Matsushita Leadership: John P. Kotter
Editorial Reviews
From Library Journal
Noted Harvard business professor Kotter recounts the fascinating life of Konosuke Matsushita (1894-1989), the founder of Matsushita Electric Company. Matsushita started his adult life with no money, no connections, fewer than four years of formal education, and a family history filled with trauma. Yet his company’s growth in revenues has exceeded that of the companies of such famous entrepreneurs as Soichiro Honda (Honda), Sam Walton (Wal-Mart), Akio Morita (Sony), James Cash Penney (J.C. Penney), and Henry Ford (Ford). Not a biography, this chronological bibliograhy instead highlights the educational patterns of Matsushita’s life and draws out lessons from which readers in management can learn. Kotter clearly illustrates how Matsushita was able to motivate large groups of individuals. Recommended for corporate executives, businesspeople, academics, students, and aspiring entrepreneurs.?Joseph W. Leonard, Miami Univ., Oxford, Ohio
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Two years before his death in 1989, Konosuke Matsushita was identified as one of the richest men in the world. When he died, the Japanese press bemoaned the loss of the “god of management.” Matsushita built the business bearing his name into the world’s largest consumer electronics company, turning out such familiar brands as Panasonic, Technics, and Quasar. He is also credited with establishing the Japanese system of paternal management, which offers lifetime employment. Rowland Gould and Michael Lombardi of the Success Motivation Institute of Japan produced the laudatory corporate history The Matsushita Phenomenon in 1970, but little English-language biographical material on Matsushita himself is available. Now Kotter, who happens to be the Konosuke Matsushita Professor of Leadership at the Harvard Business School and the noted author of The New Rules (1994) and numerous other books on leadership and management, has written a thoroughly researched and illuminating portrait that shows its subject as not only a successful businessman but also a visionary humanitarian. David Rouse
