Three things you could use in class taken out from Sony:

Sony is a very good example of a diversified company. Most of their businesses are related and focus on consumer electronics starting with TV´s, video, games, music, notebooks,.... The BCG Matrix we have used in class would be an excellent tool to depict all their businesses. I am pretty sure that a bunch of their businesses are either question marks (blue ray), stars or cash cash.

Sony has clear and achievable corporate, business and functional strategies. Sony formulates its strategy on press conferences on a quarterly basis which makes the company more responsive to changes in the business environment. Their corporate strategy centers on growth whereas their business level strategy is beeing the leader in consumer electronics technology.

Last but not least Sony has all the characteristics of an involved board. They have more outsiders than insiders sitting in the BoD. The directors do have international experience and are not involved in day-to-day operations. They meet frequently. The most important aspect is that Sony´s BoD is composed of young directors from all over the world who bring in new ideas and represent a new generation. This is especially important in understanding customer needs.

Would I like to work for the company? Oh yes. I would love to work for Sony. They are so creative and successful. The most important thing for me is they have a great culture with mutual respect and empowered employees. Its not the fake empowerment stuff which McDonalds claims but Sony really has flat hierachies and small action groups. I also like the idea of a collective decision making (which is one of the Japanese cultural aspects) where you do not get directions from one boss but from the whole group.

In the last couple of weeks Sony´s market share price was pretty much the same around $26. If you are risk avers like me I would recommend you to invest in this company. Although Sony is making its first loss since years the company is in good financial condition and therefore promisin good returns on investment in future. However if you wanna make more money in a shorter period of time invest somewhere else where returns are high but also risk is higher.

Thank you guys.
Enjoyed your class Dr. Busija