A petition calling for former Olympus CEO Michael Woodford (pictured) to be reinstated to the crisis-hit firm has reported a ?larger than expected response?.
In the online appeal, addressed to ?all Olympus employees? Koji Miyata, former president of Olympus Medical Systems Corporation, wrote: ?The events of the past few weeks have cast doubt on Olympus?s survivability as an independent enterprise.?
Miyata called for ?resolute action? to prevent the crisis overwhelming the historic brand, warning staff that ?time is short?.
The petition, which appears on the Olympus Grassroots website, calls on staff to back Woodford?s return as president of the company.
On a page thanking staff for their support, the website says it has received a ‘larger-than-expected-response’.
And Miyata warned that if hospitals stop buying endoscopes as a result of the scandal, the crisis threatens all sections of Olympus?s business.
?Our company furnishes society with useful and appealing products in several sectors,? he wrote in the petition launched on Saturday.
He added: ?But the Olympus product line that people worldwide rely on most extensively is our endoscopes. If public and private hospitals were to begin excluding Olympus from their endoscope purchasing, the damage to our company would be severe.?
Miyata said it was Woodford?s role in exposing financial irregularities at the firm that led to his dismissal last month. ?Olympus has been undertaking inexplicable corporate acquisitions for some 20 years to disguise huge losses on speculative investments, and Michael had discovered that misbehaviour and had called for the resignations of the senior executives responsible.’
BACKGROUND ARTICLES
Plot thickens as Olympus fires vice president
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Olympus is a good business, says sacked CEO
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