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In the 1960s, Sony placed a rather unusual advertisement in the Asahi Shimbun. The ad read,  Wanted: People Capable of Arguing in English. The text revealed that the advertisement was placed to recruit staff for its overseas operations. Fortunately, it attracted much attention, and Sony received many inquires
To become a world-renowned brand name, Sony began establishing sales and marketing operations abroad. The most pressing job openings requiring employees were in the areas of tape recorder and transistor sales. We need people who speak English and can understand the market as soon as possible, read the advertisement. There was no time to hire university graduates and train them.
Personnel with overseas sales experience were recruited from trading firms and this included Hajime Unoki, Shiro Koriyama, Toshio Miyamoto, and Masakazu Jinno the first year, followed by Akinobu Ishihara the second year, and Kenji Tamiya the third. These employees joined the already established International Division, which was located in a shabby building nicknamed the barracks atop the mountain. On their first day, they received a hearty welcome from the divisional director Masayoshi Suzuki, as well as from Manpo Komatsu, Hiroshi Okochi, and several other employees. Then they were shown to their desks on which countless documents and invoices needing attention were piled. The International Division at the time consisted of several groups divided by region, overseeing all activities in the US, Europe, Asia and Africa
In the late 1950s, Suzuki, Okochi and Jinno were transferred from the International Division to the US, whereas Komatsu was transferred to Europe. Armed with data based on thorough market research, they began preparations for establishing offices in their respective regions. In February 1960, Sony Corporation of America (SONAM) was established in New York as a local legal entity (see Part I, Chapter 8). In Europe, the first Sony office was opened in Zurich in August of 1959. The following year, this office was expanded and incorporated as Sony Overseas S.A. (SOSA). This sales company began with just four employees: Komatsu as its director, Shiro Koriyama, Reiji Suzuki, and a Swiss secretary. Once SONAM and SOSA were in operation, daily contact with the Tokyo-based International Division was maintained by telex to determine production and sales quantities.
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The first employees of SOSA in Switzerland (from left to right, Koriyama, Komatsu, a Swiss secretary and Suzuki). |
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In Africa and Asia, sales were conducted directly through local dealerships, and inquiries and letters of complaint from these dealers left unattended had begun to pile up. The first assignment for the overseas sales staff was to familiarize themselves with the product model numbers in catalogs and reply to each letter. Most replies were sent out by mail with only those in need of urgent attention sent by telegram. Facsimile machines were not available at the time and overseas phone calls were too expensive. As soon as an order was confirmed, the staff completed order sheets based on previously written ones and sent them to the factories. The members of International Division were then responsible for making sure the products were shipped safely. On joining the International Division, these newly recruited employees were put in charge of many dealers. They were not given any specific job training or introduction program. It was tougher than many had anticipated. With no set guidelines, each had to invent their own way of doing things.
As overseas sales personnel, it meant being among those next in line for overseas assignment. Some of the section's new members were placed in the domestic sales force to receive on-the-job training in sales, as soon as they had learned to cope with all the paperwork. Sales training involved loading merchandise in a station wagon and calling on clients with the sales people from Sony Shoji Corporation. At the time, Sony Shoji Corporation had an exclusive nationwide sales network for Sony products from the northernmost island of Hokkaido to the southern island of Kyushu. This work experience was ideal for these staff members who would later be responsible for establishing sales operations abroad.
In the early 1960s, aside from SOSA and SONAM, Sony's two other overseas operations consisted of the Hong Kong Office, established in 1958 and a production plant in Ireland, established in 1959. Members of the International Division took turns taking two to three month business trips to establish local distribution channels and conduct market research.
In those days, people going abroad were still so rare in Japan, so that they were seen off by groups of well-wishers shouting Banzai! for good luck at Haneda Airport. The names of employees traveling abroad and returning to Japan were all listed in the Overseas Travelers column of the weekly internal corporate newsletter.
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