Chapter 14 Chapter 3 Business Management: 70 Years of Corporate Career to Create a God of Management

Konosuke Matsushita believes that prioritizing the interests of the other party is not only for the sake of the other party, but also for oneself, and the result is that both parties can benefit.In the business activities of Konosuke Matsushita, the principle of coexistence and tolerance has been implemented. The business activities of enterprises must drive the prosperity of the whole society.If only one's own company develops, but the social growth cannot match, such an enterprise will not last long after all.Enterprises and society must prosper together, coexist and prosper together, otherwise they will not be able to achieve real development, which is the law of nature.

In order to expand its business activities, an enterprise depends on the enterprises or people it has dealings with.For example, buyers, sellers, consumers, shareholders or banks providing funds, and even regions and the general public maintain relationships with each other in various forms.It is an unforgivable thing to sacrifice a related party to seek the development of your own company, and it will eventually lead to self-destruction.Therefore, it can be said that it is the only way for an enterprise to maintain long-term development by always considering coexistence and co-prosperity with the counterparty with whom it has transactions.

For example, in order to comply with the consumer's request for a price reduction, it is necessary to ask the supplier of raw materials to lower the price. However, in this case, one must not only ask the other party to lower the price, but also consider whether the other party can still operate after the price reduction.In other words, it must be considered whether an appropriate profit for the other party can be ensured.Based on the ideal of coexistence and common prosperity, it is necessary to fully consider the position and interests of the other party.Giving priority to the interests of the other party is not only for the sake of the other party, but also for oneself. The result is that both parties can benefit.

Coexistence and common prosperity with peers is the most difficult thing. Competition among peers is inevitable, and the competition is extremely fierce, often forming vicious competition. This vicious competition is likely to knock down a qualified operator, cause turmoil in the industry, and finally bring great harm to society.When business operators fail to ensure mutual proper interests, tax revenue will often be reduced, and the country and society will also suffer great losses. Therefore, it is said that vicious competition has all kinds of harm but no benefit. Even though small companies are sometimes involved in vicious competition, as long as the leading large companies resolutely implement the principle of fair competition, the industry will not fall into chaos.This is like the vicious competition between small countries on the stage of the international community, which triggers wars, but if the big countries do not get involved in this dispute, but mediate with a fair stand, the war will not expand, and it will naturally calm down soon.If a leading company is the first to trigger vicious competition, just like a world war, it will definitely bring great chaos to the business world, cause the industry to suffer extreme harm, and at the same time affect the credit of the company itself.

Taking these issues into consideration, Konosuke Matsushita is indeed very difficult, but it is very important to always pay attention to the coexistence and co-prosperity among practitioners.The larger the enterprise, the greater the responsibility for this problem. Since ancient times, buyers and sellers in the business field have seldom been able to live in harmony for a long time.They are often like enemies, haggling, picking goods, and making deals with hostility.Konosuke Matsushita believes that this is not normal, at least modern operators cannot do this. Sellers stand on their own stand to sell, of course, understandable.But when doing business, you should stand on the customer's standpoint, change the seller into a buyer, and act as a shopkeeper and housekeeper for the customer.The customer's butler is of course willing to buy high-quality and low-cost goods, so you, the seller, should choose goods for customers in this way.This kind of sincere service does not fail to satisfy customers.This kind of practice may seem stupid to many people, but it is involuntarily wise and foolish, and it is many times better than behaviors that only care about small profits for a while.The so-called shopping guides of modern commercial buildings, if they come from sincerity, will also have such an effect.

