Japan - Culture

Akio MoritaJanuary 26, 1921 October 3, 1999

In business, why not take on the world.Please click to hear

1IntroductionWhat is your name and profession?My name is Akio Morita. I was the co-founder of Sony and was responsible for their marketing, globalization, finance and human resources. I attended Osaka Imperial University and majored in physics. I entered the Navy Air Service in 1944, and Met Masaru Ibuka while in the service. We later became business partners. Mr. Morita photo from Businessweek.com

2IntroductionPlease list significant contributions you have made?I am remembered for my contribution of Sony. Yet, I contributed in many more ways. I was also chairman of the Japan-U.S. Economic relations Group (or Wise Men's Group) and was up to accept appointment as chairman of the Keidanren (Japan Federation of Economic Organizations) on the day I had my stroke. I also became one of the most well known Japanese businessmen in the world. I also wrote a book in 1966 called Never Mind School Records, in which I wanted to stress that school records are not important in carrying out a job. I also wrote The Japan that Can Say No which criticized American business practices and that Japan should take a more independent role in business affairs.

Mr. Moritas book cover photo from Amazon.com3Cultural ValuesHow important were your Family and personal life to your success and well being?

My family had been producing sake, miso and soy sauce for over 400 years, and I was supposed to carry on the family business. I entered the Navy Air Service, and when the war was over I came home and started the Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corporation with Masaru Ibuka, a friend I had met during the war. I explained about the new company that we had set up, and my father gave it his blessing, saying "If it's what you want to do, that's fine. I'm counting on you to do a good job." Not only did he understand our dream and gave me his moral support, he also supported me financially, by selling land in Nagoya to provide 190,000 yen, a large sum at the time. Mr. Morita and family at the airport as they leave for America in 1963 photo from Sony.com

4Cultural ValuesHow do you want to be remembered?

I want people to remember that I like to have fun I played tennis, water skied, scuba dived, and loved music boxes/players. I want people to remember that I cared about my employees and wanted them to work hard but enjoy their work and feel appreciated. Why do you think you were so popular with the general Japanese society?

I believe that I really opened the doors for Japanese business around the world after the war was over. Japan was having a hard time recovering from the war after America dropped the bomb on us. Our company worked very hard with the America and their transistor technology, which caused us to create a very strong product to sell. I have no problem with using others technology to our advantage in business. I think that I helped the Japanese grow in the business world and also started the beginning of the Japanese manufacturing powerhouse that we are today.

Please click for additional personal photos of Mr. Morita.5Cultural ValuesWhat are your motivational drivers?

Embrace new technologies: The transistor was an American invention, but it was me that popularized its use.Stick to your guns: I was regularly challenged by my own colleagues about my ideas but I proved them wrong time and time again.Challenge yourself: I never did things the easy way and constantly sought new experiences both in business and personal life I learned skiing, tennis and scuba diving when I was over 50. Cover of Time Magazine May 10, 1971

6PlanningWhat role did planning play in your career success and why is it important?

I specialized in human resources, marketing, and finance working for Sony. Many of my decisions had to be thought through very carefully and analyzed before making the decision this is very common for the Japanese culture. I knew that when I moved my family to the United States I was going to keep learning more about US business and combine this with my Japanese roots and education. Therefore creating a very strong business mentality that was successful for myself and Sony. I would have not come as far as I did without planning all of my moves and ideas.Mr. Morita with his Camera photo from layguysworld.com

7Risk ToleranceHow would you describe yourself from a risk taking standpoint (risk averse, risk neutral or risk taker) and why?I would consider myself a risk taker. From starting Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corporation with money from my family to changing the name of the company to Sony in 1958 because it was more acceptable to Western Countries, and easier to say. I also moved my family to the United States so that I could grow Sony and establish Sony America, Inc. I knew that there were technologies that the US had that could really help Sony grow. I also stood behind the business of the BETA video players even though VHS was catching on faster and growing. I knew that I had made a mistake, I just continued to grow and work on the CD business. I also loved to challenge myself by learning and trying new things. I was an avid tennis player for many years. 8InnovationName one innovative success and/or failure you experienced in your career?

Not all decisions I were successful; the belief and determination I invested in winning products were sometimes invested in missteps as well. For instance, Sony was one of the first to release videocassette recorders (VCRs) for home use, but Sonys version, Betamax (Beta), was soon overwhelmed by the more popular VHS version; it was some time before I was willing to allow Sony to shift to the industry standard of VHS. After the Beta problem, however, I concluded that Sony must forge partnerships with other electronics firms. Thus, when Sony developed the CD storage disk that would eventually revolutionize computer data storage and the music industry, it was done in partnership with the Dutch firm Philips Electronics, to ensure that an industry standard for the product was achieved from the start. 9LoyaltyHow would you define loyalty from a co-worker, colleague or family member perspective? Why is it important?

