Reinventing the Millennium.

Chapter 485 Sony's Changing Situation, Crowing Crows ([-] in [-])

On the night of April 4, the weather in Tokyo changed suddenly, with strong wind and heavy rain.

In the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Fang Zhuo nestled on the sofa by the floor-to-ceiling windows, smoking while reading Sony's materials.

"Mr. Fang, he said that due to the impact of the typhoon on the south coast, the weather has changed. Tomorrow's flight may be delayed until the night after tomorrow."

Zhao Zhishan walked in hurriedly, and saw the boss with his back against the wind and rainy night view of Tokyo.

"Well, I guess it will be delayed." Fang Zhuo wiped out the smoke and looked at the city under the heavy rain outside the window, "Take my mobile phone and call Vice President Hu of TSMC and ask him if he is affected by the weather. .”

"If it is affected, let him come to the hotel, just in time to drink and chat."

Zhao Zhishan didn't expect that the boss's first thought was Hu Zhengda.

She took two steps, got the mobile phone on the coffee table, and contacted him as instructed.

The other party expressed his thanks, but he had already returned to Baodao.

"Boss Hu is really a man of affairs. I like this style." Fang Zhuo was a little surprised, "Then tell New York and Houston that we will be late for a day or two."

With Houston still waiting to be approached, it's impossible for Alexander to sell the Rockets to someone he's never met.

At the very least, you have to meet each other before you can sell.

In addition, the sale of the team has to be approved by the league council. If the action is quicker, Dayao may be included in this month.

Zhao Zhishan went to the next room to make a contact notification.

Fang Zhuo flipped through Sony's materials, and could faintly hear her voice, but his thoughts were all on Sony.

After the recording of the TV Tokyo program was over, Fang Zhuo felt that Sony seemed to be more at a loss than he imagined, and even more at a loss after combing through the camera. This feeling was confirmed by the content of the materials in hand.

Chairman Idei Nobuyuki also seemed to realize that his situation was not good. In October last year, he announced a plan called "Change 10", claiming to increase the company's profit margin to 60% in 06.

The unequivocal said that if the standard is not met, the Sony Group can change coaches.

This, isn't this giving people a handle?
Fang Zhuo didn't know such a situation existed before, but after reading the materials, he realized that Nobuyuki Idei's situation might be worse than he guessed.

He's reached the point where he has to give someone a handle in order to maintain his authority...

However, Sony has not improved its business this year, and Nobuyuki Idei gave the reason early, so that people can openly propose a change of rights...

The situation is already dangerous.

Fang Zhuo likes to put himself in the situation and think about problems, which can make his thinking beating more sharply.

"Mr. Fang, the announcement is over. I will pay attention to the latest weather news at night."

Zhao Zhishan walked in again and put the boss's cell phone on the coffee table.

Fang Zhuo let out a "hmm", put down the materials he had finished reading, and said, "Xiao Liu should be back soon, I asked him to buy some newspapers, if you have time to go online tonight or tomorrow, you can help me collect some Sony newspapers." information."

Zhao Zhishan quickly replied: "I have time now."

"Oh, there is a notebook, you can collect it at the table." Fang Zhuo nodded, "You can put all the information you think is valuable in the document, and I will read it later."

Soon, the only sound in the room was the occasional sound of the mouse and keyboard.

Zhao Zhishan frowned and collected carefully, and suddenly realized that the boss hadn't made a single sound. She turned her head and took a sneak peek, and found that Mr. Fang was thinking about the wind and rain outside the French window.

"Mr. Fang, Sony has a lot of information, and I only kept the last few years."

Zhao Zhishan spoke out cautiously.

Fang Zhuo said "um" and yawned: "Bring it here, and make me a cup of coffee. On such a rainy day, drinking a steaming cup of coffee at night really makes me feel happy."

Zhao Zhishan handed over the notebook, first made a cup of coffee for the boss, and then made a cup for himself.

She sipped her mouth, and seeing Mr. Fang's relaxed expression, she couldn't help asking: "Mr. Fang, do you read some, um, some common news to judge the situation?"

Fang Zhuo said without raising his head, "Otherwise? What do you think?"

Zhao Zhishan said without hesitation: "I thought it was the kind of news that we couldn't get in touch with, but I didn't expect, I didn't expect, uh, Mr. Fang would read this kind of content that everyone can see."

Fang Zhuo glanced at the secretary this time and smiled slightly: "Many times, everyone can see the valuable information, but you don't need to use it to judge the situation."

