Woodford confident justice will be served in Olympus cover-up

In a country where judges have been quoted as saying about those arraigned; 'no one has come before me and not been punished'. (sic) The medieval maze that is the Japanese judicial system is to put it simply, best avoided. This is a very weird system and if you've somehow gotten so much as a fingernail in it, it will slowly pull you in and grind one to powder. Scary ...

In Japan, "justice" is a room of old men bowing for the cameras.

I don't share his confidence, somehow.

In other countries, the US to be specific, what exactly is the board of directors supposed to do?

1)Develop Company Goals

Dictate on the direction of the company, by defining specific markets, observing competitors and deciding how the company will stand out

2)Buildi a Team within organizaton Execute fire, hire and lead the senior management team and set up corporate culture

3)Set Budgets

Set annual budget based on financial statement and market. Financial skills are important for such decisions and tasks.

4)Execute in Public Relations

He/she is the public face of the company in relation to media, shareholders and clients.

When they hired him they did not think he would look at the past?

They thought he would act as other Japanese in his position would do, talk over it in the izekaya, accept a hefty bribe, and forget what has happened there.

So Woodford already has his "dream team" ready huh? I for one, am hoping that this new team would be more responsible in regards to the company, and their jobs.

globalwatcher,

Thanks for the specifics.

fire, hire and lead the senior management team and set up corporate culture

Then, shouldn't the Olympus board quit en masse? Or at least, shouldn't the shareholders vote them out and vote in a whole new board, one that can deal with such ethical problems as lying to the shareholders?

yeah, justice will be done BUT in Japanese style much different than normal world standard. I mean unique Anime Type !

About this case, I have a question for you business types out there. In other countries, the US to be specific, what exactly is the board of directors supposed to do? Do they just sit around and nod when the majority stockholder speaks or do they have an oversight responsibility? Are boards of directors made up of major stockholders or friends of the company?

What, in other words, are the responsibilities of boards of directors?

Because "justice is blind" and the judicial system in Japan consists of judges who know right from wrong and how to mete out punishments that fit the crime - riiiiight!

When they hired him they did not think he would look at the past?

The only way to move forward and improve the future is to see what was done in the past.

sorry, woodford, but whistleblowers are never welcomed back, regardless of how altruistic the action is.

@rickvee

sorry, woodford, but whistleblowers are never welcomed back, regardless of how altruistic the action is.

I'm sure the shareholder think differently.

Woodford was fired as CEO last month after questioning dubious accounting at Olympus, but he remains on the board and can only be removed by shareholders.

JT took my yesterdays correction :)

Watch for the Movie in late 2012 or early 2013. Might make more money than "Wall Street" or "Social Network".

@rickyvee

Shareholders in Japan normally don't get involved in company business but they still have the same powers as other shareholders in other countries. Well see what happens, already two board members have quit, I guess they are going to get raked over.

Good luck to what Mr. Woodford is trying to do.

I'm looking forward to see how far he gets.

What justice is he talking about? His future luxurious Expat package and a holiday home is Cyprus or something?

@gogogo

this is japan where shareholders have very little sway on how a company is managed and run. and the only shareholders who are clamoring for woodford to return are a few foreign institutional investors who own 4%, which isn't much. i haven't heard many japanese investors hoping for the return of this "white" knight.

Just hope this guy does not have any issues later with the Japanese yakuza that are behind this idiot scandal at Olympus as Takahashi san had told me.