If a high school baseball female manager reads Peter Drucker
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Description
Book Introduction
Peter Drucker's book that will change your life A gem of management theory Easy and fun to read as a novel “A high school baseball manager obsessed with Peter Drucker, “Turn the last place team over!” Minami Kawashima, a student at Tokyo Hodokubo High School (aka Hodo High School), takes on the job of manager (assistant manager) of the baseball club in place of her sick friend. The Hodo High School baseball club has been a perennial bottom-ranked team that has never achieved any notable results since it advanced to the round of 16 of the Koshien tournament just once 20 years ago. Because of this situation, no one is participating in practice properly, and naturally, the team atmosphere is a mess. In order to properly fulfill her role as a manager, Minami purchases Peter Drucker's [Management], which was recommended by a bookstore employee. I was mistaken in thinking that it was a book about baseball management. As is well known, Peter Drucker is a 'god of corporate management' with many followers in the business world, and [Management] is a bible to them. Of course, this book has nothing to do with baseball. However, after reading [Management], Minami decides to apply the corporate management (organizational management) guidelines in the book one by one to the baseball team. "Seriousness is more important than talent." “When you want change, go back to basics.” “What moves the audience is emotion.” “Move your organization by leveraging people’s strengths.” Drucker has constantly emphasized 'customer creation', 'innovation', and 'leadership qualities' in management. Minami, too, constantly ponders the issues of "customers," "innovation," and "what true leadership is" in the baseball club, following this book. This is because a high school baseball club is also an organization made up of many members. As a result, the Hodo High School baseball club, which seemed like it would never change, gradually undergoes changes and advances step by step toward advancing to the Koshien tournament. And finally, in the final, against a team that was a contender for the championship at this spring's Koshien tournament, will Hodo High School, a perennial bottom-tier team, perform a miracle? |
index
prolog
Chapter 1: Minami Meets Drucker's "Management"
Chapter 2: Minami Takes Her First Step into Baseball Club Management
Chapter 3: Minami Finally Gets Started with Marketing
Chapter 4: Minami Becomes the Director's Interpreter
Chapter 5: Minami, Bringing Out the Strengths of Her Club Members
Chapter 6: Minami Embarks on Innovation
Chapter 7: Minami Handles Personnel Issues
Chapter 8: Minami: Finding the Answer to What Seriousness Means
Epilogue
Author's Note
Chapter 1: Minami Meets Drucker's "Management"
Chapter 2: Minami Takes Her First Step into Baseball Club Management
Chapter 3: Minami Finally Gets Started with Marketing
Chapter 4: Minami Becomes the Director's Interpreter
Chapter 5: Minami, Bringing Out the Strengths of Her Club Members
Chapter 6: Minami Embarks on Innovation
Chapter 7: Minami Handles Personnel Issues
Chapter 8: Minami: Finding the Answer to What Seriousness Means
Epilogue
Author's Note
Into the book
It was when I was about a third of the way through “Management.”
Minami suddenly felt as if a stone had hit her heart.
In any successful organization, there is bound to be at least one boss who doesn't help or have good interpersonal relationships.
This type of boss is difficult to approach, demanding, and stubborn, but he often develops more talent than anyone else.
There are times when a person is more respected by his subordinates than by others.
Always demand the best performance and achieve the best performance yourself.
Set your standards high and expect to achieve them.
I only think about what is right, not who is right.
Managerial skills (e.g., document writing, presentation skills, etc.) can be learned without anyone teaching them.
But there is one quality that cannot be learned, one that cannot be acquired, one that must be ingrained in you from the beginning.
It's not talent.
It's seriousness.
Minami read this part over and over again.
I especially reread the last part several times.
'What a manager needs is not talent.
'It's seriousness,' Minami muttered.
“……Seriousness, what is that?” That was the moment.
Suddenly tears started flowing out.
Minami was surprised.
Because he himself didn't know why he was crying.
But the tears did not stop and continued to flow.
---From Chapter 1
“Our competition is diamonds and mink coats,” said Nicholas Dreystadt, a German-born mechanic who rose to run the Cadillac division during the Great Depression of the 1930s.
“What our customers are buying is not a means of transportation, but a social status,” he said.
This statement saved Cadillac from the brink of bankruptcy.
Even during the terrible Great Depression, Cadillac transformed into a growth business in just two or three years.
Who are the baseball club's customers? It was that moment.
I felt as if my foggy mind suddenly became clear.
And at the same time, the answer that was about to come out of my throat came to mind clearly.
I was able to concretely recognize the definition of the baseball club, which seemed to have been almost completely approached.
"Yes! Emotion! What our customers, the spectators, want from the baseball team is 'emotion'! And the baseball team's job is to 'emotion the spectators.'
So, the baseball club was an organization that was created to impress the audience.”
True marketing starts with the customer.
In other words, it starts from the customer's reality, needs, and values.
Instead of asking, "What do we want to sell?", ask, "What do customers want to buy?"
True marketing is not about saying, "This is what our product or service can do," but about saying, "This is the satisfaction that customers value, need, and want."
---From Chapter 2
For experts, the greatest challenge is to use their knowledge and abilities to achieve results for the whole.
So communication becomes a problem.
If the output of an expert is not input to others, performance will not increase.
The output of an expert is knowledge and information.
If you don't understand what the experts are saying and what they are trying to do, you can't properly utilize their output.
Experts often use technical terms.
I can't even speak without using technical terms.
Experts become useful only when others understand what they say.
Professionals must provide what their clients, their colleagues, need.
It is the manager's job to make the experts aware of these facts.
It is also the manager's job to translate the organization's goals so that experts can understand them, and conversely, to translate the experts' output so that their customers, their colleagues, can understand them.
When Minami first read this part, she was surprised that the 'expert' in it was exactly like Director Gachi.
As written in the book, the problem that the value director was facing was 'communication'.
The director had more knowledge about baseball than anyone else, having even gone to the University of Tokyo, which is considered difficult to get into, to play baseball.
Minami had asked him several questions about baseball, and each time the manager gave answers based on his extensive knowledge, containing a tremendous amount of information.
But Minami couldn't understand the answer most of the time.
That's because the director always uses 'technical terms'.
---From Chapter 3
“I was a fielder throughout elementary, middle, and high school, and even in college. I wasn’t usually a starting player, so I didn’t really know what it was like to be an ace or a regular pitcher or a starting player.
