Consumer Electronics Is Big Business
This Exciting Industry Is A Good Match For Professionals With A Passion
For Innovation.
By Carly Kocurek
While much of the buzz about home entertainment may have to do with
Internet applications and increasingly sophisticated personal computers,
consumer electronics products from televisions to DVD players to stereos
remain an important part of the industry. And, the proliferation of
new forms of home entertainment media only means that this industry
will continue to be an important one. This isn’t to say that consumer
electronics is all fun and games—many of the products invented
and manufactured by the industry play an integral role in communications
and have a major impact on office productivity and other parts of people’s
daily lives.
Consumer electronics is big business. The Consumer Electronics Association
(CEA) estimates that the global market is equal to nearly $618 billion
in retail, with the United States comprising about 24% of the figure.
The CEA further estimates that of adults in the United States, 98% own
televisions, 84% own DVD players, 62% own digital cameras, and 76% own
cell phones. This level of penetration has followed on substantial growth
in those sectors. For example, between 2006 and 2007, digital camera
ownership went up from 57% to 62%. DVR ownership grew from 17% to 25%,
with growth expected to continue into the next few years at least—and,
of course, numerous other emerging products make substantial gains in
market penetration. Clearly the consumer electronics industry will be
relevant for a long time.
One of the ways that the consumer electronics industry ensures its vitality
is to continue to diversify product lines. Companies best known for
televisions turn out high-quality digital cameras, and manufacturers
that made their names producing cutting-edge cameras invest heavily
to produce HD televisions. In addition to diversifying their product
lines, top companies also work to diversify their workforce to help
them better meet the demands of today’s competitive market.
Opportunities in the consumer electronics industry cover a wide range
of job types. Electronics companies rely on people working in areas
that include engineering, sales and marketing, communication, industrial
design, business management, and others. This exciting industry can
be a good match for anyone with a passion for innovation.
Panasonic
Among the electronics companies transforming the entertainment landscape,
Panasonic stands out. The company provides products for a range of applications,
but it is best known for its efforts in the consumer electronics market.
In developing new products, the company focuses on designs that offer
high quality at affordable prices. The company manufactures products
from cutting-edge televisions to Internet-capable cordless phones to
the first HD VCR.
Recent key innovations focus on DVD technologies—the company’s
DVD-related development garnered a technical Emmy Award, in recognition
of the technology’s significance for the television industry.
This type of lab-to-market approach to research also led Panasonic to
introduce DVD recorders for home computers, and to pursue the development
of recordable DVD players for home use by video fans. Recently, Panasonic
also introduced the first consumer HDTV and the first all-format digital
TV set-top receiver/decoder.
As an industry leader, Panasonic also has a commitment to diversity,
as demonstrated not only by the workforce at the company, but also by
the implementation of the supplier diversity program, developed to help
ensure that small and diverse suppliers have the opportunity to form
ongoing business relationships with Panasonic.
The program is just one example of the many ways that Panasonic strives
to make diversity a key component of the company’s business strategies,
practices, and culture. To achieve these goals, Panasonic maintains
a diversity council, made up of company presidents and senior executives
who serve as leaders to help to make diversity an important part of
Panasonic’s business goals.
The company also operates a number of other diversity programs to help
raise awareness of the company’s existing diversity and promote
understanding among employees. One such program is the Diversity Video
Library, which includes a number of movies that highlight the history,
experiences, and perspectives of different groups of people; these videos
are available to employees to borrow for two weeks at a time. Panasonic
also fosters diversity through family-friendly work programs that include
flexible work schedules; telecommuting options, health and dependent
care flex spending accounts, and employee assistance programs.
In addition to creating a community at the workplace, the company strives
to be part of the broader community by supporting events and institutions
that are available to a wide range of people near the company’s
headquarters in New Jersey and elsewhere. Among the organizations that
Panasonic has worked with are the National Foundation for the Advancement
of the Arts, the National Urban League, Women Work!, and Youth for Understanding.
The company also sponsors both the Panasonic Academic Challenge and
the Panasonic Creative Design Challenge, competitions aimed to help
high-school students excel academically.
In particular, the Panasonic Academic Challenge has become one of the
most important scholastic competitions in the country— The Wall
Street Journal even called it “the Super Bowl of scholastic quizzes.”
Panasonic founder Konosuke Matsushita believed that a company is a public
institution that must be an active part of the society that supports
it. Supporting diversity is an important way that Panasonic continues
to follow Matsushita’s philosophy.
