n April 1, 2011, Michael Woodford became the first non-Japanese president and COO of Olympus
Corporation. He was fired six months later on October 14, 2011. In a press conference, Tsuyoshi
Kikukawa, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Olympus stated, “We hoped that he could do things
that would be difficult for a Japanese executive to do. But he was unable to understand that we need to reflect a
management style we have built up in our 92 years as a company, as well as Japanese culture” (Dye, 2013).
Woodford’s tenure as President was rocky. In July of 2011, after being in office only about three months,
Woodford received an e-mail directing his attention to an article in a Japanese magazine (Facta) that accused
Olympus of financial statement fraud. His questions to Kikukawa about the allegations against the company were
not fully answered. In early August, Woodford learned that others in the company were instructed by Kikukawa not
to tell him about the article in Facta. Kikukawa and other executives of the company began treating him coldly. In a
series of letters to the Board of Directors, Woodford asked for details regarding the accounting transactions in
question; he received no clear response to his questions, and was subsequently dismissed by the Board.
Realizing that the likelihood of financial statement fraud was high, Woodford blew the whistle on the
company, exposing the suspect transactions. This case study focuses on the impact of Japanese culture on the
corporate culture of The Olympus Corporation, and how that corporate culture resulted in fraud.