So I asked him a lot of questions. What exactly is the 'pitcher's mind'?
“So?”
“There was one thing that my friend said that really struck me.”
“……What does that mean?”
“Yeah, that was, ‘There’s not a single pitcher in the world who wants to get an opposing batter out on a walk.’”
"yes?"
Minami screamed in surprise.
“That’s a perfect fit for this situation.”
"yes.
I was a little surprised, but he said that a walk is the most embarrassing result for any pitcher.
So no one wants to give up the ball, but it doesn't seem that way to the people around them.
That's what I mean. It's not that the pitcher is specifically aiming for a strikeout or doesn't trust the defenders, so he throws out a walk.
There are many reasons, but the main reason is that even though I absolutely do not want to give up the ball, I have no choice but to give it up.”
Minami began to feel nervous for the first time since joining the baseball club.
However, the content of the practice was not much different from before.
The monotonous training continued, simply repeating what had been done before.
So there was some dissatisfaction building up among the members.
Everyone felt something was missing.
I was feeling uneasy because I had nowhere to vent my long-awaited enthusiasm.
Minami, seeing that, thought that now was the opportunity.
Now is your chance.
I am convinced that now is the time to pursue ‘growth.’
In Management it is written:
Growth requires preparation.
You can't predict when an opportunity will come.
You have to prepare.
If you are not prepared, the opportunity will go somewhere else.
Marketing, the first function of a business, is not being done properly in too many businesses today.
It all ends in words.
The consumer movement speaks volumes about this.
What the consumer movement demands from companies is marketing.
It requires businesses to start from the needs, realities, and values of their customers.
It asks us to define the purpose of a business as 'the satisfaction of needs.'
We've been talking about marketing for a long time, but the fact that the consumer movement has emerged as a powerful mass movement ultimately means that marketing has not been properly implemented.
In marketing, consumer activism is a disgrace.
(Pages 16-17)
After reading this, Minami realized.
“The members’ slacking off on practice was a kind of ‘consumer movement.’
They were demanding improvements in training by skipping practice, or in other words, boycotting it.” It would be impossible to raise the baseball team to a level where it could compete in the Koshien tournament in six months.
If so, in order to make it possible to participate in the Koshien tournament, it is necessary to change the high school baseball team, not the baseball club.
So Minami started thinking about how he could change high school baseball.
Regarding that strategy, Management also wrote this:
Innovation adopts a strategy that assumes that everything existing is obsolete.
Therefore, if the strategic guidance for existing businesses is 'better, more,' then the strategic guidance for innovation must be 'newer, more different.'
The first step in the innovation strategy is to systematically and systematically discard the old, the obsolete, and the trite.
Organizations that innovate don't waste time and resources trying to preserve the past.
Only by letting go of the past can we liberate our resources, especially the precious resource of talent, and create something new.
In order for the baseball team to achieve innovation, they had to start by assuming that all existing high school baseball was outdated.
Moreover, there was a need to systematically and systematically discard what was old, outdated, and cliche in high school baseball.
---From Chapter 4
Any organization is tempted by complacency.
Organizational health is a very high-level requirement.
Because managing your own goals requires high standards.
To do that, we need to understand what performance is.
The results are not guaranteed.
It is impossible to achieve 100% success.
Performance should be viewed in the long term.
That is why you should never trust someone who has never made mistakes or failed.
Those people are the ones who have only done ordinary, unremarkable things.
Performance is like batting average in baseball.
There can be no weaknesses.
When only weaknesses are pointed out, people lose motivation and morale.
The more outstanding a person is, the more mistakes he makes.
The more outstanding a person is, the more willing he or she is to try new things.
Minami couldn't tell whether what Masayoshi was trying to do would be helpful to the baseball club or not.
But I knew full well that it was a 'new attempt'.
So, I tried to value his ‘motivation’ and ‘morale’.
---From Chapter 6
Ayano also expressed her opinion in favor.
“I think so too.
When Yunosuke is nervous, he makes mistakes, which is his weakness.
An organization is about eliminating its weaknesses and capitalizing on its strengths.
If that's the case, we'll have to use a different player for tomorrow's final.
“I think that was the right decision to achieve the baseball club’s goal of ‘participating in the Koshien Tournament.’” Coach Gachi, who had been listening silently, looked at Minami, who was also silent, and asked, “What do you think?”
“But still… even if there are times when he loses, I think managing him is believing in his growth and continuing to use him.”
---From Chapter 7
“Director, are you going to change it?” But the director glanced at Minami and said this.
“Don’t worry.
I'm not trying to change Yunosuke.
“Even if that guy tells me to give up my seat, I won’t change it.” And then, the announcer’s voice came out.
It was to change the runner on first base, Giro.
Instead of Jiro, who walked after being intentionally hit by a pitch, Fumiaki Kutsuki was brought in as a pinch runner.
“Director!” Minami looked at the director with wide eyes.
The director smiled at Minami.
“Just wait and see.
Because I will make you regret sending me out as a deliberate sandcastle.
“I am currently initiating an innovation that states that intentional sand dunes should never be used under any circumstances.”
Minami suddenly felt as if a stone had hit her heart.
In any successful organization, there is bound to be at least one boss who doesn't help or have good interpersonal relationships.
This type of boss is difficult to approach, demanding, and stubborn, but he often develops more talent than anyone else.
There are times when a person is more respected by his subordinates than by others.
Always demand the best performance and achieve the best performance yourself.
Set your standards high and expect to achieve them.
I only think about what is right, not who is right.
Managerial skills (e.g., document writing, presentation skills, etc.) can be learned without anyone teaching them.
But there is one quality that cannot be learned, one that cannot be acquired, one that must be ingrained in you from the beginning.
It's not talent.
It's seriousness.
Minami read this part over and over again.
I especially reread the last part several times.
'What a manager needs is not talent.
'It's seriousness,' Minami muttered.
“……Seriousness, what is that?” That was the moment.
Suddenly tears started flowing out.
Minami was surprised.
Because he himself didn't know why he was crying.
But the tears did not stop and continued to flow.
---From Chapter 1
“Our competition is diamonds and mink coats,” said Nicholas Dreystadt, a German-born mechanic who rose to run the Cadillac division during the Great Depression of the 1930s.
“What our customers are buying is not a means of transportation, but a social status,” he said.
