Kazuo Inamori Studies

About the Founding of Daini Denden and the Revival of Japan Airlines

Essential resources for anyone interested in learning how Inamori founded Daini Denden and led the revitalization of JAL

Challenger (Language:Japanese)

Title Challenger
Author Kazuki Shibusawa
Publisher Nikkei Shimbun Publishing (currently Nikkei BP)
Year of Publication

2010 (paperback published in 2012)
Format

Shiroku-ban (127 × 188 mm), 334 pages (hardcover edition)

Small-format (105 × 148 mm), 350 pages (paperback edition)
List price

1,600 yen (hardcover, excluding tax)

800 yen (paperback, excluding tax)
ISBN

9784532167363 (hardcover)

9784532196486 (paperback)

Description

A nonfiction work based on testimonials of Inamori and others involved in founding Daini Denden.
As summarized on the title page, "Those who accomplish difficult tasks are not those blessed with knowledge, skills, or funds, but those who have a pure heart."

This book tells the story of a business leader and 19 recruits who took on the telecom giant, NTT.
It reveals key trends in the number of landline, mobile, and PHS phone subscribers, changes in long-distance rates, and other milestones in the progress of Japan's telecommunications industry, showing readers numerically how Daini Denden achieved its founding mission "To reduce the cost of communication for everyone in Japan."

With the paperback edition, Inamori commented on the book's background and significance: "I wanted to help tell the story of Daini Denden's founding and KDDI's birth as a successful example of leading a monopolized market to free competition, a milestone in Japan's post-war economic history. The author (Kazuki Shibusawa) had a strong desire to tell this story. We, the related parties, were moved by his enthusiasm and decided to cooperate with his in-depth research and interviews. This book is a result of the author's extraordinary passion and efforts, and it is indispensable to understand the major changes occurring in Japan as we become a highly information-oriented society."

Table of Contents

  • Prologue: Make Telephone Fees Affordable!

  • Chapter 1: Challengers Jump into the Vortex

  • Chapter 2: The 19 Recruits

  • Chapter 3: Underdogs Rise to the Top

  • Chapter 4: Bunches of Grapes and Outsider Lords

  • Chapter 5: Rising Like a Phoenix

  • Chapter 6: Abandon Small Differences and Embrace a Common Mission

  • Epilogue

  • Appendix

The Revival of JAL: Making the Transformation to a Highly Profitable Company (Language:Japanese)

Title The Revival of JAL: Making the Transformation to a Highly Profitable Company
Editor Mami Indo
Publisher Nikkei Shimbun Publishing (currently Nikkei BP)
Year of Publication 2013
Format Shiroku-ban (127 × 188 mm), 265 pages
List price 1,600 yen (excluding tax)
ISBN 9784532318543

Description

Mami Indo of Daiwa Institute shows in this book that JAL's V-shaped recovery cannot be explained by the effects of the Corporate Rehabilitation Law alone, as the profits of the restructured airline exceeded the recovery plan's targets (the added value effect).

To unravel the mystery of JAL's recovery, Indo interviewed approximately 50 people, including Inamori, JAL executives, site managers, and employees. The book analyzes how the actual behavior of employees changed before and after bankruptcy.
In the Afterword, Indo offers a conclusion on the significance of the story: "This book focuses on how management and on-site operations changed during the JAL recovery, and what supported these changes. The aim was to reveal the true cause of how JAL, which went bankrupt under a huge debt exceeding 2 trillion yen, achieved recovery in a short period. It's never easy to revive a bankrupt company, let alone such a large company, as the scarcity of examples clearly shows. I wrote this book with the belief that showcasing the true cause of JAL's turnaround would provide a major "hint" for future corporate recoveries."

Table of Contents

  • Chapter 1: A V-shaped Recovery Exceeding the Targets

  • Chapter 2: Be a Leader, Not a Manager

  • Chapter 3: Changing Mindsets by Revealing Departmental Profitability

  • Chapter 4: Top Management Visits the Site

  • Chapter 5: From "Going by the Book" to Thinking in the Workplace

  • Chapter 6: The Value Chain That Actually Creates Value

  • Chapter 7: Are There Blind Spots in Reforms?

  • Final Chapter: 5 Keys to Reviving JAL

  • Conclusion: How Can We Learn from JAL's Recovery?

  • Afterword

  • Appendix

  • Column