Teruo Asada: Staying The Course

A ship captain has the responsibility of keeping the ship safe and ultimately reaching its destination. If there is a storm it’s his responsibility to make sure the ship is alright.  Like the captain of a ship Teruo Asada was able to keep Japanese trading giant Marubeni safe and actually making a profit during tough economic times.

Teruo Asada has worked at Marubeni all his life. He joined the company straight out of college. Among the higher positions he has held include being the Senior Corporate Officer of Investor Relations and Corporate Vice President of Marubeni starting 2002. He also served as Corporate Senior Vice President of Marubeni Corporation as well as the General Manager of the Finance Department.

Asada served as the CEO and President of Marubeni Corporation from 2008 to April 1, 2013. Things were tough in 2008 but he skillfully guided the company through it as well as during the Japanese tsunami in 2011 and still managed to keep the balance sheet in the black.

Asada is a non-traditional Japanese manager and does not like to follow the seniority based ways of many large corporations. With the results he has produced it’s hard to argue with his philosophy. He now sits as Chairman of Marubeni.