The most important mission for a Japanese manager is to develop a healthy relationship with his employees, to create a family-like feeling within the corporation, a feeling that employees and managers share the same fate. We will try to create conditions where persons could come together in a spirit of teamwork, and exercise to their technological capacity. I made it a point to visit each of the factories and to try to meet every single employee. I wanted to make sure the staff felt like fellow human beings instead of tools that were being used.I believe people work for satisfaction. I believe it is a big mistake to think that money is the only way to compensate a person for his work. People need money, but they also want to be happy in their work and be proud of it.

10LeadershipHow would you define your leadership style?I often was a spokesman for Japanese management. In articulating my own ideas, I emphasized the importance of teamwork and of motivating people by providing challenging work in a family-like environment; engineers in industrial companies particularly need targets for their creativity. Above all, management must treat workers not as tools but as fellow human beings. I argued that manufacturing determines the strength of the economy and blamed excessive financial dealings to create paper profits for undermining this base. I praised family-like environment and loyalty to the company as facilitating long-range planning and investment. He often criticized American management's preoccupation with quarterly profits and dividends and its tendency to postpone investment in equipment. 11Workplace InterrelationshipsWhat was your strategic approach to developing allies?

I would want their technologies, therefore I would work with the companies closely to make sure that I could use or buy their technologies to better our products. So making and keeping allies in my business was very important. Why should I develop a technology that another company has already done and produced. I used others advantages to our advantage as well, so it would cost us less in research and development in the long run.Brothers in Arms: Mr. Morita and Mr. Ibuka 1961 photo from time.com

12Decision MakingWhat was your approach to decision making as a leader?I wasn't afraid to stick my neck out when it came to challenging 'acceptable' business practices. This was evident in that several of their early products were licensed from American companies and even the visionary name change to Sony (from sonus in Latin meaning sound and the American slang "sonny") was frowned upon at the time by my Japanese contemporaries. But I still made the name change and I think that it was a pretty successful decision. 13Use of TechnologyWhy is technology important and how would or did you use it strategically?It was I who showed that Japanese companies could either develop their own technology or license Western inventions, such as the transistor, and succeed against RCA, Zenith and others. As we know, technology by itself can bankrupt a company. My colleagues and myself at Sony were able to find commercial opportunities, starting with the tape recorder and then the transistor radio. Later, I had the insight to realize that buying a music company and then, gasp, a movie studio would complement Sony's audio-video hardware business. 14Interview ReferencesThis interview is fictional and responses are a composite of ideas derived from the multiple sources listed below, except where cited in the text.Encyclopedia Britannica: Morita Akio. Retrieved October 18, 2009 from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/392429/Morita-Akio

Akio Morita Biography- The Man Behind Sony. Retrieved October 18, 2009 from http://www.financial-inspiration.com/Akio-Morita-biography.html.

Akio Morita. Retrieved October 18, 2009 from http://www.novelguide.com/a/discover/ewb_11/ewb_11_04585.html

Akio Morita. Growing Business Magazine October 2007. http://www.growingbusiness.co.uk/akio-morita.html

Lessons from Akio Morita. Retrieved October 23, 2009 from http://www.eetimes.com/op/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=18302916

Lesson #3: Management Means to Inspire Creativity. Retrieved October 23, 2009 from http://www.evancarmichael.com/Famous-Entrepreneurs/1158/Lesson-3-Management-Means-To-Inspire-Creativity.html

Akio Morita. Retrieved October 30, 2009 from http://www.akiomorita.net

15Photo ReferencesImages were used from the following sources:Businessweek.com. Akio Morita: Mr. Consumer Electronics. Retrieved October 18, 2009 from http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/04_30/b3893021_mz072.htm

Morita, Akio. Made in Japan: Akio Morita and Sony. Retrieved October 18, 2009 from http://www.amazon.com/Made-Japan-Akio-Morita-Sony/dp/0006383424

Sony.com. 514 Broadway. Retrieved October 18, 2009 from http://www.sony.net/Fun/SH/1-8/h3.html

Harvardsquarelibrary.org. Akio Morita. Retrieved October 18, 2009 from http://www.harvardsquarelibrary.org/cfs2/akio_morita.php

Labguysworld.com. Akio Morita. Retrieved October 18, 2009 from http://www.labguysworld.com/AkioMorita_007.jpg

Time.com. Akio Morita and Masaru Ibuka. Retrieved October 18, 2009 from http://www.time.com/time/asia/2006/heroes/bl_morita_ibuka.html

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