Americans are likely in for a surprise if they expect Toyota President Akio Toyoda to put on a show of authoritative "the-buck-stops-here" clout at Wednesday's congressional hearing on the automaker's massive recalls.
In harmony-loving Japan, company heads are rarely management professionals and are picked more to be cheerleaders for the rank-and-file. Toyoda, because of his bloodline as grandson of Toyota Motor Corp.'s founder, was groomed to play that morale-boosting role.
"In a Japanese company, the top man isn't the one calling the shots. He is looked up to as a symbol, a bit like the Emperor," says Toyoaki Nishida, a business professor at Chubu University, referring to the Imperial family, which wields no political power. "That's why Japanese company policies don't ever change even if presidents change."
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