Konosuke Matsushita (1894–1989) was a Japanese industrialist who founded Matsushita Electric Industrial, now the Panasonic Group, as well as PHP Institute and the Matsushita Institute of Government and Management. Born in Wakayama Prefecture, he moved to Osaka at the age of nine and became an apprentice at a brazier shop and later a bicycle shop. After working for Osaka Electric Light, he established Matsushita Electric Housewares Manufacturing Works in 1918. Beginning with electrical fittings, he expanded the business into household appliances, introducing a divisional organization and developing a distribution network. In 1946, he founded PHP Institute to pursue peace and happiness through prosperity. In 1979, he established the Matsushita Institute of Government and Management to educate future leaders. His collection “The Path,” published in Japanese as “Michi o Hiraku,” brings together short essays originally written for PHP magazine. Drawing on his own experience, he considers situations such as losing confidence after failure, confronting difficulties at work, and making decisions. He encourages readers to discover their way forward by applying themselves to the work immediately before them. In “Practical Management Philosophy,” he sets out principles developed through approximately sixty years in business. He defines a company’s mission as contributing to society through its operations and regards reasonable profit as the reward for fulfilling that mission. By connecting profitability with public benefit, he examines the standards business leaders should use when making decisions that enable companies to endure and support people’s daily lives.
