Institutions Research

Sony

Sony Corporation is one of the leading manufactures of electronics both in the consumer and professional market. Being a parent of Sony Group which focuses on four operating segments which are electronics, gaming, network services and medical business. Sony first began in WW2 in 1946 where Masaru Ibuku started a electronics shop in Tokyo. The name 'Sony' was created when him and his employees discovered the term "sonny" being used by American's to call a boy.

Sony acquisitions mainly focus on video games and audio which are both a big market for them in the company.  Their biggest acquisition is EMI Music Publishing based in London which is one of the biggest multinational music publishing companies and it was intergrated with Sony/ATV Music publishing.
One of Sony's biggest influence on society was the release of the Playstation 2. It was one of the most successful console ever surpassing all the competitors and therefore it created revenue on a large scale for the economy but also had an impact on people because they could expand their imagination and social groups as people wanted to play games together. On the other hand there was some negatives such as addiction and prolonged exposure to light for some kids.


Vivendi

Vivendi Universal is a French multinational mass media company. The company mainly focuses on digital entertainment. The company was born in 1983 when CGE helped to found Canal+ which is now a major television channel n France. In 1998 CGE renamed itself to Vivendi and brought stakes in television companies.

Vivendi acquisitions consists of Canal+ Group which a major TV channel in France and some countries in Europe, Universal Music Group which is one of the biggest music publishing companies in the world with artists such Rihanna, Justin Beiber and Nicki Minaj using their services. Also they hold an 80% stake in the streaming platform Dailymotion. 
The company's main focus is on television however they have interest in stakes of companies that include TV, gaming, streaming and telecom.


Viacom

Viacom is an American mass media company which its interests is primarily in television and cinema. The original Vicamom began as CBS Films Inc but was renamed in 1971. Viacom was head to head with MTV Networks during its early years when Superbowl adverts were being produced. Overall the history of the company is rather complicated as many companies go on board and off during many years and there was complications with which company owns who but it is known that it started off with CBS and it now renamed back to CBS Corporation.

Viacom's acquisitions are all Television and film based which lets us see what their focus is. Some of the assets they have are in MTV Films, Paramount Animation, MTV, MTV2 Nickelodeon and Comedy Central Records.

Viacom are known to do a lot of charity based work and their influence on society has been rather positive. They have invested $200 million in pro-social programming and worked on numerous events such as the World AIDS Day. They encourage their employees to do volunteering and all of this has had a positive impact on the world.