Carlos Ghosn
First a bit of background: I come from a car manufacturing background having spent several years in the management side of the industry so the Carlos Ghosn story was of great interest to me.
Carlos Ghosn is a legend, right up there with the likes of Henry Ford, Enzo Ferrari, Ferdinand Porsche, Lee Iacocca and more recently Sergio Marchionne. 20 books have been written about him and his management methods, management school textbooks quote his M&A guidelines and many in the industry learned from him. His arrest in Japan was a shock and his escape was cheered, so when he announced he would hold a press conference last week, I was all ears, but now wish I hadn't tuned in. His mono-ranting did not impress, I expected a man of his reputation and stature to speak professionally and clear his name of wrongdoings, I was disappointed, in the end, I've put him at the bottom my list of idols. The guy did not defend himself, all he did was try to gather sympathy by quoting all the grate things he did and so ask "how dare" anyone accuse him of criminal wrongdoing in the face of all the greatness.
Well, Mr Ghosn, it seems you have incriminated yourself, trying to convince everybody that the good cancels out the bad, taking this line just puts you above the law, and the law does not care whether you believe that having done more good than bad should exempt you from prosecution. The Japanese did indeed mistreat him by taking away some rights he should have been granted, but again, this does not diminish the validity of the accusation. Ghosn's career is over unless he is man enough to face his accusers and clear his name through the legal system... something he won't do unless he is really innocent which does not seem to be the case.
There is something to learn from this story, something I also experienced first hand at grate personal cost. Foreigners that try to operate anywhere in Asia without a deep understanding and respect of the culture, or if they operate with the attitude that the Western way is superior, will find themselves unwanted and put under the microscope to achieve that end. Perhaps Ghosn should have studied the fate of the foreign CEO of Konica, who thought he was carrying out his duty but instead got voted out of office by the shareholders who did not appreciate his smearing of the founder's name with disclosure of missing money (some $2b) while the founder was the CEO. Even though the shareholders had skin in the game, honour prevailed.
