What is Digg?110 Comments
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -11/+135He was promoted from president of the PlayStation division to chairman and CEO of the whole ***** organization, probably got a hefty bump in salary, has more say in and control of the company as a whole, and this is seen as a PUNISHMENT!? What the *****?
Removed as PlayStation boss? More like put in charge of the NEW PlayStation boss. - canti32, on 10/12/2007, -6/+89Since when is a promotion a punishment?
- icealchemist, on 10/12/2007, -27/+96RIIIIIIIIIIIDDDDDDDDDDDDDDGGGGGGGEEEEEEEE Racer!
couldn't resist. - bepe86, on 10/12/2007, -7/+58Uhm, the one who said "Riiiiiiiiiiidge Raaaacerrr" was Kaz Hirai, not Ken Kutaragi ;)
- canti32, on 10/12/2007, -6/+49You bought a Kutaragi?
- BIGmog, on 10/12/2007, -1/+33It's the Dilbert principle. Put incapable people in the position where they can do the least damage; management.
- CiXeL, on 10/12/2007, -3/+34failing upwards
why cant corporations fire anyone? - rderveloy, on 10/12/2007, -3/+31@canti32
"Since when is a promotion a punishment?"
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Since when people, who have been with a company too long to fire, have messed up big and the only way to reassign them to another place where they can't do as much harm is with a promotion.
Ken is a perfect example. In Japan, honor and perception are held in much higher regards than in the western world. Sony can't simply reassign or fire Ken since he's the founder of Playstation and has been with the company for many years. Additionally, Sony can't ask for his resignation for the same reasons.
So, as Sony, you promote the guy to somewhere else. By doing so, you simultaneously place him in a position where he can't do as much direct harm and you maintain the perception of honoring his past contributions to the company. Everything is cool. - zediker, on 10/12/2007, -6/+32Ouch... window seated... i feel sorry for the guy... he will never touch anything important again...
- uptown, on 10/12/2007, -4/+26Maybe he's secretly posting on digg:
http://www.digg.com/tech_news/Get_me_out_of_this_job - Norweed, on 10/12/2007, -2/+23Because then they'd have to admit that the person screwed up and by doing that they'd have to admit that the company screwed up and that would be an honest thing to do and we all know that no corporation is capable of honesty.
- zediker, on 10/12/2007, -1/+21"failing upwards
why cant corporations fire anyone?"
In Japan, this is known as a window seat position. Essentially you are now blacklisted, other japanese corporations wont touch you, but the company that did this will still keep you. Essentially, you still have a job, but its mostly a job of shame. You will never be involved with anything important to the company again. Another person who had a position like this was the creator of the Virtual Boy for Nintendo. - Aliasing, on 10/12/2007, -4/+22For anyone that thinks this sounds like a promotion, as someone else pointed out, this is basically a career death sentence in Japanese business.
- mojorojoe, on 10/12/2007, -3/+19yeah he got a promotion all right....to sit out the rest of the game on the pine.
- aegis9975, on 10/12/2007, -2/+17His new role is SCE chairman, and it should be noted that many other executives have been reshuffled.
Here's a more informative link without the stupid commentary that is confusing people:
http://gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=21442 - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -9/+24The article seems like its overly pessimistic on Kutaragi and fills the explanation with speculation. If anything, it looks like he's getting a promotion. From President of a smaller group to CEO of a larger group? I don't think Sony has even admitted that the launch was anything short of spectacular.
- toasty168, on 10/12/2007, -3/+16Pfffft... promotion? You really think he got a promotion? You guys apparently have no understanding of Japanese culture. They're saving face. To demote him would be admitting something was wrong. They just need to get him out of the way and save face. I'm positive he has no real power. I'll wager he didn't even get a bump in pay or if he did, it was very, very minor. In fact, I'll bet in a few months he will "retire" if the PS3 doesn't succeed.
You'd think you'd learn to see through the Sony spin by now. But I suppose people will see what they want to see. - pureliquidhw, on 10/12/2007, -3/+15honor?
it's the Japanese. this isn't the weirdest thing they've done. - Bamborzled, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12Yes they do.
A "window seat" in Japanese == "harmless job we give you if you fail", if I recall correctly.
Moving upwards to CEO means that Kutaragi won't manage day-to-day operations--EXACTLY what Sony wants. - asurroca, on 10/12/2007, -2/+14And why would you compare a portable gaming system with a console gaming system? Would you compare the sales of PDAs to desktop computers?
OF COURSE the PSP has to be compared to the DS, dude. Perhaps you should work with Kutaragi. I'm sure you'd see eye to eye. - hungryJonJon, on 10/12/2007, -4/+16Did the blog even read the press release?!?! Inaccurate.
- Pac56, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12@zediker
The only difference is that Yokoi Gunpei was moved laterally instead of "promoted". He then resigned shortly after that. Gunpei was an exception to the blacklisted rule also. Before his death in 1997, he was working with Bandai on the Wonderswan. Kutaragi will probably stick around Sony for a little while to see if the PS3 can recover from its rocky launch. If they can start turning a profit on the systems within the next year like Microsoft with the 360, he may be slightly vindicated. Given the loss they take per unit, this is highly unlikely. The PS3 will be a critical success once its lineup expands, but how much of a commercial success it will be is hard to determine. - Zoologico, on 10/12/2007, -8/+19To be fair, they did sell every unit shipped.
