昭和时代松下幸之助 Matsushita Kōnosuke

日本昭和时代 (1894年 11月27日～1989年 4月27日)

Kōnosuke Matsushita
出生地：	日本和歌山县

Matsushita Kōnosuke

松下幸之助（まつしたこうのすけ，1894年11月27日－1989年4月27日），出生于日本和歌山县，是横跨明治、大正、昭和以及平成四世代的日本企业家，是松下电器、松下政经塾与PHP研究所的创办者，在日本被称为“经营之神”。

生平

儿少时期

松下是和歌山的一户农家的最小的小孩，松下幸之助为老幺（老八），其上有5个姐姐、2个哥哥。九岁就到火钵（或称火盆）店工作，16岁时进入大阪电灯（今关西电力公司），7年后离职，1915年与井植梅野结婚。

事业发展

1918年3月7日，松下幸之助在大阪创办了松下电器的前身“松下电气器具制作所”，生产自行车用电灯等产品。创业之初曾典当妻子的和服以筹集资金。1925年，“松下电气器具制作所”创立了“National”（ナショナル）品牌，生产电池及收音机。1935年，“松下电气器具制作所”改名为“松下電器産業株式会社”，松下幸之助出任社长（总经理）。

第二次世界大战期间，松下电器受日军之命生产军品（尤其是松下与其妻舅井植岁男参与研制明星木造训练轰炸机计划），1945年日本投降，进入日本盟军占领时期，所有参与军事生产的企业被驻日盟军总司令部关闭，松下幸之助被解除社长职务。在小舅子井植岁男承担与日军合作的责任而辞职后，松下幸之助于1947年回到社长的位置（井植岁男后来创立三洋电机）。

松下电器靠着三宝——洗衣机、冰箱及电视机──而快速发展业务，成为世界知名的大公司。1961年，松下幸之助升任为会长（董事长）。

松下幸之助为了复兴公司，从1950年代到1970年代都掌握大权，松下幸之助也热心公益，在他的捐献下，于1865年12月被大火烧毁的浅草寺雷门得以重建，成为当今的造形。

退休之后

1973年，松下幸之助退休，转任松下电器的顾问。松下退休后，因为事业的杰出表现，获得多项奖项，以及荣誉学位（他并未正式受过高等教育）。他曾经连续40年是日本缴税金额排名前100名的人，1981年，接受日本政府颁发的“一等旭日大绶勋章”，这是日本最高的奖章。1989年4月27日，因为肺炎在大阪逝世，享耆寿94岁。个人财产估计约5000亿日元（约合50亿美元）。

外部链接

松下幸之助一日一话（日文）
The Founder, Konosuke Matsushita（英文）

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.

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 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 left school, he was sent away to Osaka to become an apprentice for a hibachi store. Less than a year into his apprenticeship however, the business failed and Matsushita was left looking for other employment. He then applied for a job with the Osaka Electric Light Company, an electrical utility company. Over the next couple of years, he was promoted several times and his position rose with the company. During this time, Matsushita was introduced to one of his sister's friends, Mumeno Iue, and after a short courtship married her. Matsushita, now head of a new family, was well aware of his new responsibilities.

At the age of 22, he was promoted to the position of electrical inspector. It was during this time that Matsushita attempted to introduce his boss to the invention of a new and improved light socket that he had perfected in his spare time. His boss, however, was not enthusiastic.

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 Osaka Electric Light Company to set up his own company. Without capital, a formal education, or experience in manufacturing, it would appear the company would fail before it even began. He set up his shop in the basement of his tenement. With his wife, his brother-in-law, and several assistants, he began creating several samples of his product. He attempted to peddle the samples to wholesalers but was unsuccessful because he did not offer more than one product.

Matsushita's assistants left his company and he was left with only his wife and brother-in-law, Toshio Iue, who proved to be a capable salesman and manager. Matsushita would have eventually become bankrupt but he was "saved by an unexpected order for a thousand insulator plates for electric fans." From there, Matsushita was able to continue producing his light sockets. They became popular as wholesalers realized the product was better in quality and less expensive than comparable products in the market. The early years of the company were difficult: He once had to pawn his wife's kimono when he found himself short on money. Matsushita's products were originally marketed under the name brand of "National" and later moved on to the more recognizable names of Panasonic, Quasar and Technics.^{[citation needed]}

One of Matsushita's best products was his invention of a more efficient battery-powered bicycle lamp. During the 1920s, bicycle lamps were candles or oil-burning lamps. They were highly inefficient as they usually only lasted for three hours. He created an oval lamp that used a battery for power and a lightbulb for illumination. He had to personally market his products to retail bicycle shops.

Expansion

Matsushita learned a very important lesson in terms of growing a company while he was trying to introduce his bicycle lamp to wholesalers. He realized that even if he had a product that was superior to anything out in the market it would not matter if he could not sell the product. As a result, Matsushita began devising ways to create sales channels for his products by concentrating less on manufacturing and more on building a sales force, which led to a retail store network and finally placed Matsushita's company on the map in Japan's electrical manufacturing and retail industry.

In 1929, he began setting up a new structure for his company. The company was structured as a parent company and branches of divisions that specialized in a particular product were created. There were three specific products that were being created in Matsushita's company at this time: the bicycle lamp and battery division, the electrical socket division, and the radio division. For each of these products, a national sales department was formed with regional offices established in strategic locations. These regional offices were responsible for the coordination of sales and manufacturing. Products were manufactured based upon the demand for the products. As a result, manufacturing was dependent on sales.

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 an under-utilized 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 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.^{[citation needed]}

Awards and honours

Los Angeles Mayor Sam Yorty presenting a certificate proclaiming July 15th 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)