Thomas Hoover - The samurai strategy

"I've just finished putting together a list of management experts. They're dedicated people. Most of them will probably help us for a small honorarium instead of their usual consulting fees."

"These personnel are an area I wish to discuss with you," Mori pushed ahead, almost as though not listening. That was when Tam realized she was finally getting around to the real agenda of the meeting. "It is our opinion that, at this stage, the heavy involvement of Americans in that capacity would be counterproductive."

"'Our opinion'?" Tam didn't like the sound of this. "Who exactly is 'our'?"

"I have reviewed Dai Nippon's program in some detail with… the interested parties in Tokyo." Mori appeared to be making an announcement. "They have concurred that at this stage it would be more efficient if we assigned our own specialists to assist in the management of these companies."

"Your own specialists?" Now Tam was starting to bristle. "Just whom do you have in mind?"

"Industrial experts such as Kenji Asano, for example, may be involved." She continued, "We have a great reservoir of talent to choose from, particularly within the Ministry of International Trade and Industry."

"MITI?" Tarn stared at her, dumbfounded. She couldn't believe her own ears. That was like calling in a fox to fortify your henhouse. "You've got to be joking."

"The decision was made last week." Mori fixed her coldly. "Noda-san has been informed, and he finds the suggestion… acceptable."

"Well, I don't," Tam flared. "It's outrageous."

"There is something you must understand, Dr. Richardson," Mori continued in Japanese. "The management of a company should represent its ownership. Since Dai Nippon will be holding what amounts to a controlling interest in these firms, we are obliged to assist them using whatever international specialists we feel are most qualified to contribute. For now we believe that the expertise in our Ministry of International Trade and Industry is most appropriate since it has guided corporate growth in Japan for many years with undeniable success."

"That's irrelevant." Tam steamed. "First, most MITI executives don't necessarily understand American business. And second, MITI has no right involving itself in the operation of our industry. It's a flagrant conflict of interest."

"There I must disagree with you. On your first point, many Japanese firms have been manufacturing here and have an excellent record of labor relations and management success. As to your second point, using specialists trained by MITI is simply the most efficient way to transfer Japanese expertise."

"It won't be allowed."

"Why shouldn't it be? Any people we bring here will be on leave of absence. Hence they will no longer have any official ties to the Japanese government. No law prevents us from appointing whomever we wish."

Ouch, Tam thought. She's right. Nothing could stop Dai Nippon from restructuring the boards of directors of the companies in which it held a voting majority of shares. In fact, several Japanese firms had already taken over and reopened the manufacturing facilities of some of the very companies MITI's "targeting" had decked only a few years before, bringing in Japanese board members as part of the deal. What's more, Americans loved it. Governors were falling over themselves to attract Japanese joint ventures to their states.

"Does Noda-san understand the significance of bringing in MITI personnel?"

"There are many interests to be addressed…"

At this point I wandered in, together with Noda, to talk about setting up a meeting that afternoon. We'd been reviewing DNI's plans for a new program of real estate investment and construction, part of expanding the research or manufacturing facilities of the firms it was now in the process of absorbing.

I passed a pleasantry with Tam, then studied her, puzzled. "You look a little distressed this morning."

"I'm receiving an update on a change in our program." Tam glared back at Mori, then turned to Noda. "What's this about bringing in people from MITI?"

Noda smiled, but he looked a trifle uncomfortable. "Think of it as a temporary measure." He nodded toward Mori, then looked back at Tam. "We always like to operate by consensus. And that consensus among the fund managers who have joined us appears to be that our investments should initially be monitored by our own people."

"I thought this office was going to be in charge of determining who our people would be, not somebody in MITI." Tam fixed him coldly, then turned on me. "Did you know anything about this?"

"Bringing in honchos from MITI? News to me." I examined Noda. "I understood the management end of this was going to be directed by Dr. Richardson."

He was smiling again. "But it will be. She will continue to meet with the CEOs of the firms we intend to assist to provide our preliminary analysis of their operations, and she will be with us every step we take."

"It hardly sounds that way." Tam was boiling. "The way it looks now, I set up a reorganization plan, then MITI's people come in and take over."

"Merely for consultation, Dr. Richardson. I assure you." He glanced uncomfortably at Mori-san. Both Tam and I had the same hunch at that point: Noda's backers had started to get a little edgy about his investments, so they'd decided to send in some brass from the Delta Force to keep an eye on things. But you'd never have suspected that as he continued, "Dr. Richardson, surely you must be aware that MITI personnel are not in the habit of, as you phrase it, 'taking over.' At most MITI merely recommends policies to enhance competitiveness. Furthermore, the individuals we will engage will no longer be associated with MITI. They will merely be specialists in our hire. Their participation will be extremely beneficial, please believe me."

"If making decisions like this is your idea of consensus, then I don't think much of it." Tam was getting increasingly wound up. "And I'll tell you something else. I intend to review the government connections of anyone you bring in. I'm going to have final say."

"We all want to work together," Noda continued smoothly. "Our plans are continuing to evolve. Of course I will insist on full American-Japanese coordination and cooperation at every stage." He looked squarely at Tam. "You have my word."

She glanced over at me, trying her best to keep cool. I was toying with my papers, still posing as a neutral observer, but I was equally puzzled. Why would Japan's Ministry of International Trade and Industry let its people be used to assist American companies? Okay, MITI's elite technocrats were probably the cream of Japan's management talent, but they already had their hands full.

More to the point, given MITI's sorry history of rule bending and economic guerrilla warfare, why would it now cooperate in Dai Nippon's plan to restructure the high-tech segment of U.S. manufacturing? I asked Noda point-blank.

"Mr. Walton, if you choose to see Japan and the U.S. as competitors, then I suppose you could regard this as our ancient tradition of 'giving salt to the enemy.'" He smiled awkwardly.

Bullshit. That's what I thought, not what I said, which was nothing.

Tam in the meantime had her own question to chew on. Mori had mentioned Ken Asano. Was he involved too? Since Mori had specifically named him as being on the MITI team that she or somebody now planned to enlist, was this a tip-off that Ken was in with them up to his neck? Was this the "trust" he'd talked about?

Since Tam looked as if she was getting ready to resign on the spot, I figured a little cooling-off time for everybody might be in order.

"Dr. Richardson, if we're about through here, could you help me a minute?" I thumbed toward the open door. "Tanaka wants you to approve the final setup for the partitions."

I quickly discovered I was wrong about the idea she would quit. As we worked our way past the computer terminals and stacks of printouts, retreating toward the center of the floor, she declared war. "MITI or Mori or whoever's behind this is going to have a fight on their hands. We don't need them involved."