Reinventing the Millennium

Since October 1st, everyone at Sony has been confused.

what's the situation?

Financial fraud? Lost money?

Hmm... Fraud and losses are not unacceptable.

$5 billion? $7 billion? ?

Stringer is out! Stringer is out! !

ah?

Really stepped down?

What to do next? Who can go up? Who can lead Sony, which has been in decline for ten years, to rise again?

Looking back, without realizing it, Sony, a brand that is famous all over the world, has been in decline for ten years.

From Nobuyuki Idei to Stringer, the two leaders went from Japanese-style governance to Western-style reforms. The entire group is getting worse and worse!

What happened to Sony?

This issue has been lingering in the minds of many people since the late days of Nobuo Dei, and now, it is a confusion not only for Sony employees, but also for Japanese public opinion.

Fortunately, what makes everyone at Sony very happy is that this time it is not just Sony that has problems, but also Olympus and Takata.

We at Sony are not the worst!

Olympus is going to be delisted over there!

Former president Tsuyoshi Kikukawa is about to enter!

In contrast, Stringer should not fall into the French Open, right?

Based on various circumstances, based on the fact that Sony's ZTE dream was ruthlessly torn apart, based on the inability of two consecutive leaders to lead the group, and based on the fact that Stringer's resignation was caught off guard, Sony's board of directors actually not only participated in the directors, but also Many group executives.

Stringer's resignation has not yet been officially accepted, but it will definitely be accepted. However, how to choose now, who to choose from, and how to choose a suitable successor are the things that Stringer left behind. A legacy that is not endured holding one’s nose.

The conference call was scheduled for 9:30 in the evening on the 10th, which was only two hours after Fang Zhuo received the invitation. The schedule was quite rushed, and this New York time was 10:30 in the morning of the 11th in Tokyo.

As an outside director, Fang Zhuo joined the conference call on time.

As the most famous external director, Fang Zhuo expressed his dissatisfaction as soon as he joined the meeting: "In what age, we still have conference calls. No wonder Sony has fallen into this situation today. We directly use our Yike online conference room. The picture is smooth and the calls are smooth." It’s not stuck, and the trial period is free now, which is just right for us to discuss the company’s situation freely, so let’s change it!”

There was silence as everyone looked at each other in the conference room of Sony's Tokyo headquarters.

Half an hour later, everyone logged into the Yike online conference room Online.

I have to say that the download is very simple, registration is particularly convenient, and there is a long free trial period. It is indeed a must-have product for corporate business and online meetings.

The avatars in the online meeting room lit up one after another. Fang Zhuo was holding a coffee cup and saw everyone with sad faces, as if the company had suffered a serious loss. Oh yes, it was indeed a serious loss, and that's understandable.

Sony's current board of directors is very Western-style. Stringer has not done anything else well in recent years. The power of the board of directors is still very stable. It adopts a combination of 6 external directors + 3 internal directors.

However, when the chairman, Stringer, resigned and held a media conference to announce his resignation to the world, the identities of the outside directors were also very embarrassing.

Sony has used factual losses to prove that Stringer's approach does not work, and the so-called strategic advisors and decision-making facilitators of outside directors are naturally out of the question.

Therefore, only 2 of the 4 outside directors who received the invitation by phone agreed to attend the meeting, and the other 2 declined the meeting. As for the 2 who had not received the invitation, they have been pointing fingers at the group at every turn in the past few years. I was left with a huge feeling of disgust, so I simply ignored them this time.

From a procedural point of view, it is impossible not to invite the two outside directors, but at this moment... no one is pursuing this.

No, Fang Zhuo asked anyway.

Then he was met with silence again.

Fang Zhuo is generally more aware of Sony's current chaotic situation. With Stringer's sudden resignation, the original power structure has completely fallen apart, and everyone is confused.

"We still have to follow the procedures, even at this time, you guys, hey, forget it, let's have a meeting."

Fang Zhuo Liangmai said half a sentence before sighing.

The meeting officially started with the sigh of the outside director, Mr. Fang Zhuo. A total of 11 people attended today. In addition to 2 external directors and 2 internal directors, the remaining 7 people included senior executives and senior executives.

Fang Zhuo has no idea about Sony. In fact, he prefers that Stringer can resign later to further promote external financing of Sony subsidiary sensors.

But Stringer insisted on resigning and said that he had asked the executives of the sensor company to speed up financing, which was considered an explanation.

Therefore, as I told Stringer before, Fang Zhuo, the outside director, does not intend to continue to be an outside director. This will end the friendship between the two people over the years.

