Japanese Earthquake Aftermath: TEPCO, the Media, and Transparency
Four days after the disaster in Japan, we are starting to see the break-down in trust amongst the Japanese public, media, and government.
Joseph Lee, Adjunct Professor
Blog Posts
The Gulf Disaster, BP, and the Aftermath
As long as planes fly in defiance of gravity, they will come down. As long as cars travel faster than the human body can on its own, traffic accidents will kill us. And as long as we drill oil, there will be accidents.
Let’s Not Write Toyota’s Obituary Just Yet
The Los Angeles Times had been stalking Toyota for months about the runaway acceleration in some of the automaker’s models. Ordinarily, I dismiss such articles as over-aggressive reporting or even Japan-bashing. But last week, events proved the LA Times to be correct. In a weekend report, the New York Times noted how Toyota had initially … Continued
Four Lessons from the Demise of Japan Airlines
On January 20, 2010, the New York Times and all major Japanese papers reported the bankruptcy filing of JAL (Japan Airlines). The crane that once symbolized Japan’s powerful national airline is no more. Not even privatization could help an airline run into the ground by arrogance and incompetence. But this is actually old news—everyone knew … Continued
Tiger Woods needs Yoda
The media, sports, business, ethics, and image pundits are all out now, pointing out what Tiger must do to revamp his shattered image. Meanwhile, we all ask the question: What do we learn from this? Surprisingly, the business takeaway isn’t really about ruined images or the billion-dollar golf industry that Tiger almost single-handedly created and … Continued
Peter Drucker, Masatoshi Ito, and In-N-Out Burger
November 19th is management pioneer (now deceased) Peter Drucker’s 100th birthday. To celebrate the life and teachings of this remarkable man, the Drucker Institute hosted a weeklong event, Drucker Week, featuring some of the most respected business academicians (a paradox?) of the world at Claremont University. Ken Blanchard (author of The One-Minute Manager and Know Can … Continued
Impressions from the 2009 Berkshire Hathaway Shareholder Meeting
On May 2nd, the world gathered in Omaha, Nebraska to listen to Warren Buffet at the 2009 Berkshire Hathaway Shareholder Meeting. We tried to parse the future from his words, and wondered if this was the most optimistic that Charlie (Vice Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Corporation) has ever been. Some hailed the new format as … Continued
Experimentation, Risk Management, and Breakthrough Performance
Joseph Lee Times are tough. The demand has never been greater for regulatory oversight. Public outcry to punish those who failed us has reached the ears of our leaders and politicians. The dismissal of GM’s chief by the Obama Administration was a shock and a signal to the automotive sector: This is a time in … Continued
The World Baseball Classic, Corporate Culture, and Short-Sightedness
Joseph Lee If you were anywhere near Dodger Stadium on March 23 for the World Baseball Classic (WBC) finals, you heard the drums and the thunder sticks of 45,000 South Korean fans drowning out the 5,000 Japanese fans—not to mention the 4,816 Americans there just to watch a good ball game. And a good ball … Continued
Why Real Estate Matters
First, there’s the obvious reason: It’s the sheer scale. The total value of the US residential market hovers around $20 trillion. There simply isn’t anything close to it (add up all the cars in the US—maybe 250 million—and give each an average value of $10,000 (8+ years median age), and you only get about $2.5 … Continued
Are the Roots of the US Economy Irreparably Severed?
In the 1979 motion picture Being There, Peter Sellers played Chance the Gardener, a man said to be “stuffed with rice pudding between the ears.” Nevertheless, it was Chance who offered a piece of brilliant advice that would serve the President of the United States well in our current state of economic crisis: “…as long … Continued
Why Change Happens in Politics–NOT in Business
Barack Obama swept into the nation’s capitol, and with a few scribbles of his name, started the process of dismantling eight years of Bush policies. He faces a Congress that will largely embrace his changes, mostly because the Democrats have a comfortable majority in the House and only a 2-seat deficit to get to the … Continued