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Company officers

How to become a Company Executive

Also called: Company chair, Chief executive officer (CEO), Company president

Runs a company and holds final responsibility for how it is managed.

Main tasks

Workers in this job say university is common. From job tag's survey of people in each job, who could give several answers. It shows what workers see as common, not how many workers hold each level.

How to become one

No particular education or qualifications are needed to become a company president. These days most are university graduates, and some have an MBA (Master of Business Administration). Knowledge of business management, finance and accounting learned in a business faculty or business school is often useful in running a company. There are several routes to running a company, including taking over a business, starting your own, or being nominated by the board and approved at the shareholders' meeting. A business can be passed on within a family, to an employee or to an outside party. National and local governments run many programmes to encourage people to start businesses, and many people aim to do so. Attention is also being paid to companies that close because there is no successor even though the business is doing fine, and there are cases of company employees taking over such businesses. A company executive may also be asked to run another company. The qualities required include logical and strategic thinking. Foresight and insight to meet needs using the company's own strengths also help. You need to understand the overall picture of the economy, society and technology, look ahead, and have the flexibility and ideas to respond to changes in the market. Sometimes you need the decisiveness to take on risk. You must keep up with information and know the latest on the economy, society, technology and research and development. To bring the company together and run projects with other companies, you need empathy and communication skills. You need the charisma that makes people feel the company will do well under you and the leadership to lead staff, but staff will not follow you unless you care about each of them and even their families. Today, when compliance and corporate social responsibility matter, it is also important to keep asking how the business can contribute to society. As a company executive, it is also important to aim to run the company for the wider good of society. Many well-known Japanese business leaders have written books about their thinking. One point they share is the importance of an executive developing their own character. Without it you cannot bring the company together or work with other companies, and in the end you cannot meet shareholders' expectations. An executive needs both ability in the work and good character, but the work side can be handled, for example, by leaving finance or technology to others. Character, however, cannot be left to anyone else. So developing your character is very important for a company executive. It is also important for an executive to have clear, firm principles (a basic idea of how things should be). Without them the company has no fixed direction and cannot be brought together. Knowing the company's workplaces well is also important. Many executives visit factories and shops whenever they have time. Looking after your health also matters. Many executives have regular full health check-ups and play sport with friends on their days off.

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Questions people ask

How do I become a Company Executive?

No particular education or qualifications are needed to become a company president. These days most are university graduates, and some have an MBA (Master of Business Administration). Knowledge of business management, finance and accounting learned in a business faculty or business school is often useful in running a company. There are several routes to running a company, including taking over a business, starting your own, or being nominated by the board and approved at the shareholders' meeting. A business can be passed on within a family, to an employee or to an outside party. National and local governments run many programmes to encourage people to start businesses, and many people aim to do so. Attention is also being paid to companies that close because there is no successor even though the business is doing fine, and there are cases of company employees taking over such businesses. A company executive may also be asked to run another company. The qualities required include logical and strategic thinking. Foresight and insight to meet needs using the company's own strengths also help. You need to understand the overall picture of the economy, society and technology, look ahead, and have the flexibility and ideas to respond to changes in the market. Sometimes you need the decisiveness to take on risk. You must keep up with information and know the latest on the economy, society, technology and research and development. To bring the company together and run projects with other companies, you need empathy and communication skills. You need the charisma that makes people feel the company will do well under you and the leadership to lead staff, but staff will not follow you unless you care about each of them and even their families. Today, when compliance and corporate social responsibility matter, it is also important to keep asking how the business can contribute to society. As a company executive, it is also important to aim to run the company for the wider good of society. Many well-known Japanese business leaders have written books about their thinking. One point they share is the importance of an executive developing their own character. Without it you cannot bring the company together or work with other companies, and in the end you cannot meet shareholders' expectations. An executive needs both ability in the work and good character, but the work side can be handled, for example, by leaving finance or technology to others. Character, however, cannot be left to anyone else. So developing your character is very important for a company executive. It is also important for an executive to have clear, firm principles (a basic idea of how things should be). Without them the company has no fixed direction and cannot be brought together. Knowing the company's workplaces well is also important. Many executives visit factories and shops whenever they have time. Looking after your health also matters. Many executives have regular full health check-ups and play sport with friends on their days off.

Do you need a degree to become a Company Executive?

Not always. In this job's census occupation group, 49% of workers are university graduates.

Will AI change the work of a Company Executive?

Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Sources

独立行政法人労働政策研究・研修機構（JILPT）作成 職業情報データベース 解説系ダウンロードデータ（IPD_DL_description_7_01.xlsx）ver.7.01 職業情報提供サイト（job tag）より2026年10月4日にダウンロード（https://shigoto.mhlw.go.jp/User/download）を加工して作成

独立行政法人労働政策研究・研修機構（JILPT）作成 職業情報データベース 簡易版数値系ダウンロードデータ（IPD_DL_numeric_7_00.xlsx）ver.7.00 職業情報提供サイト（job tag）より2026年10月4日にダウンロード（https://shigoto.mhlw.go.jp/User/download）を加工して作成

Sources: JILPT Occupational Information Database download data via job tag (解説系 ver.7.01 and 簡易版数値系 ver.7.00, downloaded 4 October 2026), processed by Peernovo; MHLW, Basic Survey on Wage Structure 2025; Statistics Bureau of Japan, 2020 Population Census; MEXT, School Basic Survey 2025; MHLW, Employment Referrals for General Workers (Hello Work statistics). Figures processed by Peernovo. English job names, translations and the matching of jobs to statistical groups, schools and degree fields by Peernovo.

Updated 4 October 2026