Reinventing the Millennium

The temporary board meeting held by Nobuyuki Idei made a surprise attack.

Fang Zhuo didn't know whether the head of Sony discovered something or had such a plan.

Judging from the situation in the past few days, it may be that everyone's parents are showing off their dignity and just want to play this trick.

However, in this way, the communication between Stringer and Kutaragi Ken and even Norio Ohga behind him has indeed come to nothing, and frank and formal communication cannot be carried out - even face-to-face communication may not be possible, not to mention that there may only be one or two phone calls now. .

Fang Zhuo thought about it on the way back to the hotel. Ken Kutaragi has a reputation for being violent within Sony, but if it is as expected that his public opposition to Stringer's foreign chairman is to win support, then what will happen if he receives support from Sri Lanka today? Ginger's phone call may not necessarily indicate the prospects for cooperation between the two parties.

Interim board meeting is at 12 noon.

Considering that the journey was not far and that Stringer was seeing Nobuyuki Dei at the moment, Fang Zhuo returned to the hotel and had a simple lunch in an orderly manner, while calmly thinking about what he could do this time.

"Teacher Xu, have domestic experts sent their demonstrations on CMOS image sensors?"

When Fang Zhuolin went to Sony's headquarters, he pulled technical director Xu Keden into the car.

"Well, not yet. There are relatively few studies in this area in our country, and I'm afraid that it will really bring wrong judgment to Mr. Fang." Xu Keden said cautiously, "So, we are still looking for the most knowledgeable experts."

Seeing his boss frowning, he continued: "What is certain right now is that CMOS materials have better noise and speed performance than current CCD materials, and can greatly reduce the power consumption of the chip."

"Furthermore, Sony itself is very accomplished in cameras, and this year it is rumored that it will acquire the camera brand Minolta."

"Based on current judgment, they are very ambitious in CMOS."

Fang Zhuo nodded slightly. Sony has a lot of good stuff, including cameras, lenses, semiconductors, panels, etc. Otherwise, what they are proud of is technology.

"Okay, Teacher Xu, there is no need to rush this matter, don't be anxious, what I want is an accurate judgment." He urged, "When the Sony matter is over, you can form a technical team to come to Japan for exchanges and see what is right. We make mobile phones useful.”

Fang Zhuo pondered for a moment and then said: "Sony's situation has not been good in the past two years. If it is really worthy of research and development, we can try to learn from its practices."

"The original plan for the merger of Sony Music and Bertelsmann was to each hold 50%. The companies that merged with Sony Mobile and Ericsson Mobile also held 50%. Look, they like to do it this way."

"If this CMOS has a future, I can try to ask Sony to spin off the business, and we can set up a 50-50 joint venture."

“It’s not limited to this, but also what technologies, lenses, etc., you make a list and confirm one by one.”

Xu Keden understood the boss's intention, and just as he was about to tease him, he saw the car stop.

Fang Zhuo opened the car door and jumped out.

Xu Keden looked through the door and saw that he was at Sony's headquarters.

He asked in astonishment: "Uh, boss, why are you here at Sony?"

"I'm here to help my friend. You don't have to go up there. Eat whatever you want nearby and charge it to my account." Fang Zhuo stood next to the car, looked up at Sony's sign, turned back and said with a smile.

Xu Keden's heart was aroused with curiosity, but seeing that Mr. Fang was already striding forward, he could only mutter: "Mr. Fang, brotherhood is not true friendship."

He also got out of the car and looked at Sony's headquarters to guess what happened during Mr. Fang's trip.

Although Mr. Fang has always said that he came to Tokyo to watch the excitement, what he saw and heard in the past few days is likely to be limited to a small area and affect the entire Sony empire.

Xu Keden suppressed his curiosity and waited for the changes he would see sooner or later.

…

The headquarters of Sony Group is very luxurious.

A skinny camel is bigger than a horse, not to mention that Sony is not dead yet.

Fang Zhuo was also surprised by how luxurious the building at Sony's U.S. headquarters was. Now that it was his first time to visit the Tokyo headquarters, he still felt that it had more of a Sony feel.

The temporary board meeting is in the conference room on the seventeenth floor.

When Fang Zhuo arrived, almost everyone who was supposed to be in the conference room arrived.

"Today is a board meeting, and irrelevant people should not attend." A Japanese who was already sitting clearly recognized the CEO of his competitor and tried to drive him away before others spoke.

Fang Zhuo also recognized this person, it was Chief Operating Officer Shizuo Takajo, or in other words, he could recognize all the directors on the Sony Group's board of directors.

