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Kazuo Inamori Founder of KYOCERA, Honorary Adviser to KDDI, Chairman Emeritus of Japan Airlines and Creator of the Kyoto Prize Publishes Amoeba Management
New Book from Productivity Press Details Inamoris Successful Management Principles and Insights on Leadership with Social Responsibility
KYOTO, Japan--October 16, 2012--Kyocera Corporation and Productivity Press today announced the first printing of Amoeba Management by Kazuo Inamori, a new guide to stronger business leadership practices now available in select retail stores and online.
Amoeba Management: The Dynamic Management System for Rapid Market Response focuses on Inamori’s business philosophy and the unique leadership system he developed over decades, both as an entrepreneurial founder of high-tech companies and in guiding numerous other multinational, multi-billion dollar enterprises.
Inamori, creator of the Amoeba Management System, is widely regarded as Japan’s most respected living business leader. He advocates a business philosophy based on “doing the right thing as a human being” and involving all employees in management. Simple, precise micro-divisional accounting systems distribute management responsibility into small, self-supporting units called amoebas, which can help organizations achieve a high degree of flexibility to accommodate ever-changing markets. All amoeba members are encouraged to focus their creativity on accomplishing common goals. As amoebas develop creative ways to improve their own profit margins, productivity and cost structure, the enterprise as a whole becomes more profitable – while promoting leadership development at all levels.
Dr. Inamori is founder of Kyocera Corporation, his first company that is now a $14.5 billion supplier of telecommunications equipment, printers, copiers, solar power generating systems, ceramic components and semiconductor parts. He also founded DDI Corporation (now KDDI Corporation), a $43 billion telecommunications provider ranked number two in Japan. He is director and chairman emeritus of the recently re-listed Japan Airlines, joining the bankrupt airline in February 2010 at the request of the Japanese government and revamping the business to profitability in less than two years. He is also the creator of the Kyoto Prize, an international award for lifetime achievement that was created out of his belief that a human being has no higher calling than to strive for the greater good of society.
The Amoeba Management System has been adopted successfully by more than 400 companies around the world. The philosophy has received attention from the Harvard Business Review and spawned numerous international chapters of a management association known as Seiwajyuku (translation: learning to thrive in harmony). Seiwajyuku is dedicated to the study of Inamori’s philosophy and Amoeba Management, with more than 8,000 students worldwide.
His management innovations include the “hourly efficiency report” and “added value” calculation, which help track and enhance profitability; and a system of workgroup collaboration that fosters a culture of leadership and responsibility throughout the organization.
Amoeba Management is 164 pages and sells for $49.95/£31.99 through select retailers including Amazon.com, Barnesandnoble.com, booksamillion.com, walmart.com and crcpress.com.
About Kazuo Inamori
Born in 1932, Kazuo Inamori founded his first company at age 27. What began as the Kyoto Ceramic Co., Ltd. in 1959 has grown into the multinational, multifaceted Kyocera Group, with fiscal 2012 sales of $14.5 billion and 53 years of continuous profitability. In 1984 he also founded DDI (now KDDI), which has become Japan's second largest telecommunications carrier. That same year he established the Inamori Foundation using his personal wealth. The foundation’s objectives are to “contribute to the peace and prosperity of humankind by promoting academic and cultural development as well as international mutual understanding.” Its major activities include presenting the annual Kyoto Prize, an international lifetime achievement award that Inamori created to honor significant contributors to humanity in the fields of Advanced Technology, Basic Sciences, and Arts and Philosophy.
In addition to Amoeba Management, Inamori wrote A Passion For Success in 1995, For People – And For Profit in 1997, and A Compass to Fulfillment in 2009, which have collectively sold approximately 3 million copies worldwide.
Kyocera Corporation (NYSE:KYO)(TOKYO:6971) (http://global.kyocera.com/), the parent and global headquarters of the Kyocera Group, was founded in 1959 as a producer of fine ceramics (also known as “advanced ceramics”). By combining these engineered materials with metals and plastics, and integrating them with other technologies, Kyocera has become a leading supplier of solar power generating systems, telecommunications equipment, printers, copiers, electronic components, semiconductor packages, cutting tools and industrial ceramics. During the year ended March 31, 2012, the company’s net sales totaled 1.19 trillion yen (approx. USD14.5 billion). The company is ranked #426 on Forbes magazine’s 2012 “Global 2000” listing of the world’s largest publicly traded companies.
About Productivity Press
Productivity Press has developed the largest catalog available of publications and learning tools about continuous improvement. It is the premier source of authoritative information on organizational improvement with a wide range of authors including experienced business leaders, academics and other experts. Productivity Press editors have extensive experience in identifying key improvement issues and experts as well as developing new products that represent the best and most practical insights into gaining competitive advantage. Productivity Press is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group. The Company partners with researchers, scholarly societies, universities and libraries worldwide to bring knowledge to life. As one of the world’s leading publishers of scholarly journals, books, ebooks and reference works, Taylor & Francis content spans all areas of Humanities, Social Sciences, Behavioral Sciences, Science and Technology.
Note to Editors: Artwork is available.
Contacts
LPI Communications
Leasa Ireland, 310-750-7082
leasa@lpicommunications.com
or
Kyocera
Jay Scovie, 858-576-2674
jay.scovie@kyocera.com
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