DIRECTORY
AKIO MORITA
1921–99The founder of Sony was born in
Kosugaya, Japan. He showed a love
of mathematics from an early age,
and studied physics at Osaka
Imperial University. While in the
navy in World War II, he met Masaru
Ibuka, with whom he later set up
the Tokyo Telecommunications
Engineering Corporation. Renamed
“Sony” in 1958, the company
produced the first transistor TV and
the game-changing Sony Walkman.
Morita was an early champion of
building an international business;
It was the first Japanese company
to build factories in the US and to
have US members on the board.
See also: Gaining an edge 32–39 ■
Keep evolving business practice
48–51 ■ Changing the game 92–99RUPERT MURDOCH
1931–Media baron Keith Rupert Murdoch
was born in Melbourne, Australia.
He went to boarding school in
Geelong, Australia, then traveled to
Oxford, UK, to study economics.
When his father died in 1952,
Rupert was bequeathed a regional
newspaper, the Adelaide News.
Murdoch learned the trade through
an apprenticeship at the Daily
Express in London, then returned
to Australia to take control of his
paper. He drove circulation higher
by delivering a more dramatic mix
of crime and scandal; the increased
revenues allowed him to begin
buying more papers. Between 1968
and 2000 he created a global
empire of mass media. Despite
being involved in the newspaper
“hacking scandal” of 2011–12, hisbusiness—News Corp—reported
revenues of $34 billion in 2012.
See also: Stand out in the market
28–31 ■ Roberto Civita 334VINEET NAYAR
1962–Indian businessman Vineet Nayar
was born in Pantnagar, in the
foothills of the Himalayas. He
studied mechanical engineering,
earned a MBA, then entered
business. In 2007 he became CEO
of HCL Technologies, where he
practiced his controversial approach
to management of “employees first,”
inverting the standard operational
pyramid. Using this approach,
detailed in a book of the same
name, Nayar has transformed HCL
into a $4.6-billion company with
offices in 31 countries.
See also: Organizing teams and
talent 80–85 ■ Is money the
motivator? 90–91HENRI NESTLE
1814–90Heinrich “Henri” Nestlé was born
in Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany.
He trained as a pharmacist, but in
1833 fled local riots to settle in
Vevey, Switzerland. He continued
to experiment, and in the mid-1860s
began to produce a baby food that
combined milk with wheat flour.
The popularity of his “farine lactee”
(the first formula for babies) allowed
him to open sales offices and
factories in the UK, France,
Germany, and the US, while also
acquiring local companies. Nestlé
went on to invent the first form of
milk chocolate and soluble coffee.
See also: Creativity and invention
72–73 ■ Ignoring the herd 146–49John Kotter in his book Matsushita
Leadership (1997).
See also: John Kotter 336 ■
Leading well 68–69
ELTON MAYO
1880–1949
Australian management guru and
industrial psychologist Elton Mayo
was born in Adelaide. At the city’s
university he studied medicine,
philosophy, and psychology, and
his research into the psychological
causes of industrial unrest led
to an invitation to join Harvard
Business School, where he was
part of the team that performed
the celebrated Hawthorne
experiments. These demonstrated
that the perfomance of employees
is influenced as much by their
surroundings as by their skills.
See also: The value of teams
70–71 ■ Is money the motivator?
90–91 ■ Kaizen 302–09
ROSALIA MERA
1944–2013
Co-founder of Zara clothing retailer,
Rosalía Mera was born in La
Coruña, Spain, to a working-class
family. She dropped out of school at
11 to work as a seamstress. At 13,
she went to work in a clothing store
where she met Amancio Ortega,
who was to become her husband.
Nine years after their marriage in
1966, they opened the first Zara
store, selling inexpensive clothes
based on couture designs. By 2013
there were 1,700 Zara stores around
the world, and Forbes magazine
named her “the wealthiest self-
made woman on the planet.”
See also: Gaining an edge 32–39
■ Reinventing and adapting 52–57
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