With the consumer electronics industry's eyes on him, Sony Corp. Chief Executive Howard Stringer was trying to show how the Japanese company planned to return to its past glory.
But, as he has found often during his time running Sony, the talent won't always follow the script.
Tom Hanks was invited to spice up Stringer's presentation at this month's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Instead, the actor mocked Sony, belittled its technology and informed the audience that the teleprompter screens were made by rival LG Electronics.
Still, Stringer rolled with the punches and won back the audience. "I took a risk -- it failed," he said of inviting Hanks. "But we'll still be friends."
As with his CES keynote, Stringer has figured out ways to turn misfortune into an advantage. The CEO is using plunging profit -- like that reported Thursday -- and the dire economy as a rallying cry for his agenda to tear down traditions at the 63-year-old electronics and media giant.
"There is still too much old Sony and not enough new," Stringer said during a news conference last week, when Sony warned investors to expect its first annual loss since 1995 for the year ending March 31.
For its fiscal third quarter, Sony on Thursday posted a 25% drop in revenue, to $23.7 billion, and a 95% drop in profit, to $114 million. Sony executives attributed the declines to a slowdown in the global economy, the appreciating yen and the slumping Japanese stock market.
Stringer remains influential and respected within Sony, and investors continue to have confidence in the Welsh-born CEO, said Mukul Krishna, global director for digital media at Frost & Sullivan, a consulting firm in Mountain View, Calif.
Nevertheless, the financial results are a black eye. When Stringer took over Sony four years ago, he promised to reverse the company's eroding market share in its core consumer electronics business by radically restructuring the sprawling firm.
His efforts to trim head count have met fierce resistance in Japan, where workers believe established companies owe them lifetime employment. Spats between units continue. For example, Sony's PlayStation video-game division in December declined to lend its brand name to Sony Ericsson's phones.
"He's been trying to turn around a culture that was formed more than 60 years ago but isn't up to the demands of the 21st century," said Richard Doherty, an analyst with technology consulting firm Envisioneering Group. "He's now rallying the troops and saying, 'Hey, we need to move faster.' "
