New Chairman to Oversee Fuji Xerox Australia

Originally written by Athina Mallis and published by ProPrint

Fuji Xerox sends Tokyo man to Sydney

Fuji Xerox Australia has created a new position of Chairman of the Board – primarily to oversee local governance – appointing long term company man Hirokazu Komaki to the role.

The move provides direct accountability between Australian and Tokyo, and comes after the widely publicised inappropriate accounting practices were identified at Fuji Xerox Australia and Fuji Xerox New Zealand, where accounts were overstated by $450m, sales were made up, and the company was run as a virtual fiefdom during the tenure of Neil Whittaker as CEO, firstly in New Zealand and latterly in Australia.

An independent investigative report commissioned by Fuji Xerox parent Fujifilm found a lack of governance was a major reason that inappropriate accounting practices continued for so long, with the systematic disempowering of legal and finance departments in favour of the sales department contributing to the problems.

Fuji Xerox says the new post of Chairman of the Board is a part of continuing support provided to Fuji Xerox Australia by the Fuji Xerox headquarters in Japan. Komaki, will strengthen governance to solidify the Fuji Xerox Australia operations as well as to galvanise the Company’s board meetings, in addition to serving as a close bridge between Fuji Xerox Australia and its parent companies.

Isamu Sekine, president and chief executive officer of Fuji Xerox Asia Pacific says, “Hirokazu Komaki is an outstanding leader, with a wealth of experience in mainly finance and companywide process innovation. His leadership is essential to drive the company forward under the highest standards of corporate governance.”

Komaki began his career with Fuji Xerox in 1978, and served as CFO of Fuji Xerox Asia Pacific in 1999, General Manager of Corporate Finance in 2000, and appointed in 2007 as corporate vice president of Fuji Xerox headquarters in Japan, responsible for companywide process innovation. Prior to this new position, he was the president of Fuji Xerox Service Creative a subsidiary of Fuji Xerox located in Japan.

Komaki will be relocating to Australia upon his visa approval.