Konosuke Matsushita once talked about a joke that fit his concept.The protagonist is Zenjiro Yasuda, a retired employee of a large bank.After retirement, Yasuda opened a small shop selling dried bonito. Whenever customers come to buy, he always chooses top grades for customers, because customers choose good ones anyway.In this regard, Konosuke Matsushita commented: "If you can be the shopkeeper of customers and choose good items for customers during sales, then this store or company will definitely prosper." Konosuke Matsushita said that Yasuda's shop will prosper, is it possible?Picking all the top grades to customers, what else should I do?Someone will ask such a question.In fact, the reason is very simple, that is, sellers can also be shopkeepers for customers when they are buyers.When purchasing goods from manufacturers or wholesalers, the person in charge of purchasing must first consider the customer regardless of the variety, quality, quantity, or price. Overstocked items were purchased due to rebates.The goods purchased in this way are naturally of high quality and reasonable price. How can we be afraid that customers will choose the top quality?

Buyers and sellers always want to make money. If they don’t make money, there is no need to do business.However, making money must be based on reasonable beliefs, especially from the big picture.Konosuke Matsushita's words about procurement are not ineffective in correcting some "customs" in the modern business world: "People in charge of procurement often ask for price reductions for the sake of the company's interests. Although this is natural, I don't think it is a normal phenomenon. Because only two parties are satisfied and benefit from the transaction , is reasonable and sustainable. Therefore, we should take the attitude of customers to buy and sell goods, on the one hand, adhere to the fair trading principle, on the other hand, we must also consider the customer and pay attention to the quality of the goods.”

Konosuke Matsushita's business philosophy has one of the most basic principles: Even if there are no customers, the store must be opened on time for service, because doing business is not just about making money. Regarding the products produced and sold by the company, Konosuke Matsushita has an apt and vivid metaphor: selling goods is like marrying a daughter. When it comes time to get married, many parents have to marry off their daughters.Seeing that the lovely daughter Fei raised with all his efforts has grown up and will start to stand on her own, in their hearts, there must be feelings of loneliness that do not want their daughter to leave, the joy of having a new in-law, and wishing her eternal happiness.

After the daughter is married, the parents will always care about whether the married life is happy.They worry: Does the other person's family like her?Is she doing things with vigor?This is probably the mentality of ordinary parents. The same is true for buying and selling.The products I handle every day are like the daughter I have painstakingly raised over the years.When a customer buys a product, it is tantamount to marrying his own daughter.Therefore, between the store and the customer, it becomes an in-law. If you can think this way, then you will naturally care about the needs of customers and pay attention to whether the products meet the wishes of customers.In this way, it is inevitable to pay more attention to the quality of the products sold. For example, you will think: "Is the customer satisfied after using it?"

Konosuke Matsushita's metaphor of "selling goods is like marrying a daughter" has three meanings: Sell ​​goods to customers as solemnly and solemnly as marrying a daughter; After the transaction is completed, the relationship with the customer is that of in-laws, so reciprocity must be maintained; Just like visiting a married daughter, you should always care about the use of the product after sale to make it more popular with customers. These three levels of essence, expressed in the terms of modern commercial society, are to do a good job of "pre-sale and after-sale" service work-this can be done in many companies, but it can be done as thoroughly and completely as Matsushita Konosuke Electric Co., Ltd. Satisfying but not much.

