Sir Howard Stringer, Sony Corporation’s first non-Japanese CEO, talks to Brunswick’s Tim Burt about the need for imagination, vision and trust as ‘legacy companies’ face new challenges and new competitors
As the first non-Japanese head of consumer electronics and entertainment giant Sony Corporation, Welsh-born Sir Howard Stringer was going to have a tough job, no matter what. But his appointment as CEO in 2005 coincided with shrinking markets and increased competition, especially in consumer electronics. Then there was the matter of a global economic meltdown.
Over the past five years, Stringer has pushed through a radical restructuring and heavy cost-cutting as he moved to ensure the future success of the Sony business in a changing world. His work has paid off. Sony is predicting operating profits of Yen 180bn ($2.2bn) in 2011, as demand grows again for the company’s products, from PlayStations and camcorders to recorded music and 3-D movies, and from cellphones to cameras and laptops.
Yet Stringer – a former award-winning journalist and President of CBS – is far from complacent. Speaking to Brunswick’s Tim Burt, the Sony Chairman discusses the challenges of pursuing innovation while simultaneously containing costs and exploiting new markets with existing products. Above all, he says, you have to start from the bottom up, building trust within your company.