Sony's Yoshihide Nakamura on structure and decision making

Abstract

In May 1946, Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita founded Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Company. The name was changed to Sony Corporation in 1958, a name derived from the Latin word sonus, or sound, and the English sonny, a young man. Sony developed the world's first transistor radio in 1955. It was followed by such revolutionary products as the Trinitron color TV (1968), Walkman (1979), compact disc player (1982), Betacam for broadcast use (1982), floppy disk (1983), Handycam (1985) and the Playstation (1994). Today, Sony is a leading manufacturer of audio, video, communications and information technology products for the consumer and professional markets. Its music, pictures, and computer entertainment operations make Sony one of the most comprehensive entertainment companies in the world. More than 100 million units of the Walkman have been sold in the U.S. alone. Sony employs 170,000 people worldwide. For the fiscal year ended March 31, 1999, sales and operating revenue were US $56.6 billion. Yoshihide...