Haruo Kurita
Profile
Performance in office
Tenure
Tenure
Background
Haruo Kurita was born in Fukuoka in 1919 and graduated from the Imperial Japanese Navy Engineering School in August 1940. In July 1949 he founded Kurita Water Industries and became its President. As of May 1963 the executives included Sadao Nozaki, a graduate of the Navy Engineering School, and Sotoo Takemata, a graduate of the Naval Academy, so former navy men formed the core of the founding team. In the fiscal year ended March 1963 Mitsubishi Chemical Industries was the largest shareholder at 8.3%, and Kurita personally held only 2.2% as the second-largest; despite being the founder, he had little capital behind him.
Selection
As founder he became president upon the company's establishment in July 1949 and had no predecessor. That same month Sadao Nozaki, who had graduated from the Navy Engineering School in March 1943, joined the company, becoming Managing Director in March 1955. In August 1961 Sotoo Takemata, a Naval Academy graduate, became Director and head of the First Business Division. Kurita appears to have built his founding management team from the same former navy lineage as himself.
Initiatives
Net sales grew from ¥37 million in the fiscal year ended June 1952 to ¥5.909 billion in FY ended March 1963, with 1,523 employees. As of May 1963 the company had a First and a Second Business Division and a central research institute, and had brought in Toshihiko Matsuda from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Tomihiko Uchida by way of Japanese National Railways, and Taketsugu Kataoka from Mitsubishi Chemical Industries as executives. In January 1965 Shinzo Kaiishi, Senior Managing Director of ITOCHU, joined as a Director. Net sales reached ¥12.166 billion in FY ended March 1967, but net income fell to ¥58 million.
Career
Career
Kurita Water Industries
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| Jul 1949 | President, Kurita Water Industries (at founding) |
| 1967 | Stepped down as President |
| Dec 1967 | Stepped down |