Sony Corporation Of America
Another company that makes important strides not only in technology
but also in diversity is the Sony Corporation of America, a subsidiary
of the Tokyo-based Sony Corporation. The Sony Corporation is involved
in almost every aspect of home entertainment, and, despite being headquartered
in New York, operates manufacturing sites in Alabama, Pennsylvania,
New Jersey, California, and Indiana. The company also operates four
R&D and engineering facilities—two in California, one in Colorado,
and one in New Jersey. Sony’s products include audio, video, communications,
and information technology equipment.
Although consumers might still best known Sony for its cassette-based
Walkman and its descendant the Discman, the company has moved with the
times—the Walkman line now includes mp3 players, and Sony manufactures
other digital age products including the Sony Reader e-book, the VAIO
Digital Home, Cyber-shot digital cameras, Blu-Ray Discs and Blu-ray
Disc Players, and Memory Stick flash media.
Although some of these products, such as digital cameras, may be part
of the fabric of most people’s daily lives by now, others, like
the VAIO Digital Home and the Sony Reader e-book, are significant innovations.
This ability to keep innovating in a fast-paced market like consumer
electronics requires constant adaptation and a willingness to change.
Sony management believes another key component is a commitment to diversity.
Sony sees its focus on diversity as integral to its competitive advantage.
To promote diversity, Sony is an equal opportunity employer and also
a proponent of affirmative action for members of minority groups, women,
people with disabilities, and veterans.
Among the most significant programs that Sony relies upon to help build
and maintain a culturally rich workforce include the Diversity for Competitive
Advantage Workshop, which was designed especially for Sony Electronics.
The workshop has a number of aims, such as teaching participants the
way that subtle dynamics hinder inclusion, effect teamwork and productivity,
lower employee satisfaction and development, and undermine efforts at
recruiting and retention. To further address these issues, the company
has also partnered with a number of organizations focused on increasing
workforce diversity. Among these organizations are the National Association
of Women MBAs, the National Urban League, the National Business and
Disability Council, and the National Action Council for Minorities in
Engineering.
Diversity at Sony is more than just a management-dictated corporate
policy; it’s a set of principles embraced and lived by employee
culture. Many Sony employees are active in diversity volunteers, helping
to organize events and activities that celebrate diversity, which include
Black History Month, Women’s History Month, Asian Pacific American
Heritage Month, Pride Month, Hispanic Heritage Month, Disability Awareness
Month, and American Indian Heritage Month.
Further, Sony’s commitment to diversity extends outside the company’s
own culture, and extends to the company’s participation and support
of cultural organizations and institutions across the United States.
In addition to supporting arts education, Sony also sponsors a number
of film festivals and award shows, which have included a wide range
of festivals appealing to and promoting various populations.
Toshiba
Another company that holds itself to high standards of conduct that
includes a deep commitment to honoring and encouraging the diversity
of the company’s workforce is Toshiba. Toshiba bases its policies
on diversity on a foundation of human rights that dictates that all
employees of the company accept the varied values and character and
personality differences of other individuals, refuse to participate
in discrimination, help ensure a safe working environment for fellow
employees, which means creating the kind of environment where all employees
can do their jobs not only efficiently, but creatively, and balance
their work life and their personal life.
Upholding these principles has meant, for the company, strong investment
to support the diversity of the Toshiba workforce as well as forge positive
relationships with the communities in which the company operates. Toshiba
sees itself as part of a multicultural, multinational community, and
strives to not only support that community, but to help its employees
feel they are part of this community.
For Toshiba, diversity doesn’t just refer to the variations in
U.S.-based cultures; it refers to the various cultures of the nations
in which Toshiba works. One program Toshiba sponsors to help cultivate
intercultural understanding is the Youth For Understanding (YFU) scholarship
program. YFU scholarships are open to children of Toshiba employees
who are between the ages of 15 and 18. Youth selected for participation
have the opportunity to live with host families in study in Japan. Since
1984, 62 U.S. students have participated in the YFU program.
Despite a corporate history stretching over 130 years, Toshiba remains
on the cutting edge of technological and corporate innovation, in large
part because of business practices that keep the company at the forefront
of corporate, consumer, employee, and consumer relations. Although the
company moves with the times technologically, it remains true to its
founding principles, which focus on good corporate citizenship and responsibility.
These principles have remained at the core of the company’s work
and have been a key component of its success. Respect for diversity
of all kinds is just one of the many ways that Toshiba adheres to the
principles that drive all parts of the company’s business.
Clearly, companies such Panasonic, Sony, and Toshiba help to ensure
the vitality and visibility of the consumer electronics industry for
the coming years. With their commitment to innovation and to inclusive
employment practices, they’re sure to remain at the forefront
of the field, producing products that shape the way people live and
work in the digital age. And, for those looking for careers in an industry
with a long history and a bright future, the consumer electronics industry
remains a viable choice.
