He Put the Flash Back in Canon

In the early 1990s, Fujio Mitarai was one frustrated executive. He had recently returned to Canon Inc.'s (CAJ ) Tokyo headquarters after a 23-year stint in the U.S., where he built Canon's camera and copier businesses into market leaders and befriended top execs of companies from General Electric Co. to American Express Co. His goal was to push U.S.-style practices through the entire Japanese conglomerate in order to cut costs and clean up its finances. Otherwise, Mitarai argued, Canon was headed for serious trouble.

Few colleagues heeded his call. Although he was a senior managing director, Mitarai says, "I wasn't senior enough to get the top executives to listen to me." Then, a stroke of fate forced them to pay attention. In August, 1995, Mitarai's cousin, Canon President Hajime Mitarai, died suddenly of pneumonia. Passing over six more senior executives, Canon's board gave him the job.