|
| |
Follow the Laws of Nature
Obey the
laws of nature: this is the very core
of Konosuke Matsushita’s business philosophy.
Successful business
is ordinary, normal business,
selling
at a
price that allows a fair margin or
profit, collecting payment on time,
and so on. Clever strategies and careful calculations may be important, but
simple universal laws must always be observed.
|
| |
Do What Common Sense Dictates
If there is a formula for
business success,
Matsushita felt, it is operating in this straightforward, down-to-earth way,
as simply and sensibly as opening an umbrella in the rain.
|
| |
Management Is Perpetual Creation
For Konosuke Matsushita, business was a
creative activity;
it was a process of
producing something
valuable out of nothing. You start
with an idea for an enterprise. Then you hammer out a basic plan, raise the
necessary capital, and put together the necessary facilities and equipment.
Finally, you hire employees, develop a line of products, manufacture them,
thereby making a contribution to society. Moreover, each area of management
has its own mode of operation, and anyone hoping to succeed in business must
be able to adapt those modes quickly to the
constantly changing social and
economic environment.
|
| |
Don't Assume That Something Is “Impossible“
"We speak of the shortcomings of the purely
intellectual approach, but this refers to our wariness of half-baked
theories that can prevent us from proceeding to a practical solution,” said
Matsushita. “If necessity is the mother of invention, then simple,
unaffected determination is its father. Even when everyone around you say
it's impossible, if you step back and rethink your task in the simplest
possible terms, free of the noise of over-erudite and preconceived notions,
often
the solutions will come to you, out of the blue, so to speak."
|
| |
Dam Management
Various economic factors can inhibit
corporate growth. Konosuke Matsushita believed, however, that continued progress is
possible with the right approach, such as by employing what he called the
"dam method" of management. Matsushita's dam management offered a way to
keep an enterprise on an even keel in times of unexpected changes in
business conditions, and included useful techniques for achieving the goal
of maintaining steady growth at all times. It is essential to create a
strong internal structure capable of surviving the economic crises that
might lie ahead. A business can maintain steady growth, and protect itself
against changes in the external
environment, by erecting a dam and reservoir
in every part of its management, such as an "equipment dam" and a "capital
dam" that provide insurance for stable growth.
|
| |
Bad Times Have Their Bright Side
Konosuke Matsushita had an idiosyncratic view
of the meaning of good times. During prosperous times," he would say, "you
move along at a gallop; in times of recession, you saunter at a leisurely
pace. When you're galloping, you haven't got time to look around you, so you
don't notice any
problem. But when your pace slackens, you can see
everything in all directions, and if you notice something wrong you have
time to fit it."
|
|
|
|
