Reinventing the Millennium

Sony's interim board of directors has made unexpected changes.

Although the seventeen directors have held many meetings with 2 people, 3 people, 4 people, 5 people... up to 9 people in order to prepare for Sony's shareholders' meeting, this time some people were still confused about the situation.

this……

How can Ken Kutaragi support 60?

Isn't that American a subordinate that the leader of Dei relies on?

It seems that the next chairman has just been elected. Do we need to... re-elect him now?

However, although it was a bit chaotic, Mr. Oga still wanted to interfere with the head of Dei as always, and this sense of familiarity was comforting.

"It's a bit messy."

Fang Zhuo sighed to Stringer in a low voice.

Stringer nodded too.

The main reason why the two of them felt this way was that Japanese that neither of them understood began to appear in the conference room. There were discussions between neighbors and questions from a distance.

The appearance of Japanese in this way seems to have initiated a confidentiality mechanism for Stringer and Fang Zhuo.

"It still depends on the vote." Stringer said seriously.

Fang Zhuo replied easily: "That's not necessarily the case. In 2002, the sale of Sony's insurance business had been negotiated and approved by the board of directors. It was supposed to be the highest order, but it was also corrupted by the retired Dahe. "

"So... what about the vote I just passed?" Stringer's suppressed worry suddenly resurfaced.

"I see that Jing is a person who is willing to admit defeat, unlike Da He." Fang Zhuo half speculated and half comforted, "If it doesn't work out, if Yike gets into the mobile phone business, you will become the president."

Stringer couldn't laugh or cry: "I don't understand mobile phones."

"Then you can bring someone from Sony who understands mobile phones." Fang Zhuo joked.

Stringer's nervous mood was somewhat relieved by the joke. He felt that young people today are really determined. It was the first time in his long career that he had experienced such a serious dispute on the board of directors.

As who was the first to use Japanese, the Japanese voice in the conference room rose and fell. After speaking, Fang Zhuo saw Nobuyuki Dei and Norio Ohga, the front and rear bosses, facing each other with great interest. Sprayed a few words.

If Nobuyuki I's style is quite feudal, then Norio Ohga is the feudal among Japanese feudal.

Fang Zhuo had no idea that this man was still alive—and that his influence on Sony was still very much alive.

After what Tian Zhongshi said, he urgently checked and inquired about the situation and found out that Dahe had taken actions since his retirement, including but not limited to "going to work on time", "collaborating with directors to oppose the boss's opinions", and "preventing the sale of US$5 billion of insurance business" and other actions .

That is to say, in the past two years, Nobuyuki Dei's reform of Sony's board of directors has become more effective, and Oga's influence has become weaker and weaker.

However, while Idei has made progress in terms of group power, Sony's consumer electronics business has experienced an overall decline, and the company's market value has hit record lows. Even if the reform measures of "Transformation 60" take time, Sony Group cannot wait any longer.

But it's hard to blame the shareholders and directors entirely. Who made Idei himself make a profit commitment to the reform plan?

The din of Japanese gradually fell silent.

After all, it still depends on the comparison of each other's votes.

Fang Zhuo watched everyone quiet down. He wasn't sure whether the quarrel just now resulted in some compromise that he didn't know about. He said seriously: "As a mere stranger, I want to say, look at what Sony is like now." , it has almost dropped to Apple’s market value!”

Nobuyuki Idei encountered betrayal, accusations, and quarrels. At this moment, he completely lost the majesty of a parent. He slammed the table angrily and popped out a Japanese word that Fang Zhuo was very familiar with - Baga.

Fang Zhuo said in Chinese dissatisfied: "Hey, why are you swearing?"

Stringer also defended his own people in English: "This is the current situation of the group, and we must face it squarely."

Norio Ohga also spoke a series of Japanese words - Fang Zhuo couldn't understand, but guessed it was anti-Baga.

The hustle and bustle that had just been silenced resurfaced with the intersection of three languages.

This time the debate was even more intense than the last time.

But what makes Fang Zhuo find it interesting is that it is obviously more impactful for a foreigner to hold the position of chairman, but it has just been unanimously approved, and now when it comes to the position of president, there is a big fuss.

Just as he was thinking this, he heard Shizuo Takajo angrily proposing a re-vote - re-elect the next chairman, and opposed Stringer, a foreigner, to take charge of the group's direction!

Shizuo Takajo looked back, and the foreign directors who had supported Stringer were unhappy.

The five foreign directors are not ordinary figures, any one of them is well-known in the Japanese business community.

