Nishimatsu clearly gets it, and much of what he does would be great here, but some additional thoughts:

1) Can this work in an American company? Would the culture allow for this?

2) Can this work in a union environment, where labor leaders make more than this CEO and who have their own agenda, which is often not the same as the CEO of any company?

I suspect that it can work in America but not in a unionized company because as much as union leaders like to blame "corporate greed" for everything, it's union greed that really drives up costs and puts many of these firms in uncompetitive positions. i.e. the U.S. auto industry.

I think this is the key:

"If management is distant, up in the clouds, people just wait for orders," Nishimatsu told CBS News through a translator. "I want my people to think for themselves."

And I would take it a step further: They don't just wait for orders. They wait to be disappointed and frustrated about a decision they weren't part of or even kept up on. In the meantime, they're disappointed and frustrated while they wait.

The mere fact that a senior executive shows up at the "real" workplace to hold him/herself accountable in front of employees, to listen to what they have to say, and to see how they live makes most of the difference. Whether or not they agree with that leader's ideas or decisions is often secondary, as long as the logic that led to those decisions is sound.

Hell, if corporate communication could get to the point where employees knew who their execs where and felt comfortable in simply agreeing to disagree with them, we'd probably be thrilled.

Nishimatsu's salary thing is a bold, exemplary move, but I think it's just one of his several exemplary moves that fall under the broad category of putting his money where his mouth is (literally, in the case of his salary).

The fact that he is allowing employees to hold him personally and publicly accountable while actively seeking their input is probably what makes the biggest difference.