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Compiled By: Raghvendra Naragund
Konosuke Matsushita(Matsushita Knosuke,27 November 1894 27 April
1989) was a Japanese industrialist who founded Panasonic, the
largest Japanese consumer electronics company. For many Japanese,
he is known as the god of management. A biography of Matsushita's
life called Matsushita Leadership was written by American business
management specialist John Kotter in 1998.
ChildhoodKonosuke Matsushita was born on 27 November 1894 in
Wakayama Prefecture.His father was an affluent landlord in the
farming village of Wasa which is a part of Wakayama
today.Matsushita was born into a well-to do family but the family
became impoverished because his father made some bad investment
decisions, primarily in rice speculation.In 1899, the family's
entire fortune was gone and anything of value was sold off.The
family was forced to move to a cramped three bedroom city apartment
where conditions were less than sanitary.
Contd..There was always a lack of food, clothing, and medical
care.Within several years, Matsushita's health declined rapidly and
three of his older siblings died due to infectious diseases.His
formal education ended at the age of nine.
Teenage yearsShortly after Matsushita left school, he was sent
away to Osaka to become an apprentice for a hibachi store. Not even
a year into his apprenticeship, the hibachi shop failed and
Matsushita was left looking for another source of income.
Matsushita applied for a job with the Osaka Electric Light Company,
an electrical utility company. Over the next couple of years,
Matsushita's position rose within the company as he was promoted
several times. During this time, Matsushita was introduced to one
of his sister's friends and shortly thereafter, he married Mumeno
Iue.
Contd..At the age of 22, he was promoted to the position of an
electrical inspector. During this time Matsushita attempted to
introduce his boss to an invention of a new and improved light
socket that he had prepared in his spare time. However, his boss
was less than enthusiastic.
Matsushita Electric Industrial CompanyIn 1917, Matsushita left
Osaka Electric Light Company to set up his own company. Without
capital, a formal education, and experience in manufacturing, it
would appear the company would fail before it even began.
He set up his shop in the basement of his tenement and with his
wife, his brother-in-law and several assistants, he began creating
several samples of his product. He attempted to peddle his samples
to several wholesalers but was unsuccessful because he did not
offer more than one product.
Matsushita's assistants left his company and he was left with
only his wife and brother-in-law, Toshio Iue, who proved to be a
capable salesman and manager in his own right. Matsushita would
have eventually become bankrupt but he was saved by an unexpected
order for a thousand insulator plates for electric fans.. From
there, Matsushita was able to continue producing his light sockets
and eventually they became popular as wholesalers began realizing
the product was better in quality and less expensive than
comparable products in the existing market. Matsushita's products
were originally marketed under the name brand of National and later
moved on to the more recognizable names of Panasonic, Quasar and
Technics.
Contd..
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Contd..One of Matsushita's best products was his invention of a
more efficient battery-powered bicycle lamp. During the 1920s,
bicycle lamps were either powered by candles or by oil-burning
lamps. These types of lamps were highly inefficient as they usually
only lasted for three-hours. He created an oval lamp that used a
battery for power and a light bulb for illumination. He had to
personally market his products to retail bicycle shops. The early
years of the company were difficult and he once had to pawn his
wife's kimono when he found himself short on money.
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ExpansionMatsushita learned a very important lesson in terms of
growing a company while he was trying to introduce his bicycle lamp
to wholesalers. He realized that even if he had a product that was
superior to anything out in the market it would not matter if he
could not sell the product. As a result, Matsushita began planning
ways to create sales channels for his products by concentrating
less on manufacturing and more on building a sales force, which led
to a retail store network and finally placed Matsushita's company
on the map in Japan's electrical manufacturing and retail
industry.
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Contd..In 1929, he began setting up a new structure for his
company. The company was structured as a parent company and
branches of divisions that specialized in a particular product were
created. There were three specific products that were being created
in Matsushita's company at that time: the bicycle lamp and battery
division, the electrical socket division, and the radio division.
For each of these products, a national sales department was formed
with regional offices established in strategic locations. These
regional offices were responsible for the coordination of sales and
manufacturing. Products were manufactured based upon the demand for
the products. As a result, manufacturing was dependent on
sales.
Matsushita and the post-war periodDuring the US occupation of
Japan after WWII, General Douglas MacArthur decided to break up the
zaibatsu, or business conglomerates of Japan. Matsushita was in
danger of removal as president, but was saved by a favorable
petition signed by 15,000 employees. In 1947, Konosuke lent his
brother-in-law Toshio an unutilized manufacturing plant to
manufacture bicycle lamps, which eventually became Sanyo
Electric.
