Sony's Hirai faces attack from activist 'old boys'

... and demanded hiring more engineers and appointing fewer outsiders to the board of directors.

Typical attitude of many Japanese CEOs. They think the company belongs to them and their cronies rather than the shareholders.

While, technically speaking, the company does "belong" to the shareholders, it certainly doesn't always mean that they will have the best interests of the company at heart. Somebody from within will often have more invested (not speaking of just monetary terms here) in the company, and could be able to judge strategic moves without focusing purely on the effect it would have on the stock price.

To the "old boys", if Hirai/Sony had the money to spend on hiring engineers and focus on innovation, don't you think he would have done so already?? How can one develop ANY part of a business before securing the funds first?