From starting his journey with an electric light bulb idea to creating a multinational electronics corporation, the rags to riches story of Konosuke Matsushita is truly inspirational.  Known as the “God of Management,” the founder of Panasonic was involved in many other business ventures, which, together, gave him a net worth of $ 3 billion.

Matsushita had humble beginnings.  Being born to a gambling father, Konosuke Matsushita started working at the age of 9 to support his family.  Eventually, he started working for the Osaka Electric Light Company, where he climbed the ladder of success very quickly, without any prior school education.  This is the company where he came up with the design of an improved light socket, which was far superior than the bulbs available at the time. After getting rejected by an unenthusiastic boss, Matsushita took it upon himself to sell the light bulbs and started his own company.

At the age of 23, in 1918, he founded the Matsushita Electric Industrial Company and began making light bulbs in his garage, with the support of his wife and 3 assistants.  The business was unsuccessful in the early years, but the sales picked up with time. By 1922, his Company, which now had a new factory and 50 employees, started introducing new products every single month, which were far superior than the competitors’.  Matsushita’s business strategy was to launch products which were lower in price by 30 % and better in quality by 30 %. 

The battery powered bicycle lamp is considered one of Matsushita’s  best inventions. Candles and oil lamps were used as bicycle lamps in the 1920s and only lasted a few hours.  With a keen eye to identify markets with non serviceable goods, Matsushita quickly realised, developing efficient bicycle lamps would be profitable for the Company.  He created oval shaped lamps, which had light bulbs for illumination and ran on battery. 

In 1930, when the Company’s sales dropped, Matsushita truly proved his leadership and  management skills. He cut the production in half without laying off any employees. He said, “We’ll halve production not by laying off workers, but having them work only half days. We will continue to pay the same wages they are getting now, but there will be no holidays. All employees should do their best to sell inventory.”  According to Panasonic, this strategy worked and the company survived.

In 1935, the Company, bearing in mind its various businesses, was incorporated as Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.  The Company suffered greatly during World War II as Japan lost the War, but was saved due to Matsushita’s amazing skills as a leader.  In the post War era, the Company came out with devices like washing machines, rice cookers, air conditioners and the product for which Panasonic is most famous—monochrome televisions (TVs.)  The Company also started expanding globally during the 1950s and introduced its first colored TV set in 1960.

After Konosuke Matsushita retired in 1961, his son in law, Masaharu Matsushita, became the president of the Company.  Post Konosuke Matsushita’s retirement, the Company was faced with the 1970s oil crisis, but managed to overcome it and only continued to expand its business.  Konosuke Matsushita passed away in 1989, but his legacy continues even today.

The 101 year old Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., which changed its name to Panasonic Corporation in 2008, is now one of the top electronics companies in the world. 

Panasonic now has over 272,000 employees and at the completion of its 100th year (2018,) it reported an annual revenue of $ 72.32 billion.  The Company has been climbing the ladder of success continuously. This was all made possible because of Konosuke Matsushita’s determination to succeed and excellent management skills.