I’ve been operating many years in Japan, running Bayer’s pharmaceutical operations before my present position in charge of G.D. Searle’s interests. When we merged a large joint venture operation with our directly owned organization, we needed to come up with one uniform set of Employment Rules, regulations and compensation practices.

In 1983, I had Mr. Nevins evaluate the work done by the merger committee, also interacting in Japanese with representatives of our Japanese partner. He gave useful and practical guidance to all parties concerned, gaining respect and credibility from the Japanese and of course my home office. Many of his innovative and original recommendations were accepted and TMT wrote up the new Employment Rules for the merged organization. Not only is he aware of compensation issues, but also has good knowledge of labor law-related matters, procedures with unions, and how to rationalize certain benefit schemes while avoiding adverse impact.

Although we dealt with other locally based Japanese consultants, it was primarily Mr. Nevins who was given final responsibility and made the most important contribution. At the same time he made sure to keep a healthy balance between corporate management and employee interests.

Dr. Klaus Kran
President & Representative Director
Searle Yakuhin K.K.