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- Company Leaders Honda and Fujisawa Retire; Kawashima Assumes Presidency
- Retreating in Manly Fashion (Story)
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| Retreating in Manly Fashion |
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"I will leave the company at the end of the fiscal term," Fujisawa told Nishida in March 1973, thus ordering Nishida to "tell President Honda that" on his behalf. At the time, however, Honda was away in China on business, meaning that Fujisawa's decision had not resulted from a proper conversation with Honda. Therefore, all Nishida could do was wait for Honda's return to Haneda Airport, and pass on Fujisawa's message concerning his wish to retire. Honda, though, had not been expecting it. He thought about it for a moment, and then told Nishida, "I can't be the president without Takeo Fujisawa. If the executive vice-president is quitting, then I'll quit with him." When Fujisawa learned of Honda's words, he felt he had made the first big mistake in his long relationship with Honda. He had done it in the belief that Honda would need additional time in order to think things through. He regretted not having spoken to Soichiro earlier about his wish to retire. Recalled Kawashima, "When I was about to take over the post of president, all Mr. Honda said to me was, 'So, we'll resign, now. I'll leave the president's job to you.' I think he was somewhat prepared for that moment, what with the 'air-cooled versus water-cooled engine debate' and his retirement from the presidency of Honda R&D. And when he heard that Mr. Fujisawa was quitting, he immediately thought of his own timing to quit. He knew he couldn't stay by himself and simply let Mr. Fujisawa, his founding partner, quit. That's how thoughtful Honda was." Thus ended the collaboration between Soichiro Honda and Takeo Fujisawa in which they founded a hugely successful company by uniting behind the fulfillment of a single vision. The joint retirement of the company's two top leaders created a sensation among the public. Not only were the two young enough by social standards to provide many more years of useful service (Honda was 65 and Fujisawa was 61), but Kawashima, who was informally designated as the next president, was also unusually young, at 45. Moreover, the new president was not related to either of the two founders. This turn of events proved conclusively to the people of Japan that Honda was not a typical, family-owned company. The company itself showed remarkably little confusion about the transition, owing to the fact that Kawashima had already played the role of leader among Honda's four senior managing directors, promoting NHP throughout the organization. It also was reassuring that the remaining directors were continuing in support of his leadership. Therefore, after the retirement decision had become final, Fujisawa spoke to Mr. Honda. Fujisawa looked back on that meeting in the following passage from his August 1973 "Words at Retirement": (Mr. Honda) signaled me with his eyes to come over here, so I went along with him.
Japan was slammed by its first oil crisis only a month after Kawashima became president. Yet, despite the continued rise in prices from that time, the new Kawashima administration firmly established a policy stating that "Honda vehicles could not increase in price," thus helping overcome the crisis. The training of young successors, and the grace to step aside in due time are qualities that demonstrate Honda's unusual grace in the face of major change. No one has said it better than Kawashima, who stated, "When I became president, the first thing I thought was that I would one day carry on the beautiful Honda tradition of 'resigning in manly fashion.'" Kawashima himself, in selecting Tadashi Kume to be his successor, stepped aside at the age of just 55 years. |
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