On February 15, 2018 Nidec held a press conference about the personnel changes resolved at a meeting of the board of directors held on the same day. The following is a summary of the statements made by the executives speaking at the press conference.
Shigenobu Nagamori, Representative Director, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer*
I have acted as president for 45 years since the foundation of the company in 1973 and it was originally my intention to appoint a successor for the position of president and COO in 2015 when Nidec became a 1 trillion yen sales company. I am three years behind schedule when it comes to finding a successor who meets my expectations, but finally a young and ambitious manager who has proven himself capable, Yoshimoto, has emerged, so I decided to cede the presidency to him.
Nidec opposes the idea of becoming a family business so I have no intentions of handing over the presidency to any of my sons, but in order to maintain a high level of growth over the medium and long term I wanted my successor to be someone of their generation who is still young. The reason for that is that I want the new president to continue for at least 10 years, provided that he produces positive results, so that he can build up the management structure that will be necessary in order to achieve 10 trillion yen in sales in the fiscal year 2030.
Yoshimoto has only been at Nidec for three years, but considering his previous positions he has extensive experience in company management. From my personal experience, I believe that the true test of your managerial skills is your ability to turn around a struggling business and Yoshimoto managed not only to quickly rebuild Nidec Tosok in only one year but after that he also boosted the growth of Nidec’s automotive business, that had become stagnant, significantly in under two years. The style of his management when rebuilding a company has a sense of speed that almost matches that of my own and our management techniques are very similar. Furthermore, his experience in terms of the scale of the businesses he has managed rivals my own experience when I was 50 years old.
I would like to stress that I have no intention of resigning yet; I will retain my position as chairman and CEO and stand in the forefront of the company group on our road to 10 trillion yen in sales in the fiscal year of 2030. But the time has come to share the responsibility of managing a company group that now operates in 43 countries and continues to grow. I plan to yield about 30% of the work mainly associated with managing our overseas subsidiaries, especially the PMI of newly acquired companies, at first, starting with tasks that I am confident that I can entrust to him instead of handling personally. Then I will gradually let this figure increase over the years while overseeing the results until the percentages are reversed. Eventually, the plan is for Yoshimoto to assume the role of CEO after he has proven that he can accomplish excellent results. My greatest duty is to train my successor so that he becomes even more capable than me and I will dedicate myself to this task over the coming years with unprecedented passion. Finally, I solemnly promise on my honor and conviction as the founder of the company that no matter what happens, I will do all that I can to never let the management structure of Nidec head in a direction that disappoints the shareholders, customers, suppliers or employees of the company.
Hiroyuki Yoshimoto, Representative Director, President and Chief Operating Officer**
Persistently doing what needs to be done as a matter of course; setting higher goals and working faster than the competition; being driven by aspiration, tenacity and thoroughness and never stopping until you reach your goals—these tenets of Nagamori’s management philosophy captivated me and influenced my decision to join Nidec. I was hoping to be appointed president one day, and I am honored to have received this opportunity today.
In order to reach the goal of achieving 10 trillion yen in sales in the fiscal year 2030, I want to firmly grasp the wave of technological innovation that is happening now and further boost the growth of the company, all while steering clear from problems that typically affect companies as they get large. Our overseas operations are expanding and the companies in our group are all facing the same direction, but there is unevenness in terms of speed. Therefore, I will make it my mission to travel around the world and accelerate the growth of the Nidec group globally.
I will visit the factories and inspect their operation rates, I will look at how the employees are working, think from their standpoint, create operation schedules and review them closely together with them as team members. In the process, a sense of unity will arise from small successes and then the moment when the recovery speed of the company starts improving will arrive. I have made it my lifework to rebuild companies in this way and I want to expand this style of thorough communication globally.
My experience is centered around the automotive industry. The blueprint for Nidec's future paints a picture of an automotive component business that accounts for 4 of the 10 trillion yens in sales in 2030 and I will achieve this with a product lineup focusing on traction motors for electric vehicles. However, rest assured that there will be no changes in the basic principles—hands-on micromanagement and teamwork—that guide the management of our other businesses such as energy-efficient appliances or robotic components. Nidec will keep on growing with a business centered around motors and as we grow we will strive to contribute to society. By doing so, we will stay on top of our business for a hundred years and beyond as a global excellent company. As a leader, I will unify the entire management team, concentrate our abilities and lay the foundation for this future.
*, ** Titles written as they will appear June 20, 2018 (planned)
Shiro Ikushima
General Manager
Public Relations
