Business Abroad: Following Henry Ford

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Much of the old, austere simplicity —wooden blocks for pillows and floor cushions instead of chairs — still persists in Japan, but it is unlikely to survive another generation. "The old Japanese style," says Matsushita, echoing the sentiments of young Japan, "is just too uncomfortable."

"Finest Performance." Unlike many Japanese industrialists, Matsushita exports only 10% of his production. In fact, he disputes the national contention that Japan, with its few natural resources and scant arable land, must either trade or die. "The government should consider ways of bringing about prosperity without depending on foreign trade only." says he. "Our ancestors did it."

But although he exports less than such competitors as Toshiba, the high quality of the goods Matsushita sends abroad is helping to erase the old image of Japan as a producer of cheap junk. In dramatic evidence of the changing international reputation of Japanese goods, New York's Macy's last week took full page newspaper ads to tout Matsushita's "worldwide reputation for finest quality, finest performance," and to boast that it had the U.S.'s first stock of his new Panasonic portable television sets. Like other Japanese industrialists. Matsushita finds the U.S. and Canada his best customers. Latin American countries are becoming increasingly important, but Europe still maintains stiff trade barriers, and Asian nations have not progressed enough to want the new, sophisticated products Japan turns out.

"Harmony and Sincerity." The Japanese are naturally hard workers and love fine workmanship, but Matsushita ceaselessly exhorts his employees anyway. From the ceilings of his gleaming white, air-conditioned plants hang signs declaring: "Quality Is Everybody's Job," "Always Think of the Consumer." And each day before work begins, Matsushita executives and their uniformed workers gather to sing with the fervor of a college homecoming crowd:

For the building of a new Japan, Let's put our strength and mind together,

Doing our best to promote production, Sending our goods to the people of

the world,

Endlessly and continuously, Like water gushing from a fountain.

Grow, industry, grow, grow, growl Harmony and sincerity!

Matsushita Electric!

So infectious is the plant spirit that even skeptical new white collar employees fresh from the universities soon join in the singing. Jobs with Matsushita are considered such plums that thousands of young men and women take examinations for them each year.

Trust the Help. Unlike most autocratic Japanese industrialists, Matsushita calls freely on his subordinates for advice, rarely interferes after delegating responsibilities to them. Says one of his executives: "His intuition is amazing. He sees markets before they are there." Once he listened to a group of his managers present a convincing argument, buttressed with statistics, that first-year production of a new foot warmer should be 50,000. Matsushita glanced over the figures, quietly said: "A hundred thousand." The company made a hundred thousand and sold them easily.