In addition, Konosuke Matsushita believes that no matter how good the product is, if it lacks complete services, it will not be able to satisfy customers, and therefore it will lose the reputation of the product itself. "Service" should be given priority no matter for production or sales.In other words, if five jobs all provide a ten (the highest level) of service, that's fine.But if you don't have this ability and can only provide three services, then you should only do three services and provide the most complete services at the same time.Failure to do so means failing to fulfill one's responsibilities as a producer and seller to the customer. Therefore, while expanding business, enterprises should have the consciousness of this responsibility.I often ask: When my business expands, does the scope of services expand?If you have the ability to expand your business, but you still have no confidence in service, then don’t expand it first, lest you end up not being able to cover everything in terms of service, being dissatisfied by customers, and heading for failure. In short, "service" is indispensable for any kind of business.Regardless of the occasion, you should do business within the scope of the service.Only this kind of business attitude can bring about the vigorous development of business. Sales is service, and service should be based on quality rather than quantity.These are all operators must understand. Konosuke Matsushita is respected as the "God of Management" in the Japanese business world. There are many small stories about business management in his life, which shows his way of business management. Once, Matsushita Electric Company recruited a group of grassroots managers, taking a combination of written examination and interview.It was planned to recruit 10 people, but there were hundreds of people who applied for the exam.After a week of exams and interviews, 10 outstanding candidates were selected through computer scoring.When Konosuke Matsushita looked at the applicants one by one, he found that a young man with outstanding grades and impressive interviews was not among the 10 candidates.This young man is called Kanda Saburo.So Konosuke Matsushita asked someone to review the exam, and it turned out that Kanda Saburo was ranked second. Due to a computer failure, the scores and rankings were wrongly arranged, which caused Kanda Saburo to fail.Konosuke Matsushita immediately ordered to correct the mistake and send an employment notice to Saburo Kanda.The next day, the company sent someone to tell Mr. Konosuke Matsushita an amazing news: Saburo Kanda committed suicide by jumping off the building because he was not admitted.He was dead when the acceptance letter was delivered. Hearing this news, Konosuke Matsushita was silent for a long time.An assistant said to himself: "It's a pity that we didn't recruit such a talented young man." "No," Konosuke Matsushita shook his head and said, "Fortunately, our company didn't hire him because his will is so weak. People who don’t do this can’t do great things.” Konosuke Matsushita believes that a strong will is an important guarantee for a successful career.He once told his subordinates the story of Gou Jian, the king of Yue, who endured hardships and tasted courage, and used this to inspire them to overcome difficulties.Konosuke Matsushita said: "When we decide to complete a career, we must firmly believe in it, and we must never use 'no way' as an excuse for stopping. As a leader, although it is not necessary to learn the hard work of the ancients, but every day Still don’t forget to motivate yourself and be consistent, this is an important factor in determining whether you can succeed.” Konosuke Matsushita, known as the "God of Management", was the first worship object of Chinese entrepreneurs.His business philosophy is: "First of all, listen carefully to the opinions of others." When Chinese entrepreneurs did not know what a good company looks like, his business ideas and methods deeply enlightened the early Chinese entrepreneurs. Zhang Ruimin and his Haier Group are typical examples.Zhang Ruimin said that as early as the early 1980s, the only books that could be found in China were the books of Konosuke Matsushita, and the references in quality management were all from Matsushita.Zhang Ruimin became enthusiastic about the management philosophy of Konosuke Matsushita. "We must change from winning by quantity in the past to winning by quality, and working hard on management is the way for Haier to succeed." In 1985, Haier introduced a world-class refrigerator production line from Germany.A year later, some users reported that Haier refrigerators had quality problems.After Haier replaced the products for the users, it inspected the refrigerators in the whole factory and found that there were various problems in 76 refrigerators in the inventory.Zhang Ruimin, who was the director of the factory at the time, decided to smash these refrigerators in public, and put forward the view that "defective products are substandard products", which caused great shock in the society. The smashing of the refrigerator awakened the quality consciousness of Haier people, and broke out Haier's spirit of "either quit or fight for the first".In the national refrigerator competition in 1988, Haier refrigerator won the first gold medal in the history of Chinese refrigerators with the highest score.In the development of Haier, quality has always been the foundation of the Haier brand. In 1994, Zhang Ruimin proposed for the first time in the management of production teams that "daily affairs are completed daily, daily affairs are completed daily, daily affairs are completed daily, and daily settlements are high", which was later called "OEC management method". In terms of channel construction, Haier took the lead in setting up specialty stores in the domestic home appliance industry, which is also similar to Panasonic; Haier emphasizes service to win, and promotes service concepts and measures such as "sincerity forever" and 24-hour service to improve service Quality, which is also deeply influenced by Panasonic's management concept of "service first, sales second" and customer first.Therefore, industry insiders commented that Haier is the closest to Japanese companies, regardless of management form or business philosophy.