotter and Laspisa headed.

Once a framework for the HR Outsourcing structure was hammered together, senior HR staff at each of Sony Electronics’ seven locations reviewed and validated it. A change management team was assembled to analyze employee and manager work processes and behaviors to determine how these would change. The team also addressed Web access, security, and privacy issues. Finally, a major communications and training effort was launched to get everyone attuned to the new system. The planned kickoff for the endeavor was Sept. 11, 2001. Due to the tragic events that ensued that day, the kickoff was postponed until the next day

This April, Sony and Hewitt will introduce an expanded compensation administration system on HR Work Ways that includes annual salary planning and administration, incentive compensation, unplanned pay changes, special cash awards, and additional analytics.

The portal also will be expanded to accommodate recruiting and deployment needs, providing services for job postings, applicant tracking, and employee orientation, transfers, and exits.

Sony Corporation Announces New Management Structure

Sony Corporation's current management team today proposed the creation of a new management structure designed to expand upon its core strengths as a global electronics, entertainment and technology company. The proposal was approved at the Board of Directors' Meeting held today. Effective June 22, subject to approval at Sony Corporation's Ordinary General Shareholder's

Cultural Challenges faced by Sony

Sony culture emphasizes "a spirit of freedom and open-mindedness," and a fighting spirit to innovate. Founder Masaru Ibuka crafted this vision in Sony's Founding Prospectus, and the philosophy is embedded in our company DNA, embodied in our employees, and seen throughout our history

·         Sony use different languages to script their sites. They have translated their websites in many languages.

·         Sony employs 167,900 people world wide.

·         Workforce Diversity is one of the challenges faced by the company. Even Marketing and catering the product to different markets and after sales service are the challenges the company needs to work upon.

·         Sony has an ongoing talent development initiative . In 2008, the company created 13 global    talent directors who are assigned to identify promising individuals in all businesses and regions and develop them into future business leaders. This initiative also includes a job rotation project with individuals moving through a schedule of job assignments designed to give them exposure to a variety of businesses and regions.

New products launched by Sony

1. Sony India to launch 10 new LED TV models

Consumer electronics major Sony has lined up a string of launches in the LED television segment in India this year, even as it is preparing a new marketing initiative that aims at capturing a 30 per cent market share in the LCD segment by 2010-end.company will be launching 10 new products in the LED segment from June this year. Sony is betting big on the 3D enabled TV that will be launched across all its markets, including India, from June. It will simultaneously launch some software products to support the 3D TVs.As part of its plans to strengthen its brand image, the company will be investing Rs 140 crore in 2010 for a new marketing campaign that will cover the print and electronic media, online and outdoor platforms. It also plans to double its outlets from the present 2,500 this year.

2. HD camera

The SNC-CH240 Full HD Fixed camera was launched at Sony's Power of Images (POI) event in Germany, completing its HD range. IFSEC heralded the European launch of two new HD cameras. The SNC-DH180 and SNC-DH240 were unveiled for the first time at ISC West in the US in March and will be on show for the first time in Europe at IFSEC 2010. Focused on image quality, the SNC-DH180 boasts a built-in infrared (IR) illuminator to deliver excellent images even in absolute darkness, while the SNC-DH240 is equipped with various different image enhancers including View-DR.

3. Laptop with new Transfer Jet

Sony will launch the first laptop containing the new Transfer Jet short-range wireless system on Saturday. Sony hopes Transfer Jet will replace cables for shifting data between gadgets, but the technology's success will depend on its use in products from the big-name consumer electronics companies that have pledged to support it.

4. Sony to launch new e-reader in Japan

 Sony has partnered with three local companies including mobile phone carrier KDDI Corp, Toppan Printing Co. and Asahi Shimbun, a major newspaper in Japan, to establish an e-book distribution company.

5. Sony Unveils Its Answer to Apple's iTunes

Sony (SNE) is taking a page from Apple's playbook .On Nov. 19, Sony said it plans to launch an online store selling music, movies, and books as well as other downloadable applications for mobile products. Sony's top executives didn't specify when the Internet store, tentatively called Sony Online Service would go live or what it would look like. But the online storefront announced at a management strategy meeting in Tokyo, is likely to bear some similarities to Apple's iTunes store and would be Sony's most ambitious attempt to link its products to its own vast library of digital content.

• Completely new lineup of BRAVIA™ LCD televisions with LED backlight technology and our new Monolithic Design is a clear example of how Sony will continue to own the living room by creating products that deliver on Sony’s promise of exceptional TV quality and performance-a promise that continues with the upcoming launch of 3D televisions.
• VAIO PCs continue to impress with their strong combination of innovation, entertainment and elegant design. One particularly exciting model in the lineup is the Z series. Weighing in at just three pounds and featuring cutting-edge graphics, it is a wonderful example of our ultra-mobile engineering expertise.

• Sony Ericsson introduced the Xperia™ X10-a feature-rich Smartphone built on a new open platform-and is currently rolling it out globally. In addition to rich graphics and a large touchscreen display, the Xperia™ X10 also features applications to intelligently manage both communications and media from multiple sources.
• Cinemas around the world are starting to deploy digital projectors, which allow content to be projected at substantially higher image quality than existing projectors. The 4K digital cinema projector system already commercialized by Sony is designed for easy conversion to 3D projection, and the two largest theater chains in the United States have signed on to deploy our systems across their circuits of more than 11,000 screens, representing an important step for this growth business.
• Sony/ATV Music Publishing, for the first time in the Company’s history, was named ASCAP Pop Publisher of the Year-the industry’s highest honor. Sony/ATV continues to be tremendously innovative in licensing the songs in its catalog, and with the year’s biggest international country and pop sensations-Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga-signed to Sony/ATV, there is a lot to be excited about.

Televisions
The Company is targeting profitability in LCD TVs in fiscal year 2010. In addition, this autumn we will launch the Sony Internet TV. Developed in collaboration with Google, Sony Internet TV is an exciting new generation of television that not only offers new forms of enjoyment through unprecedented Internet integration, but is also able to “evolve” through the download of applications. We are also developing the next generation of TV display, and over the medium term are targeting a 20% market share.

Game
The PlayStation®3 platform has been gaining momentum since the launch of the slimmer, lighter and attractively priced PS3™ last year. PlayStation®Move features a new motion controller that, when combined with the PlayStation®Eye camera, can very precisely track users’ movements to add a new dimension to PS3™ games. Additionally, as a core aspect of Sony’s Groupwide launch of 3D products, we have commenced the era of 3D gaming by enabling all existing PS3™s to be upgraded to 3D-compatibility with a free firmware download, and will release our own 3D game titles and continue to actively support the development of 3D games by third-party software developers.

Digital Imaging

*3 “α” NEX-5, the smallest and lightest interchangeable lens digital camera body, will be launched on May 11, 2010.