Two NIU alumni from the Sony Corporation of America are on campus today to speak to business majors.

James Palumbo, president of Television Products Co., and John Briesch, president of Consumer Products Co., both divisions of Sony, are here from Park Ridge, N.J. to speak about various topics, including marketing strategy and international business.

NIU Marketing Professor Cary Kizilbash contacted the executives to speak to the students because he thought it would be a good learning experience for them.

“The two men are very successful in this company, and they achieved this by working their way up from being salesmen,” he said.

Kizilbash said he believes the students will be more motivated in their studies after seeing that alumni from NIU can be so successful.

Palumbo and Briesch will hold a seminar at 3 p.m. in the Heritage room at the Holmes Student Center. They will address the assumption that Americans have about all Sony products being made in Japan.

Patricia Nykaza, president of the Association of Graduate Business Students, hopes the seminar will enlighten business students on the global outlook that companies have today.

“I hope Sony can give us information regarding global markets and specific business applications that will help us understand that even though Japanese companies seem dominate in certain industries, they are still working within the United States,” she said.

The day of events is being sponsored by the Marketing Student Advisory Board and the Association of Graduate Business Students.

The College of Business has named Feb. 4th as “Sony Day” in honor of the alumni visit.