Research by Sony Company to Improve Manufacturing of Products and Service Delivery

Research is an essential tool used by organizations in identifying gaps and offering proposals on the way forward. One such firm is Sony Corporation Company, referred to as Sony which was founded after World War II in 1946 in Tokyo Japan by Masaru Ibuka. Shortly, he was joined by a friend Akio Morita and the company begun with a capital of $530. It started as a radio repair shop availing news to people in Japan and thereafter, it became Tokyo Telecommunications Research Institute. Over the years Sony has transformed into a conglomerate corporation with five business areas namely electronics majoring in the manufacturing of AV/IT products and components, music, film, game and financial services with a focus on insurance and banking. Sony is facing competition from other companies manufacturing and offering similar products and services, and so its dominance in the market is progressively declining.

Among these companies are Panasonic, Samsung, LG, Canon, and Philips in Electronics and Microsoft and Apple, the last two being American companies showing strong performance. Given the advanced technology and increased levels of cyber-crime, Sony conglomeration like any other companies is susceptible to hacking. The company experienced similar tragedy in 2014 when a 90’s hacker movie became a massive computer hacking by a group referring to itself as The Guardians of Peace (GOP). The incidence brought Sony’s systems to a standstill and led to stealing and exposing of company confidential data such as social security numbers, movies and staff salaries (Gabriel, 2015). With increasing competition and financial struggles, since 2012, Sony has aimed at turning around the company. The initiative of “one Sony” was to rebuild electronics business and expand it to new markets while more focus would be on games, mobile and digital imaging with about 70% of R&D budget being directed to these areas.

The company would also promote innovation and opt for a partnership with Japanese company competitors or other agencies if television division continued performing dismally. In management reorganization, there would be “One Management” team of 5 senior staff in addition to retrenching about 10,000 or 6% of its total global workforce (Chatterji, Hayes and Jeffrey, 2012). However, sometimes the company has succumbed to mounting pressure to upgrade and expand available product lines. What might this company do in the future to expand its research? Include your rationale. There should be primary research on customer satisfaction of product brands or services and quality level of each. Other data necessary in the study is on product and service improvement, competitive behavior, security analysis, finances and other external factors.