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Two of our competitors had an idea: one donates a few cents to Japanese relief organizations for each Taiwanese scanner that is sold. The other sends an email to his customers, recommending urgent product bunkering, because prices must soon be raised, due to expected product shortage. Ok, now tell the truth: this sort of deal is not only embarassing, but repugnant. Of course every businessman needs to think about the effects of the catastrophe on his business. We even had an emergency Sunday meeting about Japan. We always have a plan ready for the scenario that Taiwan gets destroyed in an earthquake; that is a part of our business. But does that mean that the same tactics should be used to make a quick buck in Japan?

Good examples of how to handle such catastrophes come from manufacturers like Epson, Citizen or Fujitsu. They immediately and openly informed their partners about the situation of their personnel (thankfully, there was no direct damage) and their production facilities (also no problem). We have passed along this information to concerned customers, and hope that the situation does not deteriorate. Epson, a Japanese company, triggered direct relief aid to the tune of a million euros.

Of course, you can be sure that business groups will ask that Japanese goods be tested for radioactivity. The motivation here is obvious - who wants to take a chance? Whether it turns out to be feasible is yet to be seen. When I go through our warehouse and look at the goods from Japanese manufacturers, I only see boxes with "Made in China" printed on them.