Fang Zhuo plans to submit his resignation after the meeting is over.

The meeting was chaired by Executive Vice President Nakahata Ryoharu, who is also one of the two internal directors.

Ryoji Nakahachi is a representative of Sony's local faction. He once competed with Stringer. Later, when Stringer became available, he was elevated to his current position.

With Stringer's resignation, he naturally took over the chairing of the meeting as he held a board seat and was one of the candidates for his successor.

There are three main topics on today’s agenda.

1. Whether to accept Stringer’s resignation.

Second, what happened to Sony?

Third, how does Sony want to go?

Under the leadership of Zhongbo Liangzhi, there was no trouble on the first issue. Everyone agreed to accept Stringer's resignation. The most important thing is that Stringer did not leave any room for relaxation this time. Not only did he resign, he also publicly criticized him. The culture within the company has been torn apart.

Fang Zhuo looked on with cold eyes and also agreed to accept the resignation.

However, when Bo Liangzhi began to talk about "what happened to Sony", began to assign responsibility, and began to criticize Stringer's reforms and governance at Sony with excitement and even anger, he became a little unhappy.

"It is precisely because Stringer has cut back on business and research over the past five years..."

Fang Zhuo couldn't listen anymore and directly interrupted Nakabachi Ryoji's impassioned speech.

"Ryoji Nakahachi, have you forgotten the mess that Nobuyuki Dei left behind?"

"Stringer is not good, that is not good. He did very well in Sony America's business before he could take over as CEO. You invited him here."

"Also, Stringer's reform is also a continuation of Nobuyuki Dei's reform strategy. Shouldn't Sony's many bloated businesses be cut? Shouldn't useless and repetitive R\u0026D be cut?"

"I know what you are thinking. Isn't it just chasing the CEO position again?"

"I think the reason Sony is where it is today is not because of Nobuyuki Idei, not Stringer, or their CEO who has proven themselves through success, but because you are unable to unite."

"If you want to be a CEO, you are just a low-end version of Stringer."

Fang Zhuoliangmai, if Online is as smooth as he said, the call will not be stuck.

Nakabachi Ryoji seemed to be strangled by the neck, and his face slowly turned red: "I, I..."

"What are you? Are you just wandering around in tandem these days? The most important thing now is not how Stringer is doing. It is to first confirm how much the loss is, how to deal with the US SEC, how to put down the baggage and start over. Fang Zhuo said quickly, "What are you doing these days? Waiting to line up and bow?"

Another internal director, Katsumi Ihara, who is also the company's CFO, saw this scene and couldn't help but said: "Mr. Fang, you don't have to defend Stringer like this, we all know your relationship."

"What kind of relationship? What kind of relationship is needed? Do I like Sony, a bankrupt company like yours?" Fang Zhuo said tenderly, "You, you are the only one who dares to speak? Ihara Katsumi, as CFO, your company has suffered serious losses, and the financial report is still suspicious. If you commit fraud, you should bear the second greatest responsibility!”

He continued to criticize: "Stringer still wants to be embarrassed. He resigned voluntarily, but you, the CFO, sit here openly and have a meeting with us. Do you still want to be embarrassed?"

Ihara Katsumi's throat slid up and down desperately, but she still couldn't speak back.

"What the hell, what the hell, Sony's problems are caused by Stringer alone? If he stands up alone, you can all sit here with peace of mind, right? Bah!" Fang Zhuo was furious.

The old Sir is so old. Although he sold his assets, eliminated dissidents, and fought for power, don't you have any responsibility to just sit back and watch him do this?

boom!

The screen of Ihara Katsumi went black.

Fang Zhuo waited for a few seconds and wondered: "She was offline?"

"She, she left the venue in tears..." Keiichiro Shimada, another R\u0026D president, replied nonchalantly, then opened the laptop that had been closed in anger, and the camera revealed an empty seat.

"Oh, I just said that Online is very stable." Fang Zhuo said this first, then realized that it was a bit too much and asked, "Will the meeting still be held?"

There was silence, should I turn it on or... not turn it on?

Ryoharu Nakabachi, who was criticized, did not leave the scene. He suddenly stood up and bowed to the camera to apologize: "Private Marseille, Mr. Fang, it was my fault. This meeting will still go on."

Fang Zhuo said "hmm" and accepted the apology.

Just have a good meeting and don't rush to meet people all the time.

I worked overtime for two days, and I have a day off tomorrow to code at home.