Zhao Zhishan is skeptical.

"For example, this one." Fang Zhuo took a sip of his coffee and pointed to the laptop screen, "In 97, Sony reduced its board of directors from more than 40 people to 10 people, 7 of whom were internal directors and 3 were external directors. "

Zhao Zhishan thought carefully, this happened nearly 7 years ago, what can it prove?
"I said on today's program that Japan has a very closed mentality, and many of its companies have this behavior. The board of directors is the lifeblood of a company's power. It introduces three outsiders as directors, and the proportion reaches 30%. Don't look at it and don't have much sense of presence."

"Once there is a problem with the status of the company, it is legal for such a director to speak up."

"Xiao Zhao, Sony 7 years ago is not what it is now, why did it reorganize the board of directors?"

"It's definitely not about the Sonys."

"It's just a manifestation of social and corporate thoughts in recent years."

Fang Zhuo indexed a few keywords at random, and quickly found the information he thought of.

That is, when Sony reorganized the board of directors in 97 and introduced European and American management systems, Japanese companies followed suit one after another, aiming to improve the transparency of corporate management.

In 2003 last year, Japan's new commercial law directly confirmed the reform of the new governance structure of "committee companies" by large companies such as Sony.

Zhao Zhishan looked at the boss's fixed message, thought for a while, and said, "Is this a Japanese company that is westernizing?"

"Almost, Japanese companies also believe that the closed state is not conducive to better development, and they are making spontaneous changes. Sony is one of them." Fang Zhuo smiled, "Closed, hierarchical, and stubborn, this is the common state of Japanese companies. The changes of Westernization will definitely have an impact."

He pointed at the screen again, and said, "Look, the inside directors and outside directors mentioned above are actually called in the United States. According to the name in the UK, they are executive directors and non-executive directors."

"Japanese companies say they are westernized, and they are more aimed at the governance of American companies."

Zhao Zhishan was in admiration, there were such details in a message.

Fang Zhuo suddenly remembered something, tapped the keyboard again, and searched for it.

——In 1999, Nissan hired Carlos, the vice president of Renault in France, to become its CEO, and the next year he served as the president of Nissan Corporation.

This is the first time that a famous Japanese company has a foreign president.

Today, Nissan has been brought back from the brink of bankruptcy.

This will undoubtedly cause even greater shocks to Japanese companies.

Fang Zhuo thought about it for a while, and felt that Sony's reform of the board of directors in 97 would probably play a foreshadowing role in the current downturn.

Thinking about it this way, Stringer, who is now the vice chairman of Sony, really has no chance.

It is difficult not to think that "Nissan used foreigners to bring them back to life". After all, Sony has been actively promoting internationalization, and Sony America is quite prosperous.

Stringer is not only responsible for Sony Music, he is in charge of Sony's overall business in the United States, and also has the operation of Sony's global entertainment business.

If you change your position in Stringer, don't you have any thoughts about the position of chairman of Sony Group?

Instead of taking on the role of such an overseas top leader, don't you want to be the savior in the decline of Sony Group?
With the precedent of Nissan Group, the continuous decline of Sony, and the reform of the group's board of directors over the past few years, there is really no chance.

Fang Zhuo repeatedly weighed, and added one more, as well as public opinion's deconstruction of Nobuyuki Idei's authority...

So Sony will have a foreign chairman like Nissan?

At present, public opinion still has no criticisms against Nobuyuki Idei. I made a recording of "Tokyo Online", which may really serve as a catalyst.

accelerate?accelerate.

Zhao Zhishan didn't know that the boss had figured out a lot of things in her mind. She was still immersed in the retrieved information: "Sony must have been shaken. It hasn't reversed its profitability since last year. Such a giant company will definitely work hard to adjust."

Fang Zhuo came back to his senses, nodded and said: "Adjustment is adjustment, it's hard to say whether it can be adjusted properly."

Even if Stringer really has a chance to compete for the chairman of the Sony Group, it is impossible for such a giant group rooted in Japan to have no local influence, and it is hard not to speculate that there will be fierce struggles.

He finished his last cup of coffee and smiled: "A messy Sony is a good Sony."

Before Zhao Zhishan could speak, the phone on the coffee table vibrated suddenly.

Fang Zhuo took the mobile phone handed over by the secretary, his expression became subtle, it was the phone number of Stringer who was speculated.

I just recorded a program on TV Tokyo, and I got in touch with this guy in the evening.

Did you come to ask yourself about the stock price of Yike?

