Kazuo Inamori Case Study
Kazuo Inamori was a Japanese businessman that impacted Japan in ways that few individuals could. His leadership styles were unprecedented, and he was able to enter into a variety of different business spheres and remain successful. What differentiated Inamori from the generic Japanese businessman was his passion to his company, and his desire for continued personal growth. His deep seeded drive allowed him to enter into business ventures where the odds were stacked against him, and he was still able to perform. Inamori was able to utilize a unique management method to predict and deliver wildly successful business results by recognizing inefficiencies in the market, and capitalizing on them. In my in-depth case study, I will evaluate Kazuo Inamori’s business philosophies and approaches, and I plan to identify what made him such a special individual. When Inamori was a young boy, he recognized he was able to organize individuals in a way few could. Inamori’s respectable leadership gained him camaraderie among his classmates, but he was always falling behind in his studies. Inamori’s inability to work in a traditional Japanese schooling setting landed him in a middle tier university, which caused him to adapt at an early part in his professional career. When Inamori graduated college the Job markets were not steady, and nearly all of his job applications to major firms were rejected. Inamori next found himself desperate, and he found a manufacturing job working for Shofu Industries. This first experience in the manufacturing sector allowed Inamori to recognize mass inconsistencies and inefficiencies in the manufacturing market. He was able to drastically impress the CEO of Shofu industries with his dedication and ingenuity with regards to the application of Forsterite ceramics for Television parts. Eventually, Inamori was able to identify a market niche, which led to him leaving the corporation, and taking employees with him to found a new company. After quitting, Inamori founded Kyocera and little did he know that the company would grow into a worldwide brand in the short time span of 15 years. I wanted to highlight the experience of Inamori in his early struggles because I think he garnished experiences from Shofu industries that eventually led to his leadership style and approach. I think the main and most important business approach that Inamori was able to garnish out of the Shofu experience was the mindset associated to you when there was nothing to lose. His division was small, leading the way in the industry, and they were thinking of things that no one else thought about. He was able to identify a market niche within Shofu, and he was able to lead a team to generate a product that would benefit society. This mentality led to the founding of Kyocera, along with the first products they generated. The first product Inamori produced was making U-shaped ceramic tubes for televisions, and this was at the time where the markets for TV’s were ramping up. Kyocera was barely keeping up with demand, and often times Inamori and his comrades would work late into the night. I believe that a key statistic the reader should be aware of is that “the amount of TV’s in Japan from 1957-1960 increased from 1 to 6.8 million units”. This rapid demand, along with Inamori’s experience in small groups later led to the conception of Kyocera’s management philosophy, which was the Amoeba management philosophy. Inamori recognized something that few executives’ notice when his company was rapidly growing, and that was the dynamics associated with the business. That is why when the company grew; Inamori enacted the Amoeba management system to preserve the entrepreneurial spirit and dynamism associated with a smaller, younger Kyocera. This philosophy allowed for multiple teams within Kyocera to function as a singular unit, which would allow for individuals to make a difference in a multi-billion dollar company. We can see that this approach allowed Inamori to quickly adapt to the rapidly changing business landscape of Japan, and we will see later how his philosophy benefitted Japan. Mr. Inamori was an especially unique entrepreneur because he was able to identify trends in the markets, and how they would end up effecting Kyocera. After Kyocera sustained rapid growth in the late 1950’s to early 1960’s Mr. Inamori was able to position himself for sustainable growth. Through the 1960’s and 1970’s Inamori was able to reap the benefits of external economics, as in “1965 Japan experienced 57 months of positive economic growth, passing up both Britain and France”. During this time, Japan’s economy was thriving, and Inamori was able to enact the Amoeba management system all while growing his company. The true test to Inamori didn’t come until the early 1970’s. During this time period, Japan’s GDP growth rate shrunk from 17% to 3.6% annually, and the oil shock in the same time period severely hindered the Japanese economy. At this time, Inamori was able to recognize a dependency in the markets, and he acted upon it. Inamori was able to adapt to the economic conditions and in response, “Inamori launched the Japan Solar Energy Corporation in 1975 to research and develop solar energy sources in conjunction with four other companies (Mobil Oil Corporation, Tyco Laboratories, Sharp and Matsushita Electric.” He recognized that Japan’s dependency on OPEC and other oil producing countries were too