In management, you rarely find unconditional authority, but there is a person who, without exception, causes only admiration and respect. This is Konosuke Matsushita. The "Principles of Success" formulated by this Japanese entrepreneur are today basic for businessmen from all over the world. He lived an amazing life that was filled with tireless work, victories and failures, and endless optimism and faith in people. Let's talk about how a boy from a poor family managed to become the founder of a billion-dollar business and its principles of success.
Difficult childhood
In a large Japanese family on November 27, 1894, a boy was born - Konosuke Matsushita. He was the ninth child in a fairly wealthy family. His father was a landowner and owner of a small farm in the village of Vasamura. But everything collapsed at one point - the head of the family took several very risky steps in the business and almost broke. I had to sell all the property, the farm and move to a small apartment in the city. The boy was only 4 years old at that time. The family somehow made ends meet, Konosuke even went to school. But when he was 9 years old, the family decided that the boy should start working. He was apprenticed to a shop in Osaka selling braziers. A year later, the store went bankrupt, but Konosuke already had some experience and quickly found a new job in an office selling bicycles. In those days, it was a luxury item, and some details were made right at the point of sale, here the boy learned turning business and began to take a closer look at doing business. In a short time, Konosuke lost several brothers and his mother, and later he remained the only surviving child from the whole family.
Beginning of work biography
In 1909, Konosuke Matsushita took up his current first position, he became an assistant electrician at Osaka Electric Light. Electricity in those days was a very promising industry and good prospects are opening up for the young man. He diligently comprehends the wisdom of the work of an electrician, Konosuke receives several promotions in a few years. But he strives for more; in the evenings, he passionately surrenders to invention. And he creates his own model of the outlet in the hope of impressing his boss, but he reacted very scornfully to this device. By this time, the young man was married and felt a great responsibility for the well-being of his own family. At 22, he was appointed to the post of inspector. But Konosuke feels that this is not enough for him.
The main decision in life
Despite the increase, Konosuke Matsushita decided to leave Osaka Electric Light and start his own business. On June 15, 1917, he opened his own company, Matsushita Electric, with a registered capital of $ 50. Together with his wife and her brother, in the basement of his house, he opened a small shop selling electric equipment and cartridges for electric lamps of his own invention. At first, sales went very badly, but suddenly a large order for spare parts for fans saved the situation. Having earned money, Konosuke rents a two-story house and opens a large shop and workshop where he sells various electrical goods, including several products of his invention. In search of new opportunities for expanding production, Konosuke pays attention to electric headlights for bicycles. Also, its innovative adapters and a two-way connector are gaining unprecedented popularity, and after 7 years, Matsushita begins to build his first real factory.
Successful entrepreneur and manager.
In the early years of his entrepreneurial activity, Konosuke Matsushita proved to be a talented leader. Besides the fact that he gave all the best for work at 100%, he was able to motivate his employees to give the same full return. And he also had a real flair for new ideas and opportunities. Having seen from our own experience that it’s not enough to have even an absolutely perfect product, you still need to be able to sell it. Therefore, he creates sales departments in different cities, and then opens a retail network to sell his products. In the late 1920s, Konosuke created a new type of enterprise, with its head office and a large number of branches throughout the country. Also at this time, he realizes that the future lies with brands, and creates the first National brand his concern. Then there will be other, more famous Panasonic and Technics. After the war, Matsushita understands that it is necessary to enter international markets and concludes a cooperation agreement with Philips for the production of television and radio equipment. After several trips to the USA and Europe, the manager decided that he needed to open his own research and inventive bureau, which later helped the company outperform many of its competitors. His instinct allowed him to carry out a series of successful acquisitions and mergers, even in such seemingly hopeless cases as with JVC. In the course of his work, Matsushita derives his own principles for doing business and achieving success.
Milestones in Biography
Today Konosuke Matsushita, a brief biography of which can be described in one word - success, a recognized management genius, creator of the world's largest corporation, for the whole world he is an example of fantastic hard work and determination. If you look at his path to the heights, you can see the forward movement and constant development. Briefly, his biography consists of the following most important steps and decisions:
- 1918. Creation of Matsushita Electric.
- 1923 year. The launch of several innovative products that have led to a breakthrough among competitors.
- 1927 year. Launch of the National brand .
- 1931. Start of production of radio equipment.
- 1933 year. Implementation of the company’s divisional organizational structure.
- 1934 year. Opening of the Institute for the training and development of employees.
- 1935. Creation of a network of sales departments and retail stores.
- 1952 year. Agreement with Philips.
- 1959 year. Opening a network of retail stores selling household appliances.
- 1959. Issue of the Panasonic brand;
- 1961 year. Resignation.
- 1963 year. Worldwide recognition by Matsushita Electric.
- 1964 year. Return to the company as a commercial director.
- 1964 year. Refusal of the company to release personal computers.
- 1973 year. Retirement and work as a consultant.
- 1980 year. The beginning of the release of cameras.
- 1989 year. The demise. Personal wealth is nearly 250 billion yen.
Principles of success
There are several real gurus in management and business, and one of them, of course, Konosuke Matsushita. The principles of success that he formulated are simple but brilliant. In various works he proclaims several postulates, but the following 7 basic laws are the most famous:
- The purpose of the business is to serve the community. And not profit, as many entrepreneurs believe. Matsushita says that the company must meet the needs of society and be socially significant and responsible.
- The main values of the company are honesty and integrity. They must be internally shared by all team members.
- Success is a joint, one hundred percent team effort to achieve a common goal. Each member of the team should feel that the strategic goals of the company are beneficial and close to him, only then he will give all his best at work.
- The constant pursuit of excellence. It should relate to the production process, and products and relationships between people.
- Politeness and modesty. Matsushita himself was the embodiment of this principle. For example, he had flown all his life with regular scheduled airplanes, although he could very well afford a personal airliner.
- Harmony with nature. This is both an environmental and moral aspect of the business.
- Thanks for the work. Konosuke said that you always need to say thanks to the staff for their work, you need to praise and support them.
Business mission
The business philosophy has been outlined in several works by Konosuke Matsushita. “Mission of business” is a book in which he talks in simple terms about how to build a company from scratch, how to build relationships with employees and how not to deviate from the main principles of entrepreneurship. To these he attributed service to society, decency, unconditional honesty and hard work. However, he does not deny the need for profit, but believes that this should not be an end in itself. In 53 chapters, he talks about his experience in creating a thriving business.
Interesting Facts
Konosuke Matsushita, whose biography is full of unusual events and actions, became Japan's wealthiest and oldest entrepreneur at the time of his death. At the same time, in 1919 he was forced to lay all his property, including clothes, in a pawnshop in order to save his business. During World War II, Matsushita Electric factories produced ships and aircraft from plywood, and they successfully completed combat missions.
Recognition and feedback
The world-wide recognition came to the entrepreneur in 1963, when he was called a management classic at the World Management Conference. Every entrepreneur in the world today, creating his own business, reads Konosuke Matsushita's book “Mission of business”. Reviews of this work from the world business community are very flattering. Readers note the simplicity and ease of presentation and the harmonious philosophy of Matsushita. His whole path and worldview are imbued with a deep faith in the honesty of business and in the victory of determination and perseverance.