Pretty big news. In short, Kaz Hirai is taking over Ken Kutaragi's day-to-day duties in running SCE as President and COO. Kutaragi is becoming Group CEO & Chairman of SCE. Jack Tretton is taking over Kaz Hirai's previous role as head of SCEA. David Reeves of SCEE is becoming deputy president of SCEI in addition to his current duties.
SCE shakes up top-level management
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inefficient
Veteran
What happened to Mr. Tall Drink of Water Phil Harrison?
He's a SCEWW guy.
Who's Kutaragi replacing, and what exactly does this position do to his role? Does he create the whole strategy for hardware and games? Wasn't he doing that in the first place?
He's not replacing anyone. My take on it is that Kutaragi's role is basically being split in two and Kaz is taking on one part of it, and Kutaragi is taking the other. Kaz is handling day-to-day duties, while Kutaragi takes a little more of a backseat, and looks at the bigger (strategic) picture.
Which is what makes the news so significant, IMO. I think it signals the very beginnings of Kutaragi's "hand-over of power", so to speak.
Who's Kutaragi replacing, and what exactly does this position do to his role? Does he create the whole strategy for hardware and games? Wasn't he doing that in the first place?
http://www.mcvuk.com/Sony-shifts-Kutaragi-upstairs-in-reshuffle
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&sid=aKlCTJpDyP6g&refer=asia
Angelcurio
Regular
I really like Kutaragi as a Sony executive. Even though the guy is really outspoken and is considered a somewhat crazy guy, he has been one of the few execs that have been pushing sony to abandon their propietary formats and make them open or opt for already know standars when it comes to their systems. One of their clear examples its the ps3, even though Blu-ray could be considered a propietary format it allows to use a lot of commonly used things like memory sticks, usb devices, sata HDD, etc.
One question though, could the marketing guys decide who talks and who doesnt? i am talking about sony executives, could they decide which one of them could give PR interviews and who shouldnt? i ask because personally i dont like Jack Treton and Kaz Hirai when it comes to PR speech. They usually create a lot of controversy and also have said things that are not actually correct. Phil Harrison on the other hand should become the public figure of Sony, the one that should be allowed to always talk with the press. We see almost the same situation with the Nintendo PR, Reggie almost always knows what he is talking about, Perrin Kaplan on the other hand................
One question though, could the marketing guys decide who talks and who doesnt? i am talking about sony executives, could they decide which one of them could give PR interviews and who shouldnt? i ask because personally i dont like Jack Treton and Kaz Hirai when it comes to PR speech. They usually create a lot of controversy and also have said things that are not actually correct. Phil Harrison on the other hand should become the public figure of Sony, the one that should be allowed to always talk with the press. We see almost the same situation with the Nintendo PR, Reggie almost always knows what he is talking about, Perrin Kaplan on the other hand................
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Perrin Kaplan, I think you mean 
PR people would arrange access to execs, generally speaking, but I don't think an exec would like to think they're being silenced or held back from the mic by their PR under-lings. If someone wants to interview Ken Kutaragi, or Kaz Hirai, and they want to do the interview, is a PR person really going to say no? They can advise in that situation, but they're not in a position to tell these people (their bosses) what to do.
Anyway, that's all an aside really. This does line up Kaz quite nicely as the next guy in charge (and he'll already be in charge in many ways with this new role), and not someone like Phil Harrison who many had pegged as a potential heir. Of course, Harrison is still relatively young so who knows down the line..
PR people would arrange access to execs, generally speaking, but I don't think an exec would like to think they're being silenced or held back from the mic by their PR under-lings. If someone wants to interview Ken Kutaragi, or Kaz Hirai, and they want to do the interview, is a PR person really going to say no? They can advise in that situation, but they're not in a position to tell these people (their bosses) what to do.
Anyway, that's all an aside really. This does line up Kaz quite nicely as the next guy in charge (and he'll already be in charge in many ways with this new role), and not someone like Phil Harrison who many had pegged as a potential heir. Of course, Harrison is still relatively young so who knows down the line..
So it appears as though Kutaragi is being upwardly demoted? He's giving up a lot of power and decision making over to Kaz Hirai, and just sits on the board and chairs meetings?
Well, he's still CEO so ultimately he still has the last say on all things; also I believe he will still set the general course and draw the blueprints of SCE strategy.
I think the creation of the chairmanship was more a way to come up with a good means of promoting Kaz, who I would agree seems to be the annointed heir to the SCE throne right now. Hell Kaz was probably in line to run the day-to-day of SCE outright when everyone thought Ken would become CEO of Sony, so Stringer's promotion probably changed both of their plans. And you know Sony wants to keep Kaz happy...
I think Kaz will also be the guy in charge of determining how Kutaragi's schemes are carried out; I guess a bit of pragmatist to even out the dreamer.
I think the creation of the chairmanship was more a way to come up with a good means of promoting Kaz, who I would agree seems to be the annointed heir to the SCE throne right now. Hell Kaz was probably in line to run the day-to-day of SCE outright when everyone thought Ken would become CEO of Sony, so Stringer's promotion probably changed both of their plans. And you know Sony wants to keep Kaz happy...
I think Kaz will also be the guy in charge of determining how Kutaragi's schemes are carried out; I guess a bit of pragmatist to even out the dreamer.
that's how I read it too.
It seems a move to get him off the stage and still save face. :smile:
Change can't come soon enough
The way I read it is:
* It seems that Ken was overloaded. Due to ill-prepared and prioritized plans, As CEO... Ken's scope has narrowed to focus on strategies, long-term development and P&L. Therein should include extra time to execute Sony's software strategies (which is in the limbo so far, except for piecemeal deliverables such as the very wonderful BR player software)... *and* manufacturing to drive PS3 cost down aggressively. I don't see it as demotion. It's more like _focus_
* Due to increasing importance of US and Europe, plus to overcome any possible Japan-entrenchment in HQ, Kaz is moved back to pin a more global picture in the boardroom table. As COO, he's also directly in charge of short-term goals and operations to cover Ken. He should be the man solving all operation issues (e.g., shipments !), and watching the operating budget overall.
