Exposure, Michael Woodford
Exposure, Michael Woodford
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Exposure
Inside the Olympus Scandal: How I Went from CEO to Whistleblower

Author: Michael Woodford

Narrator: Michael Woodford

Unabridged: 8 hr 6 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Ascent Audio

Published: 04/02/2013


Synopsis

When Michael Woodford was made president of Olympus—the company to which he had dedicated thirty years of his career—he became the first Westerner ever to climb the ranks of one of Japan’s corporate giants. Some wondered at the appointment—how could a gaijin who didn’t even speak Japanese understand how to run a Japanese company? But within months Woodford had gained the confidence of most of his colleagues and shareholders. Unfortunately, soon after, his dream job turned into a nightmare.

The trouble began when Woodford learned about a series of bizarre mergers and aquisitions deals totaling $1.7 billion—a scandal that threatened to bring down the entire company if exposed. He turned to his fellow executives—including the chairman who had promoted him Tsuyoshi Kikukawa—for answers. But instead of being heralded as a hero for trying to save the company, Woodford was met with vague responses and hostility—a clear sign of a cover up. Undeterred, he demanded to be made CEO so he could have more leverage with his board and continue to search for the truth. Then, just weeks after being granted the top title, he was fired in a boardroom coup that shocked Japan and the business world at large. Worried his former bosses might try to silence him, Woodford immediately fled the country in fear of his life and went straight to the press—making him the first CEO of a global multinational to blow the whistle on his own company.
The result is a deeply personal memoir that reads like a thriller narrative. As Woodford puts it, “I thought I was going to run a health-care and consumer electronics company, but found I had walked into a John Grisham novel.”

Reviews

I love a good corporate scandal, and the shady goings-on in Olympus—and the dramatic fashion in which they were revealed to the world, by their own CEO—were especially intriguing, especially since an examination of their cause promised to offer an insight into how Japanese corporate culture differs......more

Goodreads review by Taotao

My perspective of this scandal is that when Japanese companies were audited in the past, they were under great pressure to meet their performance targets. Usually after unreasonable performance targets were set from above, one layer was pressured, abused and bullied, and the following layer was semi......more

Goodreads review by John

A shocking scandal exposing criminal activity in a major Japanese/global corporation. Woodford rose from humble beginnings the top of the corporate pile, and in a Japanese company where both the East and West note considerable cultural differences. To achieve this is an incredible challenge and Wood......more

Goodreads review by Mike

Michael Woodford's inside story on his whistle-blowing antics at Olympus is a sensational read. The author Pulls no punches regarding the doubts he went through in terms of the effects on his family and on the tens of thousands of ordinary employees of the company. Woodford walks the reader through......more