MADE IN JAPAN - Akio Morita and SONY

I have quoted here some of the good management learnings from the book, "Made in Japan" about the life of Akio Morita and Sony. This book is widely referred to management students.

• A senior employee in Sony had a difference of opinion with Akio Morita which led to regular conflicts between the two. One day, he declared to Akio that he was going to quit the job since they both could not stay in the company and have different opinions. Akio calmly and cleverly responded that if both of them had the same ideas then both of them were not required in the company and that either of them should resign. It was due to such difference in ideas that the company ran a lower risk of comitting mistakes. I was overwhelmed after learning about such a great example of lateral mangement thinking.


• Every year Akio Morita addresses all the fresh graduates out of school that join Sony and explains them the difference between a school and a company. In his speech he awakens the freshers to make them realize their responsibility and expected loyalty towards the company. He provides an example that in school, if they do not do well in their exams, they would at most get a zero. On the other side in a business they have to appear for an exam every day and if they commit a mistake, they would not simply get a zero but would get negative points to any extent and if they excel in work they could get not just 100 points but even thousands or more.


• It is not just the top management in a company that decides the fate of the company but it is rather the most recent employee on a company's payroll who decides its fate. Who can tell the company management better how to structure the work than the people who are doing it ? It is such thoughts of Akio Morita that helped to blend a feeling of a being in a family in the employees of Sony.


• In the event of a loss or mistake, the company should not pin-point and hold anyone responsible for it as it would lower the morale of the people. Rather, the mistake should be made public and everybody should try and understand the reasons behind the occurrence of the mistake and learn from it so as to prevent its reoccurrence. I perfectly agree to it. That's why in many companies the classical mistakes are recorded for later reference by employees.


• Money is not the only way to compensate a person for his work. People should be happy and proud in what they are working on. Job satisafaction is as important as wages. Providing the exployees challenging jobs to boost their development and ultimately appreciting the job that they have done and giving due recognition is also equally important.


• The primary function of management is decision-making and thta means professional knowledge of technology and the ability to forsee the future direction or trends of technology. Consultants should be able to do valuable information gathering and market analysis. Sometimes while working with people, logic has to take a backseat to understanding.