* Tretton moves up (To replace Kaz in US. While I don't really like him and his PR talks, he strikes me as a sales-oriented guy, so he might be more aggressive than Kaz). In the mean time, Kaz will also cover US in the boardroom.
* Reeves moves up (To better coordinate with HQ in the boardroom for fast decision in Europe).
Since there's no mention of marketing, I think like now, it's still covered independently by individual region heads. I'm surprised they move that fast. I hope after this change, ground level issues get identified and "executed" quickly.
The way I read it is:
* It seems that Ken was overloaded. Due to ill-prepared and prioritized plans, As CEO... Ken's scope has narrowed to focus on strategies, long-term development and P&L. Therein should include extra time to execute Sony's software strategies (which is in the limbo so far, except for piecemeal deliverables such as the very wonderful BR player software)... *and* manufacturing to drive PS3 cost down aggressively. I don't see it as demotion. It's more like _focus_
* Due to increasing importance of US and Europe, plus to overcome any possible Japan-entrenchment in HQ, Kaz is moved back to pin a more global picture in the boardroom table. As COO, he's also directly in charge of short-term goals and operations to cover Ken. He should be the man solving all operation issues (e.g., shipments !), and watching the operating budget overall.
* Tretton moves up (To replace Kaz in US. While I don't really like him and his PR talks, he strikes me as a sales-oriented guy, so he might be more aggressive than Kaz). In the mean time, Kaz will also cover US in the boardroom.
* Reeves moves up (To better coordinate with HQ in the boardroom for fast decision in Europe).
Since there's no mention of marketing, I think like now, it's still covered independently by individual region heads. I'm surprised they move that fast. I hope after this change, ground level issues get identified and "executed" quickly.
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Isn't too early to be handing out promotions. There still a ways to go before anyone can actually determine whether or not Sony has taken the proper strategy to maintain the dominance of the Sony brand as well as cemented Bluray as the dominant format.
If Sony fails at both, it would be easy to assume that some of those promotions will turn into resignations.
If Sony fails at both, it would be easy to assume that some of those promotions will turn into resignations.
They are at the beginning of a long drawn war. It's just organizational changes to correct faults and improve execution.
The promotions are necessary to cover holes and also improve communications global-wide. They are not really meant to reward the executives. IMHO, the most significant move is moving Kaz to HQ to assist Ken. Will have to see if he can make a real difference.
The promotions are necessary to cover holes and also improve communications global-wide. They are not really meant to reward the executives. IMHO, the most significant move is moving Kaz to HQ to assist Ken. Will have to see if he can make a real difference.
Who do you think should be responsible for getting fast and important PS3 updates to get the system working as well as it should? And will they be the same person responsible for getting the online infrastructure and content up to scratch?
The software side is definitely PS3's weakpoint so far, with rather dubious target selection it seems. I wonder if Kutaragi as a hardware guy was asking for software to push the hardware's technical merits (awesome SACD playback) rather then focussing on more mundane software that makes the system better to use?
The software side is definitely PS3's weakpoint so far, with rather dubious target selection it seems. I wonder if Kutaragi as a hardware guy was asking for software to push the hardware's technical merits (awesome SACD playback) rather then focussing on more mundane software that makes the system better to use?
My interpretation is...
Ken's head is still on the chopping board so-to-speak for PS3 OS software, online infrastructure and firmware updates. He is still in charge of the consolidated product plan. A chunk of requests will come from Kaz (e.g., scaler issues and better online support for NA market).
Phil's SCEWW seems to be on the content and game libraries side. Part of his technical team will need tight coordination with Ken's.
These are just personal guesses, no more, no less. Don't take it too seriously.
Ken's head is still on the chopping board so-to-speak for PS3 OS software, online infrastructure and firmware updates. He is still in charge of the consolidated product plan. A chunk of requests will come from Kaz (e.g., scaler issues and better online support for NA market).
Phil's SCEWW seems to be on the content and game libraries side. Part of his technical team will need tight coordination with Ken's.
These are just personal guesses, no more, no less. Don't take it too seriously.
Its pretty evident that Sony has poorly executed the strategy intially set for the PS3 launch and that refinements to that strategy has led to further poor execution. It hard to believe that one could correct Sony's current tendency for mishaps by changing the organizational hierarchy through promotions.
There are actually 2 questions in your post
(A) Whether organizational changes will improve things ?
It's difficult but clearly something needs to be done differently. I don't know whether Kaz can do it, but we can all watch.
(B) Why are people getting promoted ?
* To allow them better access/control to resources in various parts of the organization.
* To cover for gaps as exec shuffles around. An external hire will take time and very often it's even more messy (because they will need time to assimilate corporate culture and processes).
For all we know, they may be interviewing more candidates to fill in new roles
(A) Whether organizational changes will improve things ?
It's difficult but clearly something needs to be done differently. I don't know whether Kaz can do it, but we can all watch.
(B) Why are people getting promoted ?
* To allow them better access/control to resources in various parts of the organization.
* To cover for gaps as exec shuffles around. An external hire will take time and very often it's even more messy (because they will need time to assimilate corporate culture and processes).
For all we know, they may be interviewing more candidates to fill in new roles
If the PS3 ends up losing major marketshare due to low volume and highprice then whoever championed Bluray as a standard on the PS3 should be in line for promotion for CEO and deputy president of janitoral services.