For example, Yotaro Kobayashi, who is also in his seventies this year, is a legendary business leader in Japan. The Fuji Xerox Company that he single-handedly grew is regarded as the most successful Japanese-American joint venture and has always been pro-American.

Therefore, he is also the most supportive of Stringer taking over Sony.

The old man had a bad temper, and he almost stood up and pointed at Shizuo Takajo's nose and scolded him.

Fang Zhuo felt that it was a big loss that he couldn't understand Japanese today.

However, Sony's conference room is indeed becoming more and more chaotic.

President Yi Ke took out a cigarette and felt that what was happening in the conference room in front of him might be a microcosm of the Sony Group - everyone was at a loss in the face of the group's declining business and declining market value.

Where should we go?

Are the strengths and pride of the past inappropriate for the present era?

There are so many powerful companies in the United States, are their business philosophies right?

Which point is right? What's wrong with that?

Ideological confusion mixed with interests from different positions ultimately led to Stringer's rise to power.

Fang Zhuo did not light the cigarette, but just held it on his finger and rubbed it. After listening to the argument for a while, he said to Stringer: "You negotiated with Sony in New York, you came to Tokyo, you sat on the temporary board of directors, and you voted unanimously Appointed."

"Don't be afraid, there are always people who have to compromise, and they are the ones who fall into the water."

Stringer subconsciously wanted to nod, but suddenly stopped mid-movement and whispered: "I'm not afraid. Their accent is too strong, or they are in Japanese. We should bring a translator."

Fang Zhuo smiled and threw out a gadget: "During this year's Yike shareholders' meeting, you will also be an outside director. It would be a great honor for our small company to have the chairman of Sony here."

"Then I'm going to see Yike's board of directors." Stringer agreed.

The chaotic quarrel in the conference room gradually subsided again.

No matter how different our opinions are, we must cast a vote and see the results before considering whether to flip the table.

At the very least, Sony head Nobuyuki Dei seems to have the ability to flip the table, and his final argument was also an expression of his tough attitude.

There were 17 votes in total for the 19 people in the conference room. Fang Zhuo had no voting rights. Norio Ohga was only the "honorary chairman" and did not have the right to vote.

There are 5 foreign directors in total, plus Stringer and Jiuduo’s own votes, that’s 7 votes.

It stands to reason that winning 2 more votes from the house directors will determine the outcome.

However, when the voting actually came, one of the foreign directors abstained from voting, which made both Stringer and Norio Ohga change their expressions slightly.

It is impossible to expect the remaining 10 members of the House of Councilors, Nobuyuki Dei, Ryoharu Nakahachi, and Shizuo Takajo, to abandon the dark side and join the bright side. In other words, they have to win 3 votes from 7 people. No one knows how many of these 7 people are. Death follows Nobuyuki Idei.

One by one, there was a show of hands.

"Nakaba good governance."

"Kutaragi Ken."

"Nakaba good governance."

"Nakaba good governance."

Everyone's mood became tense. No matter Idei Nobuyuki or Ohga Norio, both of them stared at the person who was about to vote, as if they could change a director's decision with their eyes.

Fang Zhuo didn't plan to be a human being today, so he wasn't nervous at all. He just watched this scene with interest.

But as the voting progressed, even he did not expect that the result would not be announced until the last person.

There are already 16 votes among the 17 directors, 8 votes for Kutaragi Ken, 7 votes for Nakahachi Ryoharu, and 1 abstention.

If the final vote goes to Nakahata Yoshihiro, neither party has a majority, which means that the nomination of the president is likely to be extended to the shareholders' meeting, which will further spread confusion in Sony's top management to the outside world.

Everyone's eyes were fixed on Kuni Ando, ​​who did not vote in the end, and he is the current president of Sony Group. It is his seat that Nakabachi and Kudo are competing for.

It is very likely that the current president will decide who the next president will be.

When things have developed to this point, many people feel that this is destiny.

Ando Guowei had no movement, no expression, no words.

"Ando, ​​who do you think is more suitable to be the president of the group?"

Norio Ohga said slowly.

Nobuyuki Idei believed that this was the off-site influence of the old boss, and immediately said: "Ando, ​​you have to be careful, you determine Sony's future."

Fang Zhuo saw that Stringer had lost his voice again at this time. He was dissatisfied with the British Sir's inaction at the critical moment of the board of directors, and then said: "As a pure stranger, I think..."

"Shut up!" Nobuyuki Idei was angry. He glared at Fang Zhuo and interrupted this Chinese stranger.

However, Ando Guowei looked over and asked calmly: "What do you think?"

