Etsuhiko Shoyama
Profile
Performance in office
Tenure
Tenure
Background
Shoyama was a Hitachi career insider who became Managing Director in June 1993, Senior Managing Director in June 1995 and Representative Director and Executive Vice President in June 1997 before becoming president. The Hitachi he grew up in had been spinning off non-electrical businesses ever since it made Hitachi Metals and Hitachi Cable independent in October 1956. His task was to extend that spinning off to the electrical core, carving each business out into a separate company.
Selection
He succeeded Tsutomu Kanai as president. In fiscal 1998, just before, Hitachi had fallen into its first operating loss since its founding on both a consolidated and non-consolidated basis, with the semiconductor business alone posting an operating loss of ¥120.0 billion. The consolidated net loss for the fiscal year ended March 1999 was ¥338.7 billion. Critics pointed out that attempts to switch parts suppliers went nowhere when the counterparts were group companies or business partners, and that investment decisions required persuading each business executive and preparing documents; he appears to have been entrusted with dismantling that state of affairs.
Initiatives
In October 2001 the company split off its instruments and semiconductor manufacturing equipment businesses into Hitachi High-Technologies and reorganized its industrial machinery systems business as Hitachi Industries. In 2002 it split off home appliances into Hitachi Home & Life Solutions, industrial equipment into Hitachi Industrial Equipment Systems and displays into Hitachi Displays. In January 2003 it acquired the hard disk drive business from IBM of the U.S., and in April that year moved its semiconductor business, centered on system LSIs, to Renesas Technology, a joint venture with Mitsubishi Electric. In June that year it adopted the committee-based governance structure.
Career
Career
Hitachi
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| Apr 1999 | Representative Director, President |
| Jun 2003 | Representative Corporate Executive Officer, Corporate Executive Officer, President |
| Apr 2006 | Stepped down as President |