Abstract
Panasonic’s nearly one hunderd-year history can be divided into several phases. The constant factor in Panasonic’s history was—and is—change. And this may also contain the simple answer to the question about Panasonic’s secret of success: the ability to transform as required by an ever-changing environment, the willingness to keep developing, and the openness to learn and take risks have been engrained in the company’s collective memory. Giving up is not an option, and the only way out is the way forward. Therefore it can be boldly concluded that Panasonic as a corporation will still exist 50 years from now, and maybe even a 100 years from now. The company may look differently, produce different products or services, and market them in a completely different way, but chances are high that Panasonic will still be a major player in the domestic and global markets.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Cooper, D. (2012). Panasonic 2012 Q3: $9 billion loss, Sanyo writedowns, restructuring. Retrieved February 3, 2012, from http://www.engadget.com/2012/02/03/panasonic-q3-2012/.
Dayao, D. L. C. (2000). Asian business wisdom. Lessons from the region’s best and brightest business leaders. Singapore: John Wiley & Sons.
Einhorn, B., Yasu, M., & Amano, T. (2014). Panasonic Revives as Other Japanese Tech Giants Falter. Retrieved February 13, 2014, from http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-02-13/panasonic-revives-as-nintendo-sony-falter.
Energy Valley website. (2014). Retrieved April 6, 2014, from http://www.energyvalley.nl.
ENSEA website. (2014). Retrieved April 6, 2014, from http://www.ensea.biz/.
Harlan, C. (2012). As Apple and Samsung dominate, Japan's tech giants are in free fall. Retrieved September 29, 2012, from http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/as-apple-and-samsung-dominate-japans-tech-giants-are-in-a-free-fall/2012/09/28/04c6eb36-0944-11e2-afff-d6c7f20a83bf_story.html.
Harner, S. (2013). Japan's Samurai CEOs (1) Panasonic's Tsuga Kazuhiro. Retrieved April 13, 2013, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/stephenharner/2013/04/13/japans-samurai-ceos-1-panasonics-tsuga-kazuhiro/.
Japan Today. (2013). Japanese companies expected to still be around in 50 years. Retrieved March 3, 2014, from http://www.japantoday.com/category/lifestyle/view/japanese-companies-expected-to-still-be-around-in-50-years. Original source (in Japanese): Mynavi. Available via World Wide Web: http://news.mynavi.jp/news/2013/03/13/101/ cited March 3rd, 2014.
Katayama, F. H. (1989). God of management. Retrieved May 22, 1989, from http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1989/05/22/72020/index.htm.
Kelly, T. (2012). UPDATE 4-New Panasonic chief to chase TV profit, not volume. Retrieved February 28, 2012, from http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/28/panasonic-idUSL4E8DS42E20120228.
Kishita, T. (2006). The HRM of Japanese firms in the days to come of global competition. Research and Practice in Human Resource Management, 14(1), 29–48. http://rphrm.curtin.edu.au/2006/issue1/japanese.html.
Koitabashi,T., Shiraishi, T., & Itoh, M. (2013). Panasonic aims to become top-tier manufacturer of auto parts. Retrieved April 8, 2013, from http://business.nikkeibp.co.jp/article/eng/20130408/246326/?ST=print_e.
Kosuga, M. (2009). Business process innovations in Panasonic corporation: A case study. In G. Lee (Ed.), Business process management of Japanese and Korean companies (pp. 63–77). Singapore: World Scientific.
Kotter, J. P. (1997). Matsushita leadership: Lessons from the 20th Century's most remarkable entrepreneur. New York: The Free Press.
Landry, J. T. (2007). Panasonic: The Largest Corporate Restructuring in History [Book review]. Harvard Business Review, Retrieved July-August 2007, p. 27. http://hbr.org/2007/07/reviews/ar/1.
Laposky, J. (2008). Panasonic's Redoubles green efforts. TWICE This Week in Consumer Electronics, 23(16), 16.
Masumizu, H. (2014). Panasonic announces new catchphrase ‘Wonders! by Panasonic'’. Retrieved February 20, 2014, from http://www.japantoday.com/category/business/view/panasonic-announces-new-catchphrase-wonders-by-panasonic.
Matsushita, K. (1988). Quest for prosperity. Kyoto: PHP Institute.
McInerney, F. (2007). Panasonic: The largest corporate restructuring in history. New York: Truman Talley Books.
Michael, H. (2011). The shifting sands of integrated systems. Retrieved November 1, 2011 http://www.phonearena.com/news/The-shifting-sands-of-integrated-systems_id23397.
