松下幸之助の製品デザインに対する考え方と運営: 初期の松下電器におけるデザイン活動に関する研究（１）

This paper investigates how Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (MEI) started to focus on designing products. Three main findings through literature research are described below.
1) In 1951, the headquarter of MEI invited Zenichiro Mano to establish a product design section under its advertisement department. However, before 1951, a section for radio set design development had already existed in MEI. 2) Through his visit to the United States in 1951, Konosuke Matsushita learned how design aspects of electric appliances affected to product sales. Then, back in Japan, he set out a design-focused product development policy. "We are entering an era of design" is a legendary quote from Mr. Matsushita's speech in that time. This paper, however, finds no concrete evidences if he actually used the phrase. 3) From the establishment of his company, Mr. Matsushita noted the importance of advertisements in product sales and regarded product design as a part of advertisement activities.