Japan February 27, 2009, 11:54AM EST

Sony CEO Stringer Picks a New Team

Howard Stringer announces a major reshuffling of management, including an expansion of his own role. Will the shakeup reinvigorate Sony?

Sony's CEO Howard Stringer YOSHIKAZU TSUNO/AFP/Getty Images

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Five weeks after pledging to carry out tougher reforms, Sony (SNE) Chief Executive Officer Howard Stringer has reshuffled his management team. On Feb. 27, Stringer announced he would take charge of the Japanese company's struggling core electronics group, adding the title of president to his existing roles as chairman and CEO. He will also reorganize Sony's divisions and replace his top lieutenants with four young executives who have held posts outside of Japan and are "familiar with the digital world," Stringer told journalists at the company's headquarters in Tokyo.

To make way for Stringer's expanded role, his top deputy, Ryoji Chubachi, will step down as president and become vice-chairman. The change, which goes into effect in April, gives Stringer more control to push through the kind of painful restructuring Sony needs to become profitable. Just last month, Stringer stressed the need to move away from traditional Japanese consensus-building to speedier, top-down decision-making. "I'll have to spend more time in Tokyo, and I'm very happy to do that," said Stringer, who now spends two weeks every month in Japan.

But the Welsh-born American executive will likely leave the heavy lifting to his new team. They will need to streamline manufacturing and come up with new Internet services that link the tech giant's gizmos to its vast digital library of music, movies, and TV shows. Though Stringer put those things at the top of his to-do list when he took over three years ago, his efforts have been hampered by divisive rivalries and strong resistance from the company's old guard of hardware engineers. "This group is very network-centric and very open-minded," Stringer said.

A Push for Internet Services

Stringer didn't reveal many details about the strategy. But the point man for his push into Internet services will be Kazuo "Kaz" Hirai. As the head of Sony's video-game business, the 48-year-old Hirai has spent the past two years expanding network services for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable consoles. Last week, Sony said more than 20 million PS3 users have connected their machines to the Net and signed up for the PlayStation Network, which features online games, video downloads, news, and a social-networking service.

Hirai's new assignment puts him in charge of a newly created networked products and services group. That will include Vaio computers, Walkman media players, and software and online services along with his gaming portfolio. He will also head a lab that's expected to develop new wireless mobile gizmos. Analysts expect him to broaden the PlayStation Network or beef up similar services for other products. Those services will "provide the kind of sustained product differentiation over time that will enable us to restore attractive [profit] margins to our business," Stringer said.