As a messy succession crisis unfolded at Apple supplier Nidec, Shigenobu Nagamori, its 78-year-old founder, had one big regret.
Over the past decade, he had poached a number of high-profile executives from carmaker Nissan and electronics maker Sharp as potential heirs. But none of his outside picks met his towering expectations. Instead, they left the company, leaving an exasperated Nagamori to last week tap one of Nidec’s founding members as a temporary president.
“When Mr Kazuo Inamori was alive, he told me that a company insider is best as president. His warning turned out to be true,” Nagamori said, acknowledging with guilt that he had finally realised how talented his employees were.