At Misumi Corp., the president makes no beginning-of-the-year speeches. There are no long-term sales goals, praise or scoldings.
Misumi's outgoing chairman and CEO, Hiroshi Taguchi calls it "management of emptiness."
It sounds more like Buddhist scripture than business management, but in Taguchi's 33 years at the helm the Tokyo-based precision machinery parts distributor grew from a venture set up by Taguchi's high school friend to one of the few consistently profitable companies on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.