Masahiko Okuni
Profile
Performance in office
Tenure
Tenure
Background
He was born in Yamagata Prefecture on August 30, 1929. He graduated from the Department of Mechanical Engineering in the University of Tokyo's Faculty of Engineering in 1953, joined Oji Paper Manufacturing and worked on the technical side, including plant design. After a nine-and-a-half-year secondment to Chuetsu Pulp Industry, he was seconded to Toyo Pulp to help turn around the affiliate, serving as its President in 1987. He became a Director in 1984, Managing Director in 1989, Senior Managing Director in 1991 and Executive Vice President in 1993, becoming the first president with a technical background in more than 120 years since the founding.
Selection
At the former Kanzaki Paper, the merger partner, speculative investment losses of ¥7.5 billion had come to light in October 1993, two years before he became President. Consolidated net income in the FY ended March 1995 was also only ¥5.4 billion. Under these conditions, after the June 1995 general meeting he became President of New Oji Paper, taking over from Kazuo Chiba. His career included turnarounds at both Chuetsu Pulp and Toyo Pulp. Senior Advisor Jiro Kawake praised him as rare in having been through crises despite being a technical man.
Initiatives
In October 1996 the company merged with Honshu Paper and restored the name Oji Paper, given up in the 1949 breakup, for the first time in 47 years. Consolidated net sales grew from ¥779.7 billion in the FY ended March 1995 to ¥1,348.7 billion in the FY ended March 1998. The company fell to a consolidated net loss of ¥12.4 billion in the FY ended March 1999, but returned to a ¥5.6 billion profit in the FY ended March 2000, and in June 2001 he handed the presidency to Shoichiro Suzuki.
Career
Career
Oji Holdings
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| 1953 | Joined |
| 1984 | Director |
| 1987 | President, Toyo Parupu |
| 1989 | Managing Director |
| 1991 | Senior Managing Director |
| 1993 | Representative Director, Executive Vice President |
| Jun 1995 | Representative Director, President |
| Jun 2001 | Stepped down as President |
References 2
References (Japanese primary sources)
- 日経ビジネス 1995年12月25日号「大国昌彦氏［新王子製紙］登場 再建の名手、『日本的経営』に新風」
- 『日本会社史総覧』（東洋経済新報社, 1995年）