Behavior: Therapy by Dummies

Leaving his station, the distraught worker approaches two life-sized padded dummies seated on a platform. Picking up a bamboo stave placed conveniently near by, he ferociously attacks the dummies, slashing and swatting them until his fury is spent.

This strange activity, repeated daily at an Osaka plant of the giant Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., is actually a form of therapy provided by Board Chairman Konosuke Matsushita as a rather uncommon fringe benefit. In Matsushita's "self-control room," which has attracted thousands of workers, an employee can harmlessly work off his tension, frustration and rage.

Fun-House Mirrors. To help workers relax and perhaps even laugh...

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