This statement saved Cadillac from the brink of bankruptcy.
Even during the terrible Great Depression, Cadillac transformed into a growth business in just two or three years.
Who are the baseball club's customers? It was that moment.
I felt as if my foggy mind suddenly became clear.
And at the same time, the answer that was about to come out of my throat came to mind clearly.
I was able to concretely recognize the definition of the baseball club, which seemed to have been almost completely approached.
"Yes! Emotion! What our customers, the spectators, want from the baseball team is 'emotion'! And the baseball team's job is to 'emotion the spectators.'
So, the baseball club was an organization that was created to impress the audience.”
True marketing starts with the customer.
In other words, it starts from the customer's reality, needs, and values.
Instead of asking, "What do we want to sell?", ask, "What do customers want to buy?"
True marketing is not about saying, "This is what our product or service can do," but about saying, "This is the satisfaction that customers value, need, and want."
---From Chapter 2
For experts, the greatest challenge is to use their knowledge and abilities to achieve results for the whole.
So communication becomes a problem.
If the output of an expert is not input to others, performance will not increase.
The output of an expert is knowledge and information.
If you don't understand what the experts are saying and what they are trying to do, you can't properly utilize their output.
Experts often use technical terms.
I can't even speak without using technical terms.
Experts become useful only when others understand what they say.
Professionals must provide what their clients, their colleagues, need.
It is the manager's job to make the experts aware of these facts.
It is also the manager's job to translate the organization's goals so that experts can understand them, and conversely, to translate the experts' output so that their customers, their colleagues, can understand them.
When Minami first read this part, she was surprised that the 'expert' in it was exactly like Director Gachi.
As written in the book, the problem that the value director was facing was 'communication'.
The director had more knowledge about baseball than anyone else, having even gone to the University of Tokyo, which is considered difficult to get into, to play baseball.
Minami had asked him several questions about baseball, and each time the manager gave answers based on his extensive knowledge, containing a tremendous amount of information.
But Minami couldn't understand the answer most of the time.
That's because the director always uses 'technical terms'.
---From Chapter 3
“I was a fielder throughout elementary, middle, and high school, and even in college. I wasn’t usually a starting player, so I didn’t really know what it was like to be an ace or a regular pitcher or a starting player.
So I asked him a lot of questions. What exactly is the 'pitcher's mind'?
“So?”
“There was one thing that my friend said that really struck me.”
“……What does that mean?”
“Yeah, that was, ‘There’s not a single pitcher in the world who wants to get an opposing batter out on a walk.’”
"yes?"
Minami screamed in surprise.
“That’s a perfect fit for this situation.”
"yes.
I was a little surprised, but he said that a walk is the most embarrassing result for any pitcher.
So no one wants to give up the ball, but it doesn't seem that way to the people around them.
That's what I mean. It's not that the pitcher is specifically aiming for a strikeout or doesn't trust the defenders, so he throws out a walk.
There are many reasons, but the main reason is that even though I absolutely do not want to give up the ball, I have no choice but to give it up.”
Minami began to feel nervous for the first time since joining the baseball club.
However, the content of the practice was not much different from before.
The monotonous training continued, simply repeating what had been done before.
So there was some dissatisfaction building up among the members.
Everyone felt something was missing.
I was feeling uneasy because I had nowhere to vent my long-awaited enthusiasm.
Minami, seeing that, thought that now was the opportunity.
Now is your chance.
I am convinced that now is the time to pursue ‘growth.’
In Management it is written:
Growth requires preparation.
You can't predict when an opportunity will come.
You have to prepare.
If you are not prepared, the opportunity will go somewhere else.
Marketing, the first function of a business, is not being done properly in too many businesses today.
It all ends in words.
The consumer movement speaks volumes about this.
What the consumer movement demands from companies is marketing.
It requires businesses to start from the needs, realities, and values of their customers.
It asks us to define the purpose of a business as 'the satisfaction of needs.'
We've been talking about marketing for a long time, but the fact that the consumer movement has emerged as a powerful mass movement ultimately means that marketing has not been properly implemented.
In marketing, consumer activism is a disgrace.
(Pages 16-17)
After reading this, Minami realized.
“The members’ slacking off on practice was a kind of ‘consumer movement.’
They were demanding improvements in training by skipping practice, or in other words, boycotting it.” It would be impossible to raise the baseball team to a level where it could compete in the Koshien tournament in six months.
If so, in order to make it possible to participate in the Koshien tournament, it is necessary to change the high school baseball team, not the baseball club.
So Minami started thinking about how he could change high school baseball.
Regarding that strategy, Management also wrote this:
Innovation adopts a strategy that assumes that everything existing is obsolete.
Therefore, if the strategic guidance for existing businesses is 'better, more,' then the strategic guidance for innovation must be 'newer, more different.'
The first step in the innovation strategy is to systematically and systematically discard the old, the obsolete, and the trite.
Organizations that innovate don't waste time and resources trying to preserve the past.
Only by letting go of the past can we liberate our resources, especially the precious resource of talent, and create something new.
In order for the baseball team to achieve innovation, they had to start by assuming that all existing high school baseball was outdated.
Moreover, there was a need to systematically and systematically discard what was old, outdated, and cliche in high school baseball.
---From Chapter 4
Any organization is tempted by complacency.
Organizational health is a very high-level requirement.
Because managing your own goals requires high standards.
To do that, we need to understand what performance is.
The results are not guaranteed.
It is impossible to achieve 100% success.
Performance should be viewed in the long term.
That is why you should never trust someone who has never made mistakes or failed.
Those people are the ones who have only done ordinary, unremarkable things.
Performance is like batting average in baseball.
There can be no weaknesses.
When only weaknesses are pointed out, people lose motivation and morale.
The more outstanding a person is, the more mistakes he makes.
The more outstanding a person is, the more willing he or she is to try new things.
Minami couldn't tell whether what Masayoshi was trying to do would be helpful to the baseball club or not.
But I knew full well that it was a 'new attempt'.
So, I tried to value his ‘motivation’ and ‘morale’.
---From Chapter 6
Ayano also expressed her opinion in favor.
“I think so too.
When Yunosuke is nervous, he makes mistakes, which is his weakness.
An organization is about eliminating its weaknesses and capitalizing on its strengths.
If that's the case, we'll have to use a different player for tomorrow's final.
