Chapter 9 Chapter 8 Manpower Crisis: Let go of my brother-in-law to assist Sanyo

After the Second World War, Konosuke Matsushita was identified as a "chaebol" and belonged to an A-level deportation order. After the deportation order was issued, Matsushita Corporation lost 11,500 employees including senior staff.In this regard, Konosuke Matsushita is very sad. The company did not lay off employees during the Great Depression. Now that so many employees have left, it is really heartbreaking. There are many rare talents among them. Konosuke Matsushita is very sorry, but at present It's hard to guarantee, so what qualifications do you have to force others to suffer such a crime with yourself?

However, the person who surprised him the most, the company can leave 11,500 employees, but this person who must not leave has also submitted his resignation. He is Toshio Iue!Toshio Iue, the hero in the founding of the Matsushita Empire!Not only was Konosuke Matsushita powerless to resist, he was speechless in shock. When the incident spread, the public also discussed it and couldn't figure it out, so rumors spread all over the place: "Have you heard that? The veteran of Matsushita Corporation, Toshio Iue, has all offered to resign. It seems that Matsushita is going to fail this time." "Toshio Iue left Matsushita, I'm afraid there is something wrong with it?" and so on, which made Matsushita Konosuke very embarrassed.

"Yu Nan, have you discussed with your sister about resigning?" There was no warning beforehand, Konosuke Matsushita was silent for a long time, and this sentence popped out unexpectedly. "Brother-in-law, I am no longer a child. I can decide my own affairs, sorry, brother-in-law." Toshio Iue stood in front of the desk of the general manager Konosuke Matsushita and bowed deeply. "Yes! Year-old man, 27 years have passed in a blink of an eye. Are you about 42 years old?" "No, brother-in-law, I am 43 years old this year." Konosuke Matsushita sighed and said, "Sui Nan, let me think about it, I am too tired today."

Konosuke Matsushita really should think about it carefully. Since resigning from the position of the Osaka Electric Lighting Company, the husband and wife brought a brother-in-law, Tokio Iue, to start a business hard. They often neglected their wives and daughters and devoted themselves Pour into inventing—creating—selling.Such a continuous cycle, like a snowball, Panasonic has grown from small to large to the scale it is today, starting from the production of small light sockets to the production of batteries, and even the production of military ships and aircraft.As for Toshio Iue, who is capable, he always looks like a little brother in his eyes. Konosuke Matsushita can calmly say that when others make mistakes, but Toshio Iue has done wrong things, he always has to reprimand them in public, because he He is from his own family, so the requirements for him are higher and stricter.Regarding the changes in Toshio Iue, Konosuke Matsushita suddenly noticed: I don’t know when, Toshio Iue has obviously grown taller, his shoulders have become thicker, and he has become more reliable in his work; However, Konosuke Matsushita never considered it, or had no time to take care of it.

Now that there is time, Konosuke Matsushita, the general manager who was "expelled" by the occupying army and relieved of his duties, has time to think about it.He was surprised to find out: In the past 27 years, Toshio Iue has done a lot of beautiful things. He first opened an office in Tokyo and opened up sales in the Kanto market from scratch;Toshio Iue always takes care of the tricky affairs that Konosuke Matsushita has no time to take care of, and he will do it beautifully and satisfactorily.Undoubtedly, Toshio Iue has learned a lot of golden rules of business from Konosuke Matsushita during his long years as Prime Minister Konosuke Matsushita, but he also has a style different from Konosuke Matsushita.Unlike Konosuke Matsushita's exposure, Toshio Iue is introverted and not good at words, but he can subtly push things in a good direction. "No wonder I don't know anything about the thoughts he has hidden in his heart for 27 years." Konosuke Matsushita thought to himself.

Konosuke Matsushita once excitedly talked about "burying the bones of Panasonic" at a "evening meeting", which indeed played a certain role in enhancing the cohesion of the enterprise. Konosuke Matsushita did not forget to increase the salaries and benefits of employees.But Konosuke Matsushita never thought about it: Everyone has his own aspirations. For those who are willing to "bury their bones", they can provide convenience and benefits in various ways to "bury their bones", and those who have other plans, why should they be required to "bury their bones" Woolen cloth?None of them are obligated!Is there a paternalistic style in dealing with this issue?Jing Zhi Sui Nan is handsome, always by his side, at best he is just a "senior part-time job", and he has been wronged.