There was no need for him to speak, Stringer would speak up.

"Mr. Fang is a director of Sony Music, an important partner of Sony America, and my nominated external director of Sony Group." Stringer said solemnly, "I invite Mr. Fang here because I respect his view of today's electronics industry. Judgment and Experience in Consumer Goods.”

Shizuo Takajo refused to accept this, and the other Sony directors next to him were also ready to make a move.

However, Nobuyuki Idei, the leader of the group, waved his hand, and everyone calmed down.

"I met Mr. Fang in China." The head of Sony spoke slowly and commented with a high profile, "The music player made by Yike has led the trend extremely well, which is very good."

Fang Zhuo didn't mind this gesture and said with a smile: "Yike is learning from Sony. There are many areas for cooperation between the two companies. I believe the future cooperation will be broader and deeper."

He said as he sat next to Stringer.

The layout of today's conference room became clear just by taking a quick look.

On one side are the outside directors of Sony Group, including Stringer, the current vice chairman.

On the other side are the internal directors of Sony Group, which are executive directors in the popular sense.

The proportions on both sides are not equal.

There are 12 internal directors on Sony Group's board of directors, including Nobuyuki Dei and Stringer, while the external directors are all heads of major Japanese companies, totaling 5 people.

Therefore, it still takes a lot of effort to convene the temporary board of directors within an hour. People like Akishige Okada, chairman of Sumitomo Mitsui, and Yotaro Kobayashi, chairman of Fujifilm Corporation, are not always in Tokyo.

Opposite Fang Zhuo was Vice President Nakahachi Ryoji who had just left. He was sitting respectfully with a serious expression.

Fang Zhuo winked at Nakabachi Ryoji.

Nakabachi Ryōji also blinked his eyes vaguely, and then his eyebrows lowered, and their eyes no longer crossed each other.

Not everyone in the conference room had arrived yet, and Kutaragi Ken still hadn't arrived.

Fang Zhuo took advantage of this time and couldn't play with his mobile phone in front of him, so he used a pen to write down his urgent thoughts on how to participate in the meeting on the paper in front of him. Due to the situation, he only wrote two sentences.

——Ask about Ryoji Nakahata’s reform of Sony.

——Opposed him, stating that the group should not be radical now.

Stringer glanced at it and tasted it briefly.

When I met Nakaba Ryoharu before, the other party agreed with my reform measures. Now if I openly ask the other party's opinion at the meeting, it will be regarded as a judgmental stance.

If Ryoji Nakabachi still pursues the position of "representative director", he is likely to express similar reform directions.

In the other party's view, this was an opportunity to establish him as "president" + "representative director" in one fell swoop, and it was also a sign of harmony with his successor.

At this time, a backhand knife...

Radical reforms are not welcomed by most people. This is a legitimate reason on the surface. After all, what the board of directors wants to discuss is the future development of the group, not all the change of power. As for how to implement it in the future, there are various reasons.

Stringer thought over and over in his mind that all this would have to be done after the board of directors passed a resolution on the next chairman. If Idei discussed other people's positions first, he would have to wait and see what happens.

Rao Shi Stringer is already the vice chairman of Sony and the president of Sony America. Now that it is related to the head position of the entire group, he is also worried about gains and losses.

boom.

The conference room door was pushed open.

The last director, Kutaragi Ken, arrived.

However, he did not come alone. Walking in front of Kutaragi was Norio Ohga, the former chairman of Sony Group and 75 years old at the time.

Norio Ohga wears glasses and has gray hair, but he is energetic.

Fang Zhuo and Stringer looked at each other, neither of them expected that the former boss would come to this temporary board of directors in person. Nobuyuki Idei would definitely not call him. It could only be that Ken Kutaragi wanted to give it a try. .

Otherwise, the chances of winning the shareholders' meeting will be even slimmer.

Fang Zhuo has revised his understanding. With Sony's current atmosphere and situation, the shareholders' meeting will not easily cause waves.

Amidst the greetings, Norio Ohga and Ken Kutaragi sat down.

It can be clearly felt that the originally reserved atmosphere in the conference room became a little strange with the arrival of Norio Ohga.

Norio Ohga has been a director of the company since 1964. Under his leadership, Sony has almost had its golden age. The popularity of the Walkman, the popularity of CDs, CBS's acquisition of Columbia Pictures, the advent of MD, and the birth of the PS game console all It’s this guy’s credit.

