Library skill · Thinkers' principles

Inamori-style small-unit profit review

v1.0.1 · Updated 4 November 2026

Reviews how your teams are split into small profit units and measured, against Kazuo Inamori's published principles: own leader and plan, added value per hour, everyone takes part. Use it when you want each team to see its own profit and act like it runs its own shop.

Not affiliated with or endorsed by Kazuo Inamori or their companies. About these principles: Kazuo Inamori's ideas, explained.

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When to use it

You want each team to see its own profit and act like it runs its own shop
You are designing a monthly unit report or comparing units that do different work

What you give it

Teams, leaders and what each delivers
Sales, expenses and hours per unit
How work and money move between units
Who writes and approves each unit's plan

What you get

A review with a unit map, added value per hour per unit, sales and expense levers, participation gaps, risks, and one pilot as the next step.

How it works

Map the units List each unit with its leader, what it produces, its customer (external or another unit), and headcount. Flag any unit that has no clear output to sell or hand over: it can't show a result of its own.
Check each unit against principle 1 Can it be measured on its own revenue and expenses? Is it small enough for the leader to know every member's work? Is it tied to the market (its revenue moves when customers buy more or less)? Mark each yes, no, or [check].
Check who owns the plan (principle 2) For each unit: does the leader write the plan, or does it arrive from above? Is there an approval step? A leader who only receives targets fails this principle.
Compute added value per hour (principle 4) For each unit: added value = revenue minus the expenses the unit's work uses; divide by total hours worked. Show the formula with the user's own expense lines, state which expenses you included, and mark the choice "[decide: which expenses count]" when the input doesn't say. Compare units on this number, and month to month.
Look for sales and expense levers (principle 5) For each unit, name the largest lever to raise sales and the largest expense to cut, from the user's numbers only. Flag pricing decisions that sit with nobody in particular: under principle 5's companion article, pricing is a management decision.
Check participation (principle 3) Do members see the unit's numbers, set their own goals, and know how their work moves the number? Note what the user would have to change for that to be true.
Name the risks Common ones: units competing instead of cooperating, internal prices that cause disputes, leaders gaming hours, and too much reporting for a small team. Give each a guard.
Recommend the smallest next step Usually: one pilot unit, one monthly report, one meeting where the leader presents it.

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