Why did he create the business empire? He told in this book, “Whatever difficulties and turmoil may prevail, it is always possible to find a way to promote mutual prosperity and progress in business and management. I also believe that there are thousands, even tens of thousands of paths to that goal. To discover the right path at the appropriate time, it is necessary for each of us to grasp the essentials of our respective businesses and management that I refer to collectively as the ‘management knack.’”
He hands down the inspiration and lessons he learned over time about business and management like, “Good times good, bad times even better,” ”Delegate responsibility with a watchful eye,” ”When things go badly, the problem is you”
Part One
1. When It Rains, Open an Umbrella
2. To Motivate People, Set an Example
3. Manipulation Will Not Develop People
4. Raise Your Banner High
5. Second-Generation Presidents Need Fire in the Belly
6. Losing Money Has No Place in Business
7. Good Times Good, Bad Times Even Better
8. Small- and Medium-Sized Businesses Get the Most from Their Employees
9. Delegate Responsibility with a Watchful Eye
10. Fast-Track Employees Need Support
11. Intuition Makes Sense
12. Meetings Are Usually Inefficient
13. First Adopters Contribute to Progress
14. Good Purchasing Managers Earn Trust by Demanding Lower Prices
15. The President Is Not a Strategist
16. Is Your Management Skill Keeping Pace with Your Business?
17. Business Shapes the Times
18. Give Yourself Leeway
19. A Society Where Ethical Managers Thrive
20. The Wisdom of the Many Comes to Those Who Wish for It
21. When Things Go Badly, The Problem Is You
22. A Manager Inspires Employees to Dream
23. The Million-Dollar Knack for Successful Management
Part Two
24. Final Responsibility Rests with the President
25. Even the Most Ordinary Day Holds Valuable Experience
26. Managers Are Not Magicians
27. Employees Take Their Cue from Management
28. Stand Fast and Solutions Will Come
29. In an Emergency, Can You Borrow from Your Employees?
30. Are You Ready to Die for Your Subordinates?
31. Encourage Yourself
32. Worries Are a Source of Resolve
33. Management and Politics
34. There Are No Dead Ends in Business
35. You Are the Hero of a Real-Life Dramas
*PHP Institute, Inc. has a large collection of books, audios, videos, and other material on Konosuke Matsushita, the founder of Panasonic and PHP. 【PHP研究所】?Konosuke Matsushita (November 27, 1894 ? April 27, 1989), the founder of Panasonic and PHP Institute, Inc., has been recognized as a distinguished entrepreneur over the year, and furthermore as a philosopher, an opinion leader, a publisher.
He was born in 1894 as the youngest of eight children of a wealthy farming family. However, at the age of four, his father lost home and farmland in rice speculation. At nine, he began apprenticeship at a charcoal brazier store in Osaka, left hometown, to support his family. He learned the basics of business as an apprentice, and joined an electric power company at fifteen, sensing the arrival of the age of electricity. He quit the company, began manufacturing and selling sockets and attachment plug, which was the turning point in his career to one of the world’s largest electronics giants.
He created and started a lot of unique things continuously and aggressively until passed away at the age of 94; started “division system” at Panasonic (1933), established Staff Training Institute (1934), concluded technical tie-up with Philips, Holland (1952), instituted “five-day work week system” (1965), published Thoughts on Man (1972), established Matsushita Institute of Government and Management to develop future Japanese leaders (1979), initiated Kyoto Colloquium on Global Change (1983), provided the endowment for the Japan Prize (1982), etc.
Matsushita maintained a keen interest not only in his global industrial empire but also in humanitarian projects. His philosophy of corporate management is highly idealistic as well as pragmatic and is infused with a fervent sense of mission. Always people-centered, it is grounded in his down-to-earth, realistic understanding of human nature.
*One of his famous sayings : The Sunao mind, the “untrapped mind” is open enough to see many possibilities, humble enough to learn from anyone and anything, forbearing enough to gorgive all, perceptive enough to see things as they really are, and reasonable enough to judge their true value. By Konosuke Matsushita
*PHP Institute, Inc.: In 1946 he founded the PHP Institute to promote peace and happiness through prosperity. PHP Institute is a research organization with a humanistic, cultural and social movement, and open to all ideas, past or present, Eastern or Western, scientific or religious, as long as they contribute to our pursuit of better ways to achieve prosperity, peace, and happiness.