“I think that was the right decision to achieve the baseball club’s goal of ‘participating in the Koshien Tournament.’” Coach Gachi, who had been listening silently, looked at Minami, who was also silent, and asked, “What do you think?”
“But still… even if there are times when he loses, I think managing him is believing in his growth and continuing to use him.”
---From Chapter 7
“Director, are you going to change it?” But the director glanced at Minami and said this.
“Don’t worry.
I'm not trying to change Yunosuke.
“Even if that guy tells me to give up my seat, I won’t change it.” And then, the announcer’s voice came out.
It was to change the runner on first base, Giro.
Instead of Jiro, who walked after being intentionally hit by a pitch, Fumiaki Kutsuki was brought in as a pinch runner.
“Director!” Minami looked at the director with wide eyes.
The director smiled at Minami.
“Just wait and see.
Because I will make you regret sending me out as a deliberate sandcastle.
“I am currently initiating an innovation that states that intentional sand dunes should never be used under any circumstances.”
---From Chapter 8
Publisher's Review
According to Peter Drucker's management theory
A youth novel about running towards victory
[Praise from domestic and international media]
The wisdom of Drucker, the "god of management," strikes a chord with me.
-Yomiuri Shimbun, March 9, 2010
When you reach a dead end at work and go to the business corner of a bookstore, the name 'Drucker' is sure to catch your eye.
When talking about management, we cannot leave out the great figures who guide us through numerous books.
This book also promotes Drucker's "Management."
However, the author suddenly chose a non-profit organization called a high school baseball club to explain Drucker.
Moreover, the main character is a female manager who is strongly perceived as having a supporting role rather than a player or coach.
A small baseball club aims for Koshien under the management of the protagonist.
This book goes beyond simply excerpting Drucker's famous quotes, but also explains in detail where and how they are used, and how people behave, making it even more memorable than the original.
Move the organization by leveraging people's strengths. Management is about the process rather than the results.
So, you can't run away.
Therefore, above all else, sincerity is important.
There is nothing more worthy of a manager than seriousness.
Those beautiful words touch my heart.
After reading the book, I want to find the real Drucker's books.
Innovation in the business book world
-Asahi Shimbun, February 12, 2010
The world of business books has changed dramatically in the last decade.
Success philosophies of first-class businessmen and classic management theories were pushed to the side, and light reading materials that advocated techniques for improving one's career or self-development, such as "Your Salary Right Now Is ○○○ Ten Thousand Yen" and "Super ○○ Skills," took over the mainstream.
Drucker defined 'innovation' not as technology itself, but as 'change that has an impact outside the organization.'
This is something you will never find in the light reading material mentioned above.
Meanwhile, Drucker's introductory book, Mosidora, featuring a girl as its protagonist, appears easy at first glance, but it possesses ideas and spirit that break the mold of the business book landscape (in its novel form and with its cover reminiscent of a romance comic). In other words, "innovation" exists here.
Japan's business novel "Mosidora" is a craze.
-Dong-A Ilbo, December 10, 2010, Tokyo Correspondent Kim Chang-won
Japan is obsessed with learning business administration.
To be precise, it is the management theory of Peter Drucker, who is called the 'founder of modern management theory.'
Not only office workers, but also housewives and students began to think about Drucker's organizational management and management.
What lit the fire was a youth novel written by an unknown author.
The title of the book is unusual.
'If the female manager of a high school baseball team had read Drucker's Management...' It is better known as 'Moshidora', a combination of the Japanese word 'moshi' meaning 'if' and the Japanese pronunciation of Drucker, 'dora'.
The author, Natsumi Iwasaki, reconstructed Drucker's masterpiece, Management, from the perspective of the novel's female protagonist, Minami.
The story is about Minami, who takes on the role of manager of a high school baseball team and is inspired by Drucker's management that he happened to pick up at a bookstore. He revitalizes the team and finally leads the perennial last place team to the national championship.
It is fascinating to see Minami, who is merely an assistant, apply the results of her self-questioning about "leadership qualities" and "innovation" as a "manager" to the baseball club one by one and change the organization.
It's as if the rigid management terms in a management theory book are being depicted as a video.
Mosidora became a huge hit in 2010, gaining popularity not only among office workers but also among middle and high school students.
The argument that the secret to this book's popularity lies in the sociological context of Japan is also persuasive.
This is said to be a reflection of the desire to restore the growing sense of solidarity among members of various organizational units such as families, companies, and regions in Japan.
The longing for an organizational manager who can revitalize stagnant countries and companies, and a leader who can provide clear leadership, is evoking a strong nostalgia for Drucker.
Japanese people, distrustful of politicians, delve into humanities and social science books.
-JoongAng Ilbo Sunday, December 19, 2010, Reporter Kim Young-hee
What was the best-selling book in Japan in 2010? With Haruki Murakami being trumpeted everywhere and exhaustingly mentioned all year, I had no doubt that the three volumes of Haruki Murakami's novel "1Q84" would be the number one bestseller of the year.
However, looking at the 2010 bestseller list recently announced by Oricon based on sales figures from bookstores across Japan, Volume 3 of "1Q84" ranked 3rd overall with a total of 847,000 copies sold.
So, what book has become the number one bestseller, surpassing world-renowned author Haruki Murakami? Its name is the oddly titled "Mosidora (pictured)."
'Mosidora' is an abbreviation of the long original title 'If a female high school baseball manager reads Drucker's 'Management' (もし高校野球ジメント" を〈8AAD〉んだら)'.
'Mosidora' is a combination of 'Moshi', which means 'if', and 'Dora', which is the Japanese pronunciation of Drucker.
This work by new writer Natsumi Iwasaki was published in December 2009 and sold 1.21 million copies as of November of this year, creating a 'Mosidora' craze.
Looking at the cover, you might think, 'Is this a comic?' but it's actually a self-help book that exquisitely combines a youth novel and a business book.
Due to its popularity, it will be made into a 10-part anime series on NHK, and a movie will be released in June.
Minami, a girl who becomes the new manager of a high school baseball team, happens to read management scholar Peter Drucker's "Management" and applies Drucker's management philosophy that she learned from the book to running the baseball team.
For example, from Drucker's advice, "Don't worry about what to sell, ask what the customers want," he concludes that "what the baseball team's customers want is emotion," and to achieve this, he sets a goal of "advancing to the Koshien (National High School Baseball Championship) finals."
