Chapter 22 Chapter 21: Running a Political and Economic School: Cultivating Talents with Residual Heat

Based on the emphasis on cultivating talents and building Panasonic’s corporate culture, Konosuke Matsushita not only instructs the company to set up training courses and seminars with various names, different deadlines, off-production and non-off-production, etc., but also always spares time to participate in such activities And as a lecturer, in the training process of these talents, the most important and most influential one is - Panasonic Political and Economic School. With the starting point of "promoting talents for the country" and the goal of "cultivating clean and honest politicians for the whole of Japan", after decades, today, the world is full of peaches and plums, and the achievements are remarkable.

In the late 1970s, the Japanese economy developed rapidly.However, with the surge of internationalization, various systems such as the Japanese leader training system continued to collapse at that time, political criticism abounded, and there were fewer and fewer aspiring and knowledgeable politicians.Konosuke Matsushita was far-sighted, foreseeing Japan's future social crisis, and believed that in order to avoid future difficult situations, "Japan must cultivate leaders who are committed to building a new country", so he invested 7 billion yen to establish the Matsushita Political and Economic School in 1979 , and began formal enrollment in 1980.

At the beginning of its establishment, Matsushita Political and Economic School adopted a five-year boarding education model, but due to insufficient funds and other reasons, the time was shortened to three years.During the three years at the school, the students eat, live and study together.The school does not have full-time teachers.The basic policy of the training is to let the trainees put forward various assumptions about the operation mode of the ideal country, accumulate experience in the process of practice, and make continuous progress in the process of communicating and discussing with classmates.

Let's first take a look at the school rules, school mottos and student rules of Panasonic Political and Economic School. Panasonic School of Political Science and Economics: Love the country, love the people, explore political and economic concepts based on a new outlook on life, and contribute to the prosperity and happiness of mankind and world peace. Matsushita Political and Economic School Motto: Learning with humility, concentrating on research, exploring the essence, and making continuous progress. Rules for students of Panasonic Political and Economic School: Persevere, study independently, study everything, forge ahead, unite and cooperate.

Curriculum: basic courses, in addition to political economics subjects, there are also international politics, international economics, international culture, English, in addition to Buddhism, tea ceremony, kendo, ancient Chinese philosophy, ancient Chinese literature, etc.From the curriculum setting, we can see that Panasonic School of Political Science and Economics not only focuses on professional knowledge such as politics and economics, but also pays special attention to the cultivation of students' cultural ethics and the training of perseverance.Professional courses are mainly self-study, emphasizing the close combination of theory and social reality.For example, Japan's position in the world in the 21st century; how long can Japan's rapid economic growth last; rice and the national economy and people's livelihood; the impact of Confucianism on enterprises; social development and family changes; my opinion on Japan-US trade frictions; how to view China's huge market .

In terms of enrollment, Konosuke Matsushita adheres to the principle of preferring shortages to overuse, and will open courses for them even if there are few qualified students.Matsushita School of Political Science and Economics recruits university graduates aged between 22 and 35. They must take a written test before admission, and then they will have an interview and submit a short essay of about 1,600 words. Those who pass the test do not need to pay tuition fees, and they can also receive 200,000 yen in pocket money per month in the first year of enrollment. Students can formulate training plans according to their own interests and wait for the school to review.In the second and third years, you can receive 250,000 yen per month, and trainees use the funds to carry out various practical activities according to their own training plans.In addition, there is an activity fund subsidy of 1 million to 1.5 million per year.

Relatively speaking, admission is not difficult, but it takes a lot of work to complete the three-year course.Students clean the garden every morning, and then go for a run. They also learn tea ceremony, calligraphy, and kendo. They also practice Zen meditation to experience the essence of Japanese traditional culture. The most stringent training is that students, regardless of gender, must walk the Miura Peninsula for a week within 24 hours, with a total distance of about 100 kilometers. The purpose of this training is to challenge the limits of human physical and mental strength. Students who can pass this challenge, In the future, he will not be afraid of difficulties and will be invincible in his field of work.

Funding source: Matsushita Political and Economic School established an education fund of 10 billion yen, half of which was donated by Matsushita Konosuke himself, and the other half was allocated by the company. The purpose of running a school: Konosuke Matsushita seeks, loves and cherishes talents throughout his life, and invests in the establishment of a school by himself. However, he does not require graduates who complete their studies to stay in Panasonic. He encourages students to invest in the broader world economic market and actively Participate in social activities, serve the community, and even start a company independently.