Contd..From 1950 to 1973, Matsushita's company became one of the
worlds largest manufacturers of electrical goods, sold under
well-known trademarks including Panasonic and Technics. Matsushita
stepped down as President of Panasonic in 1961 and was succeeded as
president by his son-in-law, Masaharu Matsushita. However, he
remained active in Panasonic's operations until his complete
retirement in 1973. Since 1954, Matsushita also gained a
significant shareholding in manufacturer JVC by forming an
alliance. It still retains a 50% share today.
Awards and honoursGrand Cordon of the Order of the Sacred
TreasureGrand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun (29 April
1981)Grand Cordon of the Order of the Paulownia Flowers(29 April
1987)Knight Commander of the Order of the Defender of the Realm
(Panglima Mangku Negara which carries the title Tan Sri)Medal with
Blue RibbonMedal with Dark Blue Ribbon
Books In retirement, Matsushita focused on developing and
explaining his social and commercial philosophies, and wrote 44
published books. One of his books, entitled Developing A Road To
Peace And Happiness Through Prosperity, sold over four million
copies. In 1979, at the age of 84, he founded the Matsushita School
of Government and Management to train the future politicians and
businessmen of Japan.In 1987, he was awarded the Grand Cordon of
the Order of the Paulownia Flowers.
DeathChronic lung problems lead to his death from pneumonia on
27 April 1989, at the age of 94. He died with personal assets worth
US $3 billion, and left a company with US$42 billion in revenue
business.
Konosuke's PhilosophyIn a single imperative: " Be a Humble
Merchant
1.Close to the customers2. Encourage employees to change3. Late
1960s, company's psyche: A. Keep your head down B. Focus on the
business basics C. Waste no time on foolish publicity D. Be
modest4. National shops ( now Panasonic)
The Collected Speeches of Konosuke Matsushita
Passion sparks imagination and invention
All kinds of imagination and innovation are sparked when you are
extremely focused on something, when you direct your passion toward
something as a personal mission, as something you want to do more
than anything else. 'ibis sort of passion is the mother of
invention.
Failure is your path to successBecause we are imperfect, there
is no harm if we try something and decide it is not really for us
after all. This is how success results from failure. If you resolve
to use your experience of failure to make your future better, you
are sure to be successful; so there is no reason to think of
failure as "failure." If you think of it as part of the path to
success, you won't lose your courage.
Solutions are limitlessEven when you face a difficult situation,
you have a limitless number of management ways and means to solve
your problem. When we drop our preconceptions and see the world
with a broad perspective, we find limitless answers.
Fall in love with your business
To be successful in business, you have to be in love with it. If
you find your business to be less than interesting, you are certain
to fail. From that standpoint, I am grateful that I was able to
work in this industry, and grateful that I was able to find a job
that I loved to do. Even now I am humbly grateful for this.
Be the most passionate person you know
As a leader, there is at least one thing you must have in
greater abundance that anyone else. That something is passion.
Others can have more wisdom, knowledge, or talent; but you must be
the most passionate of all. Whether you are playing, or sleeping,
or doing anything else, do it as you like, but do it with more
passion than anyone else
Real courage comes from knowing what is right Real courage comes
from knowing what is right. When you feel you roust do something
for your company's sake, for your employees' sake, for your
customers' sake, courage is generated. That courage is genuine and
will give you the confidence to realize your aim.
Better than the best
1 here is something even better than the best. There is always
something higher, without limit; there is always something greater
to aspire to. Gather a wide range of opinions. By doing so, you
will learn, and be inspired to go rethink your approach; if there
is something you can improve, you improve it. I believe this is a
process that must be continued eternally.
Keep at it till you succeed
You must believe you will succeed. Whether it takes five years
or ten, don't stop until you succeed. If you die, someone will take
over from you. Failure usually comes from giving up partway
through, so you must not lose your resolve along the way. If you
proceed without losing your ambition, I believe that all of you
will be able to achieve whatever you aim for.
Create the future
You must not simply anticipate the future, you must be mentally
prepared to create it. Don't think about what is likely to happen;
create a vision of what you want to happen, what you think should
happen, and realize it through management effort. To put it another
way, you act to transform the future from something uncertain to
something certain.
There is no limit on what one can do
There is definitely no limit to what a person can do. People
only think they've reached their limit.
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