August 22, 2001

W = Wharton  G = Gumz

Background:

F. Mark Gumz was appointed President & Chief Operating Officer of Olympus America Inc. in January 2000.  He has extensive experience in e-business, international trade, and new business development.  Mark has had a longstanding association with Olympus.  He first worked for the company from 1977-1983 as Vice President of Olympus Camera Corporation, a corporate entity that pre-dates Olympus America Inc.  He was the first American hired for this company and was responsible for establishing the sales, marketing and distribution services of Olympus consumer products in the United States.

From 1983 through 1999 Mark participated in several start ups and maintained an ongoing business relationship with Olympus globally through his company The Gumz Group, Inc., an international trading company.  Prior to formally rejoining Olympus he worked as a consultant to the company.  In 1997 Mark was a featured speaker at the first G-7 Conference on Electronic Commerce held in Bonn Germany.  The subject of his speech centered on the inclusive character of the Internet and the ability it provided to level the playing field for all companies regardless of their size.  In line with this one of the first programs initiated at Olympus America after Gumz’ arrival was the Olympus Web Partner Program, an inclusive e-commerce opportunity that allows Olympus brick and mortar retailers to directly benefit from the Olympus marketing efforts on the Internet through a unique locator and forwarding service program.  One leading national retailer named Olympus, the e-commerce vendor of the year for 2000, recognizing the value of this e-commerce initiative.

Mark’s career began with The General Electric Company and has included management positions with Marubeni America Corporation.  He is a native of Cleveland, Ohio and holds a B.A. in Humanities from Ohio State University.  Olympus America Inc. “OAI” is headquartered in Melville, New York, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. of Japan.  OAI is responsible for the sales, marketing, distribution and service of a diverse range of Olympus consumer and healthcare products in North and South America.

 W:       What are the necessary qualities and/or skills that a leader must have to be successful?

G:         I feel that the most important quality is to have the ability to listen to those around you and to make decisions based on as much qualified information as is possible to gather.  The follow up skill to good listening is being a good communicator in both written and oral form.  I find that I spend most of my time listening whether it is with our customers, both the professionals and consumers who use our products, as well as with our own employees.  It is very helpful and frankly allows me to better understand how to communicate to the larger group in our company on how we are doing in the eyes of our constituents, both external and internal.

            I also feel that it is important to be seen by employees.  I try to be in the office before the majority of our staff arrives at headquarters in the morning and also to be there into the early evening.  I also attempt to walk around as much as possible and to make myself available for meetings or chance conversation.  I also make a point of having my lunch in the employee café, something that I encourage all of my direct reports to do.  This casual time allows for employees to make contact in a less structured way and conveys that management is accessible.

            I also do not believe that important things only happen at headquarters.  I try to be in the field either visiting our other offices or working with our field sales and service people together with customers at least 40% of the time.  I also make an effort to meet in Tokyo with our upper management at least once every 6-8 weeks.  This helps to build a better understanding of what we are doing and also allows for feedback that I need on my performance.

W:        Describe your leadership style.

G:         I am comfortable with an open management style and promoting open discussions with the Company’s employees and constituents, again either internal or external.  In a sense I feel that I am serving and supporting these groups and it is important for me to really involve them in improving the management process.  I feel that this allows the best ideas to come forward and it also provides me with an opportunity to evaluate the members of our team.  How do people think?  What leads them to certain conclusions? Are they thorough in their deliberation leading up to an idea?  How well do they listen?  For some people this style of management takes some time to get used to, as many people are comfortable with acquiescing to other’s opinions, or are fearful of raising new ideas.  I try to dispel this by encouraging people to “throw the ball” and get the idea exchange going.

W         As a leader, what are your top three priorities in order of importance and why?

G:        The status quo is our greatest enemy.  Above all the organization must avoid resting upon it and make sure that the team does not take comfort in “that’s the way we have always done things” or “we tried that before and it didn’t work”.

            The speed of decision-making is as important as the quality of the thought that goes into the decision.  It is clear that good decisions are based on thorough research and understanding coupled with the right timing.  A good idea delivered late or without the proper sequence is wasted.

            The feeling of being an owner of the business is critical.  This has to be part of decision-making and all elements from idea creation to expense control to budgeting and ultimately to plan evaluation.  If people don’t feel that they are accountable for decisions they make, no stock option plan will ever make them behave like owners.   To that end, one of my first objectives at OAI was to align the corporate financial objectives with the financial incentive plan for the managers and above in the organization.  This has provided everyone with a common goal and immediate feedback on what needs to be done.

W:        What are your biggest challenges as a leader?

G:        Olympus is a very diversified company.  Our business is nearly evenly split between consumer products and medical system products including endoscopes, microscopes and diagnostic equipment.  I am constantly moving from one meeting to another and the subject and issues are very different depending upon the product group or corporate department I am meeting with.  My biggest challenge is to be aware of what is happening in each area so that I am able to evaluate plans and to critique ideas.  There is also an expectation that when the President of the company joins a meeting that he is interested in and aware of the business of the group and that I am current on the issues facing that business or corporate department.  This is an ongoing challenge but also one of the most rewarding parts of the job; in fact that is when I am really doing my job.

W:       Biggest disappointment?

G:         I guess the most difficult situation to accept is when an individual is unable or unwilling to change and be a part of the process.  When I am unable to get an employee to feel that they are part of the team it is disappointing.  I know that no matter how many financial records the company will achieve nothing will ever equal the importance of developing people and making them integral members of the organization.  When this doesn’t or can’t happen it is ultimately frustrating.   Hopefully the number of disappointments is limited.