Cultural Analysis of Sony
Defining Organizational Culture:
Organizational culture can be defined in several ways. The definitions that apply to this essay are discussed below. Morgan (1986) defined organizational culture as the development patterns as mirrored by the society's ideology, laws, knowledge system, daily rituals and laws. Schein (1985) says that organizational culture has relations with observed norms, behavioral regularities, policies, philosophies or values, the acceptable behavior and the sense of belonging that an individual has by being part of an organization (p.6,9). An organization's culture is essentially a product of the organization's members. The members are driven to achieve the goals of the organization which in turn has an effect on the organization's life. The data used in this essay has been sourced from secondary electronic and print sources.
The Nature of Sony's Business
Sony is a leading brand in a wide range of electronic products like home entertainment video systems and audio, gadgets for communication, professional electronic and broadcasting devices, PCs, robots and digital cameras. The Japanese corporation has undergone an evolution to become a giant in the electronics business with global operations. This essay explores the organizational culture at Sony and how this culture impedes or promotes Sony's effectiveness. The operations of the company are:
Sony Corporation (Sony Electronics located in the United States),
Sony Computer Entertainment,
Sony Pictures Entertainment,
Sony Music Entertainment,
Sony Financial and •
Sony Ericsson
Sony also manufactures semi-conductors and ranks well in the Worldwide Top 20 Semiconductor Sales Leaders.
The company was founded on May 7th, 1946. The present representative corporate executives at the company are Howard Stringer (Chairman, CEO and President), Ryoji Chubachi (Vice Chairman) and Noboyuki Oneda (Executive Deputy President and CFO) This information is provided by Sony Global (2009).
The Sony Corporation, popularly known as just Sony is a conglomerate with multinational operations with headquarters in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. It is among the world's biggest media conglomerates and records revenues in excess of 7.730 trillion Yen, or $78.88 billion U.S. (FY 2008). Sony's name is derived from a word in Latin that means sound, sonus.
An Introduction to Sony's Culture
Mr. Ibuka envisioned an organization with a very stable environment for work that would encourage visionary engineers possessing great appreciation for the world of technology and technology itself could work to meet their goals and visions and work whole heartedly. To inspire these workers, Mr. Ibuka encouraged them to embrace a spirit of cooperativeness and ensure that they unleashed their technological potential without reserving anything (Sony History). These were the aspirations he had and that he desired to witness in Sony and what set out to create.
Sony's Vision
The culture in this organization lays an emphasis on a spirit of open-mindedness and freedom as well as a burning need for innovation. The founder crafted such a great vision in the initial Prospectus and so this philosophy has stuck throughout the life of the organization and is exemplified by the employees and witnessed throughout the history of Sony.
Sony's Spirit
Since the inception of the corporation in 1946, it has always produced products so innovative that they will inspire fresh lifestyles. Morita and Ibuka, the founders, inculcated a challenging spirit for the production of products not yet produced and a will to afford excitement and happiness to the population that used the products. This philosophy is in the corporation's DNA and is still going strong even after sixty years.
Life at Sony
Sony's aim is to create a working environment that brings inspiration to its workers and makes them chase fresh challenges so that they expand their potential and realize growth by realizing their innovative and creative potential. The company has always striven to encourage personal development by way of on-the-job education and learning and through the employee's ability to access a number of programs designed to meet varied needs and wants, including the education of the next-generation of leaders in business, skills of management, skill training and also training geared towards improving an employee's skills and abilities.
Sony's Incorporation Objectives
the establishment of an ideal factory that lays emphasis on the spirit of open-mindedness and freedom, and somewhere where sincerely motivated engineers can max their skills and technological abilities;
reconstruction of Japan and the elevation of the culture of the nation through fluid manufacturing and technology;
the prompt application of very advanced technologies that were come up with in different sectors at the time of war targeting common families and households;
rapid commercialization of superior technological findings made in universities and other institutions of research that can be applied in common household;
the...
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