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Mr. Soichiro Honda (1906-1991) was the founder of Honda Motor and became the first Japanese in the Automotive Hall of Fame in 1989. He has been also famous for his powerful leadership and charismatic personality which brought a small Japanese motorcycle manufacturer to the global market as one of major players in the automobile industry. This article will discover Mr. Honda’s action rules for owners of small companies.

Mr. Honda was a genius engineer and a great dreamer who made endless efforts to make his dreams true. The important point here is that his dreams become not only his employees’ dreams but also monument landmarks of the history of Honda Motor. When he got his dreams, very challenging ones, he did not wait to express the dreams in his company. While some employees might even be shocked by his very challenging dreams, his employees were eventually convinced and motivated by Mr. Honda to go for the dreams.

Once he saw his employees had start working for the dreams, he did not wait to show his absolute commitments to the dreams. He always talked about the dreams when he was working. He always ask employees progress. If they would need something to do for the dreams, Mr. Honda had no hesitation to support in any way. When he saw any progress, he was sharing excitements of the progress with his employees. He was really good at showing such progress to his employees so that they were not only making efforts for the dreams but also getting job satisfaction.

When Mr. Honda started producing small engines to make bicycles instant motor-bicycles in 1946, he got his first dream that he would produce the best motorcycle in the world. At that time, with his skills and experiences as one of the best automobile engineers in Japan, such a dream was seemed to be a very and almost impossible dream. At the time, Japanese products were very famous as cheap and shoddy. Honda’s motorcycles were far behind of the global standard, too.

Since nobody in the company could even imagine the global standard at that time, Mr. Honda had to express his dream in a way these employees could feel in somehow someway. What he did was to let his employees experience the global standard and competition directly. In 1954, Mr. Honda told his employees that Honda Motor was going to participate in The Isle of Man Tourist Trophy Race with its motorcycles. By having such a realistic dream, Honda’s employees could star working on checking great motorcycles that won the race.

When they found huge differences between their motorcycles and the great motorcycles, they showed their pessimism in their abilities. Mr. Honda immediately told them about his confidence in technological and engineering levels of all engineers of Honda Motor. He also showed his own commitment to this challenge as the president by working more than anybody else day and night. His employees started feeling comfort with such unconditional supports from him and being confident about themselves as a team.

In 1959, after 5 years, Honda Motor participated in the race and won the 6th place, which was a great surprise and excitement for all employees of Honda. After the first successful race, Mr. Honda showed heartwarming appreciations to his employees and told them cheerfully and confidently another challenge in the race: the 1st place. He knew that people tended to feel burn outs when they accomplished their dream after endless efforts. He did not let them feel the burn outs by giving them another dream. After all, Honda Motor team won 4th place in 1960 and 1st place with new records in 1961. He and his employees made the first landmark together.

Once Honda became the leading motorcycle manufacturer in the world, Mr. Honda showed another dream with automobiles that they had just started producing in 1963 as the youngest automobile manufacturer in Japan. With the fact that other Japanese automobile manufacturers had already started competing in the global market, Mr. Honda expressed his intention to produce automobiles that could win out in the global market.

Mr. Honda’s ways of expressing this dream was very similar to that of the motorcycles. He decided to participate in the formula one world grand prix (F1 GP) in 1964. Since his employees were so confident in themselves and looking for another challenge after their success in the accomplishment in The Isle of Man Tourist Trophy Race, they immediately accepted and started working towards the F1 race. Needless to say, Mr. Honda’s commitment was so serious that he gave any supports to his employees.

In fact, in 1964, Honda’s first challenge in F1 GP in Germany won the 13th place. Similar to The Isle of Man Tourist Trophy Race, Mr. Honda shared more challenging dream that Honda would win the 1st place in the next F1 GP in Mexico City. Then, Honda won the 1st place Mexico. He and his employees made the second landmark together.

In 1970s, air pollutions had become so serious and emission gas of automobiles was considered as one of the major causes of such air pollutions. With strong supports of public opinions, the US congress passed a comprehensive regulation of automobile emission gas called as the Muskie Act of 1970. While many automobile companies saw this act as deadly fear, Mr. Honda found a new dream in the act. The dream: Honda would produce the first mass-produced green automobile engine in order to contribute to solve the air pollutions. This became another landmark. Honda’s employees worked very hard with Mr. Honda and eventually invented the first green engine called as CVCC (Compound Vortex Controlled Combustion) engine in 1971.

Based on these three stories of Honda’s landmarks, we can find several leadership actions of Mr. Honda. We will give 5 rules for owners of small companies to be great leaders who can make their companies very competitive and successful.

