Akio Morita, Co-Founder of Sony Corporation

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Akio Morita (盛田昭夫) was the co-founder of Sony Corporation with his friend Masaru Ibuka. As a leader of Sony, He changed the accepted marketing concepts and focussed on brand-name identification and brand responsibility - a concept widely used today but virtually unheard of then. By insisting on producing high quality products with cutting edge technology, Morita transformed the reputation of the Japanese technology industry so that it became associated with superior quality rather than inexpensive copies. As he himself said, "[They] made Sony the Cadillac of electronics."

Background.

Morita Akio,was born in January 26, 1921 in Tokoname, Aichi, Japan. in 1944 he graduated from Osaka Imperial University with a degree in physics. He later joined the IJN (navy) during World War II. During his service, Morita met his future partner and the most important friend in all his life, Masaru Ibuka, in the Navy's Wartime Research Committee.

On May 7, 1946, Morita and Ibuka founded Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corporation, the forerunner to Sony Corporation) with about 20 employees.

In 1949, the company developed magnetic recording tape and in 1950. In 1957, it produced a pocket-sized radio and in 1958 Morita and Ibuka made the decision to rename their company Sony (sonus is Latin for sound, and Sonny-boys is Japanese slang for "whiz kids"). Morita was an advocate for all the products made by the Sony Corporation. In 1960 it produced the first transistor television in the world. In 1979 the Walkman was introduced, making it the world's first portable music player. In 1984 Sony launched the Discman series which extended their Walkman brand to portable CD products.

In 1960, the Sony Corporation of America was established in the United States. In 1961, the Sony Corporation of America was the first Japanese company to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Sony bought Columbia Records and other CBS labels in 1988 and Columbia Pictures in 1989.

On November 25, 1994, Morita announced his resignation as Sony chairman, after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage while playing tennis.

Arts of leadership

Akio could be called Spiritual leader of Sony, while in charge in the areas of marketing, globalization, finance and human resources, Akio shows great leadership. Unlike other businessmen who change hostile to former partner, like John D Rockefeller, It’s Morita Akio and Masaru Ibuka’s friendship paved the way for Sony. —Ibuka the engineering fiddler, taking gadgets apart on the floor of his office to see how they worked; Morita the sleek manager, scion of an old sake-brewing family, friend of the great and good on three continents.

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