AFP, Tokyo :
Embarrassing scandals at Kobe Steel and Nissan have tarnished the reputation of Japan Inc for quality, as once-mighty industrial world-beaters battle fierce global competition and shrinking profit margins.
Once again, the image of a corporate boss bowing deeply in apology before the cameras has been splashed across Japan’s newspapers and sparked a fresh bout of national soul-searching.
Kobe Steel’s chief admitted his firm had falsified quality data in products shipped to about 500 clients, including carmaker Toyota, aircraft manufacturers and defence contractors.
The news that the affected parts were also used in Japan’s “Shinkansen” bullet trains deepened the humiliation for the “Made in Japan” brand that was once a byword for quality.
The revelation wiped $1.8 billion off its share price over the past week – – a drop of more than 40 percent-as the scandal deepened and widened to other products such as steel wires, a key company product.
Embarrassing scandals at Kobe Steel and Nissan have tarnished the reputation of Japan Inc for quality, as once-mighty industrial world-beaters battle fierce global competition and shrinking profit margins.
Once again, the image of a corporate boss bowing deeply in apology before the cameras has been splashed across Japan’s newspapers and sparked a fresh bout of national soul-searching.
Kobe Steel’s chief admitted his firm had falsified quality data in products shipped to about 500 clients, including carmaker Toyota, aircraft manufacturers and defence contractors.
The news that the affected parts were also used in Japan’s “Shinkansen” bullet trains deepened the humiliation for the “Made in Japan” brand that was once a byword for quality.
The revelation wiped $1.8 billion off its share price over the past week – – a drop of more than 40 percent-as the scandal deepened and widened to other products such as steel wires, a key company product.
