Jack Welch took the reins of GE in 1981 and is widely seen as the father of ‘shareholder value’. While his reputation today is much diminished, there has unquestionably been a marked shift in favour of maximising shareholder return across much of the developed world in recent decades. Investments, where the likely return is less than the cost incurred, have been increasingly eschewed by corporate leaders more driven to grow their bottom rather than their top line. Until recently, corporate Japan has generally stood aside from this change. Fundamentally, it has been over-investing. Importantly, however, the path trodden by corporate…

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