Andrew Bird
4/7/14
Sony - Akio Morita
Finance 301

The now incredibly successful company known today as Sony, all started with two young men’s goal to make Japan’s first tape recorders in 1946. With great financial decisions, marketing, and human relations, Akio Morita turned the little company that he and Masaru
Ibuka started some time ago into the successful, profitable, electronic powerhouse that we know as Sony today. In Akio’s own words, “They made Sony the Cadillac of electronics”. Now the company is one of the leading manufacturers of electronic and entertainment products for the consumer and business markets. Sony was the first of similar companies to produce eight different types of items including four types of radios, the first all-transistor television set, the first home-use VCR, and the first 8 mm video camera. (1)
Akio Morita was born on January 26, 1921, in the city of Nagoya. In the eyes of his father, Akio was set to inherit the family business of brewing sake, which has been a tradition for almost 400 years in the family. The wealthy family possessed most of the newer technology of the era and Akio loved to tinker with it, disassemble then reassemble it. Math and physics were among his favorite subjects in grade and high school, so he later went to study physics at
Osaka Imperial University. After graduating from college, he enlisted in the IJN, the Japanese navy, and became a lieutenant for the Navy's Wartime Research Committee during the Pacific
War in 1944. During this time, he met his future business partner Masaru Ibuka. On May 7,
1946, Ibuka and Morita founded Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corporation with approximately 20 employees and an initial capital of 190,000 yen, which was only about $500 at the time. At that time, Ibuka was 38 years old and Morita was 25. Ibuka was in charge of R & D
(research and development) and the production of the goods, while Morita handled the marketing, globalization, finance, and human resources departments throughout the

partnership. Since being fit to run his family’s business, he made for a great leader and oversaw the management of the company. (2)
Morita’s marketing and finance skills were essential to the growth and expansion of this newly founded company. In the early 1950s, Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering
Corporation produced tape recorders. By 1955, they made the first transistor radio and a
“pocket-sized” one nonetheless. Morita marketed these new radios as “pocket-sized” when in reality they were slightly too big for normal pockets, so he had all of his business men wear shirts with bigger pockets giving it a “pocket-sized” appearance. Then three years later Tokyo
Telecommunications Engineering Corporation evolved into Sony. One of the first financial decisions that Morita made turned out to be one of the best. A company offered to sell his products in the U.S. and they offered more money than Sony had in total capital at the time, but the radios had to sell under their name. Although his partner and the board of Sony both said he should take the deal, he refused to sell without the brand name. This decision quickly paid off as he found a vendor to sell the miniature radios in the U.S. using the Sony name. This increased brand awareness and brand image, while immensely increasing profits. Sony was the first Japanese company to have stock issued in America in 1961. This pioneered a new way for
Japanese companies to raise capital without having to deal with Japanese banks. (2) At the end of each fiscal year, Sony invested 6-10% of annual sales into R & D, and by doing so Sony was able to take the lead in developing new products completely independent of the government or other companies. By this time, Sony sold a variety of products including; transistorized radios, solid-state television sets, the popular Walkman and Discman portable music/video players, and VCRs. By 1990 Sony had more than 100,000 workers employed and led the world’s market

for consumer, non-consumer, industrial, and professional electronics and entertainment software. (4)
Throughout his career he made several great business decisions most of which focused on globalization. In 1953, Akio went to Europe and met N.V. Philips, who grew from a light bulb maker into the world’s leading electronic maker. This trip convinced Morita that he should focus his market globally and in particular America. Sony's most significant development was the high frequency transistor radio that established the company's reputation, and revolutionized the consumer electronics industry.(4) Mike Mansfield, the U.S. ambassador to
Japan once said, ''Internationally, he did more for Japan in a business sense than anyone else in
Japan.'' Akio made it his goal to reach everywhere with his business, and maintained relations with several important people worldwide. In order to understand American values, cultures, and styles he moved his whole family to New York. Morita brought a new view on the words
“Made in Japan” whenever he set up corporations all over the world and hired foreign advisers.
A Harris poll in 1998 showed Sony was the No. 1 brand name among American consumers, ahead of American companies like General Electric and Coca-Cola.(3)
Part of Morita’s success is in part because of his incredible network of friends that he made during his career. Through Morita’s management, Sony bought both CBS Records and
Columbia Pictures. According to a banker on Sony’s board, Peter Peterson, Akio knew every
CEO of American companies on a personal level and chatted with them regularly. He frequently played tennis and met with these CEO on the court. In several cases, he was the first foreigner on many boards of American owned companies and vice versa, as Akio made a few important

Americans part of Sony’s board too. Morita also made it his goal to make appearances at every
Sony associated buildings and befriend the staff. He became a spokesperson for many different reasons and many different companies and had two books published about him, made to help others succeed the way he did. (3) As Sony grew internationally, Morita expanded his vision.
The new concept was "Think globally, act locally" meaning produce and sell locally but do it everywhere. This concept also meant to serve international consumers, shareholders and employees no matter what the origin. (2)
In 1993, Morita suffered a stroke that left him partially paralyzed. He retained his title as chairman until 1995, and continued to wield enormous power over the company he helped found until October 1999, when he died from pneumonia at age 78. (1) Today Sony makes computers, tablets, televisions, home theater & audio, compact cameras and video cameras, mobile phones, music, and games for their PlayStation and for PCs. (5) According to this fiscal year, Sony has a revenue of $96.65 billion and gross profit of $15.50 billion and they continue to pay out on the one billion shares that they have out. (6)
In conclusion, Akio Morita was an incredible executive and an inspiration because of the great marketing, financial, and human relations skills that he demonstrates while making his company rise to the top. In business, Akio showed an uncontainable energy. He moved quickly from one business and policy topic to another, and moved fast physically from situation to situation. Many products that Sony has launched throughout their history can be credited to
Morita's creativity and innovative ideas.

Works Cited
Encyclopedia of World Biography. "Akio Morita Facts." Akio Morita Facts. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Apr. 2014.
Gadget Guru. "Akio Morita." Entrepreneur. N.p., 9 Oct. 2008. Web. 13 Apr. 2014.
Pollack, Andrew. "Akio Morita, Co-Founder of Sony and Japanese Business Leader." The New York Times.
The New York Times, 03 Oct. 1999. Web. 13 Apr. 2014.
"SNE Key Statistics | Sony Corporation Common Stock Stock - Yahoo! Finance." Sony Corporation
Common Stock Stock - Yahoo! Finance. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Apr. 2014.
"Sony USA - Consumer Electronics Products, Movies, Music, Games and Services." Sony USA - Consumer
Electronics Products, Movies, Music, Games and Services. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Apr. 2014.
"Success Stories: AKIO MORITA: BIOGRAPHY." Success Stories: AKIO MORITA: BIOGRAPHY. N.p., 5 June
2011. Web. 13 Apr. 2014.
1: Entrepreneur
2: True success stories
3: NYtimes
4: Biography
5: Sony
6: Yahoo