How U.S. and Japanese CEO's spend their time

Managing Directors (CEOs) in a number of large U.S. and Japanese corporations were asked to write a detailed diary of a typical working day, and they were asked what kind of information was useful for certain kinds of decisions. Some of the results of the survey are described in this article. It was found that the average age of the CEOs in the two countries was about the same—60 years old, but CEOs in the United States stayed longer in the position than Japanese CEOs because they were promoted at a younger age. CEOs in the United States worked a longer day than the Japanese. American chief executives spent about 3 hours longer in meetings than their Japanese counterparts. In Japanese corporations the information is distributed and the negotiating is done beforehand, so meetings tend to be shorter. In America contacts with businessmen outside the company were important sources of information, for strategic decisions in particular.