Sony 2001 Annual Report Download - page 11

Download and view the complete annual report

Please find page 11 of the 2001 Sony annual report below. You can navigate through the pages in the report by either clicking on the pages listed below, or by using the keyword search tool below to find specific information within the annual report.

Page out of 140

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13
  • 14
  • 15
  • 16
  • 17
  • 18
  • 19
  • 20
  • 21
  • 22
  • 23
  • 24
  • 25
  • 26
  • 27
  • 28
  • 29
  • 30
  • 31
  • 32
  • 33
  • 34
  • 35
  • 36
  • 37
  • 38
  • 39
  • 40
  • 41
  • 42
  • 43
  • 44
  • 45
  • 46
  • 47
  • 48
  • 49
  • 50
  • 51
  • 52
  • 53
  • 54
  • 55
  • 56
  • 57
  • 58
  • 59
  • 60
  • 61
  • 62
  • 63
  • 64
  • 65
  • 66
  • 67
  • 68
  • 69
  • 70
  • 71
  • 72
  • 73
  • 74
  • 75
  • 76
  • 77
  • 78
  • 79
  • 80
  • 81
  • 82
  • 83
  • 84
  • 85
  • 86
  • 87
  • 88
  • 89
  • 90
  • 91
  • 92
  • 93
  • 94
  • 95
  • 96
  • 97
  • 98
  • 99
  • 100
  • 101
  • 102
  • 103
  • 104
  • 105
  • 106
  • 107
  • 108
  • 109
  • 110
  • 111
  • 112
  • 113
  • 114
  • 115
  • 116
  • 117
  • 118
  • 119
  • 120
  • 121
  • 122
  • 123
  • 124
  • 125
  • 126
  • 127
  • 128
  • 129
  • 130
  • 131
  • 132
  • 133
  • 134
  • 135
  • 136
  • 137
  • 138
  • 139
  • 140

Sony Corporation Annual Report 2001
9
RECOGNITION OF AN ERA
Since its commercialization in 1995, the internet has seen
explosive growth, revolutionizing our society. New services and
markets have come to the fore, including internet connection
services, e-commerce, and business-to-business (B2B) exchanges.
These have fundamentally altered the way in which consumers
interact with companies, how companies interact with each other,
and how companies conduct their operations. These changes,
however, are only the beginning. As we enter the 21st century, digital network technologies and telecommu-
nications infrastructures are taking the next strides down the evolutionary path. We are about to witness a
conscious shift from narrowband networks, which can only transmit small volumes of data such as text and
still images, to broadband networks, over which users will be able to freely send and receive high-resolution
video imagery, such as movies, home-use game software, and other large-volume data. The evolution of
mobile networks, accessible outside the home or office, is equally astounding. Taking us to places beyond
our imagination, the emergence of broadband networks – the second wave of transformation – will shape
new paradigms uncharted in the past course of history and technological innovation.
Based on this recognition, and anticipating the imminent arrival of the broadband network society, the
Sony Group has formulated and begun implementing its new corporate strategies in order to become a
“knowledge-emergent enterprise in the broadband network era”.
INTEGRATED/DECENTRALIZED MANAGEMENT
The first step was to redefine electronics, which has been the Sony Group’s mainstay since its founding, as
one of five pillars of Sony, the others being games, internet/communication services, entertainment, and
financial services. We also embarked on a review of the corporate organization, in particular the traditional
pyramid model, and management systems, namely the command and control-based systems. In doing so,
we decided to create a network-based organizational structure. Specifically, the transfer of a wide scope of
authority will promote the autonomous management of each business and facilitate swifter decision-making.
At the same time, under the leadership of the Sony Group Headquarters, we will bolster strategic alliances
among the five pillars and formulate integrated group-wide strategies with the view to maximizing corporate
value. We call this new management model “integrated/decentralized management”.
PROMOTING ALLIANCES WITHIN THE SONY GROUP
With its five business pillars, the Sony Group is unique among global companies. To boost corporate value
across the Sony Group in the broadband network era, we are promoting intra-group alliances. This involves
combining the resources of our core businesses, such as brand equity, knowledge, intellectual properties,
technologies, products, services, and human resources, to formulate and implement integrated group
NOBUYUKI IDEI
Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer