Students of comparative management studies should review the recent article in The Economist that argues convincingly that the recent troubles suffered by Toyota illustrates fundamental flaws in notions of corporate governance in Japan.  Would the presence of independent directors on the Toyota board have made any difference?  Is there something that Japanese companies can learn from governance trends and practices in other countries and, if so, how can changes be effectively implemented?  This is just one of the many interesting questions in the area of comparative management studies.