As a result of reforming the baseball club while constantly thinking about goals, innovation, and leadership qualities, the school's baseball club, which had been in last place for years, proudly advanced to Koshien.
There are many analyses that link the popularity of humanities and social science books, including 'Mosidora', to the gloomy atmosphere in Japanese society.
Monthly Nikkei Entertainment interpreted this as, “One of the problems in Japan right now is that politicians lack leadership or management skills,” and “People voted for the Democratic Party in the hope that things would change when the government changed, but they realized that nothing has changed, that it is dangerous to leave judgment to politicians, and that there is no one they can trust. This sense of crisis is manifesting in this active desire to acquire knowledge.”
Mosidora's popularity in the publishing world is on the rise, with bookstores even designating it as a must-read.
-Korea Economic Daily, July 21, 2010, Reporter Kim Dong-guk
Natsumi Iwasaki, the author of Mosidora, was originally a broadcast writer with an art school background and had no knowledge of business administration.
However, the Japanese economic weekly Diamond reported that he became fascinated with the new charm of management after coming into contact with Drucker.
“I first learned about Drucker when I saw a netizen frequently quoting the phrase ‘management’ while playing an online game,” said Iwasaki. “I wanted to convey to young readers in a friendly way that management theories can be applied anywhere in life.”
Not only did the book sell well, but its influence deeply penetrated every corner of society.
The Economist reported that “even the proprietress of a souvenir shop in Tokyo’s Harajuku district, who seems to have nothing to do with Peter Drucker, is influenced by ‘Mosidora’ and holds staff meetings incorporating Drucker’s theories.”
Even ordinary store owners like Takeshi Ueno, who runs a small shop in downtown Tokyo, have designated Drucker's books as required reading for their employees, demonstrating the influence of Drucker on businesses large and small. According to The Economist, more than half of the "Mosidora" products sold in the first half of the year were purchased by women, drawing attention.
This is an unexpected result, as the book was originally intended for general office workers rather than women.
Along with this, the popularity of 'Mosidora' is also helping Drucker's original works to gain popularity.
In the case of Drucker's 'Management', which actually appears in 'Mosidora', it took 26 years to sell 100,000 copies in Japan after its publication in 1973, but it has sold 300,000 copies in the first half of this year.
More than three times the sales volume over the past 40 years were sold within six months.
The Economist analyzed that the reason why Drucker-related books are popular in the Japanese market is because “Drucker’s management advice, which emphasizes setting clear and measurable goals, is having a big impact in Japanese culture, which is characterized by ‘Gambare (fighting)’.”
It was also assessed that Drucker, who was known to have had a great affection for Japan during his lifetime, had an influence when he advised in his later years that “Japanese companies will soon be overtaken by rival companies from Korea, China, and Japan,” and that “in order to avoid this situation, they need to focus more on what they are good at and properly understand their own value.”
Japanese society is turning to management guru Drucker as a prescription to alleviate anxiety about the competitiveness of Japanese companies, which are currently showing signs of instability everywhere.
Mosidora, who quelled the Haruki Murakami craze
The Korea Economic Daily, February 11, 2011, Tokyo Correspondent Cha Byeong-seok
Last year, there was a book that swept Japan into a 'Peter Drucker craze.'
The book that has captivated everyone from office workers to housewives and students into the management philosophy of Drucker, the "father of modern management," is the uniquely titled "If the Female Manager of a High School Baseball Team Had Read Drucker's Management."
This book, better known by its abbreviation 'Mosidora', which combines the Japanese word 'Moshi', meaning 'if' in the book's title, and the Japanese pronunciation of Drucker, 'Dora', is a youth novel.
The story is about a female student named Minami Kawashima, who is the manager (assistant manager) of a high school baseball team. She happens to find Drucker's "Management" in a bookstore and reads it. She then applies Drucker's management theories and philosophy to the management of the baseball team, leading the perennial last-place team to advance to the national championship.
At first, the baseball players didn't even know who Drucker was, but they wove a story about how they realized their mission and why they should play baseball through Drucker's famous quote, "The reason for the existence of a company (organization) is the customer, and the purpose of a company is to create a market."
This book is extremely popular.
Since its release in December 2009, 2.22 million copies (of which 100,000 were e-books) have been sold as of the 14th.
This is the highest sales record among books published by Diamond Publishing since its founding in 1913.
It sold more copies than Haruki Murakami's popular novel '1Q84 Volume 1' (1,565,000 copies), which was a bestseller in Japan last year.
Interview with author Natsumi Iwasaki
-Korea Economic Daily Correspondent Cha Byeong-seok
▼I'm curious about how you came to write 'Mosidora'.
"Five years ago, I received an instruction from the famous lyricist Yasushi Akimoto, who was the president of the company I was working for, to 'plan a movie with a high school girl as the main character.'
I wanted to create an unusual story like the popular foreign novel at the time, 'The Da Vinci Code', so I looked for a theme that would not be suitable for a high school girl.
At that time, I was deeply impressed by Peter Drucker's book 'Management' that I happened to read, and the word 'manager' appeared frequently in the book, which inspired me to write this novel.
The thought occurred to me, what if a female manager of a high school baseball team read Drucker's "Management" and managed the baseball team based on it?
"
▼The author did not major in business administration and has worked in a field that is far removed from business administration.
Is there a reason why you became interested in Drucker's 'Management'?
"Five years ago, I was addicted to an online game.
It was a game where players formed teams to defeat monsters.
I was the team leader, and I was having a hard time because the team wasn't moving properly.
While I was wondering if there was any information that could be helpful, I came across an article on the Internet that said, "I am running my team with reference to Peter Drucker's book."
I went to the bookstore right away, bought 'Management', read it, and was so moved that I even cried.
His sentences were so elegant and majestic that they rivaled those of my favorite authors, Cervantes, Victor Hugo, and Mark Twain.
"
▼What part of Peter Drucker's 'Management' particularly impressed you?
"This is the part that mentions the qualifications as a manager.
These days, it seems that people who are sociable and have good interpersonal skills are considered good managers.
But that may not be enough.
In fact, successful organizations have bosses who ignore cooperation and have poor interpersonal relationships.
This type of boss may be demanding and arbitrary, but he develops more talent than anyone else.
There are times when a person is more respected by his subordinates than by others.
