Introduction
Throughout this essay, I will be talking about a private organisation (profiting
companies) and a non-for-profit/public organisation (companies which help for
society and are funded by the taxpayers) and express their opposing traits/features.
The private organisation that I will be talking about is ‘Sony.’ Sony is known as a PLC
(public limited company) as it is on the stock exchange in a variety of countries. Its
headquarters are based in Minato city, Japan but some other ones are spread out
across the globe in countries such as United States (where it is known as Sony
corporation of America) and Argentina. Sony was founded in 1945 immediately after
WW2, first established as “Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corporation”
where they manufactured the ‘first’ tape recorders and ‘The Walkman’.
The Non-for-profit/public organisation I will be talking about is ‘The British Heart
Foundation.’ This charity was founded in 1961 due to concern for the rise of heart
problems in the Common Era and to help those with cardiovascular difficulties. This
dedication in forming a charity led the organisation to be the largest independent
funder of cardiovascular research in the UK (United Kingdom).
Sony (private organisation)
Sony’s Ownership
Sony was founded by two Japanese friends, ‘Masaru Ibuka’ and ‘Akiu Morita.’
Morita’s family was the largest shareholder in Japan leading him to adopt a keen
interest in electronics and sound. Ibuka was a student of architectural engineering.
Sony in its present day owns and manufacture a large quantity of renowned products
and companies such as PlayStation, Crunchyroll, Xperia, Sony pictures, Sony music,
Columbia pictures and Vaio. The PlayStation 2 is the bestselling console overtaking
Microsoft's Xbox 360. This increased its rise to the video game industry after the
PlayStation 1. Sony also competed immensely with apple due to their ‘Sony Ericsson’
during the 2007’s. They reached their prime mobile phone sales during 2014 but then
decreased volume of sales shortly after. From the 1960s to present days, Sony have
been enhancing their quality of products ranging from the first ever tape recorder, the
Walkman, disc players to television, consoles, monitors, phones etc. In 1995, Sony
signed a 50/50 ownership with Micheal Jackson named’ Sony ATV music publishing
which is the best music publisher as of 2016.
Sony is a share company (‘Kabushiki gaisha’) registered to the Tokyo Exchange and
other abroad stock exchanges such as the ‘New York Stock Exchange.’ The
company has Limited Liability meaning that the owners’ personal items cannot be
taken away if the company owes debt or goes bankrupt but rather assets solely used
for the company, granted by governments (desktops, monitors, desks, Furnitures) will
be seized to pay off debts. They also have a responsible business conduct for
employers to think and behave ethically.
The benefits of Sony being on the stock exchange is that it is easier to raise
substantial amounts of funds due to the shares being open to the public hence the
rise of investors. Also, Sony can try and expand their company by introducing various
new projects which could potentially enhance the business.
However, Sony mostly manufacture devices/gadgets. This may be a disadvantage
for Sony as they do not vary their types of commodities which leads to other brands
, like Samsung overtaking them in success. In addition, being a public limited company
means that there could be potential hostile takeover due to shares being able to be
purchased by the public. Additionally, the public can view financial information about
Sony such as (net worth).
Liability
Although Sony is superior in the tech and entertainment industry, it carries the
burden of debts. Due to experiments and operations with gadgets, entertainment,
and gaming, company debts may soar. Dominant roles with expert specialised
knowledge for finance are trusted to handle these dilemmas. For example, The Chief
Financial Officer (in this case: ‘Kenichiro Yoshida’) must strategise ways to manage
and avoid risks of bankruptcy.
Many unincorporated companies are stricken with debts which may usually be
impossible to pay off when the enough revenue income depreciates. This is the case
when the government can seize company assets or personal assets to pay off debts.
However, since Sony is an incorporated business, it has limited liability meaning that
company assets will only be seized.
Sony’s Purpose
The purpose of Sony is to manufacture goods and technology for the consumers to
buy to maximise profits. They produce a lot of commodities ranging from movies,
music, games/consoles, and smartphones. They go with a simple motto, ‘make,
believe’ with a promise to ‘fill the world with emotion, through the power of creativity
and technology.’ They are also responsible for the production and animation of a lot
of movies (such as the spiderman franchise) and anime (aniplex). The most popular
gadget is the PlayStation having a 22% of revenue generated from Sony whilst
financial services generating 14% as a source of revenue. Sony has a net worth of
$122.86 billion. A drawback to their manufacturing is that they only create tech-
related objects and do not manufacture other type of objects to meet demands of
people. Samsung ranges from fridges, Televisions, phones hence their profit shares
which beat Sony.
After World War 2, Japan was in demand for radios due to lack of awareness about
the World’s state and news. Part of Sony's first aim was to manufacture and sell
these radios. This led to Sony’s first success.
Sector
Sony as an organisation, range in the Secondary sector, tertiary sector, and
Quaternary sector as there are manufacturing factories for products such as Sony
headphones and PlayStation, there are services such as Sony stores/any other
retails selling Sony products and there are IT (Information Technology) engineers
and research sectors to help enhance their gadgets and sound and movie
production/animation. Some may argue Sony falls under the secondary sector due to
being renowned for just manufacturing devices and gadgets such as (TV’s, consoles,
headsets, phones, DVD discs and radios). Sony also produces cameras and
recording devices which expands their role as major manufacturers in the secondary
sector which deliver items for content and entertainment.
However, some may argue that Sony plays a significant role in the tertiary sector
where they are more of a service company rather than a manufacturer. Sony offer a
wide range of services varying from PlayStation exclusive games (on the PS4/5) like
‘God of War,’ and ‘Spiderman’ to consumers/fans. There are also online streaming
platforms like PlayStation Network where fans buy different deals and packages to
