Olympus and the Whistleblower President

Authors: Williams, Christopher; Takeshita, Seijiro
Source: Richard Ivey School of Business
Year: 2012
Company Name: Olympus Corporation
Number of pages: 13

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Abstract:

The newly-appointed president and chief operating officer (COO) of Olympus Corporation of Japan was called to an emergency board meeting. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss governance issues regarding corporate mergers and acquisitions (M&A). However, it would be no ordinary meeting. Since assuming the role of president in April 2011, the president discovered evidence of corporate fraud on a large scale. He had commissioned an external auditor report that showed a significant loss of shareholder value. His call for changes to be made to the Japanese board of directors had been met by resistance. How should he plan for the meeting? What could he expect? What position should he take? How should he influence decisions regarding the company’s immediate problems and its longer-term corporate governance?