Kiyoshi Yotsumoto
Profile
Performance in office
Tenure
Tenure
Background
He graduated from Kyoto Imperial University's Faculty of Engineering in March 1932 and joined Kawasaki Kisen that May. He transferred to Kawasaki Aircraft Industries in November 1937, becoming Senior Managing Director in November 1961, Executive Vice President in June 1964 and President of that company in November 1966. He was from Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture. He rose to president solely within two affiliates, Kawasaki Kisen and Kawasaki Aircraft Industries, without ever belonging to the parent, Kawasaki Heavy Industries.
Selection
When Masashi Isano proposed a merger in January 1968, Yotsumoto asked in return what would happen to Kawasaki Sharyo, and secured Masao Ueda's agreement. He became a Director of Kawasaki Heavy Industries in December 1968 and Executive Vice President in April 1969, the month of the merger, and that November succeeded Isano as the seventh president. The president of an absorbed company took the presidency of the surviving company; non-consolidated net sales, ¥87.5 billion in the fiscal year ended October 1968 before the merger, rose to ¥215.9 billion in FY ended March 1970, the first full year after the merger.
Initiatives
The five-year plan in the early years after the merger focused on harmonizing the three companies, so allocation of management resources was inevitably spread thin. From fiscal 1971 he shifted to a priority approach, designating ships and plant engineering along with labor-saving machinery such as automatic control systems, industrial robots and NC machines as priority sectors, and aircraft, ocean development, large civil engineering and construction machinery and nuclear power as strategic sectors. For fiscal 1975 he set a sales target of ¥626.4 billion, 2.54 times the fiscal 1970 result of ¥246.1 billion, but actual sales reached only ¥490.1 billion. The Harima Works opened in April 1971, and Kisha Seizo was merged in April 1972.
Career
Career
Kawasaki Heavy Industries
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| 1969 | President |
| 1976 | Stepped down as President |