No. 5: Disclose everything to minimize the damage should an accident occur. (July 21, 2011)

No company can be free from harmful rumor. The president of a Japan’s leading department store, Takashimaya Department Store, always asks his employees to disclose everything should an accident occur to minimize the damage. One day, the department store mistakenly sold a sandwich containing an egg-based material to a customer who should have bought an egg-less sandwich. It immediately announced the mistake using the in-house broadcast, but it was not able to specify the customer. Subsequently, it announced the mistake on its website and published a press release through mass media. Transparency is of the highest importance to corporate value, and it is vital to minimize the damage. The current Japanese government should have learned this golden rule. It did not disclose critical information in the Fukushima disaster supposedly on purpose not to let the Japanese worry about the worst scenario, but the worst scenario is developing contrary to its intent.