Miyai, M. (2011). Panasonic’s environmental vision and its practices’. In M. Matsumoto, Y. Umeda, K. Masui, & S. Fukushige (Eds.), Design for innovative value towards a sustainable society’. Heidelberg: Springer. Chapter 1.
Osborne, M. (2014). Panasonic’s interest in European market returns after launch of new HIT PV module. Retrieved January 9, 2014, from http://www.pv-tech.org/news/panasonics_interests_in_european_market_returns_after_launch_of_new_hit_pv.
Panasonic Corporation (2014). ‘FY 2015 Business Policy’, March 27th, 2014.
Panasonic Announcement. (2011). Retrieved October 31, 2011, from http://news.panasonic.net/archives/2011/1031_7234.html.
Panasonic Announcement of Financial Results. (2014). Retrieved April 1, 2014, from http://panasonic.net/ir/release/.
Panasonic Company website. (2014). Retrieved March 3, 2014, from http://panasonic.net/.
Panasonic Corporation. (2013). Annual Report for the year ended March 31st, 2013.
Panasonic Corporation/F. Ohtsubo. (2010). Panasonic Group, ‘New Midterm Management Plan’, March 7th, 2010.
Panasonic IR Day. (2012). Panasonic corporation, automotive systems company/M. Shibata, ‘Automotive Systems Company Business Strategy. Retrieved May 23, 2012, from http://panasonic.net/ir/presentation/irday/.
Panasonic IR Day. (2013). Panasonic Corporation, Automotive & Industrial Systems Company /Y. Tamada, ‘Automotive & Industrial Systems Company Midterm Strategy’, May 30th, 2013.
PowerMatching City website. (2014). Retrieved April 6, 2014, from http://www.powermatchingcity.nl.
Reorganization. (2004). Business wire, reorganization of new Matsushita Group; New organizational structure towards business growth of Matsushita Electric Industrial and Matsushita Electric Works. Retrieved September 28, 2004, from http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Reorganization+of+New+Matsushita+Group%3B+New+organizational+structure…-a0122726903.
Reuters. (2013). Panasonic to exit Plasma TV panel business by end-March 2014. Retrieved October 8, 2013, from http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/09/us-panasonic-plasmatv-idUSBRE99801720131009.
Roland Berger Strategy Consultants. (2012). Update to the Roland Berger study on automotive Li-ion batteries: Five frontrunners share most of the market. Market consolidation driven by pressure on prices. Retrieved April 19, 2012, from http://www.rolandberger.com/press_releases/512-press_archive2012_sc_content/Update_to_study_on_Li_ion_battery_market.html.
Segers, R. T., & Stam, T. (2013). Asia: Reshaping the global economic landscape. Shaker:Maastricht.
SemiconPortal. (2012). Panasonic abnormal according to its president. Retrieved November 6, 2012, from https://www.semiconportal.com/en/archive/news/main-news/121106-panasonic-biz-restructuring.html.
Tanikawa, M. (2004). Work in progress/Matsushita changes gears: A pillar of Japan Inc. finally turns around. Retrieved August 28, 2004, from http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/28/your-money/28iht-mmatsu_ed3_.html?src=pm&pagewanted=1.
Tapp, S. H. P. (2002). A comparison of job attitudes of Japanese employees working in Japanese firms and Gaishikei (Foreign-Affiliated) firms. Japanese Journal of Administrative Science, 16 (2), 45–62.
Tarr, G. (2008). Panasonic sees strength in unified brand. TWICE: This Week in Consumer Elec tronics, 23(21), 1, 42.
Top Sector Energy website. (2014). Retrieved April 6, 2014, from http://topsectoren.nl.
Wakabayashi, D. (2013). Panasonic to Pare Unprofitable Units. Retrieved March 28, 2013, from http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887324685104578387963550254482.
Yasu, M. (2012). Panasonic names Tsuga president after predicting record loss. Retrieved February 28, 2012, from http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-28/panasonic-names-kazuhiro-tsuga-new-president-replacing-fumio-ohtsubo.html.
Yoneda, Y. (2013). Interview: Panasonic's Haruyuki Ishio gives us the inside scoop about Fujisawa sustainable smart town. Retrieved July 22, 2013, from http://inhabitat.com/interview-panasonics-haruyuki-ishio-gives-us-the-inside-scoop-about-fujisawa-sustainable-smart-town.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Mathies, U. (2016). Panasonic: A Case Study on Constant Change and Reinvention of a World Brand. In: Segers, R. (eds) Multinational Management. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-23012-2_10
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-23012-2_10
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-23011-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-23012-2
eBook Packages: Business and ManagementBusiness and Management (R0)