Wiped Coffee

My Biography Assignment. Not so original. But I did enjoy my voyage!

WIPED COFFEE
In 1966, Mr. Sony authored NEVER MIND SCHOOL RECORDS. While most companies scrambled to hire the graduates of a few top schools, he chose the opposite. He stressed that more than impressive academic qualifications were needed to be successful. “I beg to differ, school achievements are not important in judging the ability to do business”. This appealed to the minds of young entrepreneurs to follow their wildest, impossible dreams. He challenged everyone to follow his life as an amazing example of someone who succeeded with his own ideas even when others believed he never would.

His passion is innovation. From an early age, Mr. Sony was fond of meddling with electronic appliances. Whenever he was relieved from his household duties, this young man would become engrossed in taking apart the phonograph and putting it back together. He would spend hours and hours detailing the parts and applying his immature skills to mend the appliances back.

With the motto “it had to be something different, something that nobody else was making”, he took a giant step, he moved to the US in 1963. “I want something that sounded like a high-quality car stereo yet portable and listeners could listen while doing something else,” he said to his team. After long hours of hard and dedicated work, his excellent engineers came up with the Walkman, Mr. Sony’s most sentimental invention that is so dear to his heart because it took him nearly two years to survive the struggle to understand the American’s cultures and the language barriers. It was the biggest hit in the US in less than three weeks of sales.

His universal appeal and ingenuity made him a world citizen in the true sense of the term. He became one of the most influential personalities of the century. His successes were included in Time magazine's top businessmen of the 20th century. In the US, his brand became a giant in the electronics market, his profits have equaled national incomes of some third world countries! His success stories are eagerly awaited for, often filled with incredible tips in nurturing and grooming young talents.

“True, I did say school records are not significant, but I am a proud scholar from Physics Department at Osaka Imperial University. Never Mind School Records doesn’t mean you don’t have to pursue higher learning. Hard work, motivation and printed theories are also essential to equip yourself in dressing for success,” said Mr Sony. “I worked twenty-four seven, three sixty-five to place my brand in the US market. But remember, to have a successful career, I don’t have to sacrifice my family life. I see my brand as a child that I have to raise. I am a diehard believer in simple living and high thinking.”

This prodigy believed in being skilled and efficient in using resources economically. Mr. Sony, in his lifetime made sure that he gets the chance to address each new batch of fresh recruits, introduce them to the company philosophy and tell what is expected out of them. He created a company culture of `employment for life-time' to ensure employees give undivided loyalty to the company.

He was widely known for his boundless energy, curiosity and challenging spirit. At 72 he was still playing tennis at 7 a.m.– often with much younger people. He emitted a natural radiance, and many loved his personality, which he himself described as “cheerful”. He was not only a workaholic, but also a playaholic. He followed art and music, and was a sports fanatic. In his 60s he took up wind surfing and scuba diving and started skiing to ensure good exercise through the winter. He loved to water-ski and crafted a water-resistant microphone on a handle, connected by a wire on the ski rope to a speaker on the boat so that he could instruct the person maneuvering it.

Almost exactly eight years ago, he fell to the ground during a game of tennis. He had suffered a stroke. He has since been in a wheelchair. This is particularly sad, as he had never been able to sit still and relax with his favorite black coffee accompanying. He, the Guru of electronic, died in 1999, forty-four years after Sony towered its victory in the US. Akio Morita, the founder of Sony, was the pride and joy of the Japanese and the Americans, because after all, said Morita, Sony was made in the US!


References:
Made in Japan: Akio Morita and Sony, Akio Morita, Edwin M Reingold, Mitsuko Shimomura, Dutton, 1986.
http://encyclopedia.jrank.org/Cambridge/entries/035/Akio-Morita.html
http://www.mrbetamax.com/MoritaBio.htm.
http://www.worldofbiography.com/9078-Akio%20Morita
http://www.sony.com/SCA/press/morita_bio.shtml
http://an-alchemist.blogspot.com/2005_09_01_archive.html