Sony achieved record sales for 20 years thanks to the talented Japanese 'captain'

Recently, Sony has announced its expectation that 2017 will be the record year for the last 20 years. Within three months, the company recorded a record operating profit, three times higher than in 2016 and the first financial quarter to have such a high profit since 2007. The number 1.43 billion USD also 'beat' the prediction of financial experts, and is equivalent to a third of the journey to the target of 4.5 billion USD of operating profit for the whole year 2017.

In order to achieve such a large turnover, we must mention the ingenious leadership of President and CEO Kazuo Hirai, which helped Sony to revive and achieve the highest profit in the last 20 years.

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Since he came to power in 2012, Sony has balanced many business activities, ranging from electronics to finance. Many of us think of CEOs of large corporations, people often imagine a man with a firm face, poised in a formal suit. However, CEO and president of Sony, Mr. Kazuo Hirai has a different style, with jeans and dynamic sports shoes.

The lifestyle and leadership of this Japanese director is somewhat 'eccentric' than ordinary people, which is probably due to the influence of foreign culture when he lived there when he was a child.

Hirai's father used to be a banker, but had to relocate to the United States, and now his father brought his family there to live, when he left Japan to live in the US, Hirai very young, at that time he was just starting to study at a junior high school. Coming to a new environment and education, Harai feels "lonely", unable to get along with friends due to differences in culture and language.

In the early days where the land, not understanding English, had to become acquainted with a new culture, Hirai was almost isolated, lonely to despair. In the person he always kept three small pieces of paper, written in English and Japanese with the words "I am sick", "I want to go to the toilet" and "Please call my parents immediately".

Over time Hirai began to adapt to American schools. He is very close to the children of the same age, living in apartment buildings. Hirai's mother also tried to be friendly with his friends. She invited her friends to play, eat Japanese ramen noodles, encourage her to join Thanksgiving and Halloween with her friends. From here, his life becomes more fun.

But less than 2 years later, Hirai's parents moved back to Japan, causing him to continue to have difficulties in integration. At that time, Japanese girls and boys felt strange with the image of a Japanese student who was tall, white, and had been Americanized with a standard English accent. It is also uncommon for Japanese students to return from abroad, so people like Hirai are called "strange Japanese". He had to try to adapt to his friends in his own country.

Through childhood in two countries with completely different cultures and education, Hirai has a very unique lifestyle. When he grew up, he realized that Japan was the place where he wanted to stay and settle in his homeland, so he did not go to the United States to study at university, but decided to stay in Japan and study at Catholic University. International in Tokyo.

During his time abroad, Hirai formed a more open mindset and completely different from the traditional Japanese culture.

After graduating from university, he joined CBS / Sony Records in Tokyo. Next, he moved to Sony Computer Entertainment and officially became CEO of this group since 2012.

Previously, Sony only recruited pure Japanese employees. However, in the face of growing global pressure, Hirai had the opportunity to assume a higher position in the organization's operation. In resonance with the capacity and determination available, he did not take too much time to become its CEO.

Although many 'strange Japanese' have been held in important positions at foreign companies, Hirai is the first case of becoming a CEO of a company that previously had only pure Japanese culture.

Hirai's leadership is also very different, because he is not bound by traditional working principles. He constantly encouraged employees to come up with new ideas. Since then, deploying campaigns to revive the sales of the TV, laptop and computer business.

Although he is only 56 years old, he is planning to retire. He said that, when he is no longer busy with work at Sony, will participate in global programs such as the World Economic Forum (WEF) to improve the position of Japan in the international arena, no want to focus on domestic issues only.

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