Dr Chubachi keeps a blog, which he updates daily. He writes about books he has read, sports events and Kabuki theatre he has attended, and music that he enjoys.

But Chubachi is no ordinary blogger he is president of Sony Corporation; and his blog is one of his ways of keeping touch with his managers and workers worldwide.

Written in both Japanese and English, "Chubachi Connected" shares not only the 58-year-old's hobbies, but also his management tips as a top executive of one of the world's best-branded electronics and entertainment companies.

"Yes, people want me to write more about management," he laughed.

When Ryoji Chubachi took over Sony's electronics business early last year, it had been in prolonged doldrums. Critics said that its product lines were too long and profit margins razor thin.

But as Chubachi saw it, it was the confidence of employees that was in crisis.

"I had to boost morale," he said. And the first thing he did was to build trust in the management-employee relationship.

"To strengthen communication, we went to the places where R&D, production and sales were conducted and picked the brains of our employees about ways to improve," he said. Townhall meetings were held, each lasting from half an hour to two hours, where ideas were exchanged. Although his blog, started on June 22 last year, does not accept messages from readers, employees can email their feedback to a designated mailbox.

"At that time, our employees were anxious. They were eager for the company to get back on track. As a leader, I had to give hope and guidance. After employee confidence rebounded, then we had to do something about our business, in short, to make money," he said.

After analyzing feedback from his employees, Chubachi set about to tackle the troubles plaguing the electronics business. "First, we started thinking from our customers' perspective. That thinking was embedded in every area, from designing to marketing. Second, we have the technology initiative, and it is infused with our unique style, the so-called Sony style. And third, we solve problems right at the site," Chubachi summed up.

With these new approaches, Sony Electronics, of which Chubachi is CEO, launched new products. Many of them, such as the HC1 and HC3 camcorders, the Bravia LCD televisions, and the Alpha digital cameras, have turned out to be runaway hits.

Boosted by healthy sales of products like these, Sony's core electronics section, which has always contributed significantly to sales revenues but had been a drain on profit, was back in the black in the April-June quarter. Sales in this division rose 13.5 per cent.

For the latest quarter, the Tokyo-based electronics and entertainment giant reported a 32.3 billion yen ($276 million) profit on the back of strong sales of electronics.

Sony's electronics have enjoyed long and eclectic product lines as well as high-end positioning. Asked how he went about balancing the two seemingly contradictory strengths, Chubachi responded that he approached each product category by its unique performance and market needs. Some were condensed while others went upscale. "Overall, our strength is at the high end," he said.

New battleground

Sony needs much more than this strength alone if it wants victory in the next-generation format war.

The high-definition format of Blu-ray, spearheaded by Sony, is going head-to-head with Toshiba's HD-DVD in a battle reminiscent of the Beta-VHS wrangling for the videotape standard some 20 years ago.

During that feud, Sony's Beta was widely considered to be technically superior to Matsushita's VHS but the latter had the support of a consortium of vendors while Sony did not license its technology to others. Eventually, Sony lost out.

"Beta still reigns as the standard in the broadcast industry," explained Chubachi, who is in China to attend the annual Beijing International Radio, TV & Film Equipment Exhibition (BIRTV 2006), which opens today.

Chubachi emphasized that Sony is not going to repeat that mistake. "Whoever gains more users will win in this round," he analyzed.

To win end-users, Sony has rallied the support of many vendors. "We have 90 per cent of the film companies behind us. And we have the majority of audio-video manufacturers and computer makers."

Hollywood majors such as Disney have announced video releases in the Blu-ray format. Sony has a lot of weight to throw around in Tinseltown as its own studio Sony Columbia Pictures has gained profitability and respectability with blockbusters such as the "Spiderman" franchise. However, by releasing movies on both formats, studios like Warner have refused to take sides.

Among supporters of Toshiba's HD-DVD standard are computer juggernauts Microsoft and Intel. Disks of both formats store more content and enable better sound and picture quality than conventional DVD discs.

Chubachi insisted that the Blu-ray format has larger capacity than HD-DVD, but ultimately it will be "content" that will determine which may survive. "For a consumer electronic product, it is the availability of content that determines the result."

Chubachi did not want to speculate whether both formats may coexist. "That is something only the consumers can decide." But he reasoned that the rivalry would probably come to an end in two years. "It won't happen this year, but next year we'll see the shakeout."

Additional factors that will help Sony put Blu-ray on top, according to Chubachi, are its computer and game platforms. Its PlayStation3 game console will come equipped with Blu-ray and broadband connection, which, though priced higher, will boost its attractiveness. Its Vaio notebook computers, a favourite with audio-videophiles, will also push the new format.

"We have learned a lot from our experience," said Chubachi.

What lies ahead?

In the words of some analysts, Sony suffers from the dichotomy of platforms. Its Vaio computer, with its strong AV capabilities, finds room in the study, while its PlayStation is stationed in the living room.

Talking about how to reconcile this multi-centre entertainment platform, Chubachi clarified that the centre is where the display, the television, is located. "It has got to be the living room. But it will extend beyond the living room - into the study, the office, and even outdoors, where IPTV and mobile equipment will come into play. It is also where opportunities will arise in abundance."

Opportunity is also the buzzword when it comes to Sony's China operation.

Sony is in "Phase 3" of its growth in the Chinese market, said Chubachi. It started by setting up a production base in southern China. In 1996, Sony China was founded, marking a shift in the company's perception of China "as a market."

"We are now at phase three, when we are training local talent and developing local technologies. We're integrating R&D, production and marketing," said Chubachi. "On top of it, we want to be a good corporate citizen and are actively involved in many charity and public service projects."

The 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2007 Women's Football World Cup are also events that will benefit Sony's promotion of its products such as flat-panel screens. "Sony China will grow in tandem with the Chinese economy."

As a matter of fact, Chubachi sees Sony more as an Asian company, at least one with Asian management style. Of the 160,000 employees globally, 50,000-60,000 are Japanese and 25,000 Chinese. "Some say our style is Western oriented. I cannot comment on it because I have not worked outside Sony. But we try to incorporate the best from both worlds."

He cited examples of executive titles that have only English names. At one point, Sony had 30 presidents, and now "we have only one."

Even the Japanese word for "company" was replaced by the English equivalent. But some of these were reversed when "we found the original terms were more accurate. There's a lot in our culture that is worth keeping."

The sharpest criticism of Sony in recent years was for its supposed "synergy" between software and hardware. It did not give rise to an iconic product like iPod, which was created by a nimble market player like Apple.

Chubachi explained that Sony employs the model of "vertical integration," which has the benefit of value-added features, but also carries the limitation of less compatibility. "Consumers want to go across platforms," he said, "so we have worked to solve the problem by enhancing compatibility such as adding MP3 and AAC features to the new line of Walkman."

Chubachi admitted that he was surprised by the success of iPod, "especially in a product field where the Walkman is a benchmark." But he is not worried. With the recovery across all Sony product lines, "we are confident that we'll take back the position of market leader that the Walkman used to occupy."

Chubachi has not used an iPod, but he has three different Walkmans. And he may write about their cool features in his blog.

Source: China Daily