Yoichi Morishita
Profile
Performance in office
Tenure
Tenure
Background
He became President in February 1993, the third career employee in a row after Toshihiko Yamashita in February 1977 and Akio Tanii in February 1986. Presidents from the founding family had ended with Masaharu Matsushita, who took office in January 1961, and management had passed into the hands of career employees.
Selection
The company Morishita inherited had sunk into three straight years of falling profits as an appliance slump, bad weather and weak industrial equipment coincided. An operating loss was even expected for the fiscal year ended March 1995. The business group system revived in 1984 had created a dual organizational structure, and meetings had swollen to the point that it was said no one knew how many committees the head office had. In the November 1993 recall of some 250,000 induction-heating rice cookers, it took two weeks from November 7, when the cause was reported to the President, to the emergency press conference on November 20.
Initiatives
In May 1993 he dissolved the joint venture agreement with Philips over Matsushita Electronics Corporation and bought all the shares Philips held. On December 8 that year he abolished the business groups, reorganizing so that the President oversaw the divisions directly. In June 1995 he sold 80% of MCA to Seagram of Canada, withdrawing five years after the acquisition. In February 1999 the company retired 50 million of its own shares, worth ¥98.8 billion, out of profits. The reforms stayed within the production divisions and did not reach the sales division, which had 25,000 affiliated stores nationwide.
Career
Career
Matsushita Electric Industrial
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| Feb 1993 | President |
| Jun 2000 | Stepped down as President |