:)
Isn't that what every manufacturer wants? - oblongmouth, on 10/12/2007, -2/+13really?
man, i'm off to get a job in Japan
Do you have any linky's to provide me with further info on this phenomena?! - Kanna, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11I want to work at Sony. With my everyday failures I can be chairman in no time!
- asurroca, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11Executives don't retire, they become chairman of the board. I thought that was common knowledge. Whether they want to retire (Bill Gates) or not (probably Kutaragi).
Being removed from day-to-day operations, even if he gets a huge pay bump and a great new office and a swanky new yacht, etc., means that, sure he'll still have influence in the background in SCEI, but he won't be the guy calling the shots anymore.
Imagine if Sony had done this back in 2001. The PS3 might have had a Blu-Ray accessory drive, cost only $400, retained game exclusives, and actually upscaled! It could've been a contender! LOL - drgnmstrnik, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9What the people commenting dont realize is that in Japanese business a promotion is the ONLY way to demote someone. A firing of someone would lead to suicide and there is no way to actually demote anyone. Instead you promote them to a point where they can no longer have influence on the area that they are screwing up in.
- converge, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9Reminds me of that Seinfeld episode where Elaine keeps promoting that creepy mailman to get him out of her hair.
- SporkLand, on 10/12/2007, -4/+12People are saying he got a promotion:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601101&sid=aPGd5E.YlTR8&refer=japan
Seems more reputable, and they are taking his "promotion" as a negative implication as well. - kalidav, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9Haha, well I didn't see this one coming, but the reasons behidn the move seem pretty clear. All fanboyism aside, Sony honestly didn't handle the PS3 very well at all, and it's time someone accepted responsibility for the mistakes.
- zeejay, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9After all the hardcore 20-somethings with a glut of disposable income have bought one, let's see how well it does at its current price point. Just watch - once stores are able to stock them en masse, in the US, it's gonna rank 4th behind the 360, Wii, and Nintendo DS.
- Gustomucho, on 10/12/2007, -3/+10I log in only to bury you.
- willyallthewei, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7This was a forced promotion. No it is not a good thing.
- NYC10004, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6You kids don't seem to understand the subtle implications from a change in position at this stage of a project launch. This is a bad thing, it is a dishonorable thing for it to happen under any other circumstance than massive success. Not only does it implicate something is wrong with the corporate machine, but it draws attention in a negative manner. It's not a pat on the back, its a slap.
- Lumiras, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9I wish I could be "removed" from my job and put into a higher paying position where I have to work less
- MCurley, on 10/12/2007, -5/+10They can't just kill him?
- tobalt, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6You screw up, you move up.
Rather than have him running the daily ops, and technical aspects of their division, they'd rather put him somewhere where they can keep a good eye on him. I bet he gets the corner window desk (apparently reserved for failures in Japanese companies).
Basically, he's done well in the past, but screwed up with the PS3. That alone doesn't warrant an immediate firing. They can't demote him, and probably didn't have a lateral position for him. So, he moved up. - SkippyDoorknob, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7Learn to understand the corporate world, in particular the Japanese corporate world.
- Urusai, on 10/12/2007, -5/+11Except his fat wad of major lewts. Cry me a ***** river.
- mkjones, on 10/12/2007, -6/+12Aw bless. He should have gone sooner actually. I think the (massive) damage is done.
- Aleman360, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/ViewContentServlet?Filename=Published/EmeraldFullTextArticle/Articles/0160180702.html
"In Japan , companies dole out “window seats” to long-time employees. Window seats, which support senior, unneeded employees until they retire, require little or no productive work. Most older workers view the window seat as an entitlement, a reward for long years of hard work and loyalty; others see it as demeaning, or loss of face. This practice of maintaining unproductive workers at full pay is a very costly one, which some companies have sought to reduce or eliminate. By providing dull, humiliating types of work some companies hope window sitters will be encouraged to retire voluntarily (Ono, 1993)." - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7Failing upward. No wonder Sony's having so many problems.
- DiggYaLater, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4To Ken's credit, he is the "Father of the Playstation". You can't just fire the man who brought the company so much success in the past. All you can do is hand him the samurai sword and let him do the rest. Sayonara
- envy860, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Real time executive changes!
- dezmd, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5No, he has to kill himself.
- daridave, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5@ rderveloy
I agree, HOWEVER... Kutaragi retains all power on decisions, despite his new position (stated in another page's article on the subject).
...this doesn't void your philosophy, but if they really wanted to hurt him, they would strip him of control. - skellingtonjr, on 10/12/2007, -12/+17That is not relevant to article. Thanks for you input.
- VeganG, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4If Ken Kutaragi were a mafia boss, he just got the kiss of death.
- kazuhima, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4i think this is one of the reasons why it took japan forever to recover from the bubble age burst.
- seneyr, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Pwned.
Reggie got promoted because Nintendo needed a strong spokesman/evangelist for the brand. I think that's the way American business works. You do good for the company you get a promotion.
The dynamic duo of Kuturagi and Hirai, need no introduction. They're at least pulling Kuturagi out of the trenches since they can't trust him to botch up the next "big thing". Anyone else remember the tight leash they put on him when talking to the press after the big E3 snafu? If anyone thinks they're doing him a favor they're not at all. As people have pointed out, this is obviously him getting a "window seat". Or to Americans, it's just another reinforcement of the "Dilbert principle".
Let's put it this way. If you were building a bomb, and you couldn't fire your employees, where would you rather have the incompetent workers? -
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