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'Amoeba' Management Ensures Corporate Success

R. Colin Johnson | Date: 04-15-11 | Comments

Proven formula for success organizes corporations into interlocking profit centers, assigning to management the task of inspiring employees to create innovative consumer-pleasing products.

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'Amoeba' Management Ensures Corporate Success
Billionaire Buddhist Kazuo Inamori incorporated his understanding of how to achieve "the good life" into a corporate management philosophy that resulted in two of the most successful companies in Japanese history�Kyocera and KDDI�and which he is now sharing with Japan Airlines, as CEO, and with entrepreneurs worldwide in his Seiwajyuku (business seminars).

"The Kyocera Philosophy contains the very basic rules by which we manage our company [and] is the very basis of the way individuals think," said Inamori. "I have always been thinking about the kind of mindset needed to live a great life. What helped me in my thinking were the sages from around the world, from ancient times to the present. In particular, the sages from ancient China, 2,500 years ago."

His ancient sages were put to the test just three years after founding Kyocera at age 27, when Inamori was called upon to rescue his company from mass defection when a group of talented employees threatened to quit unless they were given employment guarantees. Instead, Inamori convinced them to stay on at Kyocera by pledging to work tirelessly, not to make profits, but to make all employees happy.

Kazuo Inamori has received dozens of awards over the years, but just this month received the "International Citizens Award" from the Japan America Society (Los Angeles).

"The Kyocera Philosophy emphasizes the happiness of all the employees working for Kyocera. That is the purpose of the Kyocera Philosophy. In order to realize that, fair play is very important, but in addition to fair play, a 'selfless mind' is also very important. That requires us not merely to pursue our own self interest, but also to care about the happiness of the people around us�this includes consumers," said Inamori.

Inamori enshrined these principles in a 137-page booklet called the Kyocera Philosophy, which is issued to new employees and routinely cited during morning assemblies and company parties. Entries include:
- "Challenge yourself unceasingly to create products nobody else thought possible."
- "No matter how large our company may become, we must remain visionary and passionate pioneers."
- And my personal favorite: "Boast and make it come true."
Next: 'A Self-Correcting Mechanism' >>