Kaoru Ishikawa on Business Management: Scale or Profit? (The Japanese business master who created two Fortune Global 500 companies)

Author: Long Zhao
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-01-01
Features: As a Fortune 500 company, Kyocera Corporation is not well-known, let alone its president, Kazuo Inamori. Yet, in just 40 years, he single-handedly founded two Fortune 500 companies.
What Kazuo Inamori has left to the world is not merely two Fortune 500 companies, but more importantly, the spiritual sustenance that enabled these two large conglomerates to succeed and continue to grow—the Philosophy of Kyocera. In today's society, where materialism prevails, the "art of making money" is widely sought after, whether for good or ill. The mindset of instant gratification has left people indifferent to the decline of social morality and the erosion of traditional justice. The obsession with making quick fortunes has desensitized people to the alienation of human nature and the erosion of conscience. So, if you were to try to tell people that success requires a strong philosophy, you might be laughed at or even ridiculed. However, in a capitalism often depicted as a "dog-eat-dog" money-driven system, Kazuo Inamori's remarkable practices and achievements prove that this is far from a fantasy.
Indeed, given the stark contrast reflected by today's harsh social reality, many might find the philosophy Kazuo Inamori advocates too profound and overly idealistic. To promote serious philosophical practice in the face of modern human tendencies toward relaxation and indulgence may seem somewhat naive. But for Kazuo Inamori, precisely within this idealism and naivety lies the pursuit of valuable beliefs, the elevation of pure hearts, and the movement toward a more fulfilling human nature—these far exceed the petty obsession with trivial gains, indulgence in sensual pleasures, the satisfaction of hunger and thirst, or a life dazed by wealth and luxury. Clearly, in a turbid and unstable society, upholding the right path does not necessarily mean following the crowd. Maintaining beauty in human nature requires the spirit of "remaining unblemished in the mud," and this applies not only to individuals but also to companies. The Philosophy of Kyocera drives such vast enterprises forward. Just how profound it is is proven by the achievements of Kyocera Group and KDDI Group, and it will continue to prove so.