Please read the Chapter 11 Mini-Case (Sony's Dilemma) and provide 2-3 recommendations you would make as consultant or member of management.

Sony's Dilemma, Matching Strategy and Structure Launched in 1946 in Japan, Sony gained a reputation for producing innovative products that were sold throughout the world. In fact, the firm's success was instrumental to Japan's development as a powerful exporter during the 1960s,1970s, and 1980s. Sony was sometimes "first to market" with an innovative product, while sometimes being able to rapidly enhance a product's capabilities by innovating. Introduced in 1979, the Sony Walkman, which was a personal stereo tape deck, is an example of a "first to market" product from Sony. On the other hand, Sony innovated the transistor radio-initially developed by Regency Electronics and Texas Instruments-in a way that made the product commercially viable. Regardless of the type, innovation has been critical to how Sony competes in multiple product areas. Realizing the value that could be gained by sharing resources, capabilities, and core competencies across types of businesses, Sony's success for many decades was a product of its commitment to "convergence," which the firm operationalized by linking its activities across businesses such as film, music, and digital electronics. In essence, Sony was successful for many years as a result of being able to effectively implement the related constrained strategy. But as we noted in the chapter when discussing the related constrained strategy and the structure needed to implement it, an inability to efficiently process information and coordinate an array of integrated activities between units are problems that may surface when using the cooperative form of the multidivisional structure. This appears to be the case for Sony. In response to performance problems that have plagued the firm for over a decade, Sony put into place significant structural changes in October 2015 , intended to be the foundation for improvements to Sony's ability to create value for customers and enhance wealth for shareholders. At the core of the structural changes are efforts to group the firm's businesses in ways that allow Sony's upper-level leaders to more effectively allocate financial capital. A key objective is to allocate capital to the businesses with the strongest potential not just to grow, but to grow profitably. In essence, the new structure is an example of the SBU form of the multidivisional structure. However, in 2018, with new CEO Kenichiro Yoshida (formerly the CFO), Sony is again making a strategic shift. Yoshida laid out a strategy shift away from hardware and toward content in outlining a three-year business plan. This is not a shock; Sony sold 81 million electronic devices in 2011, but only half that volume in 2017. This plan also dispels rumors that Yoshida would sell Sony Pictures, which had successes in a remake of Jumanji, and continued production of the Spiderman movie series. In fostering this shift, Sony recently bolstered its entertainment assets by buying the majority of shares it did not own in EMI Music from Mubadala Investment Co. The problem is that cooperation among the business units is going to be more salient. One of its central competitors, Disney has been very successful in integrating its content businesses such that its movies and TV show characters feed well into its theme parks and retail sales of cartoon and action figures (see the Mini-case at the end of Chapter 6). However, Sony has not been very successful at such integration attempts. For example, Sony's attempt to build a global content-delivery platform via the PlayStation gaming console has not been very fruitful. As Media Partners Asia executive director Vivek Couto suggested, "the company has missed an opportunity to leverage IP from PlayStation games for movies and TV." Sony "also comes off poorly in utilizing properties across divisions: that integration needs to happen." Sony's new strategy is playing out in video game controllers, currently in its PlayStation 4 console. "Sony has been shifting its PlayStation focus from hardware to online subscription services, including a $60 annual package that includes games and multiplayer features. That service, PlayStation Plus, had 34 million users as of March 2018, fitting the new CEO's goal of adding revenue sources that are more stable than volatile hardware and software sales." The leader of this business unit, Tsuyoshi Kodera, has noted that Sony will take its time in coming out with the fifth generation PlayStation console; "We're no longer in a time when you can think just about the console or just about the network like they're two different things." Thus, there Source: https//www.sony_net/Sonyfo/Corporatelnfa/Data/organizationhtml needs to be better connections between the hardware and the myriad of content associated with video games, movies, and online games as well as mobility; the PlayStation has been traditionally a living-room console and demand for many games suggests the need to be available on mobile devices. This new strategic emphasis obviously will require more integration than has been utilized in the recent past with Sony's SBU multidivisional structure. It is important to remember that Sony has other businesses besides the hardware and content businesses that need increased integration to stay competitive. It is now structured into three core sectors or business units-electronics, entertainment, and finance (see the Sony organization chart). The problem is that better integration is going to be required between two SBUs, electronics and entertainment. That will be difficult as all three units are judged on a performance criterion within the separate SBUs, which does not inspire cooperation. Sources: 2018, Corporate Information, Organization Data, www.sony.com, Accessed July 26; J. Beckerman, 2018, Sony to buy Mubadala's stake in EMI Music Publishing, Wall Street Journal, www.wsj.com, May 22; G. J. Blair, 2018, Sony's strategy shift shuts down sale rumors, Hollywood Reporter. May 30, 22; G. J. Blair, 2018, What does Sony's new CEO have planned?, Hollywood Reporter, February 7, 22; T. Mochizuki, 2018, Sony says the next PlayStation is three years off, Wall Street Journal, www.wsj.com, May 24; T. Mochizuki, 2018, Sony chief hands over reins after resurgence, Wall Street Journal, www.wsj.com, February 3; Y. Wang, 2018, Tech giants are creating their own labels to conquer China's digital music market, Forbes, www.forbes.com, February 8; 2015, Here's Sony's new business strategy. Business Insider, www.businessinsider.com, February 21; T. Mochizuki \& E. Pfanner, How Sony makes money off Apple's iPhone, Wall Street Journal, www.wsj.com, April 28; E. Pfanner \& T. Mochizuki, 2015, Sony's mobile unit seeks profit, innovation, Wall Street Journal, www.wsj.com, March 2; M. Schilling, 2015, Sony strategy centers on splitting businesses, not selling-for now, Variety, www.variety.com, February 26