Omron to double number of foreign execs in Asia

The president of Japanese electronics maker Omron Corp. said his company plans to double the number of its management cadre hired in China and other foreign countries within three years.

In an interview with The Asahi Shimbun, Yoshihito Yamada also said Omron will introduce a program in October to train senior management to boost its operations in other Asian countries, which it considers its basis to increase sales.

“There will be more cases of making on-site decisions after the number of overseas bases increases,” said Yamada, 50. "Without a focus with the corporate identity at its core, (the overseas bases) would become kites whose strings are cut.

"We want to train officials who share the corporate identity and are capable of making quick decisions after identifying local needs.”

Omron has long-term plans to raise its sales to 1 trillion yen ($12.6 billion) by fiscal 2020 from 619.5 billion yen in fiscal 2011.

The main pillar of the plans will be its overseas business, mainly in other Asian countries. Sales in foreign countries now account for half of Omron's total sales.

Omron hopes for growth especially in emerging countries, such as China and India. The firm wants to expand sales of its control equipment used at factories, which is Omron’s mainstay, after raising its name recognition by selling home-use blood pressure monitors and other consumer products.

The number of Omron group employees is about 36,000, two-thirds of which are foreign nationals. But foreigners make up just one-third of some 60 chiefs of major departments at overseas bases. The firm wants to double the number to two-thirds by fiscal 2015.

About 20 officials chosen as candidates for executives and division directors are set to take part in the new management training program. Half of them are expected to be foreigners who are employed mainly in China, Thailand and Singapore. The foreign candidates will be mainly in their 50s in this year’s program, but the company plans to widen the scope to officials in their 40s beginning next year.

Under the program, participants will be required to discuss future visions and propose new business plans at Omron headquarters and other places once a month.