Rule 1: Have Dreams and Share the Dreams with Employees

You must have dreams and know ways to share the dreams with your employees so that they can understand, accept, and make efforts. You make sure that your dreams are strategically connected to not only improvement of competitive advantages of your company but also job satisfactions of your employees. If a dream came true even partially, you must give heartwarming and sincere appreciation and congratulations to your employees before give them another dream and motivations.

Rule 2: Keep Challenging

A leader must show powerful and endless commitments and efforts to the dreams. You should know that your employees would not give up easily as long as you keep challenging with powerful commitments and endless efforts. At the same time, you will notice that your commitments will make very positive and comfortable environments for your employees to make their best efforts without worries of failures.

Rule 3: Be Confident

You must show unconditional confidence in your employees in order to create a powerful company-wide confidence. Especially, having the powerful company-wide confidence will make your organization a learning organization which will continuously improve organizational effectiveness and efficiency. It is also important for you to know that your unconditional confidence in your employees will create corporate culture of mutual trust and supports among your employees. This will particularly important for small companies with limited resources.

Rule 4: Be Optimistic

You must be a mood maker of your company. Especially in small companies, leaders must know their pessimism will quickly make followers pessimistic. At the same time, leaders’ optimism can make followers optimistic and active in very difficult circumstances. In order to maintain optimism and be a great mood maker, you must have the strongest gut, confidence in yourself, and mental strength in order to be optimistic in the most stressful phases and situations.

Rule 5: Be determined

You make sure your commitments and efforts are concretely determined no matter how difficult the challenges are. You must ask yourself several times if you have been determined concretely enough to share your dreams with your employees. Without such determinations, you cannot convince and keep motivating your employees because they would feel your poor determinations. Mr. Honda determined and never looked back. He made every possible effort in order to attain the dreams. Remember that your seriousness is the most powerful motivation element in your company.

Mr. Honda made his company one of the most successful automobile manufacturers in the world. He also earned many honors and privileges. His last words on his deathbed were, “I did everything I could. I am completely satisfied. Thank you.” He died peacefully in 1991 and Honda’s employees voluntarily organized memorial ceremonies in three main factories in Japan in order to express their appreciations and respects to him.

Grand Prix Reflections Formula 1954 1960

The all-new Kindle has a new electronic-ink screen with 50 percent better contrast than any other e-reader, a new sleek design with a 21 percent smaller body while still keeping the same 6-inch-size reading area, and a 17 percent lighter weight at just 8.5 ounces. The new Kindle also offers 20 percent faster page turns, up to one month of battery life, double the storage to 3,500 books, built-in Wi-Fi, a graphite color option and more—all for only $139.

Grand Prix Reflections Formula 1954 1960 Pic

Grand Prix Reflections Formula 1954 1960 Pic

Grand Prix Reflections Formula 1954 1960 Photo

Grand Prix Reflections Formula 1954 1960 Photo

Most helpful customer reviews

27362 of 27628 people found the following review helpful.
Kindle vs. Nook (updated 1/2/2011)
By Ron Cronovich
If you’re trying to choose between a Nook and a Kindle, perhaps I can help. My wife and I have owned a Nook (the original one, not the new Nook Color), a Kindle 2, and a Kindle DX. When Amazon announced the Kindle 3 this summer, we pre-ordered two Kindle 3′s: the wi-fi only model in graphite, and the wi-fi + 3G model in white. They arrived in late August and we have used them very regularly since then. For us, Kindle is better than Nook, but Nook is a good device with its own advantages that I will discuss below. I’ll end this review with a few words about the Nook Color.

First, reasons why we prefer the Kindle:

* Speed

In our experience, the Kindle is very zippy compared to the Nook. Page refresh speed (the time it takes a new page to appear after you push the page-turn button) was WAY quicker on Kindle 2 than on Nook, and it’s quicker yet on Kindle 3. Yet, I read a whole book on the Nook and didn’t find the slower page refresh to be annoying – you get used to it, and it’s not a problem.

For me, the more important speed difference concerns navigation – moving the cursor around the screen, for example to pick a book from your library, or to jump to a chapter by selecting it in the table of contents. On Kindle, you do this by pushing a 5-way rocker button, and the cursor moves very quickly. On Nook, you do this by activating the color LCD touchscreen (which normally shuts off when not in use, to conserve battery). A “virtual rocker button” appears on the screen, and you touch it to move the cursor. Unfortunately, the Nook cursor moves very sluggishly. This might not be a big deal to you, but it really got annoying to me, especially since my wife’s Kindle was so quick and responsive.

