????陷入麻煩的公司總是很難看。不過很少有哪家陷入危機(jī)的公司會難看到奧林巴斯的地步，或是情形蹊蹺到它的地步。

????奧林巴斯（Olympus）是一個全球性的品牌，但這家公司并不經(jīng)常吸引媒體的關(guān)注。這么多年來，我們中的大多數(shù)人恐怕至少都買過一臺奧林巴斯的相機(jī)、望遠(yuǎn)鏡或數(shù)碼錄音筆，但我們很少考慮關(guān)于它的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)層或董事會的事。不過情況在上周急轉(zhuǎn)直下，奧林巴斯的新CEO上任才兩周就被解雇，引爆了這家日本公司92年以來最大的危機(jī)。

????奧林巴斯近來發(fā)生的一幕幕，頗有點(diǎn)好萊塢電影《全面反擊》（Michael Clayton）的味道，而且目前看來，好戲還沒有到謝幕的時(shí)候。奧林巴斯的營收已經(jīng)連續(xù)三年出現(xiàn)下降，它2010年的營收只有2007年的四分之三。為了扭轉(zhuǎn)消費(fèi)商品領(lǐng)域的頹勢，奧林巴斯積極在醫(yī)療保健設(shè)備領(lǐng)域進(jìn)行擴(kuò)張，現(xiàn)在它的醫(yī)療保健設(shè)備已經(jīng)貢獻(xiàn)了公司大半的凈利潤。

????今年2月，原奧林巴斯歐洲業(yè)務(wù)負(fù)責(zé)人邁克爾?伍德福德獲得晉升，成為公司總裁。10月1日，伍德福德又被任命為CEO，原總裁兼CEO菊川剛則改任董事長。一開始，大家都認(rèn)為伍德福德是一個能夠強(qiáng)化奧林巴斯的全球影響的領(lǐng)袖。他與菊川剛已經(jīng)共事了30年，兩人在公開場合都贊揚(yáng)過對方。伍德福德稱菊川剛是一個“激進(jìn)的、敢于冒險(xiǎn)的人”，同時(shí)“擁有徹底變革的決心”。他還說，他與菊川剛擁有相同的幽默感。

????不過現(xiàn)在這兩個人都笑不出來了。上周五，伍德福德來到奧林巴斯的董事會，稱對公司治理存在強(qiáng)烈擔(dān)憂，要求菊川剛辭去董事長一職。這次會議僅僅持續(xù)了10分鐘，而且其中7分鐘都是在等菊川剛到場。然后，董事會投票表決，解除伍德福德的總裁兼CEO的職務(wù)。15名董事中有14人支持解雇伍德福德（不過伍德福德仍然是奧林巴斯的董事之一）。唯一一個投棄權(quán)票的就是伍德福德自己，因?yàn)槎聲辉试S他發(fā)言。不過此后，伍德福德卻大膽開口，炮轟不止。

????伍德福特在接受采訪時(shí)稱，他在雜志上讀到了一些文章，因此深感憂慮。報(bào)道質(zhì)疑了奧林巴斯近年來做出的幾起并購，尤其是2007年斥資19.2億美元收購英國醫(yī)療設(shè)備制造商Gyrus集團(tuán)這筆交易。后來他發(fā)現(xiàn)，有兩家咨詢公司以現(xiàn)金、認(rèn)股證書和優(yōu)先股等形式，從奧林巴斯獲得了6.87億美元的費(fèi)用，他們分別是紐約的Axes America公司以及它在開曼群島的子公司 Axam Investments公司。這筆費(fèi)用相當(dāng)于交易價(jià)的36%。伍德福德稱，對于一樁20億美元的交易來說，付給咨詢公司的費(fèi)用一般來說只有1%。一開始，奧林巴斯不承認(rèn)這筆費(fèi)用的數(shù)目，但后來卻變卦了，承認(rèn)伍德福德報(bào)出的數(shù)字準(zhǔn)確無誤。

????A company in turmoil is never a pretty sight. But few corporate crises are as ugly -- and strange -- as the one afflicting Olympus Corp.

????Olympus is a global brand, but its company usually doesn't make headlines. Over the years, most of us have bought at least one of its cameras, binoculars or digital voice recorders, without much thought to its executives and board. All that changed last week, when the firing of the company's CEO only two weeks into the job precipitated what is surely the biggest crisis in the Japanese company's 92 years.

????The drama to date has had a Michael Clayton element to it. And, it appears nowhere near finished. Olympus' revenue had fallen for three straight years so that its fiscal 2010 revenue was three quarters of the 2007 figure. To counter a slump in consumer products, Olympus had expanded aggressively into medical and life-science equipment, which now make up more than half its net profit.

????In February, Olympus promoted Michael Woodford from head of European operations to company president. On Oct. 1, Woodford was also named CEO, taking over both positions from Tsuyoshi Kikukawa, who became the board's chairman. At first, Woodford was cast as an executive who could strengthen Olympus' global presence. He had a 30-year working relationship with Kikukawa, and the two men openly praised each other. Woodford called Kikukawa "radical and adventurous" with a "determination for drastic change." Plus, he said, the two men shared the same sense of humor.

????Neither man is laughing today. Last Friday, Woodford went to Olympus' board to demand Kikukawa's resignation as chairman, citing serious governance concerns. The meeting lasted 10 minutes, seven of which were spent waiting for Kikukawa to arrive. Then, 14 of the 15 board members voted to fire Woodford as president and CEO (although he remains a director). The 15th, Woodford himself, wasn't allowed to speak at the meeting. But he has spoken since -- loudly and repeatedly.

????In interviews, Woodford said he grew concerned after reading magazine stories that questioned acquisitions Olympus made in recent years, notably the November 2007 purchase of U.K. medical-equipment maker Gyrus Group for $1.92 billion. Woodford then discovered that two advisory companies -- Axes America of New York and its Cayman Islands subsidiary Axam Investments -- received $687 million in fees through cash, warrants and preferred shares. That figure is equal to 36% of the deal's value. Woodford said a $2 billion deal would normally pay a 1% fee to advisers. At first, Olympus disputed the fee amount, then backpedaled and acknowledged it was accurate.