Buddhist business guru to help JAL
By Jay Alabaster |
January 15, 2010, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
AS bankruptcy and restructuring looms for Japan Airlines Corp, Tokyo has tapped a respected entrepreneur and longtime political ally to wean the company off bailouts and bureaucracy.
Kazuo Inamori, 77, founded electronic components behemoth Kyocera Corp and Japan's No. 2 mobile carrier, KDDI Corp. The ruling party is hoping his clout and unique management style he became a Buddhist monk after retiring and extols "amoeba management" theories can help turn the airline around.
Analysts praise his experience and outlook, but are unsure about his knowledge of the airline industry.
"He is a well-known entrepreneur with a lot of charisma and should be able to help give the company some determination. But there is also his age and the fact that he has no background in airlines," said Takahiko Kishi, an analyst at Mizuho Investors Securities.
Yesterday, the airline's major creditors all formally agreed to a court-led recovery plan put forward by a state-backed corporate turnaround body, Kyodo News reported. The banks have reportedly agreed to forgive nearly US$4?billion in debt.
A bankruptcy filing is to come as early as Tuesday, after which current JAL President Haruka Nishimatsu is expected to resign. Following the filing, the restructuring plan calls for JAL to slash about 15,600 jobs a third of its work force as well as continue negotiations with retired workers to cut pensions.
Inamori has close ties to the current leadership in Tokyo, and serves on a Cabinet committee to cut excess spending in the government. He was one of the few prominent business leaders to actively support the Democratic Party of Japan long before it swept to power last year.
He started manufacturing ceramics with 28 employees in 1959. The rise of Kyocera, shortened from "Kyoto Ceramic," as a major electronics manufacturer coincided with Japan's rise to world economic power in the decades that followed.
Inamori exhorts large companies to use "amoeba management," in which each business unit is self-contained and generates its own revenue. He has written 11 books on management and achievement that reflect his positive outlook, including "Respect the Divine and Love People" and "Your Dream Will Come True Without Fail."
Kazuo Inamori, 77, founded electronic components behemoth Kyocera Corp and Japan's No. 2 mobile carrier, KDDI Corp. The ruling party is hoping his clout and unique management style he became a Buddhist monk after retiring and extols "amoeba management" theories can help turn the airline around.
Analysts praise his experience and outlook, but are unsure about his knowledge of the airline industry.
"He is a well-known entrepreneur with a lot of charisma and should be able to help give the company some determination. But there is also his age and the fact that he has no background in airlines," said Takahiko Kishi, an analyst at Mizuho Investors Securities.
Yesterday, the airline's major creditors all formally agreed to a court-led recovery plan put forward by a state-backed corporate turnaround body, Kyodo News reported. The banks have reportedly agreed to forgive nearly US$4?billion in debt.
A bankruptcy filing is to come as early as Tuesday, after which current JAL President Haruka Nishimatsu is expected to resign. Following the filing, the restructuring plan calls for JAL to slash about 15,600 jobs a third of its work force as well as continue negotiations with retired workers to cut pensions.
Inamori has close ties to the current leadership in Tokyo, and serves on a Cabinet committee to cut excess spending in the government. He was one of the few prominent business leaders to actively support the Democratic Party of Japan long before it swept to power last year.
He started manufacturing ceramics with 28 employees in 1959. The rise of Kyocera, shortened from "Kyoto Ceramic," as a major electronics manufacturer coincided with Japan's rise to world economic power in the decades that followed.
Inamori exhorts large companies to use "amoeba management," in which each business unit is self-contained and generates its own revenue. He has written 11 books on management and achievement that reflect his positive outlook, including "Respect the Divine and Love People" and "Your Dream Will Come True Without Fail."
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