Outgoing Sony Corp. Chairman Nobuyuki Idei, left, and his successor Howard Stringer on Monday

Howard Stringer guided film and music to buoyant growth as Japan's manufacturing slumped.

In a bid to turn around its struggling operations, Sony Corp. said Monday it will install Vice Chairman Howard Stringer, chief of the company's U.S. arm, as its first foreign chief executive, replacing Nobuyuki Idei.

Idei, who reigned over Sony for nearly a decade, said Monday that he stepped down on his own initiative, but analysts are speculating that he was pressured by outside directors. The irony would be that Idei himself increased the number of outside directors to improve corporate governance.

In the management reshuffle scheduled for June 22, Stringer, 63, will take over Idei's position as chairman and group chief executive officer, and Executive Deputy President Ryoji Chubachi, 57, will replace Kunitake Ando as president. Shareholder approval is pending.

Stringer, who serves as chairman of Sony Corp. of America and leads the film and music businesses, will supervise overall management. Chubachi, a manufacturing veteran, will lead the restructuring of its core electronics operations.

Chief Operating Officer Ken Kutaragi, who engineered the success of Sony's PlayStation video game consoles, will also leave the board on April 1 and focus on game operations. Chief Financial Officer Katsumi Ihara will retain his job.

Idei will serve as chief corporate adviser, and Ando will become adviser. The personnel changes were approved at an extraordinary meeting of the company's board of directors Monday morning.

Idei, once touted as a management guru, adopted a U.S.-style of corporate governance, where outside directors can wield great influence. That change was made shortly after such a framework was allowed by revisions to the Commercial Code in 2003.

The framework calls for setting up three board committees, including one for director nomination. Outside directors hold the majority on all committees.

It remains unclear how much influence outside directors had in the latest appointments. But Nissan Motor Co. President Carlos Ghosn, who sits on Sony's nominating committee, is known to have called on management to set tough goals for improving profit margins.

Whatever the dynamics behind the board room shake-up, Stringer's promotion will open a new page in Sony's history.

In contrast to its poor domestic performance, Sony's U.S. operations, particularly the entertainment businesses, are now primary profit earners.

Stringer was instrumental in Sony's acquisition of the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. film studio last year.

Long the premium brand in consumer electronics, Sony shocked the stock market with a massive loss in the January-March period of 2003.

Its strategy for key digital appliances, such as flat-panel TVs, DVD recorders and portable music players, has largely failed, leading to a sharp downward revision in earnings forecasts for the current fiscal year ending this month.

Idei, who became president in 1995 and chairman in 2000, set a goal of 10-percent operating profit margin for fiscal 2006, but analysts say it will be extremely difficult for Sony to achieve the target.

Sony's shares finished at 4,070 yen on Monday, up 60 yen from Friday's close.(IHT/Asahi: March 8,2005)