I was discussing American corporate strategies with the president of a fairly large Japanese company recently, specifically one approach that is popular over there but not here in Japan. I suggested he try it out and his response surprised me.
"Actually, I brought it up already," he said, "but the legal department nixed it, as they were afraid there might be complaints."
I told him it was a shame that the company wasn't able to do something bold simply due to the risk of offending some hypothetical employee or client, and was tempted to chime in with a few aphorisms along the lines of "You can't make an omelet without breaking some eggs" or "You can't please all of the people all of the time." I refrained from the pep talk, though, as it was clear that, for his company, the prospect of a few unhappy customers was enough to stop the idea dead in its tracks.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.