Fujio Mitarai: Returning President Of Canon

Fujio Mitarai was born on September 23, 1935 in Kamae, Oita, Japan. While many heads of technology companies have business or engineering backgrounds Mitarai came with a law degree. He studied law at Chou University.

He was Corporate Auditor of Dai-ichi Mutual Life Insurance Co. and later joined Canon Inc. in April 1961. He became President of Canon, U.S.A. Inc., a subsidiary of Canon Inc. in 1979. Mitarai became the Managing Director of Canon, Inc. in 1985 and later served as In-charge of HQ Administration starting January, 1989. Among other positions he promoted to Executive Vice President in March 1993. Mitarai became the sixth president of Canon, Inc. in 1995. He was elected Chairman in March 2006.

Mitarai employed a unique management approach blending eastern and western styles to shape Canon, Inc. into a very successful company. He executed a large overhaul of the company which allowed it to return to profitability. His style of management has been dubbed “the Mitarai way.”

In 2010 Mitarai resigned from the Chairman position and became Chairman Emeritus. It seems like his talents are still needed as he returned as President in 2012.

  

Xiaochu Wang: China Telecom Chairman

The Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO of China Telecommunications Corporation, is of Han nationality and a graduate of the Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications. For further studies he went to the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and obtained a doctorate degree in business administration in 2005.

Wang was the director-general for telecommunications bureau in Hangzhou and in the same position for the post administration bureau at Tianjin City.  In this role he led the information technology projects including the China telecommunications and telephone net management system. For his work Wang was bestowed the third award of national science and technology advancement and the highest awards in science and technology advancement from the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications. International Investor Magazine also gave him the Best CEO in China award.

Other positions that Wang has held include Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of China Mobile (Hong Kong) Limited, Vice President of China Mobile Communications Corporation, President of China Telecommunications Corporation, Chairman of the board of directors and a Non-executive Director of China Communications Services Corporation Limited.

Wang is the Honorary Chairman of China Communications Service Corporation Limited. He has over 30 years management experience in the telecommunications industry.  In his mid-50s Wang has managed projects in very large scales owing to the fact that China is a very large country. China Telecommunication Corp. is one very large company whose customer base is even larger than the population of entire countries. It is the world’s largest CDMA Mobile operator, the world largest broadband operator, and the world’s largest wireline operator.

The firm is an integrated information full services operator providing basic telecommunications services like wireline telecommunication services and mobile telecommunications services and value-added telecommunications services like internet access service and information service in China. At the end 2012 China Telecom has wireline access in service of around 163 million, wireline broadband subscribers of around 90 million and mobile subscribers of around 161 million. The firm’s H shares and American Depository Shares are listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited and the New York Stock Exchange, respectively.

Takashi Tanaka: KDDI President

Takashi Tanaka was born on February 26, 1957. He earned an electrical engineering degree from Kyoto University. Takashi also attended graduate school at Stanford University.

He joined KDDI in 1981. Takashi has risen through the ranks and among the positions he has held include Associate Senior Vice President (June 2007), Senior Vice President, Director (June 2010) and was appointed President on December 2010.

KDDI a Japanese telecommunications operator and given the highly competitive environment Takashi has to keep the company on its toes. When he became head of KDDI the company was already facing two years of profit decline in its mobile devices division. It had difficulties in transition to smart phones. This led to subscribers looking for service elsewhere.

Arresting this decline became one of his priorities. He understood that the company has significant human resources which could be tapped.  KDDI in 2012 partnered with HTC, the Taiwanese manufacturing company to sell HTC J mobile phones in Japan.

Takashi has pushed for a two growth strategy using the assets the huge telecommunication company already has at hand most notably having both mobile and fixed-line businesses.  By 2013 KDDI was already achieving increased profits. 

Guillaume Pepy: SNCF Chairman

Guilluame Pepy was born on May 26, 1958 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine, France. He attended the Ecole alsacienne high school in Paris. Pepy is a graduate of the Institut d’études politiques de Paris (Science Po) and a former alumnus of ENA.

SNCF stands for Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Francias, the state-owned rail service of France.  He first joined SNCF in 1988 as Chief of Staff to then Chairman, Jacques Fournier. Pepy then had stints in different ministerial private offices from 1990 to 1993. He came back as Head of Investment, Economy and Strategy.

