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When Tomoyo Nonaka in June 2005 took over Sanyo, the venerable but struggling Japanese electronics maker, she already had one strike against her. Nonaka was a female CEO in a business culture that is overwhelmingly male. A more timid executive would have charted a cautious course, focusing on slashing costs at a company that lost $1.6 billion in its 2005 fiscal year. But Nonaka, a former TV journalist with no executive experience, instead announced a bold plan to transform Sanyo into a leader in the production of environmentally friendly products like solar panels and energy-efficient refrigerators. "I think it's clear that...