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Say what you will, but >After taking the CEO role without pay, he printed a small book for each staff member on his philosophies, which declared that the compa

Say what you will, but >After taking the CEO role without pay, he printed a small book for each staff member on his philosophies, which declared that the company was devoted to their growth. >"Company leaders should seek to make all their employees happy, both materially and intellectually," Inamori said. I'd take a pay cut to work at a place like that. Enjoying your work, feeling like you will be taken care of, and being able to grow and develop are huge "benefits" that aren't easy to find in many jobs. ETA: Regarding the cutting of 16,000 jobs, yeah, not grand. But the article isn't clear on why, and if anything it's implied they were efficiency cuts. Man does it suck to lose your job, but 33% is better than 100% and companies really shouldn't have that much bloat.

anpk 11y ago
> In a 2004 book on his philosophy, he questioned Japanese people’s increasing tendency to value leisure time. That makes one of us.
- rl3 11y ago
  To further expand on this: >When Inamori talks about making employees happy, he doesn’t mean they’ll be putting their feet up. His brand of happiness comes from working harder than anyone else. It’s infused with the Buddhist idea of “shojin,” elevating the soul through devotion to a task. That's nice and all, but not if it comes at the expense of employee leisure time or pay.
  - modfodder 11y ago
    As a freelancer I'm devoted to my task of maximizing the amount of leisure time.
  - jackvalentine 11y ago
    Does shojin conflict with a modern office job in which you have many tasks and many responsibilities? I can instinctively understand the idea if I were cutting wood or doing some other manual task, but I am having trouble picturing myself at work being able to get in to the right mindset if I have multiple moving pieces in every hour of the day.
    - deleted 11y ago
      [deleted]
  - eveningcoffee 11y ago
    He is using religion to enslave the people. How original.
    - crdoconnor 11y ago
      Cult-like tactics seem to be increasingly common in business these days. It seems to be a little more prevalent in Japan but it happens in the west too (Goldman Sachs allegedly uses them to great effect, for instance).
ekianjo 11y ago
Im really doubtful whether employees are actually happy working there. Never heard of Kyocera being anywhere nesr tge top of Best Places to Work surveys adressing employees satisfaction. This sounds like a big PR piece with no fact to support any claim.
- fweespeech 11y ago
  My current employer will never show up on a "Best Places to Work" survey either but its still the best employer I've ever had.
  - jpatokal 11y ago
    Kyocera is not some boutique consultancy, they have 70,000 employees.
    - fweespeech 11y ago
      1) I don't work for some "boutique consultancy". 2) Yes and the fact I felt it was relevant to say that might mean I work for some place with a large number of employees too hmmm?
- mahranch 11y ago
  > Never heard of Kyocera being anywhere nesr tge top of Best Places to Work surveys I've never seen one of those surveys that were actually legit, though. They use completely subjective factors to measure & determine happiness or "best". To me, the whole thing is a lot like the Academy Awards where it's basically a fake award without any scientific rigor. I remember one year, I think it was 2005 or 06? Verizon Wireless was one of the "happiest" places to work. The reason they were rated so high? Because the researchers weighted one factor more than any of the others. That factor was how the company treats mothers, and expectant mothers (maternity leave). They weighed that particular metric insanely heavy. Basically, if you weren't catering to mothers even slightly during that particular year, the survey would have completely ignored your company even if you had the happiest workers. It's all nonsense. As far as I know, there hasn't been a single, actual scientific study to determine "happiest/best company". It's all hogwash. I think this piece has more scientific rigor behind it than those "best places to work" surveys because his results are actually measurable and quantifiable. On the other hand, you can't quantify something as subjective as happiness anyways, by definition. Everyone has their own opinion of what happiness is....
cgio 11y ago
> His turnaround also cut roughly a third of the airline’s workforce, about 16,000 people. Your feeling like you will be taken care of might not be warranted.
swamp40 11y ago
So, was it the small philosophy book that turned the airline around and made it profitable, or was it the cutting of 16,000 employees?
- jshen 11y ago
  They aren't mutually exclusive
jjulius 11y ago
I manage a crew of about 15 people, and we have an internal company directory. I was asked to list off my job responsibilities for my page, and the first thing I wrote was, "Ensure that my employees are happy." There is a stark contrast in the morale, work ethic and quality of work that my crew has compared to most other areas in my company. Treating my employees like people, being empathetic, supportive, open-minded and pushing them to grow and learn has done wonders. They love their jobs, they feel appreciated, and I have a lot less stress and worry than most other managers at my facility. It really doesn't even require that much effort on my part, other than being willing to listen when they need me to, and to make sure I'm guiding them down the right path. The rewards are so worth it.
- oxryly1 11y ago
  What you've written is a glowing self assessment. While it may be entirely accurate, it'd be enlightening to see what kind of feedback the employees in question would give you on the subject.
JumpCrisscross 11y ago
> he printed a small book for each staff member on his philosophies, which declared that the company was devoted to their growth I recall coming across how the share of profits which gets paid out to labour varies across American industries. Finance stuck out. The supposed heart of capitalism anomalously distributes more to labour than to capital. Life is about making trade-offs. Companies that put customers first will have to make trade-offs in terms of the employees and communities they work with. Companies that put employees first will similarly make sacrifices.
jqm 11y ago
"Regarding the cutting of 16,000 jobs, yeah, not grand" Ya see, Buddhism is all about losing the non-essential. Everything is an illusion, everything is impermanent. Especially your job security. Upon receiving their pink slips, many were enlightened.
- Amorymeltzer 11y ago
  Without commenting on the content of this comment, the framing of that last sentence reminded me of hacker koans: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacker_koan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacker_koan See also git koans: http://stevelosh.com/blog/2013/04/git-koans/ http://stevelosh.com/blog/2013/04/git-koans/ Discussed here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5511863 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5511863
  - wavefunction 11y ago
    Yeah, but you may feel that framing because hacker koans are derived from actual buddhist zen koans, which take the format you find so familiar and reference as the hacker koan format.
Natsu 11y ago
This appears to be PR. They have a reputation as a "black company." For the uninitiated, that means slave-like conditions: unpaid overtime, no weekends, and your supervisor might beat you... literally. It sounds nice, though.
- markdown 11y ago
  Next you'll be claiming to be the Queen of England and expecting us to accept that at face value as well. Citations please.
  - cookingrobot 11y ago
    I don't know anything about the company, but you can search for "black company" kyocera (in Japanese) and browse the results. https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=%E3%83%96%E3%83%A9%E3%83%83%E3%82%AF%E4%BC%81%E6%A5%AD%20kyocera https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&e...
  - vonklaus 11y ago
    Also interested in citations. I am sure this article glorifies the ceo (it's bloomberg), but saying they are slave keepers sort of justifies a bit of substantiation. edit: ddellacosta posted some Japanese links for our international audience. Also, to be clear it isn't that farfetched of a claim, but certainly contradicts the article.
    - Natsu 11y ago
      Links are already posted before I could offer them, but there doesn't seem to be anything much in English. Please note that I'm not claiming any specific knowledge of specific conditions, only of their reputation in general The examples offered were simply examples of what makes a "black company." You're always free to quit, it's just that Japanese society will punish you for that.
    - kombucha2 11y ago
      https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&u=http://biz-journal.jp/2013/08/post_2755.html&prev=search https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&u=http://...
crdoconnor 11y ago
>I'd take a pay cut to work at a place like that. Enjoying your work, feeling like you will be taken care of, and being able to grow and develop are huge "benefits" that aren't easy to find in many jobs. So would I, but I've noticed that the only really reliable marker of how well you'll be treated is salary (compared to market average). So it really only makes sense to chase the money. It's almost always the employers that offer you concrete benefits, contractually enforced promises and cash that will end up taking care of you and treating you with respect anyway. The companies that tout vague platitudes (good working environment, friendly coworkers, good work/life balance, no bullshit) above concrete benefits (pay, hours, holiday, free lunches) are usually the shittiest employers in that market.