Fang Zhuo answered the phone and drove the secretary away with his eyes.

Zhao Zhishan left the room silently, she found that there was a level of news that ordinary people could not touch, Mr. Fang was grasping the rhythm with both hands.

"Fang, Yike and Sony Music have always maintained a good cooperative relationship, how can you do this?"

Stringer came up to express his dissatisfaction in an unhappy tone.

Fang Zhuo was a little stunned, and asked back: "I didn't destroy this cooperative relationship, and I have been working hard to open up a better market space. Mr. Stringer, did you misunderstand?"

Stringer said seriously: "Fang, Sony's player and your Yike products are in a competitive relationship. I don't think your criticism of the Sony Group in Tokyo will help the cooperation with Sony Music."

"In fact, I also bear a lot of pressure for this cooperation."

"Fang, everything must have a limit."

Listening to Stringer's criticism, Fang Zhuo pondered and said, "Mr. Stringer, I didn't actually criticize Sony Group, but I just have doubts about Mr. Idei's decision-making. I don't know where you learned about today's program. , but in fact, the on-site atmosphere is very good, and we are discussing business operations.”

Stringer slowed down his tone: "Is that so? But even so...Fang, I think you are a business genius with your own unique insights. You can't say that on the show next time. It will easily cause a chain reaction."

The call came too fast, and his attitude changed too quickly.

It seems that Sony's fierce internal conflicts are confirmed from the side, and Stringer is really chasing the top position of Sony Group.

Fang Zhuo made a judgment and basically clarified Sony's situation, but he still didn't know the specific composition and power balance of the factions.

He said: "Yes, I was the one who was abrupt this time. When I was asked by the host this afternoon, I felt that people here are very concerned about Sony's strategy. They all seem to think that Sony needs to change. Therefore, I couldn't help but share some unpleasant Mature opinion."

Stringer was silent for a few seconds and did not continue talking about this matter.

The conversation between the two entered a routine pleasantries.

After a while, Stringer said: "Fang, the development of music in the Internet age is indeed getting faster and faster. Apple is launching an online album based on its software. I think there is still room for further cooperation between Sony Music and Echo."

Fang Zhuo pondered.

If he changed the timing, he would follow these words and really consider the substantive cooperation between the two parties, but at this moment when Stringer mentioned this matter, he was thinking about the hidden motive behind such a proposal.

"Sony Music will hold a shareholder meeting in July this year. Fang, are you interested in serving as an outside director? It is necessary for the two companies to cooperate more closely." Stringer proposed.

Fang Zhuo didn't expect to hear such words at all, and he couldn't figure out Stringer's plan for a while.

Is this to express the cooperation strength of Sony Music to Sony Group or to release some signal?
He thought in his mind, and immediately said: "Mr. Stringer, what you said is very reasonable. We must cooperate more closely to resist the squeeze from Apple and other record companies."

"It is my honor to be an outside director of Sony Music, but, will there be great resistance?"

Regardless of how the Sony Group is, Yike has a demand for Sony Music.

For Stringer, Sony Music may only be a part of Sony's business in the United States, but it is the most important partner for Yike.

Stringer said without saying a word, "Fang, when you get to New York, let's talk about the cooperation between the two companies face to face. Regarding the outside directors, I believe shareholders will correctly evaluate the feasibility and necessity of cooperation with each other. "

"See you in New York."

Fang Zhuo ended the call.

A light meal of criticism and an invitation to an outside director.

The rain outside the window is getting heavier and heavier.

At ten o'clock in the evening, Zhao Zhishan walked in with various newspapers bought by colleagues, and once again saw the figure of the boss thinking about the wind and rain.

"Mr. Fang, I brought all the newspapers. There are English and Japanese. Do you need me to translate the Japanese now?"

"No need, you can relax when you fly to the United States." Fang Zhuo shook his head.

Zhao Zhishan glanced at the night view of Tokyo, and said worriedly: "The rain doesn't mean to stop, I hope we can take off normally the night after tomorrow."

Fang Zhuo also looked at the city night scene in the rain, and said with emotion: "The wind and rain are like darkness, and the roosters are crowing."

The wind and rain are like obscurity, and cock crows endlessly.After seeing a gentleman, Yunhu is not happy?

This change in Sony's situation requires people of insight to stand up.

Stringer invited himself to serve as an external director of Sony Music. His intention may not stop there. He has already focused more on the board layout of the group after taking power.

From this level, once successful, I and Sony are neither enemies nor friends, we are all on our own.

(End of this chapter)