high, and he decided to enter a venture that he hoped would benefit the majority of the Japanese population. We can utilize this solar endeavor as an example of Inamori’s passion and willingness to adapt to any business landscape, and provide a better product or service to society. I believe that Inamori was a truly special individual because his leadership styles allowed him to involve himself in a plethora of various Japanese industries. He was able to accurately delegate jobs and responsibilities to others that would be able to contribute to the company better than he could. I think that his ability to selflessly release the reigns allowed him to enter into so many different industries. He would trust others with more specialized knowledge to take over executive positions because he knew that they knew more about the industry. He once told a disgruntled employee “Business performance is nothing more or less than your capacity. It is equal to what you are”. By being able to accurately portray this concept, as well as acting as a proponent of the Amoeba management system, he was the example of a perfect leader. When Inamori decided to enter the Telecommunications sphere, he was able to put together an extremely successful company not because of his telecommunications expertise, but because of his ability to put together a team with the best individuals that he knew would succeed under the Amoeba management structure. By highlighting the quote above, we can see that Mr. Inamori was able to enter into so many different business ventures because of his selflessness, and his ability to lead others. Mr. Inamori was an extremely unique individual. One of his colleagues, Mr. Nakamura stated, “I think Dr. Inamori is an individual who may appear in this world once every 100 years. So perhaps we could liken him to Takamori Saigo during the Meiji Restoration.” This was a common sentiment that would come from many comrades of Mr. Inamori. The reason I am identifying that point is that I believe that a businessman like Inamori only comes and impacts the world the way he did very rarely. The reason why I think Inamori was such a unique individual was his selflessness associated with his personality. The reasons he went into business at any point in time was not because he thought he had the expertise or the manpower to turn a profit; it was because he thought he could have a positive impact on the world. Even through the mass amounts of wealth that he acquired, he continued and wanted to continue to grow his company with the sole purpose of bettering society. With that in mind I think that if there were a successor to Inamori, I would offer him a couple pieces of advice. The first piece of advice I would give to him is to never give up, and to dedicate yourself to your craft. I say this because with someone as smart as Inamori, his leadership style would allow him to reach great heights. But the differential between most successful entrepreneurs and Inamori is the underlying purpose for producing a product or service. For Inamori, it was never about the acquisition of wealth, he allowed his passion to produce goods that would better society to fuel his desire to constantly expand. The next piece of advice I would offer to Inamori’s successor is to recognize inefficiencies in the market. The reason Inamori was incredibly successful is because he was able to recognize market dependencies, and he figured out how to make goods that would cater to the needs of the market. Inamori decided to enter the Telecommunications industry because he thought that he could produce a product to the public that would benefit the people, not because he had any superior knowledge of the telecom industry that he thought he could use to his advantage. With these two pieces of advice, I believe that Inamori’s successor would be able to differentiate him or herself from between being a successful entrepreneur, and being someone that adversely impacts society. I think that one of the main factors that allowed Mr. Inamori to be so successful in any sector of business was his ability to enact his management style in everything that he did. Kyocera management was extremely unique in the fact that the style almost promoted less structure, which in turn would generate innovative thinking. By analyzing the Kyocera management philosophy and especially the Amoeba management cycle, I think that it can be proved that the Kyocera philosophy is universal. There are some countries in the world that embrace a harder work ethic, but I know that it requires more than just a hard work ethic to replicate the Kyocera management philosophy. I believe that some form of the Kyocera management plan is enacted in any business where passion is apparent. For example, the most successful companies in the world have one thing in common, and that commonality is that they have leaders that constantly look for ways to better society. They make and develop products that they are passionate about, and they also know that these products will make a difference in the world. My recommendation for any aspiring entrepreneur is to attempt to replicate the Kyocera management philosophy, and constantly find ways to better yoursself as a person. In conclusion, we can see that Mr. Inamori was an extremely successful individual. He stayed true to his values since the beginning of his career, and his work ethic and leadership skills made him the legend that he is today.