anpk 11y ago

> In a 2004 book on his philosophy, he questioned Japanese people’s increasing tendency to value leisure time. That makes one of us.

rl3 11y ago
To further expand on this: >When Inamori talks about making employees happy, he doesn’t mean they’ll be putting their feet up. His brand of happiness comes from working harder than anyone else. It’s infused with the Buddhist idea of “shojin,” elevating the soul through devotion to a task. That's nice and all, but not if it comes at the expense of employee leisure time or pay.
- modfodder 11y ago
  As a freelancer I'm devoted to my task of maximizing the amount of leisure time.
- jackvalentine 11y ago
  Does shojin conflict with a modern office job in which you have many tasks and many responsibilities? I can instinctively understand the idea if I were cutting wood or doing some other manual task, but I am having trouble picturing myself at work being able to get in to the right mindset if I have multiple moving pieces in every hour of the day.
  - deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]
- eveningcoffee 11y ago
  He is using religion to enslave the people. How original.
  - crdoconnor 11y ago
    Cult-like tactics seem to be increasingly common in business these days. It seems to be a little more prevalent in Japan but it happens in the west too (Goldman Sachs allegedly uses them to great effect, for instance).

ekianjo 11y ago

Im really doubtful whether employees are actually happy working there. Never heard of Kyocera being anywhere nesr tge top of Best Places to Work surveys adressing employees satisfaction. This sounds like a big PR piece with no fact to support any claim.

