"Just having technical knowledge doesn't
translate into being a good manager. You need a
broader appreciation of ethics, of what life's
all about, and what really motivates human beings – which
is always more than just money or success. You
need to understand the employee as a whole person." -
Yoshihiko Miyauchi
Yoshihiko Miyauchi
Global Innovator Brings Deregulation to Japan,
Ichiro to America
In the summer of 1958, Yoshihiko Miyauchi
(MBA 1960) arrived in San Francisco after a two-week
voyage across the Pacific on a Japanese freighter.
He was 22 years old, had just completed his undergraduate
studies in Japan, and was setting foot in the US
for the first time – on route to Seattle
and the University of Washington Business School.
"
I was astonished by the gap between America and
Japan at that time," Miyauchi recalls, "even
though my own country had been steadily rebuilding
its economy since the end of the war. I was amazed
by the freeways and the number of trucks and cars – and
also by small things, like disposable tissue paper
and myriad flavors of ice cream."
"But perhaps I was most surprised," Miyauchi
laughs, "by the excellent English everyone
spoke."
Miyauchi was encouraged to attend the University
of Washington by his father, who had imported lumber
from Seattle before the war and retained many friends
in the region. He was the youngest member of his
MBA class, one of the few without work experience,
and the only Asian student, but Miyauchi threw
himself into his studies.
Upon completing his MBA, Miyauchi returned to Japan
and soon joined a small startup with just 13 employees,
Orient Leasing Co. Ltd. (now ORIX Corporation),
that helped pioneer the lease financing of machinery
and industrial equipment for Japan's booming
manufacturing base. The company expanded rapidly
during the 1960s and '70s, diversifying the
range of its products and services to include ships
and aircraft, along with real estate finance and
development. Miyauchi became president and CEO
of ORIX in 1980, a position he held until assuming
his present post as chairman and CEO in 2000. He
has overseen the growth of ORIX into one of Japan's
top corporations – an integrated financial
services powerhouse with more than 15,000 employees
and a reputation for innovation and providing exceptional
value to shareholders.
Miyauchi credits his education at the Business
School for management insights that helped shape
his extraordinary career. "What I learned
in class during my experience in an entirely foreign
culture formed the foundation of my philosophy
as a businessman," he says. "Rather
than relying solely on the discipline and unchanging
business practices typical of Japan, I saw that
our companies could develop new areas of growth
by seeking out untapped opportunities and creating
new forms of value."
One of Miyauchi's more adventuresome business
decisions was his company's purchase of a
Japanese baseball team in 1988. The investment
paid some unexpected dividends when the ORIX BlueWave,
as the team is called, drafted a fourth-round pitcher
out of high school in 1992 by the name of Ichiro
Suzuki. Ichiro became a superstar in Japanese baseball
and now for the Mariners.
In addition to being one of Japan's top corporate
leaders, Miyauchi is proud of his reputation as "Mr.
De-regulation." He's a strong advocate
of regulatory reform and serves as president of
the Council for Promoting Regulatory Reform, an
advisory board to the prime minister of Japan.
He serves as a director on the boards of many major
corporations. He also serves on the Foster
School's Advisory Board, and is one of a
select group of Asian leaders that advise UW President
Mark Emmert on developments in that region. Last
fall, Miyauchi was given the prestigious Alumni
Leadership Award by the Foster School of Business for
his career achievements and community service.
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