Kyocera founder Kazuo Inamori builds success on Buddhist beliefs
Inamori turns around JAL in less than three years by sticking to his business philosophy
As Japanese cars were being overturned on the streets of Chinese cities in September and employees at Japanese-owned factories staged shop-floor demonstrations, the atmosphere at Chinese plants operated by Kyoto-based Kyocera was very different.
In Shanghai, Tianjin and Guangdong, there were no violent demonstrations or disruptions to output by staff angered at the dispute over the Diaoyu islands, or the Senkakus, as they are known in Japan.
Kyocera's founder Kazuo Inamori said there was no outpouring of fury because management had conveyed to the staff reliefs that are based on simple Buddhist beliefs.
"We have three large factories in China and we have found that the employees there have willingly accepted these ideas," said 80-year-old Inamori. "Other firms suffered a lot of damage because of the Senkakus dispute, but we saw no demonstrations and no stoppages at Kyocera. The employees were very much focused on working - and we are very grateful for that."
Inamori's beliefs have been a core tenet of his business philosophy since he set up the electronics firm in 1959 - at the age of 27. But the biggest test of his beliefs was when he was asked in late 2009 by the government to rebuild Japan Airlines (JAL).
By the time Inamori took up his post, plans were already in place to cut nearly 16,000 jobs, reduce salaries by as much as 30 per cent, abolish 40 per cent of routes and sell off larger, less efficient aircraft.