The Entrepreneurial Spirit
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Summary
Editor's review
As an editor, I believe the book's core value lies in its rare dual dimension: it is both a deep integration of Eastern Confucian ethics with business practice and a replicable organizational management model verified over half a century. Inamori elevates business management to the level of "the Way," emphasizing how the entrepreneur's cultivation of character and spirit of altruism can be transformed into sustainable commercial success. The book's candid review of Kyocera's decision-making process around the 2008 financial crisis is especially worth pondering for contemporary managers—in an age of uncertainty, adherence to principles often has greater long-term vitality than chasing the latest trend.
Compared with the many superficial management books on the market, this book presents three distinctive layers: the first is concrete management tools (such as the hourly efficiency accounting system); the second is the philosophical concepts that support those tools (such as the judgment criterion of "What is right as a human being?"); and the third is how entrepreneurs can achieve the co-evolution of self and organization through "elevating the mind." This complete logic chain, from technique to the Way and from the external to the internal, enables the book both to guide concrete operations and to provoke fundamental reflection on business ethics.
Readers should be reminded that Inamori's emphasis on ideas such as "effort no less than anyone else's" may require a dialectical view in contemporary contexts—the book is better used as a complete value coordinate system for reference than as a mechanical operation manual. The discussions of Japan's lifetime employment system, seniority-based wages, and similar background also need to be adapted to China's local context.
Who it's for
A good fit for
- Founders seeking a values foundation in the early stage of a startup
- Managers of small and medium-sized enterprises hoping to break through growth bottlenecks
- Researchers interested in the integration of Eastern management philosophy and Western management science
- Decision-makers perplexed by ethical choices in business practice
Not a good fit for
- Readers expecting quick access to marketing techniques or financing strategies
- Purely rational managers who prefer quantitative models and data analysis
Reading tips
- It is recommended to first read Chapters 2 and 4 to establish the philosophical framework, then study the Amoeba management operational chapters in light of actual work
- While reading, one may also consult A Compass to Fulfillment and The Way of Working to form a complete understanding of Inamori's thought
- Focus on considering how core propositions such as "pricing is management" can be applied in one's own industry
About the publisher
In addition to science and technology and professional publishing, the books in our catalog from China Machine Press also reflect a sustained focus on psychology, computing, management, finance and economics, and social sciences. In psychology, the catalog includes works by C. G. Jung and introductions to analytical psychology, as well as applied topics such as stress and health, and addiction and healing. In computing, it features Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs (JavaScript Edition). Management and finance titles include Administrative Behavior (4th Edition), The Price of Inequality (Collector's Edition), and This Time Is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly (Commemorative Edition). In the philosophy and history of science, there is The Worldview: The Third Edition. Relevant authors include C. G. Jung, William McGuire, Sonu Shamdasani, and Gabor Maté. Public information is limited; the above summarizes the publisher's profile based solely on the books in our catalog.
Contents
- 版权信息
- 推荐序 一灯照隅 万灯照世
- 前言 领导者应有的姿态——写在出版之际
- 对未来领导者的期望
- 给未来的领导者
- 领导者人格稳固的重要性
- 人类历史就是领导者的历史
- 为了率领集团
- 谁都能懂的思维方式和人生方程式
- 混乱的思维方式使人生变得灰暗
- “思维方式”到底追求的是什么
- 领导者必须具备崇高的思想境界
- 一个“自力”与两个“他力”
- 你具备经营者的实力吗
- 即将开展的业务在商业上是否成立
- 经营者应践行的“经营十二条”
- 支持企业的合作伙伴及全体员工形成的“他力”
- 构筑心心相连、坚不可破的信赖关系
- 赢得全体员工的信赖与协助
- 让宇宙、自然之力成为好帮手
- 佛教中的因果法则
- 常怀感谢之心
- 以理性抑制烦恼
- 如何让企业持续发展
- 有限的企业“寿命”
- “打江山易，守江山难”
- 团队领导者应有的资质
- 领导者的10项职责
- 让基层员工也产生经营者意识
- 不忘创业精神
- 经营的三个要诀
