President and CEO, OMRON Corporation
OMRON Announces Representative Directors Changes
OMRON Corporation (HQ: Shimogyo-Ku, Kyoto. President and CEO: Yoshihito Yamada) today announced the following changes in directors including representative directors at the meeting of the board of directors held on January 12, 2023. Of the following changes, the appointment of directors will be officially approved by resolutions at the Ordinally General Meeting of Shareholders and the subsequent meeting of the board of directors in June this year.
January 12, 2023
Global News
https://www.omron.com/global/en/media...
About Junta Tsujinaga
In January 2023, Omron Corporation announced changes to its representative directors, with Junta Tsujinaga identified as the incoming president and CEO, succeeding Yoshihito Yamada. During a press conference on the changes, Yamada described Tsujinaga as a leader who practices a "customer first, field oriented" approach, citing that the IAB business sales grew 2.1 times over the previous two years under Tsujinaga's leadership, with decisions informed by customer and field feedback. Tsujinaga stated that he has been "focused on the customer or the field" and aims to have more dialogues with people in the field to build trust. He also said that areas to be unchanged include the practice of corporate philosophy, while areas to be reinforced include execution capability, noting that the company has clear strategies and needs to execute them despite changes in the world.
Transcript (58 segments)
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Unknown0:09
Thank you for joining us at such short notice for this press conference regarding the change of Representative Directors. This press conference, including the Q&A session, will be broadcast live online to invited press and capital market professionals, and will be posted on our website from tomorrow. Let me introduce today's speakers: President and CEO Yoshihito Yamada, incoming President and CEO Junta Tsujinaga, and Chairman of the Board. The order of remarks will be Mr. Yamada, Mr. Tsujinaga, the Chairman, and Mr. Yamada again, followed by a Q&A and photo session. I am the MC in charge of Corporate Communications and Investor Relations, and I will be facilitating today's meeting. We would like to invite Mr. Yamada to speak first.
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Yoshihito Yamada2:35
Good afternoon everyone. I am President and CEO, and thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to attend this press conference on such short notice. As the MC just introduced, let me first share the contents of today's resolution and its background.
The decision was made for me to step down from the roles of President and CEO at the end of March this year, and for Mr. Tsujinaga to assume the role of President and CEO effective April 1st. I will also become an honorary advisor at the shareholders' meeting. These are the resolutions the Board of Directors made today. Please allow me to share more context on these decisions.
I have served as President and CEO since 2011, and this year marks my 12th year. The Great East Japan Earthquake happened in my first year. Since then, we went through turbulent years including sharp appreciation of the yen, U.S.-China tensions, and the spread of COVID-19. Last year, we finally launched a new long-term vision for 2030. We are expecting record results in fiscal 2022, the first year of the vision, so we are making an excellent start towards the next 10 years.
OMRON has become stronger by overcoming many challenges. I realized that we are facing new opportunities in this next phase. We have seen many leaders develop through these years, which is why I decided that now is the time to have new leaders take the role of leading the company, and I proposed my resignation to the CEO Selection Advisory Committee.
Mr. Tsujinaga is the best candidate for the next CEO. We considered the selection process over many years. There are three key points: first, his management style is very hands-on and he is widely respected; second, he fully embodies OMRON's principles; and third, he is a leader who has demonstrated the ability to achieve targets. He will introduce himself in more detail later.
Mr. Tsujinaga has consistently worked in Industrial Automation. There is no other person who embodies the practice of a customer-first approach within OMRON. He has built the business by staying close and listening to the voices of the field to solve customer and social issues.
He assumed the role of President of IAB in 2021 and increased sales, earning the trust of employees. We believe he was the qualified person based on his experiences. Since becoming President two years ago, he increased sales by approximately 1.6 times, achieving strong business growth. We believe he will be able to further develop the company. Those are the reasons we chose Mr. Tsujinaga to be the next leader.
That is what I wanted to share regarding this announcement. Now I would like to invite Mr. Tsujinaga to give us some remarks.
