Akio Morita (1921 – 1999)
Japanese businessman and co-founder of Sony Corporation.
I believe one of the reasons we went through such a remarkable growth period was that we had this atmosphere of free discussion.
What we in industry learned in dealing with people is that people do not work just for money and that if you are trying to motivate, money is not the most effective tool.
The concept of lifetime employment arose when Japanese managers and employees both realized that they had much in common and that they had to make some long-range plans.
...the differences between U.S. and Japanese companies go beyond the cultural.
Japanese attitudes toward work seem to be critically different from American attitudes.
..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.