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The Twelve Management Principles

The Twelve Management Principles

11. Be Kind and Sincere

Business is based on partnerships and must bring happiness to all parties.

Being kind and considerate can also be described as "altruistic." In other words, it means having a beautiful mind that restrains a person from satisfying his/her own desires and instead drives him/her to help others, even if it means making sacrifices. I believe this is the most important mindset to have in the business world, too.

There was a time when, much like Kyocera, many Japanese companies acquired American companies; however, we do not hear of many success stories like Kyocera's acquisition of AVX. Following these other mergers and acquisitions, those Japanese companies ended up withdrawing from the market or selling off the acquisition at a large loss.

I think that a difference in mindset is what separates our successful acquisition of AVX from those that failed. The difference lies in whether you are sincerely thinking of the other party or merely focused on your own interests.

In classic Chinese literature, it has been said that "Pride brings loss, and humility receives increase." Even though it may appear as though we are not benefitting from our altruistic behavior of caring for the other party, we are assured wonderful results over the long term.

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