Always demand the best performance and deliver the best performance yourself.
They only think about what is right, not who is right.
Seriousness about work is valued more than intellectual ability.
If you don't have these qualities, no matter how good your interpersonal skills are or how capable you are, you are disqualified as a manager.
If I had to pick a manager's quality that cannot be acquired later in life, it would be 'seriousness'.
I was really impressed by the part where Peter Drucker emphasized this.
"
▼Did you expect 'Mosidora' to become such a hit?
"Actually, I wrote the book with that in mind.
I thought it would sell 2 million copies from the beginning.
"
▼Why do you think 'Mosidora' became a bestseller?
"Currently, many people in Japan need knowledge of 'management'.
However, Drucker's 'Management' was not an easily accessible book.
I acted as a bridge between the demand for management knowledge and the book on management.
That bridge is a book called 'Mosidora'.
I think that's the secret to its popularity.
"
▼This book was very popular not only among business executives but also among the general public.
What do you think is the reason?
"The main reason is that many ordinary people have changed from being managed to having to manage others.
Not only business executives but also ordinary people can find many benefits from applying management knowledge in their organizations and daily lives.
"
▼What message did you want to convey to readers through ‘Mosidora’?
"The thing is, Drucker's book 'Management' is really interesting.
"
▼What lessons can individuals and organizations learn from the book “Management”?
“The fact is that everything starts from the customer.
Knowing who your own or your organization's customers are and how to satisfy them is one of the most fundamental principles of management.
Management is not about selfishness, but altruism.
"
▼Drucker wrote 'Management' 37 years ago.
Why do you think such an old book is still relevant to business?
“The essence of management does not change with the passage of time.
Management contains the unchanging fundamentals and principles of business.
"
▼Recently, Korean companies such as Samsung Electronics are attracting attention in Japan.
What do you think about Korean companies?
"I have the impression that these are companies that focus on their strengths and achieve outstanding results.
"
▼If you have any advice for Korean business leaders.
“I think Korea will follow a similar path to Japan.
The economy cannot continue to grow indefinitely.
It will inevitably reach its limits.
At that time, the question becomes, 'How can we live happily and abundantly without growing?'
Companies that respond quickly to such challenges will survive in the future.
"
[Japanese readers' reactions]
The most impressive organizational theory.
While reading a book on the Shinkansen, I couldn't hold back my tears, even though I was a man. - Systems Engineer
Because it was in novel format, it was really fun and easy to read.
I was surprised that I could be so impressed by management - Office worker
A must-read for job seekers, even if it means putting their job search on hold for a while - College Students
Just as a small baseball team was transformed by Drucker's words, I hope I can transform myself too. -inve (Nagano Prefecture)
Watching the underdog baseball team at a public high school transform so dramatically under Drucker's management, I felt it could be applied directly to current corporate organizations and hobby clubs. This isn't just a simple read; it's a practical, actionable guide, so I give it 5 stars without hesitation.
I'm lucky to have the chance to read the best book of the year at the end of the year.
-ramblelazy
[Korean Readers' Reactions]
The meeting of business and baseball.
The meeting of these two people who seemed like they would never get along was rather interesting.
-nj**3019
The content is in a cartoon-like format, making it great for concentration.
Usually, as the main character grows, I feel a sense of accomplishment as I grow as well.
-lj**202
The development is natural and the background of the flow is familiar, so it feels smooth to read.
The easy and difficult parts were appropriately connected, so the learning that was originally intended was easy.
-fl**i
This book talks about the qualities of a manager as an important topic.
Peter Drucker says that the most important quality for a manager is innate "seriousness."
-jl**1120
A youth novel about running towards victory
[Praise from domestic and international media]
The wisdom of Drucker, the "god of management," strikes a chord with me.
-Yomiuri Shimbun, March 9, 2010
When you reach a dead end at work and go to the business corner of a bookstore, the name 'Drucker' is sure to catch your eye.
When talking about management, we cannot leave out the great figures who guide us through numerous books.
This book also promotes Drucker's "Management."
However, the author suddenly chose a non-profit organization called a high school baseball club to explain Drucker.
Moreover, the main character is a female manager who is strongly perceived as having a supporting role rather than a player or coach.
A small baseball club aims for Koshien under the management of the protagonist.
This book goes beyond simply excerpting Drucker's famous quotes, but also explains in detail where and how they are used, and how people behave, making it even more memorable than the original.
Move the organization by leveraging people's strengths. Management is about the process rather than the results.
So, you can't run away.
Therefore, above all else, sincerity is important.
There is nothing more worthy of a manager than seriousness.
Those beautiful words touch my heart.
After reading the book, I want to find the real Drucker's books.
Innovation in the business book world
-Asahi Shimbun, February 12, 2010
The world of business books has changed dramatically in the last decade.
Success philosophies of first-class businessmen and classic management theories were pushed to the side, and light reading materials that advocated techniques for improving one's career or self-development, such as "Your Salary Right Now Is ○○○ Ten Thousand Yen" and "Super ○○ Skills," took over the mainstream.
Drucker defined 'innovation' not as technology itself, but as 'change that has an impact outside the organization.'
This is something you will never find in the light reading material mentioned above.
Meanwhile, Drucker's introductory book, Mosidora, featuring a girl as its protagonist, appears easy at first glance, but it possesses ideas and spirit that break the mold of the business book landscape (in its novel form and with its cover reminiscent of a romance comic). In other words, "innovation" exists here.
Japan's business novel "Mosidora" is a craze.
-Dong-A Ilbo, December 10, 2010, Tokyo Correspondent Kim Chang-won
Japan is obsessed with learning business administration.
To be precise, it is the management theory of Peter Drucker, who is called the 'founder of modern management theory.'
Not only office workers, but also housewives and students began to think about Drucker's organizational management and management.
What lit the fire was a youth novel written by an unknown author.
The title of the book is unusual.
'If the female manager of a high school baseball team had read Drucker's Management...' It is better known as 'Moshidora', a combination of the Japanese word 'moshi' meaning 'if' and the Japanese pronunciation of Drucker, 'dora'.
The author, Natsumi Iwasaki, reconstructed Drucker's masterpiece, Management, from the perspective of the novel's female protagonist, Minami.
The story is about Minami, who takes on the role of manager of a high school baseball team and is inspired by Drucker's management that he happened to pick up at a bookstore. He revitalizes the team and finally leads the perennial last place team to the national championship.
