Norio Sasaki: Managing Toshiba

Norio Sasaki graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering in March 1972 from Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan. Since June 2009 he has been the president and CEO of Toshiba.

Sasaki has had a challenging job. While Japan has been noted for its consumer-electronics products, foreign companies notably from South Korea have made tremendous gains. Toshiba and other Japanese companies with consumer-electronics business have lost market share. The strong yen has not helped their situation.

For Sasaki that has not been his only concern. The March 2011 earthquake and tsunami has raised questions in Japan about nuclear safety. Two of the nuclear reactors crippled in the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant were supplied by Toshiba. The firm owns Westinghouse Electric Co. based in the U.S. which is one of the world’s major nuclear-plant suppliers.

Sasaki has worked at Toshiba for around 40 years. After assuming leadership he has pushed for more focus on the conglomerate’s public infrastructure businesses to reduce reliance on its strong memory chips business. Sasaki has been credited with turning the company around following a record loss of $3.7 billion in the year ended March 2009.

After having served for almost four years there are now talks of replacing him and he will end up becoming vice chairman. The company’s last three presidents also all served around four years. Whether he stays or moves on Sasaki has already left a significant mark in the company’s history.