fweespeech 11y ago
My current employer will never show up on a "Best Places to Work" survey either but its still the best employer I've ever had.
- jpatokal 11y ago
  Kyocera is not some boutique consultancy, they have 70,000 employees.
  - fweespeech 11y ago
    1) I don't work for some "boutique consultancy". 2) Yes and the fact I felt it was relevant to say that might mean I work for some place with a large number of employees too hmmm?
mahranch 11y ago
> Never heard of Kyocera being anywhere nesr tge top of Best Places to Work surveys I've never seen one of those surveys that were actually legit, though. They use completely subjective factors to measure & determine happiness or "best". To me, the whole thing is a lot like the Academy Awards where it's basically a fake award without any scientific rigor. I remember one year, I think it was 2005 or 06? Verizon Wireless was one of the "happiest" places to work. The reason they were rated so high? Because the researchers weighted one factor more than any of the others. That factor was how the company treats mothers, and expectant mothers (maternity leave). They weighed that particular metric insanely heavy. Basically, if you weren't catering to mothers even slightly during that particular year, the survey would have completely ignored your company even if you had the happiest workers. It's all nonsense. As far as I know, there hasn't been a single, actual scientific study to determine "happiest/best company". It's all hogwash. I think this piece has more scientific rigor behind it than those "best places to work" surveys because his results are actually measurable and quantifiable. On the other hand, you can't quantify something as subjective as happiness anyways, by definition. Everyone has their own opinion of what happiness is....

cgio 11y ago

> His turnaround also cut roughly a third of the airline’s workforce, about 16,000 people. Your feeling like you will be taken care of might not be warranted.

swamp40 11y ago

So, was it the small philosophy book that turned the airline around and made it profitable, or was it the cutting of 16,000 employees?

jshen 11y ago
They aren't mutually exclusive

jjulius 11y ago

I manage a crew of about 15 people, and we have an internal company directory. I was asked to list off my job responsibilities for my page, and the first thing I wrote was, "Ensure that my employees are happy." There is a stark contrast in the morale, work ethic and quality of work that my crew has compared to most other areas in my company. Treating my employees like people, being empathetic, supportive, open-minded and pushing them to grow and learn has done wonders. They love their jobs, they feel appreciated, and I have a lot less stress and worry than most other managers at my facility. It really doesn't even require that much effort on my part, other than being willing to listen when they need me to, and to make sure I'm guiding them down the right path. The rewards are so worth it.

oxryly1 11y ago
What you've written is a glowing self assessment. While it may be entirely accurate, it'd be enlightening to see what kind of feedback the employees in question would give you on the subject.

JumpCrisscross 11y ago

> he printed a small book for each staff member on his philosophies, which declared that the company was devoted to their growth I recall coming across how the share of profits which gets paid out to labour varies across American industries. Finance stuck out. The supposed heart of capitalism anomalously distributes more to labour than to capital. Life is about making trade-offs. Companies that put customers first will have to make trade-offs in terms of the employees and communities they work with. Companies that put employees first will similarly make sacrifices.

jqm 11y ago

"Regarding the cutting of 16,000 jobs, yeah, not grand" Ya see, Buddhism is all about losing the non-essential. Everything is an illusion, everything is impermanent. Especially your job security. Upon receiving their pink slips, many were enlightened.

Amorymeltzer 11y ago
Without commenting on the content of this comment, the framing of that last sentence reminded me of hacker koans: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacker_koan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacker_koan See also git koans: http://stevelosh.com/blog/2013/04/git-koans/ http://stevelosh.com/blog/2013/04/git-koans/ Discussed here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5511863 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5511863
- wavefunction 11y ago
  Yeah, but you may feel that framing because hacker koans are derived from actual buddhist zen koans, which take the format you find so familiar and reference as the hacker koan format.

Natsu 11y ago

This appears to be PR. They have a reputation as a "black company." For the uninitiated, that means slave-like conditions: unpaid overtime, no weekends, and your supervisor might beat you... literally. It sounds nice, though.

markdown 11y ago
Next you'll be claiming to be the Queen of England and expecting us to accept that at face value as well. Citations please.
- cookingrobot 11y ago
  I don't know anything about the company, but you can search for "black company" kyocera (in Japanese) and browse the results. https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=%E3%83%96%E3%83%A9%E3%83%83%E3%82%AF%E4%BC%81%E6%A5%AD%20kyocera https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&e...
- vonklaus 11y ago
  Also interested in citations. I am sure this article glorifies the ceo (it's bloomberg), but saying they are slave keepers sort of justifies a bit of substantiation. edit: ddellacosta posted some Japanese links for our international audience. Also, to be clear it isn't that farfetched of a claim, but certainly contradicts the article.
  - Natsu 11y ago
    Links are already posted before I could offer them, but there doesn't seem to be anything much in English. Please note that I'm not claiming any specific knowledge of specific conditions, only of their reputation in general The examples offered were simply examples of what makes a "black company." You're always free to quit, it's just that Japanese society will punish you for that.
  - kombucha2 11y ago
    https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&u=http://biz-journal.jp/2013/08/post_2755.html&prev=search https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&u=http://...

crdoconnor 11y ago

>I'd take a pay cut to work at a place like that. Enjoying your work, feeling like you will be taken care of, and being able to grow and develop are huge "benefits" that aren't easy to find in many jobs. So would I, but I've noticed that the only really reliable marker of how well you'll be treated is salary (compared to market average). So it really only makes sense to chase the money. It's almost always the employers that offer you concrete benefits, contractually enforced promises and cash that will end up taking care of you and treating you with respect anyway. The companies that tout vague platitudes (good working environment, friendly coworkers, good work/life balance, no bullshit) above concrete benefits (pay, hours, holiday, free lunches) are usually the shittiest employers in that market.