Akio Morita (1921–99) was a Japanese physicist, entrepreneur, and pioneer in the field of electronics. As the co-founder with Masaru Ibuka and chief of the Sony Corporation, Morita was one of the entrepreneurs who embodied the postwar recovery and the growth of the Japanese industry.
Born in Nagoya, Morita was groomed to inherit his family’s saké brewery. However, in high school, Morita became fascinated with his family’s phonograph and became an avid electronics hobbyist. He studied physics at Osaka Imperial University and researched for the navy during World War II. After the war, he formed Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (abbreviated “Totsuko;” Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corporation)” Ibuka. Ibuka concentrated on research and product development; Morita raised funds and led sales and marketing.
Morita was a pioneer in product development and marketing. To establish his company’s identity in the world market, he renamed Totsuko as Sony Corporation after adopting “Sony” from the Latin sonus, meaning “sound.” Under Morita’s leadership, Sony pioneered several consumer and non-consumer, industrial and professional electronics equipment. Foremost among them were a hand-held transistor radio, the videocassette recorder (VCR,) the Walkman portable audio cassette player, the Diskman portable compact disk player, and the Trinitron color television. He helped establish Japan’s standing as a source of high-quality products.
In 1987, Morita wrote his bestselling Made in Japan, a historical biography detailing his rise to success.
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Akio Morita
I believe it is a big mistake to think that money is the only way to compensate a person for his work. People need money, but they also want to be happy in their work and proud of it.
—Akio Morita
The remarkable thing about management is that a manager can go on for years making mistakes that nobody is aware of, which means that management can be a kind of a con job.
—Akio Morita
A company will get nowhere if all of the thinking is left to management.
—Akio Morita
We all learn by imitating, as children, as students, as novices in the world of business. And then we grow up and learn to blend our innate abilities with the rules or principles we have learned.
—Akio Morita
Don’t be afraid to make a mistake. But make sure you don’t make the same mistake twice.
—Akio Morita
Topics: Mistakes
The important thing in my view is not to pin the blame for a mistake on somebody, but rather to find out what caused the mistake.
—Akio Morita
In all my years in business I can recall very few people I have wanted to fire for making mistakes.
—Akio Morita
Curiosity is the key to creativity.
—Akio Morita
We will try to create conditions where persons could come together in a spirit of teamwork, and exercise to their heart’s desire their technological capacity.
—Akio Morita
From a management standpoint, it is very important to know how to unleash people’s inborn creativity. My concept is that anybody has creative ability, but very few people know how to use it.
—Akio Morita
Wondering Whom to Read Next?
Yoko Ono Japanese Artist, Musician
Akira Kurosawa Japanese Film Director
Arthur Rubinstein American Pianist
Bob Hope British-born American Comedian, Film Actor
Soichiro Honda Japanese Inventor
Masaru Ibuka Japanese Entrepreneur, Engineer
Bill Gates American Businessperson
Fred Astaire American Dancer, Singer
Raymond Chandler American Novelist
Joseph F. Smith American Religious Leader