- 学习“经营要诀”的意义
- 经营要诀一：让员工迷恋社长
- 经营要诀二：仔细查看月销售额及费用
- 经营要诀三：共有哲学
- 坚持以谦虚的态度实践三个要诀
- 把“经营要诀”传播给更多的经营者
- 以德为本的经营
- 孙中山的“王道”与“霸道”
- 企业经营唯有德治
- 赢得顾客的尊敬与爱戴
- 经营取决于领导者的器量
- 让理念每天得到提高
- 松下幸之助与本田宗一郎
- 实践圣贤的教导
- 每天刻苦钻研，保持高尚的人格
- 心中有一把判断的标尺
- 人生的目的是什么
- 苦难是磨炼灵魂的考验
- 成功与幸运也是考验
- 以德为本的经营，成就“和谐企业”
- 企业伦理与领导力
- 时代对领导者资质提出更严格的要求
- 过度的物质激励导致经营者堕落
- 选拔领导者最关键的要素
- 人格是后天磨砺而成的
- “不撒谎”“做人要正直”等简单道理的内在含义
- 福泽谕吉所描述的理想的商业领袖形象
- 领导者应有的姿态
- 经营者必须具备的三要素：愿景、使命和人格
- 企业发展的原动力
- 全体员工共有的使命
- 坚信愿景、使命的重要性与KDDI的成功
- 不能满足于崇高的愿景和使命
- 描述经营者应有思维方式的“京瓷哲学”
- 在工作、人生及企业经营中“脚踏实地，坚持不懈”
- 为踏实的努力提速的“钻研创新”
- 以心为本的透明经营
- 假如没有经营哲学
- 向西乡隆盛学习领导者应有的姿态
- 我所尊敬的故乡伟人
- 会客室中的“敬天爱人”
- 《南洲翁遗训》中的“领导者应有的姿态”
- 领导者需大公无私
- 珍惜同甘苦、共患难的人
- 要谦虚不要骄傲
- 为社会为世人尽力
- 踏正道，推至诚
- 坚定志向 毫不动摇
- 我们应该追求的商人道
- 社会充斥着对企业经营者的偏见
- 经营是一种“利他行为”
- 挥之不去的“以不合理的高价谋取暴利”
- 贯彻“商也乃仁”
- 只要追求“义”，“利”便自然滚滚而来
- “自利利他”的经营判断将带领企业走向成功
- 关爱体贴之心给经营者带来强大的力量
- 塑造人生的“命运”与“因果报应法则”
- 塑造人生的“命运”与“因果报应法则”
- “因果报应法则”甚至能改变命运
- 即使结果没有很快出现，也要相信“因果报应法则”的正确
- 如何处理眼前发生的事
- 任何时代都应该记住“骄傲的平家不长久”
- 经营者必须极度认真地对待人生
- 为何善有善报
- 人生的目的是“提高心性”
FAQ
Is Inamori's idea of "respecting heaven and loving people" too idealistic in the contemporary business environment?
Can internet professionals without a manufacturing background benefit from this book?
What are the main obstacles to implementing the Amoeba model in Chinese companies?
Comments
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About the author
Kazuo Inamori (1932–2022) was a prominent Japanese industrialist born in Kagoshima. He founded Kyoto Ceramics (now Kyocera) in 1959 and Daini Denden (now KDDI) in 1984, and in 2010 took over as chairman of Japan Airlines without pay, leading its restructuring. He established the Seiwa Juku and the Inamori Foundation, advocating the Amoeba management system and the philosophy of respecting heaven and loving people. His management ideas have had wide influence. The library holds 18 of his works in categories such as self-help and management, including the 15th-anniversary edition of The Way to Work, The True Essence of Business Management, and Altruistic Management Philosophy. Grounded in his hands-on business experience, these works are plain and sincere in tone and emphasize combining ideals with action.
Kyocera Corporation is a well-known Japanese company that appears in Chinese-language book publishing as a collective author. Public information about this organization is currently limited, and its authorial identity rests mainly on the company's own practical background in business and management. The library holds two of its works, namely The True Meaning of Business Management and Entrepreneurship, both classified under management. Judging from their themes, these works address topics such as business philosophy, organizational governance, and entrepreneurial spirit, and they reflect a pragmatic style grounded in the perspective of business operators rather than academic theoretical deduction. For readers interested in Japanese business management thought and practical experience, such books offer observations and summaries from the front lines of enterprise. Because the available information is limited, this note only provides an objective account of the nature of the collective authorship and the direction of the works, without touching on the organization's specific history, scale, or operational data.
Ye Yu has long been engaged in translating works on Kazuo Inamori's management philosophy into Chinese. She graduated from the Japanese Department of Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, once served as deputy general manager of Kyocera (Beijing) Management Consulting Co., Ltd., and is now co-founder of Beijing Ziyu Culture Media Co., Ltd. and a consultant to Seiwajyuku. Beyond her work as a translator, public information about her is limited; nevertheless, the eight works in the collection show that her work centers on Inamori's business thought, covering entrepreneurship, management principles, accounting practice, talent development and team management. Her translations serve the ideas of the originals, seeking to convey the business logic of the Japanese texts accurately in plain, readable Chinese. These translations offer Chinese readers a fairly systematic body of texts for understanding Inamori's management philosophy and have some influence among readers of management, finance and inspirational growth titles.
