Sony Shuttered

[tw]

How incompetent was Sony management? They did exactly what one would expect from people trained in cost management techniques. People with little grasp of how the work gets done. Who would even demean Angelina Jolie rather than discuss what is only relevant - her work.
From the NY Times of 31 Dec 2014:

Sony Cyberattack, First a Nuisance, Swiftly Grew Into a Firestorm
A handful of old BlackBerrys, located in a storage room in the Thalberg basement, were given to executives. Staff members began to trade text messages using hastily arranged phone trees. Sony's already lean technical staff began working around the clock, with some people sleeping in company offices that became littered with stale pizza. Administrators hauled out old machines that allowed them to cut physical payroll checks in lieu of electronic direct deposit.

Still, for days the episode was viewed inside Sony as little more than a colossal annoyance. Though Sony executives were quickly in touch with federal law enforcement officials, the company's initial focus was on setting up jury-rigged systems to let it limp through what was expected to be a few days or weeks of inconvenience. ...

Interviews with over two dozen people involved in the episode suggest that Sony - slow to realize the depths of its peril - let its troubles deepen by mounting a public defense only after enormous damage had been done. The initial decision to treat the attack as largely an internal matter reflected Hollywood habit and the executive sang-froid of Mr. Lynton, ...

Hurt by a misstep when it announced the cancellation of a Christmas Day release for "The Interview", Sony was knocked about by criticism by the White House, Hollywood stars and others who accused it of capitulating to extortionist threats.

Heroes are early critics of an incompetent, myopic, and immature management. Management ignored this problem until it affected them personally and publically when their memos were published. Exposing management with emotional and therefore unprofessional judgments of their own people. Management who made decisions based upon their feelings rather than logically as an adult. Their concern was spin and image like an apprehensive pre-teen. Cost control management and a resulting 'almost non-existent' technical staff demonstrate why Sony deserved these losses. And suggests who really would be inspired to implement this attack.

Mountains of documents had been stolen, internal data centers had been wiped clean, and 75 percent of the servers had been destroyed. Everything and anything had been taken. Contracts. Salary lists. Film budgets. Medical records. Social Security numbers. Personal emails. Five entire movies, including the yet-to-be-released "Annie". ...
Later, it would become apparent ... that Mr. Lynton and Ms. Pascal had been given an oblique warning.

The hacks were illegal. It does not, for one minute. exonerate Sony management for being so complicit. Sony stockholders should be furious. Their corporate leaders did almost nothing until a President injected a backbone.

Shortly after the president spoke, shocked Sony executives spoke with senior members of the White House staff, .... administration officials persuaded Sony that an expanded electronic attack was unlikely; that gave the studio cover to tell the distributors and theaters they were very likely safe to show the film.

Shocked? It took a President saying what was obvious to finally inspire a thread of courage? Senior White House staff did more for Sony then their own management.

But senior Sony executives ... now say the talk of a rogue insider reflects a misunderstanding of the FBI's initial conclusions about the hacking. Federal investigators, they said, did not strongly suspect an inside job. Rather, these executives said, the F.B.I. found that the hackers had used digital techniques to steal the credentials and passwords from a systems administrator who had maximum access to Sony's computer systems. Once in control of the gateways those items opened, theft of information was relatively easy. ... long before the F.B.I. announced any conclusions - Doug Belgrad, president of Sony's motion picture group, responded, "It's the Koreans."

FBI noted hacking tools had Korean programmers. Business school graduates, educated in spread sheets and no grasp of how the work gets done, simply jumped to conclusions that Korean software means it must be a N Korean hack. Then told the White House same. How many times does management make the same mistake before we finally discover why business school trained management is incompetent and, by definition, anti-American.

Sony management intentionally ignored this threat (like any good business school graduate would do) until it clearly affected spread sheets and executive memos. They did nothing until 10 Dec when executive memos exposed petty executives. They did almost nothing until a President publically defined them so gutless. Meanwhile companies, with responsible, informed, and therefore patriotic leaders (Google, Microsoft, independent theaters) did what bean counters could not. Those adults released what was a crappy movie on Christmas day. Cowardly Sony would not even release it on their Sony PlayStation network.

'The Interview' is a poor B movie. Normally, few to none would have seen this $80 million trash. But watching that movie on Christmas was a finger into eyes of bean counter and gutless management who operate in the tradition of Carly Fiorina, John Ackers, Spindler and Sculley, Roger Smith and Rick Wagoner, and most bosses featured in a CBS TV show called "Undercover Boss". In every case, they had no idea how the work gets done.

Did the Koreans do it? We do not know. We know Koreans are blamed mostly because some spin doctor manipulated facts as Fox News does. We also know if Sony's stockholders have backbones, then Pascal and Lynton will be removed using profanity that also saved Apple by removing another incompetent: Michael Spindler. Maybe the Koreans did it. But no doubt exists - not for one minute as made obvious by and the response to Obama's comments - that Sony needs an across the board management cleaning in the tradition of Fiat. Sergio Marchionne made Fiat profitable by firing all top management in only 60 days. Only then could Fiat assets innovate - make Fiat profitable.

Watching this movie now would entrench defective Sony management. Time to say Sony has pathetic management was last week. This movie is poor. Little reason exists to spend money on it. Maybe they should rename it, "Steal this Movie". Too late.

Do Sony stockholders have backbones? We will see. Who did the hack? Anyone layman who knows is easily brainwashed by hearsay and wild speculation. Interesting will be future details.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Shut up tw, you're ruining Cheney's setup for the next big money making war.

[tw]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

Shut up tw, you're ruining Cheney's setup for the next big money making war.

Cheney was a heatless bastard. They pushed him up the transplant list. Installed a heart. Did it change him?

[xoxoxoBruce]

The heart donor was Abby Normal.

[BigV]

or the Tin Man...

[Gravdigr]

Originally Posted by tw

Cheney was a heatless bastard.

I always thought he looked a little chilly, too.

[tw]

Originally Posted by Gravdigr

I always thought he looked a little chilly, too.

That's because Cheney can say Americans do not torture with a face that will put a chill even into your heart.

[classicman]

... as the torture continues under your Dear Leader.