In November 2010, Nook got a software upgrade that increases page refresh speed and makes navigation more responsive. I returned my Nook months ago, so I cannot tell you if the Nook’s performance is now equal to the Kindle’s, but Nook owners in the comments section have convinced me that the software update improves the experience of using the Nook. If performance is a big factor in your decision, visit a Best Buy and compare Kindle and Nook side by side.

* Screen contrast

You’ve seen Amazon’s claims that the Kindle 3 e-ink has 50% better contrast than Kindle 2 or other e-ink devices. I have no way of precisely measuring the improvement in contrast, but I can tell you that the Kindle 3 display definitely has more contrast than Kindle 2 or Nook. The difference is noticeable, and important: more screen contrast means less eyestrain when reading in poorly lit rooms.

In well-lit rooms, the Nook and Kindle 2 have enough contrast to allow for comfortable reading. But I often read in low-light conditions, like in bed at night, or in a poorly lit room. In these situations, reading on Nook or Kindle 2 was a bit uncomfortable and often gave me a mild headache. When I got the Kindle 3, the extra contrast was immediately noticeable, and made it more comfortable to read under less-than-ideal lighting conditions. (If you go with a Nook, just make sure you have a good reading lamp nearby.)

* Battery life

The Nook’s color LCD touch screen drains its battery quickly – I could never get more than 5 days out of a charge. The Kindle 2 had longer battery life than the Nook, and Kindle 3 has even longer life: in the 3 months since we received our Kindle 3′s, we typically get 3 weeks of battery life between charges. (We keep wireless off about half the time to save battery power.)

* Weight

Nook weighs about 3 ounces more than the new Kindle, and you can really feel the difference. Without a case, Nook is still light enough to hold in one hand for long reading sessions without fatigue. But in a case, Nook is a heavy sucker. The new Kindle 3 is so light, even in a case, we find it comfortable holding in one hand for long reading sessions.

Reasons some people might prefer the Nook:

* In-store experience

If you need help with your nook, you can take it to any barnes and noble and get a real human to help. You can take your nook into the coffee shop section of your local B&N store and read any book for free for up to one hour per day. When you take your nook to B&N, some in-store special deals and the occasional free book pop up on your screen.

* User-replaceable battery

Rechargeable batteries eventually lose their ability to hold a charge. Nook’s battery is user-replaceable and relatively inexpensive. To replace Kindle’s battery, Amazon wants you to ship your Kindle to Amazon, and they will ship you back a DIFFERENT Kindle than the one you sent (it’s the same model, for example if you send a white Kindle 3, you get a white Kindle 3 back, but you get a “refurbished” one, NOT the exact one you sent them). I don’t like this at all.

However, several people have posted comments here that have eased my concerns. Someone looked up statistics on the Kindle’s battery and did some simple calculations to show that it should last for 3 or more years. Before that happens, I will surely have upgraded to a newer Kindle model by then. Also, someone found some companies that sell Kindle batteries at reasonable cost and have how-to videos that demonstrate how we can replace the battery ourselves. Doing this would void the Kindle’s warranty, but the battery will probably not fail until long after the warranty expires.

* ePub

Nook uses the ePub format, a widely used open format. Amazon uses a proprietary ebook format. Many libraries will “lend” ebooks in the ePub format, which works with nook but not kindle. However, a free and reputable program called Calibre allows you to translate ebooks from one format to another – it supports many formats, including ePub and Kindle. The only catch is that it doesn’t work with copy-protected ebooks, so you can’t, for example, buy a Kindle book (which is copy protected) and translate it to ePub so you can read it on a Nook.

* Nook’s color LCD touchscreen

The original Nook has a small color LCD screen on the bottom for navigation. This could be a pro or con, depending on your preferences. It makes the Nook hipper and less drab than Kindle. Some people enjoy using the color LCD to view their library or navigate. I did, at first. But after two weeks of use, and comparisons with my wife’s Kindle, I found the dedicated buttons of the Kindle easier and far quicker to use than the Nook’s color touchscreen. I also found the bright light from the color screen distracting when I was trying to read a book or newspaper (though when not in use, it shuts off after a minute or so to conserve battery).

* expandable capacity

Nook comes with 2GB of internal memory. If you need more capacity, you can insert a microSD card to add up to 16GB more memory. Kindle comes with 4GB of internal memory – twice as much as Nook – but there’s no way to expand that. Kindle doesn’t accept memory cards of any type. If you mainly use your device to read ebooks and newspapers, this shouldn’t be an issue. I have over 100 books on my Kindle, and I’ve used only a tiny fraction of the memory. Once Kindle’s memory fills up, just delete books you don’t need immediate access to; you can always restore them later, in seconds, for free.

