Sony Corporation has announced the splitting of its business units across the Sony Group to reinforce the competitiveness of each business.
Sony says that the move also ensure “clearly attributable accountability and responsibility.”
In addition to Game & Network Services, Mobile Communications, Pictures, Music and certain other Sony Group businesses that were already operating autonomously as subsidiaries, in July 2014 Sony split out its TV business, followed by its Video & Sound business in October 2015.
The company now plans to split out and establish its semiconductor business as a wholly owned subsidiary in April this year. Sony is also exploring the split out of its Imaging Products and Solutions Sector.
Concurrently, Sony says it has also realigned the platform functions that support each of its business units, in an attempt to enhance the efficiency of these operations. Operations that until now have resided within Sony Corporation, including the Consumer AV Sales Platform, the Manufacturing, Logistics, Procurement, Quality and Environmental Platform for Sony’s electronics business, as well as certain cloud-based platforms and service-related businesses, will each be transferred to the related Sony Group companies. This transition is scheduled to be made sequentially from April 1, this year.
At the completion of this function split out process, Sony will focus on Group headquarters functions which comprises; Headquarters (responsibility for the Sony Group’s overall strategy and governance, and oversight of their execution); R&D (leadership of Sony’s differentiation and creativity through technological innovation); New Business (incubation of new businesses in areas beyond Sony’s current business domains);
It also include Brand Design to enhance Sony’s brand value and implement horizontal Group-wide initiatives; as well as Professional Services to support the operations of the Sony Group following the completion of the splitting out process.
Certain changes will also be made to Sony’s executive assignments and system, effective from April 1 in conjunction with this structural realignment. Sony will appoint new four executives, currently in charge of four of the Sony Group’s business segments, as ‘Corporate Executive Officers’ of Sony Corporation.
They, together with the six existing Corporate Executive Officers, will assume ultimate responsibility for the Sony Group’s management within the scope assigned to them by the company’s board of directors.
The company says it will also re-classify its other executives. The executives responsible for executing their assigned business operations under the oversight of the relevant corporate executive officers will be named ‘business executives’ of Sony Corporation, while the executives responsible for the headquarters functions assigned to them under the oversight of relevant corporate executive officers will be named corporate executives of Sony Corporation.
Home