Training policy: "Self-study and contentment".Konosuke Matsushita believes that leaders in the new era must be clear about and constantly open up their own future development path.Therefore, there are no full-time teachers in the School of Political Science and Economics. Students give full play to their autonomy, conduct training with a positive attitude of self-improvement, determine research topics by themselves, formulate and implement activity plans, and take responsibility for the results. "Learn and ponder."This does not mean that one person is just burying his head in studying hard, but that he attaches importance to exchanges and discussions with other classmates or people of insight.By discussing all night or racking your brains to find topics, so as to promote common progress.Based on this point of view, the school adopts a boarding system.

"On the spot".The real information is on the spot.Students should not only learn book knowledge in the classroom, but also take the initiative to be involved in the problem, looking for the key to the problem and the solution to the problem.In addition, to study a certain major, you should go to the most authoritative place in the world to study the major, try to absorb the essence of knowledge, and use it to benefit Japanese society. "The trinity of morality, intelligence and physique".Talents who lead the times should not only have excellent language ability, philosophical reasoning, deep insight, historical and global vision, but also have a strong physique and a humanity that is truly committed to the realization of human happiness.The most important of these is humanity.Therefore, in the political and economic school, moral education is highly valued, and the all-round development of morality, intelligence and physique is advocated.

"Very different."Everyone has their own characteristics and advantages, and they are very different.Bringing out the characteristics and advantages of each person and guiding them can help them achieve happiness and success.Therefore, the School of Political Science and Economics will not set a fixed pattern of training plans, but respect the individuality of each student in order to maximize their potential. During the three years of studying at Matsushita Political and Economics School, in addition to studying politics, students can also dabble in Japanese tea ceremony, Zen meditation and other aspects of knowledge.The first academic year focuses on cultivating the humanity that future national leaders should possess.Trainees hone themselves by learning Japanese traditional spirit and participating in various practical activities.In addition, there are various lectures in the political and economic school to guide students to form a solid foundation of outlook on life, history and country. In April of the second academic year, new students will be guided; from May to June, they will concentrate on internships with graduates who are currently active in all walks of life in Japan, and learn how to be a leader; Training; at the end of September, the school will conduct a strict review of the results of the one-and-a-half year training at the school and the planning of future activities. From the second half of the second year to the third year, students formulate activity plans and reports on a weekly, monthly, and quarterly basis according to their respective topics, reflect daily and make continuous progress; they actively participate in The activity of giving advice from the society; guiding the first and second grade students in April; holding a dormitory activity, informing each other of the progress of the training plan and guiding each other; every six months, the school reviews the results of the activity and the progress of the plan. When Matsushita Konosuke was teaching the students, he did not shy away from speaking out about his mistakes in decision-making to attract the attention of the students.For example, after the Second World War, he once took over a sewing machine factory that was on the verge of bankruptcy, but because he was not good at this business, he had to withdraw in the fierce competition.Konosuke Matsushita said: “If you withdraw in time, although you will lose manpower and financial resources, the loss will be much smaller than if you continue to struggle.” Matsushita Political and Economic School is not a simple private school-style educational institution, and it is also different from ordinary universities. It has a strong political color. Its purpose is to cultivate leaders from all walks of life in Japanese society, with a focus on transforming Japanese society. According to statistics, as of April 1, 2008, there were 238 graduates of Matsushita School of Political Science and Economics, 43.7% of whom were employed in the political field, a total of 100 people, including 69 politicians, including 27 members of the House of Representatives, There are 3 councilors and 39 other local councilors. In addition, 29.3% of Matsushita Political and Economic School graduates are engaged in the economic field, a total of 68 people, including 31 people who own their own companies; 15.7% are engaged in research, media and education fields, a total of 36 people, and there are People engaged in other jobs accounted for 11.3%, a total of 26 people.This shows that graduates of Matsushita Political and Economic School have penetrated into various fields in Japan. Konosuke Matsushita believes that although politics, business, and religion are different from each other, they have the same purpose, which is to benefit all living beings with kindness.Therefore, in order to welcome the arrival of the 21st century, it is an important mission entrusted to us by the times to actively cultivate high-level political and economic talents and turn them into benevolent leaders.Konosuke Matsushita founded the Matsushita Political and Economic School with no self-interest in mind. He has a far-sighted vision, looks to the future, and marches towards the 21st century of mankind.