Kōnosuke Matsushita

Dato’ Seri Utama Kōnosuke Matsushita Senior Third Rank PMN
松下 幸之助
Matsushita in 1929
Born	(1894-11-27)27 November 1894 Wakayama, Empire of Japan
Died	27 April 1989(1989-04-27) (aged 94) Moriguchi, Osaka, Japan
Other names	God of Management
Occupation(s)	Businessman and industrialist
Known for	Founder of Panasonic
Spouse	Mumeno Matsushita
Children	2
Relatives	Masaharu Matsushita (son-in-law)
Family	Hiro Matsushita (grandson) Masayuki Matsushita (grandson)
Awards	Order of the House of Orange Decorated Commander in the Order of Orange (1958) Order of the Sacred Treasure Order of the Rising Sun (29 April 1981) Order of the Paulownia Flowers (29 April 1987) Order of the Defender of the Realm (Panglima Mangku Negara which carries the title "Tan Sri") Order of the Crown Medal with Blue Ribbon Medal with Dark Blue Ribbon Honorary Commander of the Order of the Defender of the Realm China Reform Friendship Medal (2018)
Japanese name
Kanji	松下 幸之助
Transcriptions Romanization Matsushita Kōnosuke
Signature

Kōnosuke Matsushita (松下 幸之助, Matsushita Kōnosuke, 27 November 1894 – 27 April 1989) was a Japanese industrialist who founded Panasonic, the largest Japanese consumer electronics company. Matsushita is referred to as the "God of Management" in Japan.

Childhood

Matsushita and the wife of a bicycle shop owner. Matsushita worked in the shop. (c. 1904–5)

Kōnosuke Matsushita was born on 27 November 1894 in Wasamura, now part of Wakayama Prefecture. His father was an affluent landlord in the farming village of Wasa (part of present-day Wakayama city) and was one of the wealthiest men of his community.

Teenage years

Shortly after Matsushita finished school, he was sent to Osaka to work as an apprentice in a hibachi store. However, less than a year into his apprenticeship, the business failed, leaving Matsushita in search of new employment. He then applied for a job at the Osaka Electric Light Company, an electrical utility firm. Over the next couple of years, he received several promotions and advanced within the company. During this period, Matsushita met one of his sister's friends, Mumeno Iue, and after a brief courtship, they got married. Now head of a new family, Matsushita was acutely aware of his increased responsibilities.

At the age of 22, he was promoted to the position of electrical inspector. During this time, he tried to showcase an improved light socket he had developed in his spare time to his boss, but unfortunately, his boss was not receptive to the idea. Small text

Matsushita Electric Industrial Company

Members of Matsushita Electric Housewares Manufacturing Works. Back row from left, Kōnosuke Matsushita, Toshio Iue, Mumeno Matsushita (c. 1918)

In 1917, Matsushita left the Osaka Electric Light Company to establish his own business. Lacking capital, formal education, and experience in manufacturing, it seemed that his venture would fail before it even began. He set up his workshop in the basement of his tenement. With his wife, brother-in-law Toshio Iue, and a few assistants, he started creating samples of his products. However, when he attempted to sell these samples to wholesalers, he was unsuccessful, as he did not offer more than one product.

Eventually, Matsushita's assistants left the company, leaving him with only his wife and brother-in-law, Toshio, who proved to be a capable salesman and manager. Matsushita was on the brink of bankruptcy until he received an unexpected order for a thousand insulator plates for electric fans." This order allowed him to continue producing his light sockets, which began gaining popularity as wholesalers recognized their superior quality and lower prices compared to competing products.

The early years of the company were challenging. At one point, Matsushita had to pawn his wife's kimono when he found himself short on money. His products were initially marketed under the brand name "National," and later evolved into the more recognizable names Panasonic, Quasar, and Technics. One of Matsushita's most notable inventions was a more efficient battery-powered bicycle lamp. During the 1920s, bicycle lamps typically used candles or oil, which were highly inefficient and lasted only about three hours. Matsushita designed an oval lamp that operated on batteries and utilized a lightbulb for illumination. He had to personally market his products to retail bicycle shops.

Expansion

Matsushita learned a vital lesson about building a thriving company while introducing his bicycle lamp to wholesalers. He discovered that having a superior product is meaningless without a strong sales strategy. Determined to succeed, Matsushita shifted his focus from merely manufacturing to developing effective sales channels that would elevate his products. This inspired approach led to the formation of a dedicated sales force and a network of retail stores, ultimately positioning Matsushita's company as a powerful force in Japan's electrical manufacturing and retail industry.

In 1929, he embarked on a transformative reorganization of his company. The new structure included a parent company with specialized branches for different product divisions. At that time, Matsushita’s company concentrated on three main products: the bicycle lamp and battery division, the electrical socket division, and the radio division. Each product was supported by a national sales department, complemented by regional offices in strategic locations. These regional offices harmonized sales and manufacturing efforts. This visionary model ensured that production was always driven by sales demand, aligning manufacturing with the ever-changing needs of the market.

Post-war period

During the US occupation of Japan after World War II, General Douglas MacArthur decided to break up the zaibatsu business conglomerates of Japan. Matsushita was in danger of being removed as president but was saved by a favorable petition signed by 15,000 employees. In 1947, Kōnosuke lent his brother-in-law Toshio to an underused manufacturing plant to manufacture bicycle lamps, a business that eventually became Sanyo Electric.

