Matsushita's Turnaround

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Matsushita's founder Konosuke Matsushita was born in Wakayama, Japan, in 1884, in an agricultural family. He took $50 in 1918 and founded the 'Matsushita Electric Housewares Manufacturing Works' and went into business making electric plugs...

After establishing itself in Japan, Matsushita decided to expand overseas. It established a sales company, 'Matsushita Electric Corporation of America', in 1959. In America, Matsushita's products were marketed under the brand name "Panasonic"as "National"had already been registered there. "Panasonic"became the flagship brand of the company...

In 1998, Matsushita started a four-year program called "the Progress 2000 Plan", aimed at strengthening the company's competitive position in the fast changing digital world. Matsushita modified its management structure to give a greater thrust to new businesses such as optical discs, mobile communications, display devices and semiconductors...

Matsushita's corporate philosophy had been strongly influenced by the founder's personality. In 1932, while visiting the main temple of the Tenrikyo religious sect, Konosuke was greatly impressed by the group's contented people who seemed to be working hard, even though they did not have any monetary incentives...

Matsushita's global R&D policies had evolved over time. In 1976, Matsushita set up its first overseas lab in the US. By 1997, it had 13 major labs and other minor labs in foreign countries, employing about 300 people...

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