Lost in translation: Japanese sack British boss after culture clash

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Woodford, who had previously overseen the restructuring of Olympus's European operations, was one of a handful of foreign bosses of Japanese companies who include Sony's Sir Howard Stringer and Nissan's Carlos Ghosn.

Woodford is being replaced by his Japanese predecessor, Tsuyoshi Kikukawa, who declared: "He could not overcome the cultural barrier of Japan and Japanese companies."

That was in sharp contrast to Kikukawa's comment when Woodford, 51, a 30-year Olympus veteran, was appointed president six months ago. Woodford had "successfully consolidated businesses in Europe, despite its diverse cultures, customs
and markets".

Two weeks ago, when Kikukawa also handed the chief executive role to Woodford, he said: "I've been particularly impressed by the way in which he has shown a great sensitivity and understanding of the different cultures across our global organisation." Today Olympus said Woodford "has largely diverted from the rest of the management team in regard to the management direction and method and it is now causing problems for decision-making by the management team".