Yup, those Japanese executives where the reason for Sony's epic struggle. I read in an article where Howard Stringer actually lamented on not being able to do everything he had planned because it was being overturned. I just can't find the article now because I forgot which site did the interview. ^^;
There is a reason Kaz said its going to take a lot of work to fix Sony and I think he was making it clear to the board to get out of his way. So he can bring back Sony from the abyss.