Who's the CEO in question? Sir Howard Stringer. He has been at Sony since 1997 and has run its US operations with great success - most notably the movie division, which was turned around by his decision to make new Spiderman films. All in all, his proven track record seems to make him the right man for Sony. The only unusual thing about the appointment is Stringer's nationality. Not only is Stringer not Japanese, but he doesn't live in the country and he doesn't speak the language.
So why choose him?
Japanese corporate culture is notoriously hierarchical and suffused with customs and complicated interpersonal relationships, all of which are designed to maintain a status quo. Many think that this is one of the things that has hindered the country in its attempts to break out of its "lost decade" of deflation and recession. Now, after 15 years of inertia, Japan's big firms are starting to adopt Western-style management and corporate governance practices, and for that many are also beginning to come around to the idea that they need to have a foreigner in a senior position. Foreign executives can act as agents for change without worrying about offending colleagues or putting their careers in jeopardy - or so the theory goes.
Is there a precedent for this?
Yes. The best example is Carlos Ghosn. His employer, Renault, bought 36.8% of a nearly bankrupt Nissan in 1999 and won the right to install its own managers to oversee the investment. Brazilian-born Ghosn took over and turned Nissan into an industry leader in less than five years with his famouslyno-nonsense management style. He drew up a list of words to be translated into Japanese, such as "commitment" and "target", so that no one could misconstrue his meaning and couched every change he made - even factory closures - as part of Nissan's renaissance. Ghosn is now a national hero: at one point there was a move afoot to change the law to allow him to run as prime minister, and there is even a comic-book series about his exploits. However, not all foreign bosses have done so well. Rolf Eckrodt was installed as chief operating officer of Mitsubishi Motors by DaimlerChrysler in 2001, shortly after it bought the company. He was made CEO the following year, but last April when he left, the company was $10bn in debt and was losing $2bn a year.
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How bad are things at Sony?
Nothing like they were at Nissan when Ghosn arrived, when the car firm was almost bankrupt. Howard Stringe is taking control of a profitable company with an A-grade debt rating and one of the world's best-known brands. Still, there are problems. Some of the divisions are at odds with one another and the competition is massive - not just from Japan, but from China, South Korea and India too. Analysts also say that Sony - and many of its Japanese peers - failed to spot the emergence of the digital age and make the shift from hardware to software it needed to stay on top. To do so, the firm needs to sharpen its focus and move more effectively (it shouldn't have let Apple steal a march on it with the iPod, for starters). Stringer's first task is to get Sony back up to speed (coming up with an answer to the iPod fast). To do this, he will also have to break down the walls between Sony's various businesses, and get them working together. This may be difficult, and there will probably be some resistance from the life-long career men at Sony, who may resent his lack of engineering nous, but Stringer has a reputation at Sony as one who understands how to cultivate harmony.
But does Japan really need foreign help?
Not necessarily. In early 2001, L. Todd Budge became the first foreign CEO of a Japanese bank when he was recruited to Tokyo Star Bank. His experience, he says, has taught him that it isn't about getting the right nationality of leader, but rather a leader with the right basic ideas: there is nothing intrinsically wrong with Japan's corporate structure. Consider Matsuhita Electric Industrial Co, which owns Panasonic. Panasonic used to be in Sony's shadow, but despite its traditional Japanese corporate structure, it has in many ways shot ahead of its rival.
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