Pepy was put in charge in 1997 of Mainline Services. He became Deputy Chief Executive Officer with responsibility for all passenger activities (TER regional, Transilien Greater Paris suburban services, mainline services, rolling stock and operations) in 1998. Pepy introduced an innovative low fares policy designed to boost train occupancy utilizing “yield management” flexible pricing techniques. He was also the moving force behind the establishment of Voyage-sncf.com, of which he was Chairman from 1998 to 2006, and of iDTGV.

The President of France appointed him to run the state-owned business on February 27, 2008. As such Pepy is actually a high-ranking civil servant. He has a very challenging job. The challenges include deregulation, a “green” policy, and militant rail unions. The French President Sarkozy also instructed him to greatly increase capital expenditure while revenues were collapsing.  It’s reported in the 72 year of the existence of SNCF, Pepy has the most difficult job of any of its chief executives.

It not an easy task to take on a job when the flagship service of SNCF, TGV had slumping revenue aside from the lower revenues in freight. It obviously involves cutting cost while at the same time having the President of France telling you to increase spending.

Pepy immediately began to work launching the restructuring of SNCF Group in 2008 with three aims: position SNCF to outperform rivals; be an industrial champion, proud of the group’s success and know-how; be the leading public service company in everyday life in France, with plans for a European presence.

Having clear goals to work on despite the difficulties is a characteristic of a capable leader. 

Sergio Ermotti: Swiss Banker

Sergio Ermotti was born in Lugano, Switzerland on May 11, 1960. Early in life he wanted to be a ski instructor then decided to follow his father’s footstep and began his career as a young apprentice at the Corner Bank in Lugano. In order to do this he left school at the age of 15.

Sergio became a stockbroker at the Corner Bank after his apprenticeship. Later he was promoted to trading. Sergio has a diploma as a Swiss Federal Banking Expert and a degree in the Advance Management Program at Oxford University.

Sergio has solid banking experience having worked for Citibank and Merrill Lynch. In the latter company he served as co-Head of Global Equity Markets and as a member of the Executive Management Committee for Global Markets & Investment Banking. Sergio joined UniCredit in December 2005. He was Deputy Executive Officer of the company from 2007 to 2010.

Sergio was appointed Chairman and CEO of UBS’s Europe, Middle East, and Africa group and became member of the Group Executive Board in April 2011. After being appointed interim Group CEO of UBS starting September 24, 2011 he was given this post permanently on November 15, 2011.

Sergio has taken a big challenge in leading UBS which not only suffered during the 2008 crisis but also had a scandal in its investment unit. He has also executed painful job cuts. There are signs that Sergio’s initiatives are beginning to bear fruit.

Dr. Gregory Jantz: The Center for Counseling and Health Resources

Before Dr. Gregory Jantz founded The Center for Counseling and Health Resources, Inc., in 1984, clients seeking help for eating disorders, depression, stress, addictions, relationships, and in other areas typically saw such professionals as physicians, mental health providers, counselors, and pastors, receiving aid in those different areas. An entrepreneur at heart, Dr. Jantz created the center in Edmonds, Washington, to provide a whole-person approach to a range of mental health issues, coordinating physical, psychological, emotional, spiritual, and intellectual challenges. The doctor, a licensed mental health counselor with state certification in chemical dependency and national certification as an eating disorder specialist, assembled a team of physicians, registered nurses, nutritionists, certified fitness trainers, massage therapists, recovery managers, and other professionals to provide hope and recovery.

Dr. Jantz’s whole-person approach at the center includes a four-week intensive-treatment program for food-related disorders such as anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating, with options to extend the stay to 60 or 90 days based on client need. The Center for Counseling and Health Resources also offers a transitional care program that lasts longer. In addition, the facility suggests three to six months of follow-up telephone sessions for those treated for anorexia, bulimia, binge eating, and related disorders. The Dr. Phil Show and Intervention on the A&E network have referred individuals to the center for eating-disorders and/or addiction problems.

The center’s founder has written more than two dozen books, including Turning Your Down into Up: A Realistic Plan for Healing from Depression; and Raising Boys by Design: What the Bible and Brain Science Reveal about What Your Son Needs to Thrive, both due out in 2013. A frequent contributor on national media outlets, including television, print, and online, he also hosts a radio show on a Christian network and fulfills numerous speaking engagements internationally. Today, the center assists people in more than 40 cities across the nation and 2 in Canada. One person’s entrepreneurial vision has led to hope and healing for untold women, men, and adolescents, arguably changing the world.

