enterprise?”
“Hmmm.” Bishop sighed. “See there’s the irony, DC. Nagoshi Inc. did suffer a moderate slump after the daughter’s death, but it has recovered with a bonus. Better still, yesterday they sacked their American president, a Texan named Bob Crookshank, and the share price went up two points.”
“Yeah, I think I read something about that,” said David, draining the rest of his juice. “But I thought high-level layoffs usually sent stock plummeting.”
“They do,” said Tony. “But I swear to God, DC, this company is invincible—or rather John Nagoshi is invincible.”
“How so?” David was curious now, if not in the least because of his recent conversation with Mannix regarding the seemingly unsolvable Jessica Nagoshi case.
“Well, Nagoshi dumps Crookshank,” Tony went on. “But at the same time announces he is stepping in as temporary US president until they find an appropriate replacement. Rumor has it he is priming his son Peter to eventually take over the company, and the American presidency would be a great place to start.”
“But isn’t the kid just out of law school?”
“Yeah, but so what? Look at the Murdoch kids. They are young, but super-smart. Age isn’t such an issue anymore, DC. In fact, youth can be an asset, especially when Dad is a fit fifty and bound to be around doling out sound advice for the next thirty years.”
“So this Peter is being primed to . . .”
“Peter and Jessica were both being primed to be future company leaders. In fact, together they made a pretty hot team. Both smart, hardworking, and from what I hear, Jessica’s approach-ability took the edge off Peter’s arrogance.”
Tony looked up, as if sensing he had said too much. No matter how mercenary Tony might be, he never betrayed a client’s confidence—and David respected him for that.
But then Tony smiled, and David knew his friend was aware that anything he said remained between the two of them. They had acted as sounding boards for each other since college and neither had ever come close to taking advantage of their friendship. In fact just last year David had helped Tony’s nephew beat a drug rap that saw Tony’s congressman brother’s political career at risk. David had gone out on a limb for his high-powered friend and knew that when it came down to it, Tony would do the same for him.
“So,” David went on, guessing his friend needed to talk about this, “is the son up to the job—minus the less intimidating daughter?”
“Yes and no,” said Tony, shaking his head. “It’s hard to say. Peter is very, ah . . . Japanese for want of a better description, and that’s not a racially based criticism by the way, more a corporate observation.”
“How so?” said David, genuinely intrigued.
“Well,” Tony began, now removing his jacket as the sun slid west and hit their backs with a new intensity. “It’s like this.”
Tony went on to explain that when his firm took on the Nagoshi account a couple of years ago, the firm’s senior partner and Nagoshi’s personal lawyer Gareth Coolidge arranged for the legal team working on the account to take a course in American-Japanese business relations. They worked with a Japanese localization analyst who taught them the intricacies of Japanese-American cultural differences in an effort to reduce any confusion and prevent any embarrassing and potentially financially damaging miscommunications.
“So give me an example,” said David. “What kind of stuff did you learn?”
“Well, first up,” Tony explained, “you have to remember that our two cultures are diametrically opposed. America, thanks to its colonial beginnings, grew as a loosely knit society on a vast land where people moved to new frontiers to avoid being stepped on. They came from all different ethnic backgrounds and did not know what to expect of one another. So, they stayed out of one another’s business and in this relative isolation, individualism became
“Hmmm.” Bishop sighed. “See there’s the irony, DC. Nagoshi Inc. did suffer a moderate slump after the daughter’s death, but it has recovered with a bonus. Better still, yesterday they sacked their American president, a Texan named Bob Crookshank, and the share price went up two points.”
“Yeah, I think I read something about that,” said David, draining the rest of his juice. “But I thought high-level layoffs usually sent stock plummeting.”
“They do,” said Tony. “But I swear to God, DC, this company is invincible—or rather John Nagoshi is invincible.”
“How so?” David was curious now, if not in the least because of his recent conversation with Mannix regarding the seemingly unsolvable Jessica Nagoshi case.
“Well, Nagoshi dumps Crookshank,” Tony went on. “But at the same time announces he is stepping in as temporary US president until they find an appropriate replacement. Rumor has it he is priming his son Peter to eventually take over the company, and the American presidency would be a great place to start.”
“But isn’t the kid just out of law school?”
“Yeah, but so what? Look at the Murdoch kids. They are young, but super-smart. Age isn’t such an issue anymore, DC. In fact, youth can be an asset, especially when Dad is a fit fifty and bound to be around doling out sound advice for the next thirty years.”
“So this Peter is being primed to . . .”
“Peter and Jessica were both being primed to be future company leaders. In fact, together they made a pretty hot team. Both smart, hardworking, and from what I hear, Jessica’s approach-ability took the edge off Peter’s arrogance.”
Tony looked up, as if sensing he had said too much. No matter how mercenary Tony might be, he never betrayed a client’s confidence—and David respected him for that.
But then Tony smiled, and David knew his friend was aware that anything he said remained between the two of them. They had acted as sounding boards for each other since college and neither had ever come close to taking advantage of their friendship. In fact just last year David had helped Tony’s nephew beat a drug rap that saw Tony’s congressman brother’s political career at risk. David had gone out on a limb for his high-powered friend and knew that when it came down to it, Tony would do the same for him.
“So,” David went on, guessing his friend needed to talk about this, “is the son up to the job—minus the less intimidating daughter?”
“Yes and no,” said Tony, shaking his head. “It’s hard to say. Peter is very, ah . . . Japanese for want of a better description, and that’s not a racially based criticism by the way, more a corporate observation.”
“How so?” said David, genuinely intrigued.
“Well,” Tony began, now removing his jacket as the sun slid west and hit their backs with a new intensity. “It’s like this.”
Tony went on to explain that when his firm took on the Nagoshi account a couple of years ago, the firm’s senior partner and Nagoshi’s personal lawyer Gareth Coolidge arranged for the legal team working on the account to take a course in American-Japanese business relations. They worked with a Japanese localization analyst who taught them the intricacies of Japanese-American cultural differences in an effort to reduce any confusion and prevent any embarrassing and potentially financially damaging miscommunications.
“So give me an example,” said David. “What kind of stuff did you learn?”
“Well, first up,” Tony explained, “you have to remember that our two cultures are diametrically opposed. America, thanks to its colonial beginnings, grew as a loosely knit society on a vast land where people moved to new frontiers to avoid being stepped on. They came from all different ethnic backgrounds and did not know what to expect of one another. So, they stayed out of one another’s business and in this relative isolation, individualism became
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