It is fascinating to see Minami, who is merely an assistant, apply the results of her self-questioning about "leadership qualities" and "innovation" as a "manager" to the baseball club one by one and change the organization.
It's as if the rigid management terms in a management theory book are being depicted as a video.
Mosidora became a huge hit in 2010, gaining popularity not only among office workers but also among middle and high school students.
The argument that the secret to this book's popularity lies in the sociological context of Japan is also persuasive.
This is said to be a reflection of the desire to restore the growing sense of solidarity among members of various organizational units such as families, companies, and regions in Japan.
The longing for an organizational manager who can revitalize stagnant countries and companies, and a leader who can provide clear leadership, is evoking a strong nostalgia for Drucker.
Japanese people, distrustful of politicians, delve into humanities and social science books.
-JoongAng Ilbo Sunday, December 19, 2010, Reporter Kim Young-hee
What was the best-selling book in Japan in 2010? With Haruki Murakami being trumpeted everywhere and exhaustingly mentioned all year, I had no doubt that the three volumes of Haruki Murakami's novel "1Q84" would be the number one bestseller of the year.
However, looking at the 2010 bestseller list recently announced by Oricon based on sales figures from bookstores across Japan, Volume 3 of "1Q84" ranked 3rd overall with a total of 847,000 copies sold.
So, what book has become the number one bestseller, surpassing world-renowned author Haruki Murakami? Its name is the oddly titled "Mosidora (pictured)."
'Mosidora' is an abbreviation of the long original title 'If a female high school baseball manager reads Drucker's 'Management' (もし高校野球ジメント" を〈8AAD〉んだら)'.
'Mosidora' is a combination of 'Moshi', which means 'if', and 'Dora', which is the Japanese pronunciation of Drucker.
This work by new writer Natsumi Iwasaki was published in December 2009 and sold 1.21 million copies as of November of this year, creating a 'Mosidora' craze.
Looking at the cover, you might think, 'Is this a comic?' but it's actually a self-help book that exquisitely combines a youth novel and a business book.
Due to its popularity, it will be made into a 10-part anime series on NHK, and a movie will be released in June.
Minami, a girl who becomes the new manager of a high school baseball team, happens to read management scholar Peter Drucker's "Management" and applies Drucker's management philosophy that she learned from the book to running the baseball team.
For example, from Drucker's advice, "Don't worry about what to sell, ask what the customers want," he concludes that "what the baseball team's customers want is emotion," and to achieve this, he sets a goal of "advancing to the Koshien (National High School Baseball Championship) finals."
As a result of reforming the baseball club while constantly thinking about goals, innovation, and leadership qualities, the school's baseball club, which had been in last place for years, proudly advanced to Koshien.
There are many analyses that link the popularity of humanities and social science books, including 'Mosidora', to the gloomy atmosphere in Japanese society.
Monthly Nikkei Entertainment interpreted this as, “One of the problems in Japan right now is that politicians lack leadership or management skills,” and “People voted for the Democratic Party in the hope that things would change when the government changed, but they realized that nothing has changed, that it is dangerous to leave judgment to politicians, and that there is no one they can trust. This sense of crisis is manifesting in this active desire to acquire knowledge.”
Mosidora's popularity in the publishing world is on the rise, with bookstores even designating it as a must-read.
-Korea Economic Daily, July 21, 2010, Reporter Kim Dong-guk
Natsumi Iwasaki, the author of Mosidora, was originally a broadcast writer with an art school background and had no knowledge of business administration.
However, the Japanese economic weekly Diamond reported that he became fascinated with the new charm of management after coming into contact with Drucker.
“I first learned about Drucker when I saw a netizen frequently quoting the phrase ‘management’ while playing an online game,” said Iwasaki. “I wanted to convey to young readers in a friendly way that management theories can be applied anywhere in life.”
Not only did the book sell well, but its influence deeply penetrated every corner of society.
The Economist reported that “even the proprietress of a souvenir shop in Tokyo’s Harajuku district, who seems to have nothing to do with Peter Drucker, is influenced by ‘Mosidora’ and holds staff meetings incorporating Drucker’s theories.”
Even ordinary store owners like Takeshi Ueno, who runs a small shop in downtown Tokyo, have designated Drucker's books as required reading for their employees, demonstrating the influence of Drucker on businesses large and small. According to The Economist, more than half of the "Mosidora" products sold in the first half of the year were purchased by women, drawing attention.
This is an unexpected result, as the book was originally intended for general office workers rather than women.
Along with this, the popularity of 'Mosidora' is also helping Drucker's original works to gain popularity.
In the case of Drucker's 'Management', which actually appears in 'Mosidora', it took 26 years to sell 100,000 copies in Japan after its publication in 1973, but it has sold 300,000 copies in the first half of this year.
More than three times the sales volume over the past 40 years were sold within six months.
The Economist analyzed that the reason why Drucker-related books are popular in the Japanese market is because “Drucker’s management advice, which emphasizes setting clear and measurable goals, is having a big impact in Japanese culture, which is characterized by ‘Gambare (fighting)’.”
It was also assessed that Drucker, who was known to have had a great affection for Japan during his lifetime, had an influence when he advised in his later years that “Japanese companies will soon be overtaken by rival companies from Korea, China, and Japan,” and that “in order to avoid this situation, they need to focus more on what they are good at and properly understand their own value.”
Japanese society is turning to management guru Drucker as a prescription to alleviate anxiety about the competitiveness of Japanese companies, which are currently showing signs of instability everywhere.
Mosidora, who quelled the Haruki Murakami craze
The Korea Economic Daily, February 11, 2011, Tokyo Correspondent Cha Byeong-seok
Last year, there was a book that swept Japan into a 'Peter Drucker craze.'
The book that has captivated everyone from office workers to housewives and students into the management philosophy of Drucker, the "father of modern management," is the uniquely titled "If the Female Manager of a High School Baseball Team Had Read Drucker's Management."
This book, better known by its abbreviation 'Mosidora', which combines the Japanese word 'Moshi', meaning 'if' in the book's title, and the Japanese pronunciation of Drucker, 'Dora', is a youth novel.
The story is about a female student named Minami Kawashima, who is the manager (assistant manager) of a high school baseball team. She happens to find Drucker's "Management" in a bookstore and reads it. She then applies Drucker's management theories and philosophy to the management of the baseball team, leading the perennial last-place team to advance to the national championship.
