Updated on
Kyocera Corp. founder Kazuo Inamori -- a former Buddhist priest who went on to influence Japanese entrepreneurs for decades -- has died of old age. He was 90.
Inamori, who also founded the precursor to Japan’s No. 2 phone carrier KDDI Corp., was famous for prioritizing employees’ needs over shareholder demands. His “amoeba management” philosophy preached organic corporate growth. Companies should give employees more autonomy and let their insights into changing market needs guide the business, he said. That management style led Kyocera to grow in multiple directions, leading it to pioneer technologies in power semiconductor devices, fine ceramics and solar cells.