Ziyin Zhou
MGT301
11/9/2014
Sony’s and Matsushita’s management strategies
As we all known, Sony and Matsushita are two of the largest consumer electronic makers in Japan or even in the world. And in this reading, it points out the different strategies Sony and Matsushita use when they were facing the fierce competition in China ----- Matushita was accelerating its pace on stretching the supply chain in China while Sony unexpectedly decided to shift some of its manufacturing business in China back to Japan. In this article, I will discuss the reasons that lead them to make different decision as well as analysize the advantages and the disadvantages of their decision.
Differences between Matsushita and Sony
Frist of all, the differences…show more content… Furthermore, because various high-tech parts found in camcorders and digital cameras were not produced in China and only Japan can posses this advance technolony, manufuctuing in China would just increase the traspotation cost since short product life cycle requires more frequently and more quickly deliveries. And most importantly, latest digital carmera on the Chinese market is almost six months behind the products in the primary market and Sony’s research and development center, critical cuppliers and customer service are concentrated in Japan, thus, if Sony insists using the former supply chain in China, it cannot develop better supply chain wide forecasting systems as well as avioding uncertainty by cutting lead times and increasing supply chain flexibility.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Manufacturing in China
For the advantages, one of the most significant factor we need to consider is the cost. Accoriding to the reading, not only the land (approximately one-thirtieth of Japanese) and the labor cost (only one-twentieth of Japanese) is much cheaper, but also the Chinese suppliers’ prices in China were twenty to thirty cheaper than in Japan. Thus, manufacturing in China can dramatically drop down the operating cost. Second, China is one of the largest potential market in the world, therefore,
