Word: masaharu
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Japan's Konosuke Matsushita, a peasant's son, built one of the world's largest companies by following his instincts. One of the shrewdest hunches came in 1940, when an aristocratic young banker caught Matsushita's eye. The gregarious businessman was so impressed with Masaharu Hirata that he not only arranged for him to marry his only daughter but also adopted...
...joined the family firm, Matsushita Electric Industrial Company, and began studying shacho-gaku (the art of presidency). Now the elder Matsushita, 78, is stepping down after 55 years as chief executive. His position as chairman will be filled by Arataro Takahashi, 70, but the power will be swung by Masaharu Matsushita, who will continue as president...
...shift promises to change the personality of the company. The elder Matsushita, an outspoken man who enjoys traditional tea ceremonies, ran the company (sales last year: $3.9 billion) as a one-man show. Under Masaharu, 60, an introspective, analytical man who loves to spend free time golfing, managers will have greater autonomy. Says he: "I don't think top executives should allow themselves to be involved in the process of decision making for day-today operations. We have to think in a global context...
About half of Matsushita's 1972 exports of $736 million went to the U.S., and Masaharu is confident that it will remain a huge customer. But if any slack develops, there is always the long-range potential of the market in China, which he will visit in September. "I'm sure," he says, "we will be only too happy to do what we can to help promote economic development in China...
...awed Japanese voters. But once the euphoria over the Chinese rapprochement fades, his government will be under pressure to act as well as talk on pressing problems; among them are pollution and a generally drab style of life. For the moment, however, most Japanese are betting that, as Novelist Masaharu Fuji says, perhaps wishfully, Tanaka "might really do something out of the ordinary...