A few other notes:

Kindle and Nook have other features, such as an MP3 player and a web browser, but I caution you to have low expectations for these features. The MP3 player on the Kindle is like the first-generation iPod shuffle – you can’t see what song is playing, and you can’t navigate to other songs on your device. I don’t like the browser on either device; e-ink is just not a good technology for surfing the web; it’s slower and clunkier than LCD screen technology, so even the browser on an Android phone or iPod touch is more enjoyable to use. However, some commenters have more favorable views of either device’s browser, and you might, too.

* ebook lending

If you have a Nook or a Kindle, you can “lend” an ebook you purchased to someone else with the same device for up to two weeks. The Nook has always had this feature. The Kindle just got this feature as of December 2010. Most but not all purchased ebooks are lendable, due to publisher restrictions.

* PDF support

Kindle and Nook both handle PDF files, but in different ways. When you put a PDF file on your nook, nook converts it into an ebook-like file, then you can adjust the font size, and the text and pagination will adjust just like with any ebook. But you cannot see the original PDF file in the native format in which it was created. Kindle 3 and Kindle DX have native support for PDF files. You can see PDF files just as they would appear on your computer. You can also convert PDF files to an ebook-like format, and then Kindle handles them just the way the Nook handles them – text and pagination adjust when you change the font size. Unfortunately, some symbols, equations, and graphics get lost or mangled in the translation – even when viewing PDF files in their native format on the Kindle. Moreover, the small screen size of the Kindle 3 and the Nook is not great for PDF files, most of which are designed for a larger page size. You can zoom and pan, but this is cumbersome and tiresome. Thanks to commenters who suggested viewing PDF files in landscape mode on the Kindle (I don’t know if you can do this on Nook); this way, you can see the entire top half of the page without panning, and then scroll down to the bottom half. This works a little better.

SUMMARY:

Nook and Kindle each offer their own advantages. We like the nook’s user-replaceable battery, compatibility with ePub format, and in-store experience. But we strongly prefer Kindle 3 because its performance is zippier, its higher-contrast screen is easier to read, and it’s smaller and lighter so it is more portable and more comfortable to hold in one hand for long reading sessions.

* Nook Color

Everything I wrote about the Nook in this review applies to the original Nook (which continues to be available), not the new Nook Color. To me, the Nook Color is in a different product category than the Kindle or original Nook. Nook Color has an LCD screen, like an iPad or most computer monitors. That’s a big disadvantage for people like me, who get headaches from reading a computer screen for long periods of time. Amazon’s Kindle product page has an informative section on e-ink vs. LCD displays.

But many people don’t have problems reading from computer screens, and the Nook Color is getting glowing reviews in the press and by owners. For the money, it offers a lot of functionality such as a good web browser and the ability to play games and watch movies. But keep in mind: it costs a lot more than the Kindle, it weighs nearly twice as much, it doesn’t come in a 3G version, and (unlike the original Nook) the Nook Color doesn’t have a user replaceable battery.

1535 of 1560 people found the following review helpful.
I Wanted a Dedicated E-Reader, and That’s What I Got
By Matthew E. Coenen
I’m a first-time Kindle owner, so I have nothing to “compare” the latest Kindle to. I don’t own a Nook. I don’t own an iPad (and, in any case, that’s comparing apples to oranges). I don’t have a Sony e-reader. ‘

This will be a short, simple review.

I received my Kindle about a week ago and haven’t been able to put it down.

Things I like about my Kindle?
1. The e-ink display is amazing.
2. Using the 5-way controller is simple and effective.
3. Page turn speeds are faster than I thought they would be.
4. It’s lightweight, even with the attached cover (I have an Amazon cover with a built-in light)
5. Page-turning buttons are quiet and well-placed.
6. Recharge time is fast.
7. I can order a book and start reading it in less than 60 seconds. Nice!
8. Portability… I can take 3,000 books with me when I travel for work and not require additional suitcases or baggage fees.

Things I’m not too keen on?
1. Buttons are too close together and are laid out oddly.
2. Lack of individual number buttons is frustrating.
3. Power button on the bottom? Not a bad thing. Just an odd thing. (Same for the headphone input). I usually rest the “bottom” of a book on my lap when I read.

