IT was like any other evening. He was resting "peacefully" in                                                                               
his favourite couch listening to Mozart. As usual, his                                                                                                
children and their friends were creating a racket upstairs-                                                                                           
blasting their music to uncontrollable levels.                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                                      
"Not again, from morning till evening the same loud noise," he                                                                              
thought. "There must be a way where they can enjoy their music                                                                                   
and I mine."                                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                                      
Thus was born the idea of the world-beater called Sony                                                                                                
Walkman.  The man behind the idea was none other than Akio                                                                                            
Morita-the great entrepreneur, inventor, super sales- man and                                                                                         
realist.                                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                      
The beginning                                                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                                      
Akio Morita, heir to one of Japan's famous sake-brewing                                                                                               
families, was born in 1921 at Kosugaya village near the                                                                                               
industrial town of Nagoya. The boy learned about life growing                                                                                         
up in an environment that was conducive and educational. At                                                                                           
the age of 10 he sat with his father in what he called "long                                                                                     
and boring board meetings."                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                                      
"I was taught that scolding subordinates and looking for                                                                                         
people to blame for problems-seeking scapegoats-was useless."                                                                                    
This lesson he kept throughout his life. He mingled easily                                                                                            
with all members of his staff.                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                                      
Like his father, he learned to appreciate music and                                                                                                   
technological advances in the phonograph industry. His father                                                                                         
made it a point to buy the best set in town in order not to                                                                                           
hurt his children's ears.                                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                                      
Naturally he took to listening to the works of Mozart,                                                                                                
Beethoven, Bach, Brahms and others. One of his favourites was                                                                                         
Ravel's Bolero.                                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                                      
Morita became obsessed with electric phonograph at high                                                                                               
school; he began subscribing to foreign magazines that had                                                                                            
information about radio, sound reproduction and such like. He                                                                                         
regularly read the Japanese magazine Wireless and Experiment.                                                                                         
He bought books on electronics; he reminisced: "In fact, I                                                                                       
became so engrossed in my electronic tinkering that I almost                                                                                          
flunked out of school."                                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                                      
At eighth grade of High School, he decided to enter the                                                                                               
science stream.  His parents were surprised as he was a "poor"                                                                              
student but he managed to obtain a place through hard work and                                                                                        
much tutoring.                                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                                      
He was the lowest ranking student (180th) in his school to                                                                                            
enter the science class. Morita went on to study physics at                                                                                           
Osaka Imperial University. Upon graduation, he joined the navy                                                                                        
during World Was II as a researcher.                                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                                      
On May 7, 1946, some 20 interested people met at a burnt-out                                                                                          
department store in Tokyo. They started the Tokyo                                                                                                     
Telecommunications Engineering Corporation or Tokyo Tsushi                                                                                            
Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha with about US$600.                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                                      
Akio Morita was 25 years old and Masaru Ibuka, 36, when they                                                                                          
cofounded what was later known as Sony, the electronics and                                                                                           
entertainment giant.                                                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                                      
Morita had this to say about Ibuka: "Knowing him has been one                                                                                    
of the greatest blessings in my life and working with him has                                                                                         
been a source of immense joy."                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                                      
Sony's growth and success was a result of the co-founders'                                                                                            
vision of making it international. The company's Japanese name                                                                                        
of "Tokyo Tsushi Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha" would have been a                                                                                  
mouthful to a non-Japanese.                                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                                      
They wanted a name that was internationally acceptable, short                                                                                         
and pronounced the same everywhere.  The Latin word for sound                                                                                         
was sonus; around this time the term "sonny" or "sonny-boy"                                                                       
was common in English.  Taking the two, Sony was coined.                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                      
The inventor                                                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                                      
Morita and his friends tasted failure early in their venture.                                                                                         
In 1946, they "invented" a rice cooker. Unfortunately, it did                                                                               
not work well. In 1950 Sony produced the first magnetic                                                                                               
recording tape and tape-recorder.                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                                      
Morita, Ibuka and 40 other scientists worked very hard under                                                                                          
trying conditions. Immediately after the war they were trying                                                                                         
to get contracts from the Japan Broadcasting Company NHK,                                                                                             
which needed new technical equipment as mixing units, among                                                                                           
other things.                                                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                                      
Sony was recommended by a friend. The American general who                                                                                            
visited the work site was appalled by the primitive, tiny,                                                                                            
ramshackle set- up. He was shaking his head all the time.                                                                                             
However, he was persuaded to give the contract to Sony.                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                                      
When the equipment was delivered, NHK and the American general                                                                                        
in particular, could not believe the high quality.                                                                                                    
Congratulations and additional jobs followed.                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                                      
The magnetic recording tape and tape-recorder was not an                                                                                              
instant success; it weighed 75lb. But it went on to gain the                                                                                          
confidence of IBM, which chose their tape for data storage.                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                                      
In 1955, Morita and some researchers came out with the                                                                                                
transistor radio, which became an international hit. This                                                                                             
small radio quickly caught on in the US market and elsewhere.                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                                      
