Est. 2006

Chief Executive Officer · Japan · Global perspective

September 2026 edition

Noriko Fujita

Building enduring enterprises. Creating value that lasts.

Leading article

Building enduring enterprises. Creating value that lasts.

I lead businesses through the moments when ambition must become a different operating reality. My work has spanned enterprise renewal, market entry and the development of leadership teams able to sustain change beyond a single programme.

I believe the chief executive's responsibility is to connect the long view with the decisions made every day: where to compete, what to stop, where to invest and who will carry the next chapter. That means staying close to customers while creating a disciplined relationship between the board, the executive team and the organisation.

I bring a collaborative, direct approach to that work. I value thoughtful challenge, clear accountability and a culture in which difficult information travels quickly.

Continued on the profile page →

From the desk of Noriko

My task is to give the enterprise a direction it can act on. I make the choices about customers, capital and capabilities explicit, then give business leaders the authority and accountability to deliver. I want difficult information to reach the leadership team while there is still time to respond.

— Noriko Fujita

In this edition

Dispatches from practice

Case 01

Enterprise transformation

An established business had outgrown the operating model that made it successful. I brought the leadership team together around a smaller set of enterprise priorities, clarified decision rights and rebuilt the review rhythm around customer and operating evidence. The work connected strategy with ownership at the business-unit level, giving the board a clearer view of execution and the organisation a more consistent direction.

Case 02

Market expansion

A promising adjacent market required a different route to the customer. Rather than replicate the home-market model, we tested the proposition with a focused partner network, identified the capabilities that needed to be local and staged investment against learning milestones. My contribution was to keep the commercial ambition and the organisation's capacity in the same conversation.

Case 03

Operating performance

Fragmented initiatives were consuming leadership attention without a shared view of performance. We established a common operating cadence, put interdependent decisions on the same agenda and distinguished structural issues from short-term variance. Business leaders retained ownership of results while enterprise trade-offs became explicit.

The full record of leadership work →

Appointments

Northbridge Infrastructure TrustIndependent Director · 2022 — Present

The Lakeshore FoundationTrustee · 2019 — Present

Calder LogisticsNon-Executive Director · 2017 — 2021

Honours

Chief Executive of the Year — IndustrialThe Boardroom Review Awards · 2024

Top 50 Transformational LeadersCapital & Governance Quarterly · 2022

As reported in

The Boardroom Review“The CEO who stopped three businesses to build one” · 2025

Capital & Governance Quarterly“Succession as strategy: lessons from an industrial turnaround” · 2024

The Leadership Ledger podcast“Episode 112 — Choosing what not to do” · 2023

The record

Chief Executive OfficerAldermoor Group · 2020 — Present

Business Unit PresidentFairhaven Holdings · 2016 — 2020

Managing Director, Asia PacificHarrow & Vale Industries · 2011 — 2016

Director, Corporate StrategyMeridian Consolidated · 2006 — 2011

Letters to the editor

“Rare clarity about what the enterprise will and will not do — and the patience to make those choices stick.”
Helena Marsh, Chair, Northbridge Infrastructure Trust
“The most prepared chief executive I have worked with in a boardroom. Difficult news always arrived early.”
Rajiv Anand, Former Senior Independent Director, Harrow & Vale Industries

An invitation

Correspondence welcome.

Noriko welcomes conversations with boards, chairs, search advisers and editors.

Open to
  • Board appointments
  • Advisory roles
  • Speaking invitations

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