Eiko Kono
Profile
Performance in office
Tenure
Tenure
Background
In December 1969 she joined Nippon Recruit Center mid-career as its first female salesperson. Disliking the inefficiency of setting appointments by phone, she devised cold-call door-to-door selling, and became a Director in 1984, a Senior Managing Director in 1986 and Executive Vice President in 1994. Rising from frontline sales to the executive ranks, she became the company's first female president.
Selection
In June 1997 she succeeded Naotaka Ida as the company's third president. Once Ida made her Executive Vice President in 1994, the succession was a foregone conclusion. When she took office the group carried about ¥1 trillion in borrowings, and the challenge was shifting to repaying it from operating profit rather than relying on real estate that would sell only at falling prices. Kono called for a review cutting existing businesses not by 10% or 20% but by 50%.
Initiatives
By the end of December 1999 she abolished most employee benefits, including family, housing and bullet-train commuting allowances, shifting about ¥200,000 per person a year, some ¥700 million annually across about 3,500 employees, into bonuses and salaries. With no buyer settled for the Recruit shares held by Daiei, Recruit itself offered ¥100 billion and resolved the matter in February 2000. In FY ended March 2000 ordinary profit was ¥84.5 billion on revenue of ¥280.5 billion, with operating and ordinary profit both at record highs.
Career
Career
Nissan Sani Kyoritsu Sales
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| Apr 1969 | Joined |
Recruit Holdings
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| Dec 1969 | Joined Nippon Recruit |
| 1984 | Director |
| 1985 | Managing Director |
| 1986 | Senior Managing Director |
| 1994 | Executive Vice President |
| Jun 1997 | Representative Director, President |
| Jun 2003 | CEO |
| Jun 2003 | Stepped down as President |