"I think the president positions that Zhongbo and Jiuduo are going to take are complementary to Chairman Stringer." Fang Zhuoyue was more energetic and talked eloquently, "Stringer has proven his leadership in entertainment and entertainment with Sony America. Content business capabilities are important to the Sony Group."

"But at the same time, Stringer lacks experience in the consumer electronics field, so he needs the judgment of the president in the consumer electronics business."

"Whoever it is is destined to be in charge of the consumer electronics business, and both of them have excellent records and can fill this role."

Fang Zhuo spoke impartially and purely as a passerby.

These words made Idei, Nakabachi, Oga, Kudo, and Stringer all stunned. They had the same thought in their minds - are you really just a stranger?

Ando Guowei frowned and asked: "But you have to choose one."

Fang Zhuo nodded: "Not bad."

He asked in English: "Mr. Ando, ​​I wonder if you have heard a word from Hua Xia."

Ando Guowei nodded first, and then replied in Mandarin: "I know some Chinese."

At this time, foreign director Yotaro Kobayashi also said in Mandarin: "I know Chinese and I can translate."

Fang Zhuo did not let a little surprise affect his thinking, and quoted: "Lu is a country based on tolerance. How can we use it if we can tolerate it outside but not inside."

Ando Guowei obviously not only "knows some Chinese", he mused: "This is an allusion to the country's perseverance."

"Stringer passed unanimously, as everyone expected." Fang Zhuo said eloquently, "You voted for Zhongbo today, and Zhongbo only had 8 votes, unable to pass the nomination of the board of directors, and now there are less than 3 days left before the shareholders' meeting. time."

"Based on today's conflict, your vote for Zhongbo will allow Sony to expose such a huge contradiction to the outside world, causing shareholders and the capital market to further lose confidence in Sony."

“Is Sony’s shareholder meeting going to be a farce?”

"Tolerance serves the country, Mr. Ando. Sony needs confidence externally and resolves conflicts internally."

"Mr. Idei bears the greatest responsibility for what Sony has achieved today. He is destined to be unable to lead Sony on this journey. Instead of following him to expand conflicts, it is better to let the conflicts end in your hands. After all, his resignation will take away some of it. contradiction."

"You voted for Kutaragi Ken not out of fear of Oga, nor out of flattery for Stringer."

"You vote for Kudo today and no longer associate with Idei. So what if you get a reputation?"

Fang Zhuo finally quoted a Japanese proverb: "Flowers are cherry blossoms and people are samurai."

He sighed: "Mr. Ando, ​​please put the overall situation first."

Ando Guowei looked at the Chinese people and remained silent.

After a moment, he made up his mind and said in English: "I think Ken Kutaragi is more suitable to be the president of Sony Group."

boom!

Nobuyuki Idei threw the table and left the stage!

The Sony conference room was in an uproar!

The directors of Idei's group also immediately stood up to leave the conference room.

Norio Ohga shouted angrily: "What are you going to do! Isn't it enough to harm Sony to this point? Sit down!"

Several directors were hindered by the old boss's rebuke and the gazes of other colleagues, so they sat down hesitantly.

Regarding the candidate for the position of president of Sony Group, Ken Kutaragi received more than half of the votes and will be formally nominated by the board of directors at the shareholders' meeting.

Stringer couldn't understand Japanese, let alone Chinese. He saw that Mr. Fang just said a lot of words, and then Ando Guowei bizarrely voted for him. At this time, he couldn't help but asked: "What did you just say to Ando?" What?"

"I talked to him about your grades and he was convinced." Fang Zhuo replied simply.

Stringer was suspicious and didn't believe this, but he couldn't go into details at this time.

Nobuyuki Idei left, and Sony's chairman left the board of directors.

However, there was also an "honorary chairman" in the conference room, and Norio Ohga unceremoniously took over the reins. The next vote was the nomination of Fang Zhuo as an outside director.

How can a Chinese person be an outside director of Sony Group?

How can competitors be allowed to infiltrate the top levels of the group?

Out of strong opposition, several directors from the Idei family abstained from voting.

In the end, 9 votes passed and 8 abstained.

Obviously, Fang Zhuo is stronger than Kutaragi Ken. He did not encounter a single vote of opposition and was successfully nominated as an outside director to the Sony Group's interim board of directors.

Fang Zhuo didn't know why Nakabachi and Takajo were so perverted that they only abstained from voting, but he wouldn't ask them and gave a brief acceptance speech.

"Gentlemen, please let Sony's name ring throughout the world again."

Everyone in the conference room bowed their heads in response.

Fang Zhuo glanced at the conference room.

The little devils in the hall were all in high spirits.

It's boring, very boring.