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Gives an in depth view of the strategies pursued by the world’s leading chief executive officers in an attempt to provide guidance to new chief executives of today. Considers the marketing strategies employed, together with the organizational structures used and looks at the universal concepts that can be applied to any product. Uses anecdotal evidence to formulate a number of theories which can be used to compare your company with the best in the world. Presents initial survival strategies and then looks at ways companies can broaden their boundaries through manipulation and choice. Covers a huge variety of case studies and examples together with a substantial question and answer section.

The paper aims to review Sony Ericsson's brand management decision to leverage a brand from the Sony portfolio in their cellular phones.

The paper draws on data from Sony Ericsson and brand portfolio theories.

The results reveal that the function of the Walkman brand has changed from a sub‐brand strategy that initially protected the Sony brand against potential failure of the extension via a graveyard brand with outdated product categories into a brand driver defining the category of Sony Ericsson's premium MP3 player cellular phones.

The paper provides strategic brand management insights and thinking underlying the Sony Ericsson brand portfolio strategy and how new product categories can subvert incumbent brands.

This paper is of particular value to anybody seeking to understand brand‐based business development, including business managers, brand managers and academic researchers.

The purpose of this paper is to qualitatively understand the reactions of online publics to a victim cluster crisis as the crisis unfolds and offer a new way of tracking online hot-issue publics using comments on online news articles.

This research uses a mixed-methods approach, employing both descriptive quantitative techniques and qualitative thematic analysis.

Qualitative analyses of online news comments on BuzzFeed and the Huffington Post revealed that publics’ reaction to the cyber-attack on Sony, the following threats of attack, and Sony’s response to it largely ran counter to the situational crisis communication theory’s (SCCT) assumptions about victim cluster crises. Analyses also revealed a pattern in the volume of comments on the two online news outlets, supporting the conceptualization of hot-issue publics growing and decreasing as news coverage of an issue rises and falls.

The analysis was limited to one incident and two online media.

This paper provides empirical support for the use of online news comments to track hot-issue publics and what is important to them. In addition, tracking the tone and content of the comments allows for an examination of the fit of SCCT assumptions and provides a way for practitioners to understand public opinion and adapt communication plans based on insights gleaned from such data.

This study is one of few to provide empirical support for the conceptualization of hot-issue publics, and to do so using online news comments. In addition, it is one of very few to study the SCCT in real-world settings, examining real publics’ reactions to real issues.

States that few studies have attempted to measure the joint effect of brand and country images, or the dimensions of these images, on consumer evaluation of global products. Suggests a methodology for defining product value by consumers’ perception of brand and country image dimensions when sourced internationally. Brand‐country image profiles were factor analysed to provide dimensions of each brand‐country combination. Shows that consumer perception of product value changes, evidenced by brand‐country dimensions, as production is sourced internationally, and suggests a modified marketing strategy.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of country of origin (COO) information on brand perception and brand image structure.

Through an analytical review, research hypotheses were built. An empirical investigation was carried out among Japanese consumers. Two brands of electronics with different levels of reputation were investigated.

Results showed that COO had an effect on brand perception. This effect differs across brands and across countries of production. Brand‐origin appears to be of significant impact on consumer perception. Brand images are found to be multidimensional. Their structures differ across brands and across COO.

COO has multiple effects on brand image perception. Brand image is multidimensional. This research dealt with one type of product among culturally similar respondents which may limit the finding.

Marketing actions should be customized across brands with different levels of reputation. Brand image should be assessed as a multidimensional concept incorporating multiple facets. Consumers are influenced by the brand‐origin. Marketers should be aware of this association.

This research tests the multidimensional aspect of brand image structure and effect of COO information on brand image structure. Results show that COO information affects both the degree of fragmentation of brand image as well as its composition.

Reviews the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoints practical implications from cutting‐edge research and case studies.

This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.

The passing from office of charismatic founder Akio Moriata still casts a shadow over the Sony Empire. The once sure‐footed innovator is not in crisis, but corporate decline and fall can be a slow lingering death. Certainties have gone. An organization that once shrugged off a gallant defeat in video format wars (a superior Sony Betamax system came second to the more prevalent VHS) is beginning to face up to an uncertain future, one in which it cannot be insulated from the pace of competition. The issues currently being faced go to the very soul of the organization. So when its back is increasingly against the wall, what is its self‐image, what are its basic instincts about the fight to be fought, and is the stomach there to take the painful decisions needed to thrive in the next era?

Provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world's leading organizations.

The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy‐to‐digest format.

Increasingly, manufacturers and service providers face the challenge of improving the environmental performance of their products. A number of studies have shown the importance of environmental goals and measures for successful environmental design efforts in firms. This paper provides a framework of environmental goals or benchmarks and examines Sony Corporation as a case study of improving the environmental performance of products. Specific examples of Sony's targets for improvement are provided along with examples of initiatives for their achievement. In particular, Sony's product assessment check sheet is introduced as a simple yet effective tool for identifying areas for environmental improvement, as well as for measuring and promoting improvement efforts in alignment with the organization's longer‐term environmental goals.

When Sony Europe began a restructure in 2003, Roy White, its VP of HR, realized that identifying and focusing on each employee’s key strengths would be crucial to enhancing performance. Here, he explains how by introducing mentoring projects under a three‐step plan, the organization encouraged employees to focus on what they do best and maximize their contribution to the bottom line.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a conceptual tool that would help managers to integrate the findings from strategy frameworks such as the value chain, the five forces or the VRIO framework by jointly analyzing the different levers of competitive advantage.

Building on the extant literature the paper develops a strategy framework that integrates the internal and external dimensions of strategy formulation. To illustrate a practical application of the value‐process framework, the paper presents a case study of a project at the German music corporation Sony BMG.

The value‐process framework serves managers as a conceptually unifying analysis tool that contributes to their understanding of the main levers that help to create a sustainable competitive advantage. The framework can be used to visually integrate isolated strategy frameworks by jointly analyzing the different levers of competitive advantage, and to develop consistent and integrated strategies that simultaneously take into account the internal and external perspectives of strategic decision making.

While the existing strategy literature is good at providing specific concepts and tools of strategy analysis, it rarely connects the different dimensions and points out their interdependencies. As a result, strategic analyses are often fragmented and isolated from their broader context. The value‐process framework aims to provide an overarching perspective that helps to integrate the different dimensions of strategy formulation.

This paper seeks to establish the importance of studying the effects of licensing brand alliances from a customer's standpoint, to investigate the effectiveness of licensing as a strategy by comparing it with a brand extension of a well‐known parent brand, and to provide a theoretical explanation for the licensing effects.

In Study 1, subjects' attitudes were measured towards a lesser known brand with and without licensing by Sony, and Sony alone in a three‐factor (licensing, no licensing, and Sony) between‐subjects design. Study 2 compared a licensed brand with a brand extension of a well‐known brand using the Chow test.

A brand “licensed by Sony” was evaluated higher than without licensing. Moreover, no difference was found between evaluation of a brand licensed by Sony and Sony alone. Study 2 revealed no significant difference between the data collected from a licensed brand and a well‐known brand extension, suggesting that being a licensed brand in some cases may be as effective as being an extension of a well‐known brand.

The research examined the effects of strong brand names (e.g. Sony). It would be interesting to extend the findings by examining the brand names that are perhaps less strong (e.g. Samsung) to test the generalizability of the research.

For lesser‐known brands, licensing could be a viable strategy to increase their brand evaluation.

For new brands, this paper provides evidence that licensing is a viable strategy, and also provides a theoretical explanation for the licensing effects.