From 1950 to 1973, Matsushita's company became one of the world's largest manufacturers of electrical goods, sold under well-known trademarks including Panasonic and Technics. Matsushita stepped down as President of Panasonic in 1961 and was succeeded as president by his son-in-law, Masaharu Matsushita. Konosuke Matsushita's two grandsons are Masayuki Matsushita, who is the current vice-chairman of Panasonic, and Hiro Matsushita, who is a former driver in the Champ Car series and owns Swift Engineering, an aerospace firm and race car constructing company which he bought in 1991. Hiro Matsushita is also the chairman of Swift Xi, which is located in Kobe, Japan.

Konosuke Matsushita remained active in Panasonic's operations until his complete retirement in 1973. Since 1954, Matsushita also gained a significant shareholding in manufacturer JVC by forming an alliance. It still retains a 50% share today. In retirement, Matsushita focused on developing and explaining his social and commercial philosophies and wrote 44 published books. One of his books, entitled "Developing A Road To Peace And Happiness Through Prosperity", sold over four million copies. In 1979, at the age of 84, he founded the Matsushita School of Government and Management to train the future politicians and businessmen of Japan.

In 1987, he was awarded the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Paulownia Flowers.

Death

Chronic lung problems led to his death from pneumonia on 27 April 1989, at the age of 94. He died with personal assets worth US$3 billion, and left a company with US$42 billion in revenue business.

Awards and honours

Los Angeles Mayor Sam Yorty presenting a certificate proclaiming 15 July as Matsushita Day to Kōnosuke and Mumeno at Los Angeles City Hall. Kōnosuke is holding a nine-inch Panasonic television, a gift to Los Angeles. (1963)

National honours

• Japan:
  • Grand Cordon of the Order of the Paulownia Flowers (29 April 1987)
  • Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun (29 April 1981)
  • Grand Cordon of the Order of the Sacred Treasure
  • Recipient of the Medal with Blue Ribbon
  • Recipient of the Medal with Dark Blue Ribbon
  • Senior Third Rank (27 April 1989; posthumous)

Foreign honours

• Belgium:
  • Commander of the Order of the Crown (1972)
• Malaysia:
  • Honorary Commander of the Order of the Defender of the Realm (P.M.N.) (1979)
• China:
  • Recipient of the China Reform Friendship Medal (18 December 2018; posthumous)

Professorships and Directorships

Konosuke Matsushita was honoured at Stanford University by endowing a Professorship in International Strategy and Management. The official name of the course is The Konosuke Matsushita Professorship in International Strategy and Management

Published books

• Michi wo hiraku (1968) Open the path and often translated as The Path
• Japan at the Brink (1976)
• Thoughts on Man (1982)
• Not for Bread Alone: A Business Ethos, A Management Ethic (1984)
• Quest for Prosperity (1988)
• As I See It (1989)
• Velvet Glove, Iron Fist: And 101 Other Dimensions of Leadership (1991)
• People before Products: The Human Factor in Business (1992)
• The Matsushita Perspective: A Business Philosophy Handbook (1997)
• The Heart of Management: Konosuke Matsushita's Enduring Insights (2002)
• My Way of Life and Thinking (2011) (Originally published in 1954)
• Practical Management Philosophy (2011) (Originally published in 1978)
• Nurturing Dreams – My Path in Life – An Autobiography by the Founder of Panasonic (2014) (Originally published in 1998)

Appears on the cover of

• Life, Sep-1964, DETAILS: Meet Mr. Matsushita
• Time, 23 February 1962, DETAILS: Industrialist Matsushita

Further reading

• Matsushita Leadership by John Paul Kotter, Simon & Schuster (1998)
• Matsushita Konosuke (1894–1989) His Life & His Legacy: A Collection of Essays in Honor of the Centenary of His Birth by Kōnosuke Matsushita, PHP Research Institute (1994)
• The Matsushita Perspective, A Business Philosophy Handbook, Published by PHP Institute, Inc. (1st ed., 1997).
• Jinsei mondō, dialogue with Daisaku Ikeda published in Chinese (traditional), Chinese (simplified), Korean, and Japanese; Published by Ushio Shuppansha, Tōkyō (1st ed., 1975).
• The Matsushita Phenomenon by Rowland Gould published by the Diamond Publishing Company, Japan (1st edition, 1970).
• The Path, by Konosuke Matsushita, Published by McGraw-Hill (2010)
• Konosuke Matsushita Memorial Foundation

Matsushita family tree

Matsushita Uemon

Yasuda Koichiro

Tokue Matsushita

Masakusu Matsushita

Hirata Tosuke

Maeda Toshiaki (前田利昭

Mitsui Takamine10th head of the Mitsui family

Tetsujiro Nakao

Yasue

Jun Iue

Yurou Iue

Toshio Iue

Mumeno

Kōnosuke Matsushita

Hirata Shodo

Shizuko

Maeda Toshisada

Keiko

Mitsui Takakimi11th head of the Mitsui family

Satoshi Iue

Matsushita Sachiko

Masaharu Matsushita

Hirata Katsumi

Nobuko

Iue Toshimasa

Hiro Matsushita

Masayuki Matsushita (松下正幸

Atsuko

See also

• Panasonic
• Masaharu Matsushita
• Hiroyuki Matsushita
• Konosuke Matsushita Museum

External links

• PHP INTERFACE – PHP Institute, Inc's Official Website

• Konosuke Matsushita.com, – Konosuke Matsushita Official Website by PHP Institute, Inc.
• Matsushita Memorial Library – Located in PHP Institute, Inc.'s building in Kyoto, Japan.
• The Founder, Konosuke Matsushita by Panasonic
• Panasonic Museum – Konosuke Matsushita Museum
• The Matsushita Institute of Government and Management