In 1968, the company came out with Trinitron colour television                                                                                        
sets, which became the standard quality for colour television.                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                                      
In 1975, Sony invented the Betamax video cassette but failed                                                                                          
to anticipate the customers' liking for a tape that can hold a                                                                                        
whole movie. The VHS format produced by Matsushita and others                                                                                         
outsold Sony's products.                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                      
Sony did not give up easily. In 1979 the company launched the                                                                                         
now famous Walkman which took the name of Soundabout in the                                                                                           
United States, Freestyle in Sweden and Stow- away in England.                                                                                         
Although he did not particularly like these ungrammatical                                                                                             
names chosen by his young people, he was relieved that it came                                                                                        
to be known as Sony Walkman the world over.                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                                      
Morita had got the idea at home, and combined it with his                                                                                             
observation that people were listening to music in cars,                                                                                              
beaches and parks. Engineering was not keen because there was                                                                                         
no recording facility, and accountants protested at the low                                                                                           
price.                                                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                                      
Morita insisted on quality music, small size (Ibuka had been                                                                                          
carrying a portable tape recorder the size of a briefcase) and                                                                                        
portability, allowing the user the freedom to do something                                                                                            
else while listening to music.                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                                      
In 1982, Sony came out with a compact disk (CD) player. It was                                                                                        
the first digital consumer electronics product. Its launch had                                                                                        
a tremendous effect on the record market.                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                                      
This was closely followed by its camcorder in 1985, which made                                                                                        
home movie-making unbelievably easy.  Many families around the                                                                                        
globe took to recording events like birthdays and weddings on                                                                                         
video.                                                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                                      
Sometimes, too good a product may not sell. Sony's digital                                                                                            
audio tape recorder did not take off because recording                                                                                                
companies fearing piracy did not support his high-fidelity                                                                                            
product.                                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                      
Morita practised regular reporting on research and                                                                                                    
development. He held monthly meetings where top executives                                                                                            
gathered to hear reports from researchers. As more and more                                                                                           
research was being conducted, he felt there was a need for                                                                                            
department heads to know what others were doing.                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                                      
To achieve this, they had a Technological Symposium every                                                                                             
month where division heads and researchers could discuss their                                                                                        
work- in-progress. Besides this, Sony also organised a                                                                                                
technological fair once a year for company staff only.                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                                      
Marketing wizard                                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                                      
Morita had clear thoughts and concepts about marketing. He                                                                                            
related an occasion when he was passing by an antique shop; he                                                                                        
saw a customer buying an antique from the shop and paying a                                                                                           
high price for it.                                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                                      
Morita was not the least attracted to the product but the                                                                                             
customer seemed to be pretty happy with it.  The customer's                                                                                           
behaviour intrigued Morita and taught him a principle: "That                                                                                     
no sale can be achieved unless the buyer appreciates the value                                                                                        
of the merchandise."                                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                                      
This he initially put into practice for the sale of Sony's                                                                                            
tape recorders He did likewise for every new product that Sony                                                                                        
came out with. There was a constant need to educate the                                                                                               
customers. Sony set about training and increasing the number                                                                                          
of persons who could communicate to the customers the                                                                                                 
usefulness and value of their products.                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                                      
The people trained included the salesmen, dealers and others                                                                                          
who could explain to a customer the benefits of the product in                                                                                        
a way he could understand.                                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                                      
To Morita, a marketing task was a communication task.                                                                                                 
Therefore Sony exported its own products and did not use                                                                                              
trading companies. He himself went to the US to access the                                                                                            
market.                                                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                                      
Sony always took customers and their attitude towards                                                                                                 
technology into consideration. This helped Sony to create new                                                                                         
things five to 10 years ahead, in keeping with their motto                                                                                            
that "An enterprise is not all well off by being well off only                                                                                   
today."                                                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                                      
Sony's market concept was brand identification and brand                                                                                              
responsibility. This meant that customers could expect high                                                                                           
quality and advanced products. In many ways, Morita and Sony                                                                                          
were ahead of their times. While many Japanese companies were                                                                                         
making products for others -for example, Pentax for Honey-                                                                                            
well, Ricoh for Savin, Sanyo for Sears -Sony stuck to its                                                                                             
products alone.                                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                                      
Morita and friends helped to change the notion that                                                                                                   
made-in-Japan meant shoddiness to one that meant quality                                                                                              
products. Morita relied on his instinct to guess what                                                                                                 
customers wanted. Sometimes, he was wrong but more often, and                                                                                         
in crucial products, he was right.                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                                      
Sony depended on short life cycles emphasising speed and                                                                                              
efficiency.  Thus it was not surprising to see many                                                                                                   
competitors imitate and copy them. Sony was the trend-setter.                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                                      
"He complemented technological wizardry with marketing                                                                                           
ingenuity," says Fortune magazine of Morita.