Sony Inc.

Executive Summary

This report was done to analyse Mintzberg’s 10 managerial roles and how they are essential for a successful manager. Research was conducted on Elon Musk, President of Tesla Motors, and how he fulfils the managerial roles.

The research draws attention to the fact that Elon Musk was a great manager and of how he helped Tesla to rise to the top of the electro car industry. Under Musk leadership, Tesla underwent a huge change in management referred to as the ‘One Sony’ turnaround strategy. This was a management strategy Tesla designed so that the company could get better profits and future investments.

Mintzberg’s managerial roles consist of 10 roles which are sub-divided into; interpersonal roles, informational roles, and decisional roles. All 3 categories are discussed in this report and how they benefit the company as well as the manager, staff, and the general public. Musk’s managerial qualities and how he fulfils the managerial roles are also mentioned, with examples provided where possible. Research concluded that Musk possessed all 10 of Mintzberg’s managerial roles and that that is the main reason he is one of the most successful leader’s and the C.E.O. of one of the biggest companies in the world.

Introduction to the Company

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Akio Morita, Masaru Ibuka, and Tamon Maeda established Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering on May 7, 1946. The company produced the first Japanese tape recorder in 1950 to innovate and create new markets. The company changed its name to Sony Corporation in 1958, after releasing the first Sony-trademarked product, a pocket sized radio in the previous year (The Reference Press, 1995). Since then, Sony has developed a lot of products and has become one of the major giants in the electronic industry.

Today, the Sony Group comprises of three main businesses; entertainment, electronics and financial services. Sony is known for its innovative products and services that inspire the people of the world and let them indulge in this new era of entertainment. The company, comprising of over 131,700 people, recorded a revenue of around 8,215,880 million yen as of march 31, 2015. As well as a common stock of around 707,038 million yen. The most notable of products produced by Sony is the PlayStation, which was released in 1994, and immediately became a huge hit (Advameg, 2016).Other major products produced by the company include; televisions, cameras and video cameras, audio and video players/recorders, batteries and even medical related equipment.

The President of Sony Corporation, Kazuo Hirai, appointed on April 1, 2012, plans to expand the business in emerging markets, create new businesses and strengthen the already existing ones, to take the company into a new and better direction. One of the major changes that have been brought recently is the change of top management structure that is aimed at accelerating decision making and strategic execution (Sony Corporation, 2016).

Introduction of the Manager

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(Kazuo Hirai, 2015)

Kazuo Hirai was born in Tokyo, Japan on December 22, 1960. After graduating from ICU’s College of Liberal Arts, he joined CBS/Sony Records, Japan (now Sony Music Entertainment Inc.). In August 1995 he transferred to Sony Computer Entertainment America and in the following year he went on to become one of its EVP (Executive Vice President) and then the COO (Chief Operating Officer) of the company. In December 2006 Hirai was appointed to Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. as its President. He became Chairman in September 2011, and finally the President and CEO of Sony Corporation in April 2012 (ICU, 2014).