Bridgestone Europe names first COO
As reported yesterday, a new CEO and president is set to replace Makio (Mac) Ohashi at the helm of Bridgestone Europe (BSEU) at the start of January 2012. This change of top management will be accompanied by the creation of a new position within the company, that of chief operating officer. Bridgestone Europe has named Mitsuhira (Mike) Shimazaki as the first incumbent in this newly-created position. As COO, the current senior vice-president of Sales and Marketing at Bridgestone Europe will continue to manage the company’s Sales and Marketing organisations and additionally assume responsibility for Manufacturing and Supply Chain Management.
New CEO and president Franco Annunziato, who also serves as vice-president and officer of parent company Bridgestone Corporation, will relocate from the Bridgestone Europe’s Rome-based Technical Center to the company’s headquarters in Brussels on January 2, 2012. In order to assure a smooth transition to his new role, Annunziato will be elected vice-chairman of Bridgestone Europe’s Board, effective November 16, 2011, and will serve in that position until assuming his new responsibilities.
Mac Ohashi, Bridgestone Europe’s CEO and president since March, 2010, will return to the parent company’s Tokyo office and on January 1, 2012 take over the role of vice-president and officer, responsible for Bridgestone’s Asia Pacific, China, Middle East, Africa and Russia Tire Business Operations. In this position, Ohashi will report to Asahiko Nishiyama, vice-president and senior officer responsible for International Tire Business Operations.
Commenting on the new appointments, Asahiko Nishiyama, Chairman of Bridgestone Europe’s Board, stated: “On behalf of the management and employees of BSEU I would like to thank Mac for his leadership and we wish him much success in his new assignment in Tokyo. I am also very pleased to welcome Franco and Mike to their new roles at BSEU. The new management team – Franco as CEO teamed with Mike as COO – is clearly a perfect combination for the company. Both of these leaders have extensive experience with BSEU, with each having complementary expertise that will create great synergies, especially as we move into the future and undertake new and innovative strategic approaches to our business. These appointments are also entirely in line with our direction of enhancing Corporate Governance and increasing the diversity of the Bridgestone group’s management team.”
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