Toyota, the reputed auto firm headquartered in Japan will recruit a person from India as a team lead to manage its functions in Japan. This new recruitment strategy has been formulated because Hiroshi Nakagawa the director in charge of management will retire next January. This is an interesting piece of information and commendable that an Indian is being chosen to run managerial operation on Japanese soil, and is also the first attempt of Indian in Japan.
A top official from Toyota Motor Asia Pacific announced that the main aim is to promote Indian’s in various segments and train recruits to acquire proficient leadership qualities in their chosen field of endeavor and extract the best talent and make them pioneers in their respective segments.
Japanese companies not recruited Indian’s at the team lead level, the last was Jagdish Khattar appointed in Maruti Suzuki in the year 2008. Even other esteemed companies of Mitsubishi, Nissan and Honda have never appointed Indians to lead the parent establishment. Indian employees complained of not being provided with the opportunity to work in foreign establishments, Khattar was provided with the opportunity when Government had a fair share holding with Suzuki. In India, the Japanese firm recruited Kenichi Ayukawa as the CEO in the Indian segment when Shinji Nakanishi stepped down.
Most parent companies on international soil, entrust duties to locals, and opportunities for Indian’s have been minimal. Indian’s will most likely have attractive and competitive positions in overseas segments, the drift in trend will happen in due course. There was a reshuffle with responsibilities in Toyota Kirloskar India last December where two dynamic corporate entities, Sandeep Singh and Shekhar Viswanathan were pushed to higher level of responsibilities. Singh was the given the responsibility of Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, and Vishwanathan was promoted to the level of Vice Chairman in the external affair department. Top officials have stated that the main reason for promoting Shekhar and Sandeep are they are familiar with marketing and promotional dynamics.
It is known that Suzuki might also follow the same trend; Nakanishi has stepped down from his chief executive position, and has stated that Indian’s should lead the managerial and marketing operations on Japanese soil.
This is a commendable moment for Toyota Kirloskar Motor, where an Indian might lead the dynamic and highly acclaimed team in the parent firm. The appointment of Indian showcases India’s empowering capabilities to executive effective leadership and marketing strategies. Toyota Kirloskar Motor has been adept with respect to constructing cars with creative exteriors and efficient engines. Suzuki cars are also known to possess remarkable engine efficiencies. Many Indian manufactured products have been exported to the international segment, and have also created a stellar image. The engine technology employed on domestic models is pretty impressive and this trend should carry on in global industries as well.
It would be interesting to observe the skills of Indian’s in the international market; this is an excellent move of Toyota Japan to appoint an Indian to carry out operations.
Tagged: Toyota