A capable person like Toshio Iue will definitely make a difference in the future. After thinking about it, Konosuke Matsushita decided to "let go" his favorite general. The three Iue brothers, the eldest brother Toshio Iue, was recruited to Osaka by his elder sister Umeyuki Iue in 1918, and co-founded Matsushita Electric Manufacturing Co., Ltd. with his sister and brother-in-law.The second brother, Yuro Iue, and the third brother, Kaoru Iue, also left their hometown to help in the factory of brother-in-law Matsushita Konosuke in Osaka.The three brothers are diligent and studious. Like their brother-in-law, they also dropped out of school at an early age. With tenacity, they not only mastered the knowledge of electromechanical in the brother-in-law's factory, but also learned the methods of operation and management from the brother-in-law. The three young people had the desire to follow suit, but because they had never had a good opportunity and it was difficult to talk to their brother-in-law, they never raised it.The opportunity finally came. The "A-level expulsion order" not only removes the general manager, but also all senior staff and executive directors have to stop working. Is this the best time to resign?The keen three brothers will not let go of this great opportunity.At that time, Yuro Iue was the head of the company's personnel department, and Kaoru Iue was the executive director and head of the manufacturing department.Later, the three brothers Izhi left Panasonic Electric Manufacturing Co., Ltd., and with the assistance of Konosuke Matsushita, they jointly founded the world-famous "Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd."

Besides, after some serious thinking and introspection, Konosuke Matsushita invited Toshio Iue to have another long talk. "Sui Nan, since you have made up your mind to leave, I agree. Your sister and I went to Kyoto to see the cherry blossoms. It's the same in life. The flowery years are very short. I can't stop you when the years are over." For his brother-in-law's understanding, Tokio Iue was moved to tears. "However, you are brother-in-law's right-hand man, and Panasonic cannot do without you! If you have any difficulties going out and can't continue, please come back."

"Yes, the general manager—brother-in-law." Jing Zhi was choked up.The person in front of him is both a boss and a brother-in-law. At this moment, Tokio Iue doesn't know what to say. "Sui Nan, can I do something for you? By the way, according to the company's regulations, you can receive a severance pay. In addition, I propose to the board of directors that you will be paid within one year after resignation." Toshio Iue was still standing still, Konosuke Matsushita looked at him suspiciously. "General manager, I..." The brother-in-law is reasonable and considerate for himself, Toshio Iue feels that he should not make any demands, but he still expresses the idea that has been brewing in his heart for a long time.Iue aged man cleared his throat, raised his eyes and finally said:

"General manager, I want to ask you for someone." "Who?" Konosuke Matsushita became nervous. "Goto Seiichi." What a powerful Tokio Iue!Konosuke Matsushita thought: I don't ask me for the capital to set up a factory, but I ask for important people. This is completely my way of running a company!He learned it all.Goto Seiichi is the director of the electrical distribution factory, and he is a technical talent recruited by Konosuke Matsushita with great efforts.Putting yourself in the shoes of others, starting a business without technical strength is not enough. This is the experience of Konosuke Matsushita in starting a business. Toshio Iue must have had many difficulties at the beginning of his business, so he agreed to Toshio Iue’s request.

