
Presidents hard to find for small companies
The Asahi Shimbun, 07/29/2005
For some small companies, finding a president to succeed a retiring chief is so much trouble and the future so uncertain the owners just shutter the doors.
A survey made by the Shinkin Central Bank Research Institute found that 30 percent of small companies face problems in finding a new leader.
The survey was conducted from June 1 to 7 by polling officials at 16,000 companies nationwide....
The survey also found that 5 percent of the respondents do not need successors because the future looks so bleak they plan to shut down their company.
Of the presidents at surveyed companies, 68.5 percent were between the ages of 50 and 69, while those aged 70 or more accounted for 12.8 percent, showing that such companies are steered by increasingly aged presidents....more...