Handwriting Is in the Letter and on the Wall

TOKYO — Directors of Ricoh, the Japanese office equipment and camera maker, have been ordered to bring letters of resignation to work each morning as a reminder that they are personally responsible for hauling the company out of the red.

Ricoh President Hiroshi Hamada told the 23 directors, each of whom is directly responsible for a business division, to “have a resignation letter in your shirt pocket.”

Hamada’s order came after Ricoh announced that it will report a $45-million pretax loss for the year ending March 31, the first since it was listed in 1949.