At first, the baseball players didn't even know who Drucker was, but they wove a story about how they realized their mission and why they should play baseball through Drucker's famous quote, "The reason for the existence of a company (organization) is the customer, and the purpose of a company is to create a market."
This book is extremely popular.
Since its release in December 2009, 2.22 million copies (of which 100,000 were e-books) have been sold as of the 14th.
This is the highest sales record among books published by Diamond Publishing since its founding in 1913.
It sold more copies than Haruki Murakami's popular novel '1Q84 Volume 1' (1,565,000 copies), which was a bestseller in Japan last year.
Interview with author Natsumi Iwasaki
-Korea Economic Daily Correspondent Cha Byeong-seok
▼I'm curious about how you came to write 'Mosidora'.
"Five years ago, I received an instruction from the famous lyricist Yasushi Akimoto, who was the president of the company I was working for, to 'plan a movie with a high school girl as the main character.'
I wanted to create an unusual story like the popular foreign novel at the time, 'The Da Vinci Code', so I looked for a theme that would not be suitable for a high school girl.
At that time, I was deeply impressed by Peter Drucker's book 'Management' that I happened to read, and the word 'manager' appeared frequently in the book, which inspired me to write this novel.
The thought occurred to me, what if a female manager of a high school baseball team read Drucker's "Management" and managed the baseball team based on it?
"
▼The author did not major in business administration and has worked in a field that is far removed from business administration.
Is there a reason why you became interested in Drucker's 'Management'?
"Five years ago, I was addicted to an online game.
It was a game where players formed teams to defeat monsters.
I was the team leader, and I was having a hard time because the team wasn't moving properly.
While I was wondering if there was any information that could be helpful, I came across an article on the Internet that said, "I am running my team with reference to Peter Drucker's book."
I went to the bookstore right away, bought 'Management', read it, and was so moved that I even cried.
His sentences were so elegant and majestic that they rivaled those of my favorite authors, Cervantes, Victor Hugo, and Mark Twain.
"
▼What part of Peter Drucker's 'Management' particularly impressed you?
"This is the part that mentions the qualifications as a manager.
These days, it seems that people who are sociable and have good interpersonal skills are considered good managers.
But that may not be enough.
In fact, successful organizations have bosses who ignore cooperation and have poor interpersonal relationships.
This type of boss may be demanding and arbitrary, but he develops more talent than anyone else.
There are times when a person is more respected by his subordinates than by others.
Always demand the best performance and deliver the best performance yourself.
They only think about what is right, not who is right.
Seriousness about work is valued more than intellectual ability.
If you don't have these qualities, no matter how good your interpersonal skills are or how capable you are, you are disqualified as a manager.
If I had to pick a manager's quality that cannot be acquired later in life, it would be 'seriousness'.
I was really impressed by the part where Peter Drucker emphasized this.
"
▼Did you expect 'Mosidora' to become such a hit?
"Actually, I wrote the book with that in mind.
I thought it would sell 2 million copies from the beginning.
"
▼Why do you think 'Mosidora' became a bestseller?
"Currently, many people in Japan need knowledge of 'management'.
However, Drucker's 'Management' was not an easily accessible book.
I acted as a bridge between the demand for management knowledge and the book on management.
That bridge is a book called 'Mosidora'.
I think that's the secret to its popularity.
"
▼This book was very popular not only among business executives but also among the general public.
What do you think is the reason?
"The main reason is that many ordinary people have changed from being managed to having to manage others.
Not only business executives but also ordinary people can find many benefits from applying management knowledge in their organizations and daily lives.
"
▼What message did you want to convey to readers through ‘Mosidora’?
"The thing is, Drucker's book 'Management' is really interesting.
"
▼What lessons can individuals and organizations learn from the book “Management”?
“The fact is that everything starts from the customer.
Knowing who your own or your organization's customers are and how to satisfy them is one of the most fundamental principles of management.
Management is not about selfishness, but altruism.
"
▼Drucker wrote 'Management' 37 years ago.
Why do you think such an old book is still relevant to business?
“The essence of management does not change with the passage of time.
Management contains the unchanging fundamentals and principles of business.
"
▼Recently, Korean companies such as Samsung Electronics are attracting attention in Japan.
What do you think about Korean companies?
"I have the impression that these are companies that focus on their strengths and achieve outstanding results.
"
▼If you have any advice for Korean business leaders.
“I think Korea will follow a similar path to Japan.
The economy cannot continue to grow indefinitely.
It will inevitably reach its limits.
At that time, the question becomes, 'How can we live happily and abundantly without growing?'
Companies that respond quickly to such challenges will survive in the future.
"
[Japanese readers' reactions]
The most impressive organizational theory.
While reading a book on the Shinkansen, I couldn't hold back my tears, even though I was a man. - Systems Engineer
Because it was in novel format, it was really fun and easy to read.
I was surprised that I could be so impressed by management - Office worker
A must-read for job seekers, even if it means putting their job search on hold for a while - College Students
Just as a small baseball team was transformed by Drucker's words, I hope I can transform myself too. -inve (Nagano Prefecture)
Watching the underdog baseball team at a public high school transform so dramatically under Drucker's management, I felt it could be applied directly to current corporate organizations and hobby clubs. This isn't just a simple read; it's a practical, actionable guide, so I give it 5 stars without hesitation.
I'm lucky to have the chance to read the best book of the year at the end of the year.
-ramblelazy
[Korean Readers' Reactions]
The meeting of business and baseball.
The meeting of these two people who seemed like they would never get along was rather interesting.
-nj**3019
The content is in a cartoon-like format, making it great for concentration.
Usually, as the main character grows, I feel a sense of accomplishment as I grow as well.
-lj**202
The development is natural and the background of the flow is familiar, so it feels smooth to read.
The easy and difficult parts were appropriately connected, so the learning that was originally intended was easy.
-fl**i
This book talks about the qualities of a manager as an important topic.
Peter Drucker says that the most important quality for a manager is innate "seriousness."
-jl**1120
GOODS SPECIFICS
- Date of issue: July 21, 2022
- Format: Hardcover book binding method guide
- Page count, weight, size: 264 pages | 384g | 152*215*20mm
- ISBN13: 9791192101149
- ISBN10: 1192101146
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