Sony, the worlds second-largest consumer-electronics maker, gained 1.4 percent to 1,691 yen as of the 11 a.m. break on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, while the Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 3.2 percent. Thats the stocks highest level since Feb. 16.

Stringer will take over as president from Ryoji Chubachi April 1, while keeping his current roles, Tokyo-based Sony said Feb. 27 after Japanese share markets closed. The reassignment of Chubachi, who also headed the electronics division, will allow quicker decision-making at the producer of Bravia televisions to help turn the TV business profitable, analysts said.

“The management change gives the impression that the company now places higher priority on faster decision making,” Kota Ezawa, an analyst with Nikko Citi Holdings Inc. in Tokyo, wrote in a report today. Ezawa raised his investment rating on Sony to “buy” from “hold” and increased the share-price estimate by 4.8 percent to 2,100 yen.

Sony is cutting 16,000 workers and shutting factories to cope with the worldwide recession that forced the company on Jan. 22 to forecast a record 260 billion yen ($2.7 billion) loss from operations for the year ending March 31.

“Sony had a problem with its speed of making decisions, as represented by the long-standing losses at its TV business,” Nobuo Kurahashi, an analyst at Mizuho Investors Securities Co. in Tokyo who rates the company “neutral,” said by phone. The management change “will allow the company to make faster decisions at a time of unprecedented economic crisis.”

The company may also be able to produce fresh growth drivers through the newly formed Networked Products & Services Group combining the VAIO personal-computer, Walkman and Sony Computer Entertainment game businesses, Nikko Citis Ezawa said.

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