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Junta Tsujinaga7:39
Thank you for coming. As you know, I will be assuming the role of President and CEO. This is my first resolution regarding the long-term vision. We will transform OMRON so that we can continue to grow in a sustainable manner through 2030.
The second point is to reinforce execution capability. Under such a changing business environment, we are required to reinforce our execution capability more than in the past. The business cycle, decision-making cycle, and execution cycle will need to be rotated as quickly as possible to make the right decisions. I would like to create a working environment where each employee can work even more passionately and creatively, because the key for achieving the long-term vision depends on each employee exercising their creativity so that OMRON can continue to solve social issues.
I have been with OMRON since its inception and now I am taking on this important role at this pivotal timing. I am very honored to be able to take on this role. In order to achieve the long-term vision and based on all my experiences gained over these years, I will put all my efforts into the further development of the company.
Thank you very much for coming out of your busy schedules. I really appreciate your participation.
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Kohei Takushima10:55
As mentioned by the President, at the shareholders' meeting to be held this coming June, I will retire from the Chairman position and assume the role of Honorary Advisor. Back in 2013, since I became the Chairman of the Board of Directors, I have been dedicated to representing our shareholders by providing review and oversight of the company's operations.
I revised all of our principles in 2015 and implemented the OMRON Principle missionary dialogue, which occurred 55 times globally for our employees. I will continue these sessions through the end of 2022. With support from shareholders, we also incorporated the practice of corporate philosophy into the Articles of Incorporation.
Through all these different activities in the business world and public services, I believe I was able to contribute to the development of OMRON so that OMRON can contribute to society. I think we were able to contribute to society through our business activities, taking a step closer towards that goal.
Since Mr. Yamada became President in 2011, OMRON has worked to resolve social issues through its business activities under management based on OMRON's principles. As a result, the market capitalization has increased by four times more, and OMRON is included in the Topix index all the time, contributing to the creation of social value. In ESG commitments, we have been included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, a world-class company, for six consecutive years.
OMRON has become a highly regarded company of the global community under Mr. Yamada's leadership. Last year, the new long-term vision for 2030 was launched, and OMRON has started moving into the next era. In order to further accelerate growth for the future, I think we will need new next-generation leaders with new values and ideas that are free from the past experiences of success.
There was an agreement between us and Mr. Yamada, and I want to place my trust in Mr. Tsujinaga to guide the company. As an Honorary Advisor, I will continue playing a role to implement OMRON's philosophy. Also externally, I will continue business and public service activities. But I will step back from management while continuing to support the new leadership in the coming years as well. Thank you very much.
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Yoshihito Yamada15:19
So now, I would like to once again give a few more remarks. In closing, I would like to say a few words. It has been 12 years since I assumed the position of President in 2011. There have been many ups and downs. I think we passed through them in a blink of an eye, but these 12 years have been marked by very turbulent times. I am proud to say that I have been able to practice management centered on our corporate philosophy.
I think our employees and directors worked very hard and supported me. I am filled with gratitude. Above all, I am grateful for the Chairman's guidance over the past 12 years, without which I would not have been able to continue. I am taking on a new position to continue supporting corporate governance, contributing to increasing corporate value.
It is not easy to sustainably develop a company under this uncertain business environment, but OMRON has many assets, especially technologies and human resources developed over its long history. I am confident that the new President, Mr. Tsujinaga, will lead OMRON as the leader of Team OMRON and strive to solve social issues through our business. We look forward to your continued support and guidance. Thank you very much for your support over many years.
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Unknown17:16
Now we will move on to the Q&A session. First, we will take questions from the audience in the room, and then we will also take questions from members of the press joining online. For those in the room, please raise your hand. Once your name is called, please come to the microphone in the center. For those participating online, please press the raise hand button and wait. Please mention your name and the name of your media outlet before asking a question, and please keep your questions as brief as possible.
We will now take questions from the room. Please raise your hand if you have any questions.
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Reporter18:26
I have a question for Mr. Tsujinaga. As the new President, what would be your key point of focus in achieving this goal, and what is your first job as a person?