Kenichiro Yamanishi: Mitsubishi Electric President And CEO

For those who do not like to transfer from one company to another, Kenichiro Yamanishi can be a source of inspiration. He studied at the Faculty of Engineering Science at Kyoto University.  After he graduated and received his Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering in 1975 he went to work for Mitsubishi Electric stating out as a research engineer.

Kenichiro then worked his way up the corporate ladder. Among the positions he has held include Director of Manufacturing 2 at Saijo Plant, Assistant Manager of Production Technology Center, Manager of Production Technology Center, Managing Executive Officer and Chief Managing Executive Officer.

He rose to the position of Senior Executive Officer and Division Manager for the Semiconductor & Devices business unit then became the CEO and President on April 1, 2010.

Kenichiro’s tenure can be described as a challenging one. If competition weren’t a challenge in itself Mother Nature also gave a big blow; in March 2011 a destructive earthquake in Japan led to uncertainties with demand, the supply chain and production for the company. Trading was also severely affected due to the strong Yen.

To address this Kenichiro has focused effort on cutting costs and boosting sales. The strong Yen has also caused him to consider expanding overseas production and procurement. The company has also been recently involved in a scandal regarding the “bill padding” of contracts with defense and other public contracts. This practice was discovered to have been going on since the 1970s.

Being efficient and producing energy in an environmentally friendly way according to Kenichiro will be keys to the future growth of the company. He cited products like heat pumps and photovoltaic modules will be central to its future growth.

Mitsubishi Electric Group is a leading global company in the manufacture and sales of electric and electronic equipment used in energy and electric systems, industrial automation, information and communication systems, electronic devices, and home appliances. It was established in January 15, 1921 and has around 120,958 employees. 

Gerhard Roiss: OMV CEO

Gerhard Roiss was born in 1952 in Austria. He studied economics in Vienna and Linz universities before studying further economics at Stanford University. At the beginning of his professional career he joined OMV in 1990. His responsibilities were as head of Marketing while at the same time also being responsible for Exploration and Production. It was a busy start since he was also appointed to the board of PCD Polymere and Borelais.

Gerhard has been indispensible to OMV holding multiple roles in many instances. He was appointed to the board of OMV in 1997 and was made responsible for the Chemicals and Plastics division of the company and in 2000 also took responsibility for the Exploration and Production. On top of this Gerhard was also appointed chairman of Borealis in 2001. As testament to his importance he was promoted deputy CEO of the OMV Group in 2002.

Still serving in the above capacities, Gerhard was also appointed directed on the board of Aabar Investments in 2008, chairman of Nova Chemicals in 2009 and vice chairman of SPN Petroleum also in 2009.

He finally became CEO of OMV in April 2011.  OMV began as a state-owned company in Austria in 1956. It has since developed into one of the most successful industrial corporations in Austria.

Toshiaki Egashira: Making It Work

Toshiaki Egashira is the president and CEO of MS&AD Insurance Holding, Inc. It is a holding company formed in April 2008 (name changed in April 2010) through the merger of Aioi Insurance Co., Ltd, Nissay Dowa General Insurance Co., Ltd, and Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Group. The Group writes marine, fire, casualty, automobile, life and allied insurance policies. It also runs financial services and agencies.

MS&AD holds the largest share of non-life insurance premiums in Japan; it is also among the top 10 in the world.

To make this huge company work involves a lot of leadership skills since each of the three companies that were merged obviously have their own way of doing things. Egashira though has been in the insurance business all his life and possesses the experience and qualifications to make it work.

Egashira was born in Japan in 1948 and graduated with a degree in law from Keio University. He entered Taisho Marine and Fire Insurance, Co. Ltd. in April 1972. After rising through the ranks he became executive officer, general manager of Fire & Casualty Underwriting Dept., Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co., Ltd (MSI) in October 2001. After holding key executive positions he became co-chief executive officer of MSI in April 2006. Then in June 2006 Egashira became president, director and co-chief executive officer of MSI. In September 2006 he became president and chief executive officer of MSI. There were many changes in his title within a course of a year clearly illustrating his importance to the company.

After the merger in 2008 Egashira became the president and a director.  He solidified his position in April 2009 becoming president, director and CEO. The following year Egashira also became chairman of the board.

Egashira sees global expansion through organic growth and mergers and acquisitions as critical to the company’s future given the aging population of Japan. With his solid insurance experience he looks to be the leader who can get this huge task done.