Kunio Takeda
Profile
Performance in office
Tenure
Tenure
Background
The third son of the sixth Chobei, he came into line for the presidency when his eldest brother died suddenly. In 1983 Chairman Shinbei Konishi ordered him to TAP, and he went to the US as Executive Vice President. What he found at TAP was "the vanguards of two factions feuding in America," and he later wrote in the company newsletter of "three nightmarish years." After a career in international business he became Representative Director and Executive Vice President in 1992, and President the following year.
Selection
In June 1993 he became President, succeeding Katsura Morita. People around him mocked it as the "restoration of power" to the Takeda family. 1993, the year he took office, was also the year the company was overtaken in ordinary income by its rival Sankyo. Before taking office, Kunio had banned the hiring of executives' children and declared that he would be the last President from the Takeda family.
Initiatives
In 1995 he launched the mid-term management plan "95/00" and introduced the first early retirement incentive program in Takeda's history, with a policy of reducing the workforce from 11,000 to 7,500 by 2005. In 1996 he moved the five businesses other than prescription drugs to an in-house company system with independent accounting, placed the pharmaceutical division directly under the President, and replaced the pharmaceutical sales executives. The performance-based pay system introduced in 1994 was extended to all employees in April 1997, and in June 1998 he created a corporate officer system to begin developing and selecting candidates for the board.
Career
Career
Takeda Pharmaceutical
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| Apr 1962 | Joined |
| 1983 | Executive Vice President, TAP Pharma Shutikaru Products |
| 1986 | Deputy General Manager, International Business Department |
| 1987 | Director |
| 1989 | Managing Director |
| 1991 | Senior Managing Director |
| 1992 | Representative Director, Executive Vice President |
| Jun 1993 | Representative Director, President |
| Jun 2003 | Representative Director, Chairman |
| Jun 2003 | Stepped down as President |