A.

Your Company Has Entered a New Industry During the Past Decade

1. Pick one new industry that your company has entered during the past 10 years.

- In 2012, Sony rolled most of its consumer content services (including video, music and gaming) into the
Sony Entertainment Network, the predecessor of Playstaion Network.

2. Identify the rationale for entering this industry.

- Sony Network Entertainment was the original name for the network until 2011, where Sony decided to
create the Sony Entertainment Network platform as a way for the community to access digital
entertainment. With the new name, also came new logos for the different services on the Sony
Entertainment Network. Qriocity services was used by Sony as the video and music downloading
platform; it was renamed Video Unlimited and Music Unlimited in 2011. This allowed Sony to expand
the Music Unlimited service into Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, the Netherlands and Belgium by
the end of 2011.

3. Identify the strategy used to enter this industry.

- The effectiveness of Sony's strategies and their execution, including but not limited to the success of
Sony's acquisitions, joint ventures, investments, capital expenditures, restructurings and other strategic
initiatives. changes in laws, regulations and government policies in the markets in which Sony and its
third-party suppliers, service providers and business partners operate, including those related to
taxation, as well as growing consumer focus on corporate social responsibility.

4. Evaluate the rationale for using this particular entry strategy. Do you think that this was the best entry
strategy to use? Why?

- This might or might not be the best strategy for sony to enter the entertainment industry but this
strategy definitely help Sony.

5. Do you think that the addition of this business unit to the company increased or reduced
profitability? Why?

- Sony Pictures Network India posted total revenue of Rs 6309.9 crore in the financial year 2018-19 as
compared to Rs 6428.0 crore during the previous years. The broadcaster witnessed a decrease of 1.84%
in total revenue.

B. Your Company Has Restructured its Corporate Portfolio During the Past Decade
1. Identify the rationale for pursuing a restructuring strategy.

- Sony Corporation has been undergoing rough corporate experiences forcing it to restructure its
business operations and strategies. Evidently, the organization has been through numerous challenges
since 1990s despite its efforts to recover. Nonetheless, the recent reformation strategies introduced by
Howard Stringer (worked as the CEO and president of the corporation) have allowed Sony to revitalize
its business operations despite the constant challenges experienced by the corporation.

2. Pick one industry that your company has exited from during the past 10 years.

- Indian Smart Phone market in 2019.

3. Identify the strategy used to exit from this particular industry. Do you think that this was the best exit
strategy to use? Why?

- A recent report had claimed that Sony plans to cut its smartphone workforce by half (around 2,000
employees losing their jobs). In March 2019, Sony had announced that it is closing down its smartphone
plant in Beijing, China and shifting the production to Thailand. Sony plans to reduce its operational costs
by up to 50 percent and overall costs by up to 57 percent by the year 2020. The company says that this
plan will help its smartphone business sustainable in the long run.

4. In general, do you think that exiting from this industry has been in the company’s best interest?

- Yes it was a good decision as running a company whuch faces extreme losses is not good. Sony sold 6.5
million phones in 2018, which cost it $879 million. That translated to roughly a 1% share of the market.
Losses that big are not sustainable and they’ve led to some major cuts at Sony Mobile as it tries to
reduce operating costs, hence the withdrawal from certain markets. The danger is that cuts like this,
coupled with the stagnation of the smartphone market in general, could force Sony to throw in the
towel.