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The Buddhist Priest Who Became a Billionaire Snubbing Investors

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Re: The Buddhist Priest Who Became a Billionaire Snubbing Investors

#71

Post by sdrothrock »

sdrothrock wrote: post #41
ddellacosta wrote: post #20

Forget it, says Kazuo Inamori, entrepreneur, management guru and Buddhist priest. Spend your time making staff happy instead. Huh...and here I thought Kyocera had a reputation in Japan for being a terrible place to work. (sorry, no luck finding links in English, but search for 京セラブラック企業) and you get a fair number of links. https://www.google.com/search?q=京セラブラック企業 EDIT: (ブラック企業 = https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_C…

It does have a terrible reputation. "happy" is being used unconventionally. > [Inamori's] 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.

Also, since it's too late to edit: Kyoto has a reputation (anecdotally, a well-deserved one) for having a large number of black companies.

Re: The Buddhist Priest Who Became a Billionaire Snubbing Investors

#72

Post by geomark »

mbrock wrote: post #69
geomark wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am not well informed about Japanese Buddhism. My knowledge of Buddhism comes from having been a monk myself, ordained in the Theravada tradition. I do know about these "priests" having wives. That means they are not monks since celibacy is one of the foremost precepts of Buddhism. Other aspects of being a "householder" also preclude Inamori from being a monk. Based on your description it seems like the priest title…

It's an imported title because it's a translation. I don't know the Japanese word. Yes, he is not a monk, and nobody has claimed that he is. I don't really understand your point in saying that his religious status is "made up" because he's not a celibate monastic.

My misunderstanding. It sounded to me like the story was trying to make him larger than life by throwing in the title of Buddhist priest. I wasn't aware of that title - I thought they were implying he is monk. That's what I was reacting to.

Re: The Buddhist Priest Who Became a Billionaire Snubbing Investors

#73

Post by mbrock »

geomark wrote: post #72
mbrock wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's an imported title because it's a translation. I don't know the Japanese word. Yes, he is not a monk, and nobody has claimed that he is. I don't really understand your point in saying that his religious status is "made up" because he's not a celibate monastic.

My misunderstanding. It sounded to me like the story was trying to make him larger than life by throwing in the title of Buddhist priest. I wasn't aware of that title - I thought they were implying he is monk. That's what I was reacting to.

I have friends/acquaintances who are "Buddhist priests" in Zen traditions outside of Japan. They are semi-householder-ish, definitely not monks. However, they dedicate their lives to Buddhist service. They don't have children, but some are married or in relationships, mostly together with other "serious practitioners." They very definitely are not billionaires or CEOs -- and I am a little surprised at this story, which could definitely be clearer about what his priesthood actually involves.

Possibly interesting article by an American Zen priest:

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/wildfoxzen/2010/08/what-the-hec...

Re: The Buddhist Priest Who Became a Billionaire Snubbing Investors

#74

Post by Natsu »

Amorymeltzer wrote: post #3

Say 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…

This appears to be PR. They have a reputation as a "black company." For the uninitiated, that means slave-like conditions: unpaid overtime, no weekends, and your supervisor might beat you... literally.

It sounds nice, though.

Re: The Buddhist Priest Who Became a Billionaire Snubbing Investors

#75

Post by markdown »

Natsu wrote: post #74
Amorymeltzer wrote: post #3

Say 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…

This appears to be PR. They have a reputation as a "black company." For the uninitiated, that means slave-like conditions: unpaid overtime, no weekends, and your supervisor might beat you... literally. It sounds nice, though.

Next you'll be claiming to be the Queen of England and expecting us to accept that at face value as well.

Citations please.

Re: The Buddhist Priest Who Became a Billionaire Snubbing Investors

#76

Post by numbsafari »

212d1d wrote: post #62
ekianjo wrote: post #10

Earlier 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 adressing employees satisfaction. Have you never worked in a company that's on those lists? It's highly encouraged (wink, wink) that you help them out with high marks.

I did. For about three months.

The place was a nightmare.

And, yes, not only were you encouraged to give them high marks, they actually built a front-end to the survey system used to track who had and had not submitted a response and setup HR conversations with anyone that gave them less than a top score.

I actively avoid companies on those kinds of lists.

Re: The Buddhist Priest Who Became a Billionaire Snubbing Investors

#77

Post by cdf »

mahranch wrote: post #47
ekianjo wrote: post #10

Earlier 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…

I work for a best place to work company and hr really go all out to address any concern that may hurt the survey. That said, best place to work doesn't mean your job is automatically awesome.

Re: The Buddhist Priest Who Became a Billionaire Snubbing Investors

#78

Post by cookingrobot »

markdown wrote: post #75
Natsu wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This appears to be PR. They have a reputation as a "black company." For the uninitiated, that means slave-like conditions: unpaid overtime, no weekends, and your supervisor might beat you... literally. It sounds nice, though.

Next you'll be claiming to be the Queen of England and expecting us to accept that at face value as well. Citations please.

I don't know anything about the company, but you can search for "black company" kyocera (in Japanese) and browse the results. https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&e...

Re: The Buddhist Priest Who Became a Billionaire Snubbing Investors

#79

Post by JumpCrisscross »

Amorymeltzer wrote: post #3

Say 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…

> he printed a small book for each staff member on his philosophies, which declared that the company was devoted to their growth

I recall coming across how the share of profits which gets paid out to labour varies across American industries. Finance stuck out. The supposed heart of capitalism anomalously distributes more to labour than to capital.

Life is about making trade-offs. Companies that put customers first will have to make trade-offs in terms of the employees and communities they work with. Companies that put employees first will similarly make sacrifices.

Re: The Buddhist Priest Who Became a Billionaire Snubbing Investors

#80

Post by vonklaus »

markdown wrote: post #75
Natsu wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This appears to be PR. They have a reputation as a "black company." For the uninitiated, that means slave-like conditions: unpaid overtime, no weekends, and your supervisor might beat you... literally. It sounds nice, though.

Next you'll be claiming to be the Queen of England and expecting us to accept that at face value as well. Citations please.

Also interested in citations. I am sure this article glorifies the ceo (it's bloomberg), but saying they are slave keepers sort of justifies a bit of substantiation.

edit: ddellacosta posted some Japanese links for our international audience. Also, to be clear it isn't that farfetched of a claim, but certainly contradicts the article.

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