The Case Study for Sony-Ericsson: A SWOT Analysis
Corporate governance drew as the main identity factor for Nordic companies to shift to a new emerging corporate strategy for business reputation and integrity. This incited to commence a paradigm shift for a joint venture agreement across the board between Sony and Ericsson in 2001 to envision a new approach to enhance customer base and business growth on a global scale while mitigating environmental challenges from the mobile telephony technology.
Attribute to this change bears the trends undergoing innovative developments in Internet and Communication Technologies (ICT) industry demanding its entry in the telecommunications market as a substitute mechanism in the past decade to decipher challenges and solutions to fill communication gaps across its supply chains, contractors and customer base across global economies. In particular focus bears weight on to address substantial negative environmental on escalating carbon dioxide emission levels which debilitate ecosystems in multifold numbers, generating widespread concerns among international bodies, national governments, nongovernmental organizations from mobile technology manufacturing as an emerging dialogue source through the United Nations Global Compact System. This alliance by Sony-Ericsson commits to adhere to human rights, sound labor practices, achieving balance for the environment and pursue anticorruption. Not limited to this, Ericsson is guided by its corporate values to ensure that strict compliance is upbeat through engendering practice compliant to the provisions in the Ericsson Group Management System which is at risk. This governing system incorporates time based reviews and audits, performance levels, policies and directives to commit environmental, reputational risk resolutions, supranational and international legal compliance excellence and beyond. Other compliance structures embody the Swedish law on the Code of Conduct and Supplier Social Responsibility Code. Further studies with evidence show the recent decade demanded broadband internet technologies as the fastest GDP producer in the world (Ericsson Sustainability and Corporate Responsibility Report, 2009, p.3).Therefore a dichotomy surfaces in striking the balance between meeting technology demands in key deficient areas to meet humanitarian missions according to the United Nations Compact and in emission reduction remain a challenge.
The following benchmark pillars provide an analysis attribute to the corporate values and practices in addressing this challenge:
Value Competence: Stakeholders hold a pivotal position in evaluating the quality of corporate activities and meeting the short and long term goals in Sony Ericsson. To ensure success in their stake in the company Corporate Social Responsibility is becoming an evolving and central governing norm incorporated to corporate policymaking grids to meet global and humanitarian demands. This form attracts future proponents for Sony Ericsson’s products and services to enhance their marketability, corporate stability, reputation and reliance. Due to the company’s partnership with the United Nations and delved engagement with core nongovernmental organizations, their commitment to promulgate innovative technologies and guidance policy is ensured with adherence across the board with cohesive monitoring mechanisms to meet target low scale carbon dioxide emission levels and emulating state of the art technology. There exist five monitoring types: The Purchasing Standards of Consumers—which attract widespread public advocacy through nongovernmental organizations; Code of Conduct—where certain standards are imperative to be met set by national and international organizational communities through accreditation by the International Standards Organization, who employ social responsibility incorporated in corporate governance in the company; Standards of Investments—to implement and enforce financial standards and monetary and capital leverage to meet standardized CSR compliant measures through equitable value on investments to maintain compulsory assets to maintain standards; Finance Standards—to maintain and invest with financial products committed to maintain standard levels that sustain global investment levels to ensure environment, social and governance goals are met with the highest standards and integrity with relevant issues of these natures are addressed by consensus and establish coherence on creating solutions among affected communities and resolved in a timely manner that may affect global investment portfolios to inverse trends and a set of regulations implemented to protect the investment rights of corporate shareholders; Procurement Standards—certain standards customized incorporating to a diverse spectrum of procurement conditions and a growing corporate norm for government procurement. This set of standards stand as a benchmark platform for evaluation to monitor corporate programs and goals implementing a quality assurance grading system which counterpart to goal achievement upon program assessment on a time lead basis. However this lacks a quantitative or methodical approach to measure these factors for compliance (Kanji, n.d., p.3). Without inherent empirical methods to associate to these governing factors to derive exogenous data analysis required in policy implementation would be difficult to attract consensus based advocacy among corporate and public investor communities.
Core Competencies: Sustainability acts as the core aim and driving force for existence of Sony Ericsson. This company asset sets the stage for the company to take the lead over other firms in the mobile phone industry. The Greenhouse Gas Protocol served as a pilot mechanism for the firm as the most comprehensive breakthrough to decipher measuring amounts of carbon dioxide levels through kilowatt hour denominations that make a suitable methodology for the industry. This benchmark mechanism led to implied empirical methods on a more sophisticated scale extending the coverage for GHG protocol to derive measurements or results and measure how the said protocol impacts the mobile telephony industry. For example, studies through the Life Cycle assessment (LCA) Model showed that energy levels reference to typical power usage attributing to business use and compared to telephony power consumption result to equivalent carbon dioxide levels that outnumber the latter by the former in multifold quantities. In addition, the impact rate of a mobile phone with a 3.5 year lifespan impact the environment with carbon dioxide yields equivalent to 150 kilometers of car traveler 23.5 kilograms of carbon dioxide out of 0.85 kilogram per phone used at an impact rate of 3.6 percent. One can imagine how consummate these levels are to damage the environment. Related research has never disclosed the threshold level for carbon dioxide rates from mobile telephone use sufficient to cause fatality (Ericsson Sustainability Report, 2008, pp 5-6).
Competitive Advantage: Sony Ericsson is taking a unique approach to meeting quality assurance standards on a procedural and step-by-step basis in the production lifecycle of mobile telephony processes through cross functional projects incorporated in the Sustainability Program. These give the opportunity for management to examine and scrutinize standards in a top-down manner are thoroughly met through multilevel steps comprising manufacturing control, carbon footprint production, communication through local and global response systems, supply chain controls and engagement and awareness. Research lacks empirical background to what specific standards should determine whether ideal quantitative levels for quality control are met. Neither these options are available as a reliable substitute to measure quantitative levels for policy guidance and to establish standardized benchmarks (Ericsson Sustainability Report, 2008, p. 4).Implementing a diverse approach like these reflect the characteristic in corporate governance Nordic firms exercise. Different national legal structures with integrating international legal and policy norms influence each a nationally diversified managing body to succeed over company executive positions in corporate board memberships. Studies show that culturally diverse bodies implementing this management style and corporate subculture are recognized with added value management performance. However no empirical evidence present any noted difference at the same time to resulting management tools implemented of the said nature with everything else equal. In parallel the internationalized subculture in corporate boards do not reflect any difference in results as evidenced. However, the extent of internationalized exposure of board members enables to diversify their quality of corporate governance on a global scale with prominent diversity and distinct characteristics that give edge to the market. The correlation between internationalization and board diversity in corporate governance therefore exists (Gregoric et al., 2009, p.7).
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