American Steve Yurich is the
global CEO of Mitsubishi Polyester Film Group, a Mitsubishi
Chemical subsidiary. Based in South Carolina, he oversees
polyester film manufacturing operations in Japan, Indonesia,
Germany and the United States. Yurich talked with the Mitsubishi
Monitor during one of his frequent visits to Japan.
Global Interaction
“I started my career as an
engineer with Celanese Chemical Company, which was subsequently
acquired by Hoechst. The polyester film operations at Hoechst
consisted of a joint venture with Mitsubishi Chemical. I
came over to Mitsubishi Chemical when it bought Hoechst’s
equity in that venture in 1998 and became president of the
U.S. polyester film company.
“Mitsubishi Chemical created the polyester
film group from four regional companies in Europe, Japan,
Indonesia and the United States and set up an executive
committee that comprised a CEO and the regional presidents.
We established global teams for product development, process
technology, marketing and information technology. Being
a successful global company depends on leveraging our human
resources and our unique diversity. Therefore, we work hard
at maintaining constant global interaction among our group
companies and the teams.”
Virtual Headquarters
“Our former CEO retired in
April, and I have succeeded him while continuing to serve
concurrently as president of our U.S. company. Due to recent
heavy investment and growth at our U.S. operation, our global
headquarters will be at our South Carolina facility for
the time being. But it could be anywhere. Essentially, we’re
a virtual headquarters. Most of the so-called headquarters
functions actually consist of interactions among people
at the regional operations. With a shared vision and strategy
and common measurements of success, this sort of decentralized
headquarters is highly workable. It supports fast decision-making
and close coordination among regions.”
Language
“Language is an issue, of
course, though the benefitsof international diversity far
outweigh the problems of language. This is an organization
of Americans, Germans, Indonesians, Japanese and others.
We do a lot of video/teleconferencing and e-mail to maintain
good communication. I’d guess that the natural comprehension
rate during our face-to-face meetings is somewhere between
40% and 60%. So we take measures to reinforce the communication.
“For example, we send out agendas and
meeting presentations well ahead of the actual meeting.
We take detailed notes during our meetings and review afterwards
to confirm what was discussed and agreed to. Finally, we
encourage our colleagues to take some language training.”
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"My
work in management is surprisingly similar to the work I
did years ago as an engineer. In chemical engineering, we
analyze manufacturing processes with an eye to identifying
and resolving inefficiencies and expanding capacities. As
leaders we analyze the basic building blocks of our business
processes to figure out ways to be more efficient, more
effective and more profitable."
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Career Opportunities
“Senior executives at Mitsubishi
Chemical and other Mitsubishi companies express a need to
bring more non-Japanese talent into management. And they
are taking concrete measures to attract, retain and promote
non-Japanese management personnel. But the employees also
need to take the initiative. Here are three suggestions
for career-minded individuals.
“One, don’t limit yourself internally.
Two, accept and welcome diversity. Three, take risks with
your career.
“We unconsciously let opportunities slip
away by defining our capabilities too narrowly. When an
exciting job opening comes up in the company, we say, ‘No,
I’m an engineer, not an administrator.’ Or maybe,
‘They won’t think I have enough experience.’
To advance and grow, we need to be prepared to assert our
capabilities in new and broader ways.
“The same thing holds for accepting diversity.
We need to interact with people of different professional
and cultural backgrounds. This gives us a better understanding
of other business models and other ways of thinking.
“Risk aversion, meanwhile, is the biggest
obstacle that we place before ourselves in our careers.
We get comfortable doing familiar work in familiar surroundings.
That can be fatal. Occasionally we need to take calculated
risks. And we in management need to encourage employees
to take those chances.” |
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