sounds like the ravings of an egomaniac
The Buddhist Priest Who Became a Billionaire Snubbing Investors
51–60 of 111 posts
Re: The Buddhist Priest Who Became a Billionaire Snubbing Investors
#52> From Kyocera’s headquarters overlooking the hills and temples of the ancient capital of Kyoto... Ah yes, that old trope. This is what people think Kyoto looks like: http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02657/kyoto_2657... But it's a city of 1.5m, and this is what it actually looks like: http://nward.com/myworld/places/japan/214.jpg
My buddy took this picture of his trip to Kyoto:
https://tokyokawaiietc.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/kyoto-sce...
I would assume Kyoto is just like any city. However, my buddy did say he was amazed by the cleanliness of the city, so I think your picture is slightly exaggerating what Kyoto actually looks like.
Re: The Buddhist Priest Who Became a Billionaire Snubbing Investors
#53Say what you will, but >After taking the CEO role without pay, he printed a small book for each staff member on his philosophies, which declared that the company was devoted to their growth. >"Company leaders should seek to make all their employees happy, both materially and intellectually," Inamori said. I'd take a pay cut to work at a place like that. Enjoying your work, feeling like you will be taken care of, and…
Im really doubtful whether employees are actually happy working there. Never heard of Kyocera being anywhere nesr tge top of Best Places to Work surveys adressing employees satisfaction. This sounds like a big PR piece with no fact to support any claim.
Best Place to Work requires lodging an application and demonstrating your efforts. It's only valuable for medium-to-big-size companies for the PR fallout. Most companies don't bother applying.
Re: The Buddhist Priest Who Became a Billionaire Snubbing Investors
#54Earlier quoted context omitted.
The fact that you don't hear about it is largely because employees tend to be better at whining to the media when they don't get their way than shareholders. The American landscape is littered with many large companies which have gone bankrupt by giving in to all their employees' demands at the cost of profitability. The big airlines, for instance. And the carmakers.
> The fact that you don't hear about it is largely because employees tend to be better at whining to the media when they don't get their way than shareholders. The fact that you don't hear about it is, rather, because shareholders have voting rights to control important decisions, including board selection, and the board supervises management, as well as corporations having legally-enforceable fiduciary duties to sha…
> ...corporations having legally-enforceable fiduciary duties to shareholders.
This depends upon the state. In Delaware corporations, directors and officers owe fiduciary duties to the corporation and shareholders. See Buttonwood Tree Value Partners LP v. R.L. Polk & Co., C.A. No. 9250-VCL. The difference might seem moot to laypeople, but is incredibly important for those real people acting as officers and directors who are directly involved in corporate governance activities.
Re: The Buddhist Priest Who Became a Billionaire Snubbing Investors
#55Earlier quoted context omitted.
Can you elaborate? What social and/or cultural aspects do you see as roadblocks? And in which countries?
Japanese people actually practice integrity. If they find a wallet on the street, they will make every effort to return it to its owner - with the cash still inside. If you let small groups of employees "do their own thing" it might actually result in increased productivity and improved moral rather than disintegration and widespread corruption. Japanese culturally enforce and reward conformity to this modality. > An…
But is that ethic and morality something that is impossible for other cultures to emulate or adopt? If so, why? I think "culture" is a dynamic thing, it's changeable. I think the evidence of this is abundant & widespread (See: most countries adopting western/hollywood culture since the 1920s).
I often see a similar argument from gun nuts. You show them that Japan has a ban on guns and that they have zero hand-gun related deaths annually, show them that they have among the lowest crime rate in the world, and they use the excuse of "Oh, it's a different culture. It's not comparable". That's nonsense logic to me. All it means is we also need to change our culture too, then. Sure, it's another factor to consider, but that's all. It's not a roadblock.
Re: The Buddhist Priest Who Became a Billionaire Snubbing Investors
#56> From Kyocera’s headquarters overlooking the hills and temples of the ancient capital of Kyoto... Ah yes, that old trope. This is what people think Kyoto looks like: http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02657/kyoto_2657... But it's a city of 1.5m, and this is what it actually looks like: http://nward.com/myworld/places/japan/214.jpg
My buddy took this picture of his trip to Kyoto: https://tokyokawaiietc.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/kyoto-sce... I would assume Kyoto is just like any city. However, my buddy did say he was amazed by the cleanliness of the city, so I think your picture is slightly exaggerating what Kyoto actually looks like.
Yeah, that's Sannenzaka slope near Kiyomizudera. The reason your buddy took the picture and I can tell exactly where it came from is because that's just about the only place in Kyoto that looks like that. (Plus a few flatter bits around Gion/Pontocho that have been tarted up for tourists.)
Re: The Buddhist Priest Who Became a Billionaire Snubbing Investors
#57> From Kyocera’s headquarters overlooking the hills and temples of the ancient capital of Kyoto... Ah yes, that old trope. This is what people think Kyoto looks like: http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02657/kyoto_2657... But it's a city of 1.5m, and this is what it actually looks like: http://nward.com/myworld/places/japan/214.jpg
I imagine Kyoto has some kinda large park like Tokyo has in Harujuku or like NYC has Central Park? I can only imagine that's what they refer to.
Nope, none: https://goo.gl/maps/xqNfgRhCP9B2
But there are some comparatively green hills around it.
Re: The Buddhist Priest Who Became a Billionaire Snubbing Investors
#58Earlier quoted context omitted.
Im really doubtful whether employees are actually happy working there. Never heard of Kyocera being anywhere nesr tge top of Best Places to Work surveys adressing employees satisfaction. This sounds like a big PR piece with no fact to support any claim.
> Never heard of Kyocera being anywhere nesr tge top of Best Places to Work surveys I've never seen one of those surveys that were actually legit, though. They use completely subjective factors to measure & determine happiness or "best". To me, the whole thing is a lot like the Academy Awards where it's basically a fake award without any scientific rigor. I remember one year, I think it was 2005 or 06? Verizon Wirele…
Might be good to ask for something more specific than happiness, like "Are you content with where you are in life, at this current point in time?".
Re: The Buddhist Priest Who Became a Billionaire Snubbing Investors
#59Say what you will, but >After taking the CEO role without pay, he printed a small book for each staff member on his philosophies, which declared that the company was devoted to their growth. >"Company leaders should seek to make all their employees happy, both materially and intellectually," Inamori said. I'd take a pay cut to work at a place like that. Enjoying your work, feeling like you will be taken care of, and…
Im really doubtful whether employees are actually happy working there. Never heard of Kyocera being anywhere nesr tge top of Best Places to Work surveys adressing employees satisfaction. This sounds like a big PR piece with no fact to support any claim.
"Best places to work" surveys are almost always gamed. I've never trusted them.
Re: The Buddhist Priest Who Became a Billionaire Snubbing Investors
#60Earlier quoted context omitted.
To further expand on this: > When Inamori talks about making employees happy, he doesn’t mean they’ll be putting their feet up. His brand of happiness comes from working harder than anyone else. It’s infused with the Buddhist idea of “shojin,” elevating the soul through devotion to a task. That's nice and all, but not if it comes at the expense of employee leisure time or pay.
Does shojin conflict with a modern office job in which you have many tasks and many responsibilities? I can instinctively understand the idea if I were cutting wood or doing some other manual task, but I am having trouble picturing myself at work being able to get in to the right mindset if I have multiple moving pieces in every hour of the day.
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