, in effect, the top layers of the management pyramid. People speak of being’ promoted to the board’. The tendency for managers to progress through an organization on tenure rather than performance means that the mediocre can reach board level. A few of the directors might gave served with other companies in the keiretsu network, and in that sense might be able to represent the interests of suppliers or down-stream agents; others might have been appointed to the company’s ranks on retirement from the keiretsu’ s or even from among the industry’ s government regulators