Sony Shakes Up Board

Last week Sir Howard Stringer, the head of Sony, changed up the company's senior management in order to fight the global consumer slump. According to the London Times, the changes included a demotion for Sony's president, Ryoji Chubachi, and concentrated more power in Stringer's hands. Fierce competition in LCD televisions and digital cameras combined with plunging consumer spending had damaged the company, one of many Japanese groups hit particularly hard by the downturn. The shake up is intended to unify the company structurally rather than vertically, eliminate supply-chain redundancies, and create a "networked" division responsible for Playstation games, Vaio laptop and Walkman products.