Akio Morita citations

Page 2

“…without an organisation that can work together, sometimes over a very long period, it's difficult to see new projects to fruition.”

“To gain profit is important, but you must invest to build up assets that you can cash in in the future.”

“The concept of lifetime employment arose when Japanese managers and employees both realized that they had much in common and that they had to make some long-range plans.”

“We want everybody to have the best facilities in which to work, but we do not believe in posh and impressive private offices.”

“Executives of the company must have the necessary qualities to direct the personnel by showing them the way to do things.”

“I have always made it a point to know our employees, to visit every facility of our company, and to try to meet and know every single employee.”

“While the United States has been busy creating lawyers, we have been busier creating engineers.”

“The effect of three things - the new laws, the revision of the tax system, and the elimination of the zaibatsu conglomerates - was to make Japan an egalitarian society for the first time.”

“What we in industry learned in dealing with people is that people do not work just for money and that if you are trying to motivate, money is not the most effective tool.”

“I often say to my assistants, "Never trust anybody," but what I mean is that you should never trust someone else to do a job exactly the way you would want it done.”

“In all my years in business I can recall very few people I have wanted to fire for making mistakes.”

“The most important mission for a Japanese manager is to develop a healthy relationship with his employees, to create a familylike feeling within the corporation, a feeling that employees and managers share the same fate.”

“From a management standpoint, it is very important to know how to unleash people's inborn creativity. My concept is that anybody has creative ability, but very few people know how to use it.”

“Once you have a staff of prepared, intelligent, and energetic people, the next step is to motivate them to be creative.”

“Advertising and promotion alone will not sustain a bad product or a product that is not right for the times.”

“…if you have so many lawyers, they have to find business, which sometimes they have to create. Sometimes nonsensical lawsuits are generated by lawyers. In this country (the United States everybody sues everybody.”