Ohga, Ibuka, and Morita Akio have always been regarded as Sony's troika. Their status is not low and their influence is not low.

Now, he appears on the interim board of directors against the backdrop of Sony's decline, which makes people think about the changes today.

Several internal directors with a neutral stance felt that Dahe was probably coming to prevent the appointment of a foreign chairman.

Unlike anyone who questioned Fang Zhuo's appearance, even though Norio Ohga did not have the right to vote, no one present objected to his arrival.

The same goes for Nobuyuki Idei.

The two heads of Sony were sitting at one end of the conference table, and for a while it was a bit unclear who was the current chairman.

"Today, we are going to discuss Sony's next board of directors candidates." Nobuyuki Idei glanced at the audience, and finally fell on Stringer, and continued, "In view of Sony's current business changes and the development of the global industry, I think Sony needs to be more To take a good look at the overall trend of the group, we must face the development of globalization with a more positive and inclusive attitude."

Norio Ohga suddenly said: "Yes, Sony is facing great challenges now. Nowadays, the PS, finance, and entertainment fields are still gratifying. The entire Sony Group must pay attention to it and must unite, so that it can live up to its expectations." Ibuka and Morita’s expectations.”

A 75-year-old former boss mentioned the two Sony founders he had worked with, and people had to listen to his teachings.

Norio Ohga continued to speak, his words were somewhat sad and angry, and his words became slightly garrulous.

As Fang Zhuo listened, he glanced at Stringer thoughtfully. The first sentence of this big congratulation was to affirm Sony's achievements in the entertainment field. It may be a fair evaluation, but it seems to be able to match the earlier phone call with Kutaragi Ken. connection.

Although the two parties did not meet, the phone call itself was an attitude.

Sure enough, Stringer had a similar feeling, and it was stronger.

He was deeply aware of the xenophobic sentiments of the Japanese management last year. At that time, he didn't even ask a single question. Now it was affirmed in public when discussing the future board of directors, and there was a vague consensus in their hearts.

Stringer's eyes jumped from Norio Ohga to Ken Kutaragi's face. The other person's expression was solemn, his eyes were clear, and there seemed to be no trace of the legendary "irritability".

"So, I think Vice Chairman Stringer can be considered for the future development of Sony Group."

At this time, Norio Ohga released a more direct signal and took the lead in discussing the candidate for the next chairman.

Nobuyuki Idei was startled when he heard this, and immediately considered the purpose of Oga's trip. Since it was not Stringer, it must be Ken Kutaragi.

He showed a smile but quickly put it away and nodded: "Yes, Sony America's development is very strong. Stringer is a rare natural manager. He has convincing abilities. He will be in charge of the group." I am assured of its development."

Norio Ohga was sitting at the end of the conference table. He heard Idei's words and saw the other person's proactive gaze.

After all, he was old, and it took him some effort to remember these familiar words.

Once upon a time, Norio Ohga used such words when deciding on the next leader.

It only took fifteen minutes to call Nobuyuki Dei to inform him of his decision, praising him as a "rare natural manager."

That was already ten years ago.

Norio Ohga shook his head, shaking his head at his memory and Dei's memory.

Nobuyuki Idei pretended to be astonished and asked: "Mr. Ohga, do you have any objections?"

Norio Ohga put away his feelings about time and people, and said calmly: "No, just vote."

Within a minute, Ken Kutaragi, who once openly opposed it, raised his hands in favor.

The appointment of a foreign chairman was unanimously approved by Sony's interim board of directors.

From entering to voting, it only takes ten minutes.

It seemed even shorter than the fifteen minutes last time the successor was decided.

However, the atmosphere in the conference room was very strange, and there was not even a hint of applause.

Stringer was stunned, not only by the short process and the voting results, but also by the atmosphere that was more like removing himself.

Snap, snap, snap.

Fang Zhuo liked to be in charge the most, so he smiled and clapped.

Only then did the conference room burst into applause to congratulate Stringer on his election.

But seeing the actions of his competitors, Takajo Shizuo, who had spoken out before, spoke again.

"Mr. Stringer, do you think the president of Yike should be nominated as an outside director of our Sony Group?" The operating officer involved in the design of the walkman said forcefully, "This should not even be included in the discussion."

Fang Zhuo was happy about the future of his friends and Sony, but suddenly he fell into doubt.

He glanced at Stringer, and when he saw that the future chairman wanted to speak, he waved his hand, indicating that he would speak.

After all, a future outside director should also have some insight into Sony.