oved into the presidency of the joint venture because of his long standing with the organization and because the Showa management needed to make room for other junior executives moving up the corporate ladder.
Packard proposed an alternative candidate, Shigeru Abe, marketing manager of the joint venture. Packard, and Johnson in particular, was impressed with Abe's performance to date, and had established an acceptable (although minimal) working relationship with him. His experience and accomplishments made him an ideal candidate so far as Packard was concerned, certainly more so than Tanaka, who lacked the background to effectively run the fledgling organization.
The second problem that faces Johnson and Honda at the meeting is that of the role of the executive vice-president of the joint venture, Mr. Harper. Both Johnson and Honda are questioning the man's effectiveness, but for different reasons. Harper had expressed frustration at being accepted by the Japanese management team, and found that he was facing nearly constant communication problems. He felt that he was underused by the Showa management team and that his functions were ill-defined. Johnson was curious as to how Harper was perceived by the Showa team, and considered what qualifications would be necessary in order for an individual to be effective in this position.
Honda's worries about Harper were somewhat different. He perceived that Harper's primary role was to keep Packard's interests at heart and secondly, to provide marketing and additional assistance when necessary to the Showa team. However, Honda observed that Harper had not established close personal relationships with individuals at the corporate headquarters, and he perceived that this hindered Harper's ability to provide the assistance that Showa required.
The third area of concern to both Honda and Johnson is that of the overall management of the joint venture, and it is this problem that is...