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Junta Tsujinaga18:52
Thank you for your question. Regarding Strategy 2030, we have a very clear strategy and we have already started the first year. We are getting a good result in the first year, and we think all we need to do is continue executing this strategy that we set out in this vision. That is why we are reinforcing our execution capability. As for my first action, I want to have more dialogues with customers, the people in the field, and all the stakeholders so they get to know me and trust me. That will be my answer.
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Reporter20:00
I have a question for Mr. Yamada. The first reason for appointing Mr. Tsujinaga was that he was a customer-first, field-oriented person, and also quite respected by other members. Can you elaborate more about any episodes that you can share for this first point?
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Yoshihito Yamada20:23
Thank you for your question. As I explained earlier, Mr. Tsujinaga has been the leader practicing customer-first and field-oriented approaches. For example, the IAB business sales have grown by 1.6 times over the last two years. During that period, there was the COVID situation with lockdowns in many cities and part shortages. Every time he faced those challenges, he went to the production floor, sales field, and procurement field. He communicated with key people in those areas, faced them, listened to them, and tried to solve problems on the field to achieve the target. Naturally, information and people gathered around him. That is why I felt the first reason for choosing him was truly realized by him.
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Reporter21:35
I have a question for Mr. Tsujinaga. When you were told you would be the new President, what did you feel? Also, in your past jobs, is there any memorable episode or anything that you place the most importance on? Any words or phrases that you always have in your mind?
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Junta Tsujinaga22:16
Thank you for your question. When I was informed, it was about a couple months ago. The long-term vision started this year, and I believed I was in a position to complete executing this strategy. However, this was totally unexpected for me. But since I joined OMRON, I totally feel that OMRON raised me and developed me to this level, and this is a chance for me to give something back to OMRON, to do something for the sake of OMRON employees. That is why I decided to take on this job.
As for a memorable episode, for many years I have been in the IAB business. I faced a major turning point back in 2016 with the i-Automation concept. IAB was rather focused on selling components, but since the introduction of i-Automation, we shifted ourselves more to a solution-oriented business. I remember clearly that we talked about the Future Factory concept in 2016 and envisioned what the future factory should be. To realize that, we have been making different efforts, and now we have come to the stage to be able to realize what was envisioned back then. So now I want to hand that over to the next generation so we can continue developing this future factory.
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Reporter24:04
Are there any other comments or questions from the floor?
This is the first time to have no founding family members on the board. In practicing the corporate philosophy, did you think it was okay not to have a family member on the board? What is your view on that?
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Yoshihito Yamada24:45
Thank you for your questions. Let me answer. About 17 years ago, in 2006, on the founding day, it was announced that in the future, the centerpiece of business management will not be family members, but will be placed on the corporate philosophy. That was the announcement made by the Chairman. Since then, in running the board, the focus has been on execution and strategy, and the board's role is supervising and monitoring such execution. If those active members are capable of executing the corporate philosophy, it didn't really matter whether the board included founding family members or non-family members. That is why I decided to retire from the board member position.
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Reporter26:08
Any other questions from the floor?
I have a question. What is your motto, any favorite words, or favorite phrase?
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Junta Tsujinaga26:35
Thank you for your question. My motto is to place importance on the field and the customers in the field, because everything starts from the front line of the field. That is what I have always had in my mind, and I want to continue having this concept. My favorite phrase is my founder's words: "To live is to live fully." I always share this wording whenever we have a new member joining the company. With many things going on around the world, I find the importance of these words and phrases even more under this turbulent environment, and I want to place importance on such wording from the founder in running the business in the future as well.
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Reporter27:49
How do you spend your holidays? What is your hobby?
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Junta Tsujinaga28:02
On weekends, I walk a lot. I walk around 10 kilometers, or even up to 15 kilometers a day. There are many scenic spots in Kyoto, so I can go around many different sites and just keep walking the whole day to refresh myself and be ready for the next week. That is my routine.
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Unknown28:31
It is getting close to the end of the session. If there are any questions from the floor, we can take one more question. If not, we also want to take questions from online participants.
For those joining remotely, thank you for waiting. We will now take questions from remote participants. Please raise your hand if you have any questions.