Things I hope change in the future?
1. How books are organized… When I put a book in a collection (which is actually a “tag”), it still appears in the main list. It’s not actually “moved”, it’s merely associated.
2. The look of the main screen. I’d like “folders” or some other way to display “collections”.
3. Ability to create personal “screen savers.”
4. E-book pricing, though Amazon has little control over this. Still, most titles are the same price as or less than their hardback/paperback counterparts. (And I’m not opposed to paying more for convenience and portability).

Things that don’t bother me regarding other reviews?
1. The browser is experimental. Amazon has created a dedicated e-reader, and it’s meant to be used to read. Period. Not browse the web. If you want to browse the web, get a computer — not an e-reader.
2. The Kindle is not an mP3 player, either. Yes, it’s nice to have some classical music playing in the background while I read, but I don’t need to see the title of the song, album art, etc. (And you can skip from track to track on the Kindle using shortcut keys).
3. Lack of a “color” or “touch” screen.

In summary, for $139, I’m quite thrilled with my purchase and have arleady read multiple books on it. In fact, I think I’ve read more in the past week than I’ve read in the past month.

8559 of 8746 people found the following review helpful.
Worth the money. Not perfect, but very very good for start to finish novels in good light
By Jeffrey Stanley
The Kindle is my first e-ink reader. I own an iPad, an iPhone, and have owned a Windows-based phone in the past that I used as an ereader.

My overall impression of the device is good.

The good:
I’d honestly rather read linear (read from page one to the end, one page at a time) fiction from it than a book, because I can’t always get comfortable with a book. Hardcovers are sometimes a bit heavy, and paperbacks don’t always lie open easily. The Kindle is incredibly light and thin. I can hold it in one hand easily. The page turn buttons are conveniently located. Page-turns aren’t instant, but they’re probably quicker than turning a physical page in a printed book (there are just a lot more page-turns unless you choose a small font). The contrast is better than other ereaders I’ve seen. There is zero eye strain in good light. My eyesight isn’t the greatest and I like being able to increase the font size and read without glasses. I love being able to browse the Kindle store and read samples before deciding to purchase. The “experimental” browser is surprisingly usable, but isn’t great. It is useful for browsing wikipedia and blogs. The biggest drawback to the browser is the awkward pointer navigation, using the 5-way pad. It syncs your furthest read page over the internet so you can pick up where you left off using your iPhone or iPad.

The so-so:
The kindle store could use more categories and sorting options. You can’t sort by “top rated,” and there is no category for “alternate histories,” for example. Finding a very-specific type of fiction relies on keyword searches, which don’t do a great job. The wifi sometimes doesn’t connect before it times-out. You rarely need the wifi, but it is annoying if you change a setting, answer “OK” to the prompt to connect, and the thing tells you it failed to connect two seconds later (the exact moment it indicates that it did finally connect, then you need to go back to update the setting again). Most settings don’t require a connection, but it is a minor annoyance. Most of your time will be spent reading, and of course your books are stored on the device and a connection is not required. Part of me wishes I’d bought the 3G model, because the browser is good enough that having lifetime free 3G wireless would be worth the extra money. Magazines don’t look very good and are not very easy to navigate. There is minor glare in some lighting conditions, mostly when a lamp is positioned behind the reader’s head.

The bad:
The contrast is fair to poor in dim light. It is much easier to read a printed page in dim light. In good light, contrast is on par with a pulp paperback. In dim light it feels almost like reading from an old Palm Pilot (resolution is better than an old Palm, but contrast is bad in dim light). The screen is small enough that the frequency of page turns is pretty high. Even in good light, the light gray background is less pleasant than the eggshell background of a printed page. You must tell it to sync before you switch it off, if you expect the feature allowing you to pick up where you left off using other devices to work correctly. The copy protection prevents you from using the files on anything other than Kindle software or devices.

Vs iPad:
IPad is a lot better for magazines, reference materials, and illustrated materials. Kindle is worlds better for reading novels. IPad is pretty heavy, making it more difficult to hold in your hand or carry with you everywhere. Kindle is much more portable and easier to hold. IPad has some amazing children’s books and magazines, which take advantage of its multimedia features. IPad is unreadable in sunlight and glare is bad in bright light. Kindle is as good as a printed page in bright light. Ipad serves as a creative tool, a computing tool, a gaming tool, and a communication tool. Kindle is only a novel machine. I don’t regret buying either one of them. An iPad won’t replace books, but a Kindle can, if the book is text-only.

I highly recommend this device at its new low price if you are a frequent reader of novels. I love my kindle. Just don’t expect it to be more than it is. Leave the magazines and such to the tablet computers.

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