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Leadership Mr. Cho Fujio (President)
After
graduating of the Faculty of Law at the University of Tokyo, Mr. Cho joined
Toyota on earning his degree in 1960. After spending his early career in general
affairs, in 1974 he became a manager in the production control division, where
he was assigned to the operations management consulting department to learn the
principles of the Toyota Production System from TPS authority Taichi Ohno. In
1984, Mr. Cho became department general manager of the logistic management
division, while co-serving as a project general manager in the production
control division. In 1987, Mr.
Cho was dispatched to Kentucky as executive vice president at Toyota Motor
Manufacturing, U.S.A., Inc. (TMM). He was named a Toyota director in 1988, and
later that year he became president of TMM. He returned to Japan in 1994 where
he was named managing director. He became senior managing director in 1996. In
1998, Mr. Cho became executive vice president, where he oversaw Toyota's
corporate planning, information systems, and industrial equipment. Mr. Cho
assumed the position of president in 1999. As the company’s head, he not only
shapes corporate policy for Toyota but serves as a spokesman for the automobile
industry and for manufacturing in general. Mr. Hiroshi
Okuda (Chairman)
Named a director of the company in 1982, Mr. Okuda supervised a full range of international operations, including preparations for the construction of major plants in Taiwan and North America. Mr. Okuda became a managing director in 1987, a senior managing director in 1988, and an executive vice president in 1992. Mr. Okuda served as president from 1995 to 1999. Mr. Okuda assumed duties as chairman in 1999, where he was instrumental in furthering localization and internationalization of the Company, as well as making it a worldwide leader in environmental initiatives. In 1996, Mr. Okuda was awarded the Medal with Blue Ribbon, Japan, for his contributions to Japanese Society. In 1998, Mr. Okuda was selected as a member of the Prime Minister's Economic Strategy Council of Japan. In 1999, Mr. Okuda became chairman of the Japan Federation of Employers' Associations..
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Mr. Cho
Fujio has been instrumental in honing the Company’s production system
throughout his career. He later put that knowledge to work in distribution
control and on the project team that coordinated the preparations for Toyota’s
plant in Kentucky, which is the first plant in North America. Mr. Cho also has
extensive experience in government and industrial affairs, having worked in a
supporting role until 1998 at the Japan Federation of Economic Organizations
(Keidanren), which was at the time headed by then TMC Chairman Shoichiro Toyoda.