First, from Nikkei ESG, Mr. Tsujinaga, let us take your question. Please unmute yourself and speak.
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Reporter29:36
Since you became the President, you have been running the business based on the corporate philosophy, trying to reinforce profitability improvement, management capability, and business resilience. How do you grade yourself, and what is the reason for the grading? Looking back at the past 12 years where you faced many changes, what was the moment you felt happiest as President?
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Yoshihito Yamada30:07
Looking back at the past 12 years, there were many things that happened. I did not have much experience and I was young. I thought about what needs to be focused in running the business, and I came to the corporate philosophy and the spirit of the founding period. I decided to focus on the philosophy in running the business. There are four business companies, all of them existing to solve social problems through business.
To respond to your second question, there are many happy moments. In recent years, under the last three years with COVID, all the efforts made by the employees were very impressive. Even under lockdown, some employees stayed at the factory to continue running production. There were many such employees, and that helped support continuing the business.
Also, under a very difficult situation, the controllers, factory automation, sensors, and motors were all leveraged to come up with artificial respirators for emergency use to save the lives of many people. There were such members in this team. I was quite impressed with such efforts by our employees, and I am very proud of such OMRON members.
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Unknown32:06
Next question from online.
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Reporter32:30
You have many years of experience. Regarding the business environment around Factory Automation, how do you view the current business environment? There are many different competitors making huge investments at the same time. What is your assessment of this competitive environment right now? Also, you were stationed in Europe for a period. Do you have any interesting episodes from your experience outside of Japan?
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Junta Tsujinaga33:18
Under the current business environment surrounding factory automation, as you all know, it is very uncertain and that is still continuing. The future still remains uncertain. However, we have additional experiences, technologies, and knowledge that we have gained, and there are many areas where we can exercise and leverage those technologies. We are here to solve social problems, and we want to continue challenging on that concept. I know the environments are quite tough, but we want to take this as an opportunity to continue making improvement.
In response to the second question, I spent two years in Germany actually, involved in marketing activities for sensors. That was my first experience staying outside of Japan. The German language was something I could not read at all, so I struggled a lot in my life rather than in work. Shopping at supermarkets was a real struggle. So rather than the job, I have much bigger impressions about my life back then. Thank you.
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Unknown35:07
I have a question from Nikkei.
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Reporter35:12
Mr. Tsujinaga, you became the President of IAB in 2021. Talking about the last two years, please give us your view. How do you feel about the past two years? Also, you are quite field-oriented. Is there any starting point of being such a customer-first or field-oriented approach? Any reasons or episodes?
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Junta Tsujinaga35:46
Thank you for your questions. Many things happened and we struggled a lot for the last two years. Natural disasters, part shortages, Russia-Ukraine conflict. It has been a turbulent two years. We were able to have steady business growth, and I think it was because we placed importance on the field. We should not forget this concept even after I take on the management position of the company.
Regarding any episodes, since I joined OMRON, I was involved in sales, marketing, and product planning. I had a lot of opportunities to listen to customers, the voices of customers, and try to take those first voices into the business. In some cases, I wasn't able to meet expectations, but all the hints came from the customers, came from the field. Those were the basis for building up my thinking concepts. Of course, I faced some failures, but still I want to continue placing importance on the field in the future.
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Unknown37:21
Another question will be the last question.
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Reporter37:36
As President, what do you feel needs to be changed and what needs to be reinforced? How are you trying to address the challenge?
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Junta Tsujinaga38:07
Thank you for your question. There are areas to be changed and there are areas to be reinforced. The area not to be changed is the practice of corporate philosophy. We need to further evolve, reinforce, and solidify the practice of the corporate philosophy. The area to be reinforced is the execution capability. Now we have strategies and it is very clear. We know what needs to be done, so more than before, we need to reinforce our execution capability so that even under changes in the world, we can continue to execute what we plan to do. The business cycle and decision-making will need to be run in a speedy manner. This is all in order to reinforce our execution capabilities.
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Unknown39:05
Thank you very much. So that is all for the Q&A session. This will be the end of the online broadcast. Thank you very much for your participation.