Book Description

?The founder of the Panasonic Group was poor, frequently got sick, only a few-year formal schooling, and no real business experience. That was his start of real life except the happy recollection of childhood for a few years. When he began apprenticeship in Osaka, far from his birthplace, there was no bright future, nor a probability of success in business. However, his way of thinking, passion and sincerity worked to his great success. This book was published by Nikkei, Inc. first in 1989 in book form, and PHP published its edition, adding new photographs in 1998. The book is divided into two parts. Part One, written at the age of 61, covers Konosuke Matsushita’ life from childhood to the reconstruction of Matsushtia Electric. In the Part Two, the period from the end of the war to his resignation as chairman to assume the post of executive advisor at the age of 78 is covered. He told in this book, “One way of qualitatively improving management is to view it as a form of art. Art is a highly regarded creative activity, and I believe that management is a creative undertaking that deserves similar social recognition.” His enthusiasm for the work was sublimated in this book. Part One 1. My Father’s Rice Exchange Failure 2. Apprenticeships 3. The electric Light Company 4. Manufacturing Sockets 5. Founding the Company that Would Become Panasonic 6. The 1927 Financial Panic 7. The Era of Growth 8. Saved by the Labor Union Part Two 9. A Fresh Start and a Visit to America 10. The Joint Venture with Philips 11. Nakagawa Electric and Victor of Japan 12. The Five-Year Plan to Quadruple Sales 13. Expanding Exports 14. My Years as Chairman 15. Pointing to the Dangers of “Income Doubling” 16. Leading the Company through the Mid-Sixties Slump 17. Dam-Style Management and the Five-Day Workweek 18. Exceeding European Wage Levels and Management as Art 19. The fiftieth Founding Anniversary 20. Promoting Regional Renewal and the Matsushtia Pavilion at Expo ‘70 21. Retirement and New Resolve *Timeline of Konosuke Matsushtia *The timeline of his ninety-four years of life is included for reference….The creation process is never-ending.” *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】