[martin_a]

Nah. I see some of those points could very well be adapted to German companies.

And focussing on long-term growth and stability is probably one of the main aspects of the German "Mittelstand" (medium companies, often led by families over generations) which usually has a strong focus on providing a sustainable place to work and therefore not optimizes its business for shareholder value.

[magduf]

His post would have been correct if he had omitted the word "only". As you've pointed out, it isn't only Japanese culture that values long-term stability and value to the society. The problem is that American culture absolutely does not value this stuff, and that's why our companies work the way they do.