Takao Nagata
Profile
Performance in office
Tenure
Tenure
Background
Born in Kumamoto in 1911, he graduated from Nagasaki Higher Commercial School in 1933. He joined Hitachi Zosen the following year, 1934, and reached the board in 1951, his 17th year with the company. He became Managing Director in 1953, Senior Managing Director in 1959, Executive Vice President in November 1960 and President in November 1962. It took him 28 years from joining to become President, and only two from Executive Vice President.
Selection
His predecessor was Yosomatsu Matsubara, listed as President in the 1960 edition of a corporate directory. Matsubara moved to Chairman in November 1962 and served concurrently as a director of Hitachi, Ltd. until November 1967. Takao Nagata became President at 51, young for the head of a major shipbuilder at the time. In the fiscal year ended March 1962, the year before, non-consolidated net sales were ¥43.5 billion. The change appears to have been one in which an officer from the parent company stepped back to Chairman and a career insider took over execution.
Initiatives
In March 1964 he broke ground on a new shipyard in the coastal industrial zone of Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, at a total cost of ¥15 billion, with a 400-meter dock. With its completion in April 1966, the Sakurajima Works, the company's birthplace, withdrew from shipbuilding. In October 1974 the Ariake Shipyard, capable of handling 500,000-deadweight-ton vessels, was completed at a construction cost of ¥42 billion including related works. When demand vanished with the oil crisis, he announced a plan to cut 1,260 indirect staff over two years from fiscal 1975. Non-consolidated net sales went from ¥43.5 billion in the fiscal year ended March 1962 to ¥257.7 billion in FY ended March 1979.
Career
Career
Hitachi Zosen
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| 1934 | Joined |
| 1951 | Director |
| 1953 | Managing Director |
| 1959 | Senior Managing Director |
| Nov 1960 | Executive Vice President |
| Nov 1962 | President |
| Jun 1979 | Stepped down as President |
| Jun 1979 | Chairman |
References 3
References (Japanese primary sources)
- 日外アソシエーツ「20世紀日本人名事典」／講談社「デジタル版 日本人名大辞典+Plus」「永田敬生（ながた たかお）」（1911年9月1日生-1998年2月9日没、昭和9年大阪鉄工所〈現・日立造船〉入社、37年社長、54年会長）
- 日本企業要覧 1979年版
- 日経ビジネス 1975年9月1日号「日立造船 高度成長の咎うける『総論経営』」