Konosuke Matsushita: short biography and success story

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

In management, one can rarely meet unconditional authorities, but there is a person who, without exception, causes only admiration and respect for everyone. This is Konosuke Matsushita. The “principles of success” formulated by this Japanese entrepreneur are still basic for businessmen all over the world today. 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 his 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 we althy family. His father was a landowner and owner of a small farm in the village of Wasamura. But everything collapsed in one moment - the head of the familytook some very risky steps in business and went bankrupt almost instantly. 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 the 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 got a job as an apprentice in a store in Osaka that sold braziers. A year later, the shop went bankrupt, but Konosuke already had some experience and quickly found a new job in a bicycle shop. In those days, it was a luxury item, and some details were made right at the point of sale, here the boy learned turning and began to look closely at doing business. In a short time, Konosuke lost several brothers and his mother, and later he was the only surviving child from the whole family.

Beginning of a working biography

In 1909, Konosuke Matsushita got his real first position, he became an assistant electrician in the Osaka Electric Light Company. Electricity in those days was a very promising industry and good prospects open up before 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 devotes himself to invention with passion. And he creates his own model of an outlet in the hope of impressing his boss, but he treated this device very dismissively. By this time, the young man had married and felt a greatresponsibility for the well-being of one's own family. At 22, he was appointed to the position of inspector. But Konosuke feels that this is not enough for him.

The biggest decision in life

Despite his promotion, Konosuke Matsushita decided to leave Osaka Electric Light and start his own business. On June 15, 1917, he opens 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 electrical equipment and sockets for electric lamps of his own invention. At first, sales went from bad to worse, but suddenly the situation was saved by a large order for spare parts for fans. After earning money, Konosuke rents a two-story house and opens a large store and workshop, where he sells various electrical products, including several of his inventions. Looking for new opportunities to expand production, Konosuke turns his attention to electric lights for bicycles. Also, his innovative adapters and double-sided connector are gaining unprecedented popularity, and after 7 years, Matsushita begins to build his first real factory.

Successful entrepreneur and manager

Already in the first years of his entrepreneurial activity, Konosuke Matsushita showed himself as a talented leader. In addition to the fact that he gave all his best at work at 100%, he knew how to motivate his employees to the same full return. And he also hada real flair for new ideas and possibilities. Having seen from my own experience that it is not enough to have even an absolutely perfect product, you must also be able to sell it. Therefore, he creates sales departments in different cities, and then opens a retail network for the sale of his products. At the end of the 1920s, Konosuke created a new type of enterprise, with a head office and a large number of branches throughout the country. Also at this time, he understands that the future belongs to brands, and creates the first National trademark of 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 US and Europe, the manager decided that he needed to open his own research and invention bureau, which later helped the company to outperform many of its competitors. His intuition has allowed him to carry out a number 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.

Highlights of the biography

Today Konosuke Matsushita, whose brief biography can be described in one word - success, a recognized genius of management, the creator of the world's largest corporation, for the whole world he is an example of fantastic diligence and determination. If you look at his path to the top, you can see the progressivemovement and development. Briefly, his biography consists of the following most important steps and decisions:

- 1918. Creation of Matsushita Electric.

- 1923. Launch of several innovative products that caused a breakthrough among competitors.

- 1927. Launch of National brand.

- 1931. Start of production of radio equipment.

- 1933. Introduction of a divisional organizational structure of the company.

- 1934. Opening of an institute for training and development of employees.

- 1935. Creation of a network of sales departments and retail stores.

- 1952. Agreement with Philips.

- 1959. Opening a network of retail stores selling household appliances.

- 1959. Launch of the Panasonic brand;

- 1961. Retirement.

- 1963. Global recognition for Matsushita Electric.

- 1964. Return to the company as commercial director.

- 1964. Refusal of the company from the release of personal computers.

- 1973. Retirement and work as a consultant.

- 1980. Start of production of cameras.

- 1989. Death. Personal we alth - almost 250 billion yen.

Principles of success

There are several real gurus in management and business and one of them is definitely Konosuke Matsushita. The principles of success that he formulated are simple but ingenious. In his various works, he proclaims several postulates, but the most famous are the following 7 basic laws:

1. The purpose of business is to serve society. And not making a profit, as many entrepreneurs believe. Matsushita says a company must meet the needs of society and be socially relevant and responsible.
2. The main values of the company are honesty and integrity. They must be internally shared by all team members.
3. Success is a joint, 100% team effort to achieve a common goal. Each member of the team must feel that the company's strategic goals are beneficial and close to him, only then he will give all his best at work.
4. Continuous pursuit of excellence. It should concern both the production process and products and relationships between people.
5. Politeness and modesty. Matsushita himself was the embodiment of this principle. For example, all his life he flew regular scheduled flights, although he could well afford a private liner.
6. Harmony with nature. This is both an environmental and a moral aspect of business.
7. Gratitude for deeds. Konosuke said that you should always say thanks to employees for their work, you need to praise and support them.

Business Mission

Business philosophy has been expounded in several works by Konosuke Matsushita. Business Mission 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 to stick to the core principles of entrepreneurship. To such he attributed the service to society, decency, unconditional honesty and diligence. However, he does not deny the need for profit, butbelieves that it should not be an end in itself. In 53 chapters, he talks about his experience of creating a thriving business.

Interesting facts

Konosuke Matsushita, whose biography is full of unusual events and actions, became the we althiest and oldest entrepreneur in Japan at the time of his death. At the same time, in 1919, he was forced to pawn all his property, including clothes, in a pawnshop in order to save his business. During the Second World War, Matsushita Electric factories produced ships and planes from plywood, and they successfully solved combat missions.

Recognition and reviews

World recognition came to the entrepreneur in 1963, when he was named a classic of management at the World Management Conference. Every entrepreneur in the world today, when creating their own business, reads Konosuke Matsushita's book "Business Mission". Feedback on this work from the global business community is very flattering. Readers note the simplicity and ease of presentation and the harmonious philosophy of Matsushita. His entire path and worldview are imbued with a deep belief in the honesty of business and in the victory of purposefulness and perseverance.