Goto Seiichi later served as the vice president of Sanyo Electric. When he recalled that when Toshio Iue left Panasonic, Konosuke Matsushita once said to him: "Goto-kun, Toshio Iue hopes that you can help him build a new company. Your company, you can go. However, in case the new company does not operate smoothly, you are welcome to return to our company for guidance at any time." In December 1946, Toshio Iue formally submitted his resignation to the company and was approved.The second year, Yuro Iue, the second brother, left Matsushita Electric. In 1950, the third brother Iue Kaoru submitted his resignation again.Therefore, the three brothers joined forces to start a business and established "Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd."During this period, Konosuke Matsushita assigned a factory in Hyogo County, the hometown of the three Iue brothers, to "Sanyo" free of charge.In the early days when the three Izhi brothers started their businesses, in a market economy where colleagues were enemies and brothers settled accounts clearly, it was rare for Konosuke Matsushita to have such courage and generosity. To a certain extent, it can be said that it was Panasonic The company gave birth to Sanyo Electric. In the future competition, Sanyo Electric quickly entered the domestic and foreign markets with its leading products of high quality and low price, and the latecomers took the lead, becoming another famous electric appliance manufacturing enterprise in Japan.Three years after its establishment, Sanyo Electric produced and sold 158,000 radios, and its market share is second only to Panasonic, ranking second in Japan. After many years, after Sanyo Electric achieved brilliant performance, a reporter with good deeds interviewed Konosuke Matsushita. "Mr. Matsushita, it is well known that Sanyo Electric has achieved such great success that it has posed a threat to Panasonic Corporation. Looking back at the beginning, do you still think it is a good thing?" Konosuke Matsushita's answer is witty and ingenious: "Mr. Reporter, (he noticed that the reporter used a Sanyo tape recorder) The tape recorder in your hand is a Sanyo brand. Isn't that a very good thing!" Sanyo Electric did three beautiful things in the initial stage, which amazed the big brother Konosuke Matsushita. These three things are: in 1952, Sanyo Electric took the lead in launching a plastic case radio on the market, and the second thing was in 1953. Japan's first whirlpool washing machine, the third thing is the invention of the "Sanyo refrigerator door".These three events not only showed the strength of Sanyo's rise, but also made Sanyo's products quickly occupy the market. In Sanyo Electric's president's office, the phone rang, and it was Yuro Iue, the second brother who answered the phone. Konosuke Matsushita's voice came from the receiver, and he felt nervous for a while. "It's me, brother-in-law, are you okay?" Tokino Iue and Kaoru Iue who were sitting at the side looked at each other, not knowing what brother-in-law was going to say.When the company launched plastic casing radios and vortex washing machines, Konosuke Matsushita once attacked the three brothers, which is also a normal psychology of ordinary people.Could it be that the brother-in-law is going to attack again when the new type of refrigerator is launched on the market this time?Toshio Iue approached the phone and listened to it. "Yuro, I saw the new type of refrigerator you produced, wow! Congratulations!" The receiver came with sincere congratulations. "Brother-in-law is an expert, do you think there is anything wrong?" "No, there's nothing wrong with it, it's very beautiful. I never thought that it's actually a simple design, and it's easy to see, but for decades, no one has done this seemingly easy thing. You guys are amazing ah!" Konosuke Matsushita went on to say, "Recently, I often think that if you three brothers hadn't left my company back then, you might not have achieved so many achievements, and your thoughts would always be influenced and restricted by me, so you could only be a light plug for the rest of your life. You The future of the three brothers is boundless! My brother-in-law is old." "No, no, brother-in-law's company has a great future, and it is our goal to catch up forever." Yuro Iue said. "By the way, all three of you come to my place at night. Your sister prepared a table to celebrate your success. I still have a bottle of good sake here. Let's celebrate." "Also, I have to apply to buy your refrigerator design patent!" "Where, where, thank you brother-in-law for your compliment." Putting down the phone, the three brothers cheered in unison, not for the "Sanyo Refrigerator", but for the approval of Konosuke Matsushita.Konosuke Matsushita is also an ordinary person. When Sanyo forced Panasonic's products out of the market with high-quality products, although he felt uncomfortable, and it was understandable for the three brothers to attack Jing Zhi, he was finally able to be an entrepreneur. It is indeed admirable to have a broad mind and overcome one's own narrowness for a while. Matsushita Konosuke's phone call this time is both brotherly and business-like. It includes the heartfelt congratulations from the brother-in-law for his brother-in-law's achievements, and a solemn request for business needs as the president of a company with the same status.Konosuke Matsushita gradually adapted to the reality that former apprentices surpassed masters, and got used to the simple and often overlooked truth of business, fair competition, and survival of the fittest.