Olympus 2011 Annual Report Download - page 9

OLYMPUS 2011 7
When and how were you approached
about taking on the position of President at
Olympus?
A: In October 2010, Chairman Kikukawa (President
at that time) asked me if I would come to Tokyo for
a meeting with him. We met in his office and he was
very upfront, very open, and said he believed Olympus
needed to change. I accepted his offer to become
President without giving it too much thought. I was
genuinely surprised at the time because I thought
Olympus was too conservative to make such a move.
But my initial assessment was wrong. Mr. Kikukawa
was obviously more radical and adventurous than I
had presumed, and I felt his strong determination for
drastic change and for entrusting me with the task of
realizing the Company’s vision in the new era.
How are you planning to share
responsibilities with the Chairman, and how
would you describe your management style?
A: Mr. Kikukawa and I have known each other for 30
years. We don’t have any defined, strict delineation
of responsibilities, which allows for a very flexible
approach. When you are looking at changing a com-
pany, the best thing is to have a new leader who has a
totally different way of thinking from that of the previ-
ous top management. It’s a simple word “change,”
but you have to have an extremely close relationship
with the Chairman if you are going to be successful
in executing that change. In companies, there can be
tensions and difficulties, particularly during a period
of change, but I believe we will make steady progress.
Not only in managing business, but in everything I
do, I like to keep things very simple, very straightfor-
ward. For me, the Company’s strategies are dictated
by our commitment to our stakeholders. Therefore,
rather than resorting to the theoretical or abstract, I
believe it is better to distil ideas into a specific action
plan that can be implemented to address the busi-
ness challenges facing our organization.
Turning to your management
experience in Europe, how did you go about
implementing structural reform?
A: I began my career with Olympus in 1981, working
for its UK distributor at the time, KeyMed, and over
the years built up experience in various Olympus
Group companies. In 2008, I was appointed to the
position of Executive Managing Director at Olympus
Europa Holding GmbH (OEH) with overall responsibil-
ity for the European Medical, Industrial, Life Science
and Consumer Products businesses.
When I become leader of an organization, I first look
at the whole business to gain an understanding of
how it operates. Then I start to ask questions, such
as, “Why is the HR cost in this country so much higher
than it is in other countries?” or “What makes the
endoscope business in this country so successful?”
We sell the same products worldwide, but some sales
organizations are more efficient than others. My mis-
sion is to identify the reason for performance gaps,
recognizing the ‘good’ and ‘leveling up the bad’, to
seek further improvement.
To this end, during my time at OEH, we commenced
a program of management structural reform, under
the slogan “One Olympus, One Company”, and cut
SG&A costs drastically across our European opera-
tions, improving profit by more than $55 million.
Addressing issues based on a proper evaluation, we
brought about positive change and realized a mean-
ingful contribution proportionate to the opportunities
existing within each country.
March 1981
Joined KeyMed (Medical & Industrial
Equipment) Ltd.
May 1991
Managing Director, KeyMed (Medical &
Industrial Equipment) Ltd.
June 2003
Board of Director, Olympus KeyMed Group
Limited (to present)
January 2005
Executive Managing Director, Olympus
Medical Systems Europa GmbH
April 2008
Executive Managing Director, Olympus
Europa Holding GmbH
Director and Executive Chairman,
KeyMed (Medical & Industrial Equipment)
Ltd. (to present)
June 2008
 ExecutiveOfcer
April 2011
President and COO (to present)
Executive Managing Director and
Chairman of the Board, Olympus Europa
Holding GmbH (to present)
May 2011
Chairman and CEO, Olympus Corporation
of the Americas (to present)