For new managers in foreign countries, many things can be surprising. For Jean-Marc Gilson, the newly-arrived head of a 90-year-old Japanese chemical giant, it was an absence that stood out.
¡°I¡¯ve been to 25, 30, 40 meetings so far, and I have yet to see one woman from a management position in any of these meetings,¡± said Gilson, the Belgian who took over as chief executive officer of Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corp. this month. ¡°I was amazed.¡±
Gilson, 57, is no newcomer to Japan, having spent five years in the country in the 2000s as an executive of what is now Dow Inc., where he managed a venture with Toray Industries Inc. He was headhunted from France¡¯s Roquette to lead the ?1.2 trillion member of the 225-issue Nikkei average that has interests in everything from petrochemicals to pharmaceuticals.
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