Konosuke Matsushita

Konosuke Matsushita was a Japanese businessman who founded what became Panasonic Corporation in Osaka in 1918, beginning with a small workshop producing electrical light-socket adapters before expanding into a broad range of consumer electronics and household appliances over the following decades. Widely known in Japan as the god of management, he developed a distinctive management philosophy emphasizing long-term thinking, employee welfare and a company mission tied to social contribution, articulated in a 1932 address to employees that the company later treated as its founding statement of purpose. He stepped down from active management in the 1960s but remained an influential figure in Japanese business thought until his death in 1989, and he also founded the Matsushita Institute of Government and Management to train future Japanese political and business leaders.