Japan Airlines CEO cuts his own salary – now makes less than pilots

Nice, maybe the other Japanese fat cats will follow suit. It’s only really in recent times anyway that the top corporate monkey suits are have upped their income, widening the gap between their normal employees and themselves.

Most of this whole *economic crisis* bullshit would probably be solved with people becoming less selfish.

Nishimatsu is showing leadership by sharing the hardship. He’s showing empathy for his employees. They will notice and they’ll be all the more loyal to him for it.

The CEOs of major American car companies are indeed at fault. The reason they’re doing poorly is declining market share. Why? Because they’re building cars people don’t want–big trucks and sedans that get lousy mileage. The unions don’t have any say in that. The CEO and upper management does. They writing has been on the wall for years that fuel efficiency is the wave of the future, but they love the higher markups on SUVs and pickups. Did they think 150,000 American troops in Iraq was going to keep oil prices low? Apparently the anti-war protesters and the CEOs had something in common.

I went shopping for a new car last year. I looked really hard at American cars–I wanted an American car for my first new car. (Also, both of my in-laws work for the Detroit auto industry.) I knew a Dodge Jeep Chrysler dealer who could get me 25% off any new car I wanted. I looked at his selection and he didn’t have anything I wanted. It was pathetic. I still ended up buying American–a Escape Hybrid. But it was a near-run thing.

Oh, and my in-laws? They probably qualify as the mentioned “uneducated factory workers”, but they were by no means making anything near what any lawyer makes. And both of their jobs were exported to Mexico within a year. And these people and their families are still expected to ” buy American”?

We could use a lot more Nishimatsus in the U.S., where leadership apparently means going begging to Washington to ask the public to pay for your mistakes.

While his intentions may be more or less noble or for “the greater good”, I have a feeling the other CEOs will give words of praise for his brave decision, but dodge the question of whether they will follow suit in a manner like “Oh no, a person like me … I could never be as brave as Nishimatsu-san. I really admire him. I really do.” and then hold onto their own cushy salaries.

Happens in the US as well:

http://www.reuters.com/article/ousivMolt/idUSN28258020080728

Not here to debate CEO compenstation; however, 90K a year is a pipe dream in the US. I can’t imagine an executive recruiter floating that package around for any sizable, public company.