Note:
(a)
(i) Masahiko UOTANI
(A) The "u-o" (separation to note how the word is pronounced) is the Japanese pronunciation of kanji
(B) Reading the FT report, one may form the impression that he spent most of his adult time in US. But it is untrue. Bloomberg's resume about him says
Coca-Cola (Japan) Company, Ltd (CCJC) 1994-2006; "Before joining CCJC, Mr Uotani held a number of key positions in marketing and management at Kraft Japan, Citibank and Lion Corporation."
(ii) Shiseidō
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiseido
(Shiseido Company, Limited 株式会社 資生堂; is the largest cosmetic firm in Japan and the fourth largest cosmetics company in the world; Arinobu FUKUHARA 福原 有信, former head pharmacist 海軍病院薬局長 to the Japanese Imperial Navy, established the Shiseido Pharmacy in 1872
(c) "资生堂是全球化妆品领域的最知名品牌之一，其品牌包括怡丽丝尔(Elixir)、心机彩妆(Maquillage)和顶级品牌肌肤之钥(Clé de Peau)。根据伯恩斯坦研究公司(Bernstein Research)的数据，资生堂在美容市场的份额为2%，与雅诗兰黛(Estée Lauder)的3%相差不远，但远远落后于欧莱雅(L’Oréal)的9.7%。"
(i) French English dictionary
* clé (noun feminine; Latin [noun feminine] clāvis key): "key"
en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cl%C3%A9
* peau (noun feminine; ultimately from from Latin [noun feminine] pellis): "skin; hide; fur"
en.wiktionary.org/wiki/peau
* auréole (noun feminine): "halo" (French language does not have the word "auréale."
(ii) L'Oreal
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%27Or%C3%A9al
(In 1909, Eugène Schueller, a young French chemist of German descent, developed a hair dye formula called Auréale)
Itself is meaningless, the word "Oreal" sounds like "auréale."
Here is the English original:
Scheherazade Daneshkhu, Masahiko Uotani, Shiseido CEO: from Coke to cosmetics. Financial Times, Jan 11, 2015 (under the heading The Monday Interview). www.ft.com/cms/s/0/bd7b83f2-9296-11e4-a1fd-00144feabdc0.html
(It [Shiseidō] has also underperformed its closest domestic rival, Kaō Corporation, which owns Kanebo Cosmetics and household goods.”)
(i) 花王株式会社
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kao_Corporation
(established in 1887 by Tomirō NAGASE 長瀬 富郎 as a manufacturer of domestic toiletry soap; acquired Kanebō Cosmetics in 2006)
(ii) The “ka’ and “ō” are Chinese pronunciations of kani 花 and 王, respectively.
(iii) Kanebō カネボウ株式会社（旧鐘淵紡績、旧鐘紡 [pronounced ‘kanebō’) ja.wikipedia.org
(A) カネボウ株式会社（旧鐘淵紡績、旧鐘紡) ja.wikipedia.org
(B) 鐘淵紡績. So named because it was established in a Tokyo neighborhood called 鐘淵 or 鐘ヶ淵 (name origin: 沈鐘の伝説), both of which are pronounced "kane-ga-fuchi")
Japanese English dictionary
* bōseki 紡績 【ぼうせき】 (n,v): "spinning"
* kane 鐘 【かね】 (n): "bell (often a large hanging bell"
* fuchi 淵 【ふち】 (n) “deep pool; deep water”
English original: “A high school English teacher kindled in him a fascination with the language and a determination to speak it well by spending time in the US. He found a way to do this after joining Lion, a Japanese consumer goods group best known for toothpaste and run at the time by a Columbia University graduate. It eventually sent him to Columbia where he relished the MBA course. After leaving Lion, he spent most of his working life at Coca-Cola and US snacks group Mondelez (the former Kraft), mostly in marketing roles.”
(i) Lion Corporation ライオン [pronounced 'ra-i-on' because in Japanese transliteration, there is no letter "l"] 株式会社
I fail to find why the company came to be named Lion.
(ii) Mondelēz International
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mondelēz_International
(IS an American company; "It comprises the global snack and food brands of the former Kraft Foods. The Mondelēz name, adopted in 2012, came from the input of Kraft Foods employees at the time, a combination of the words for 'world' and 'delicious' in romance languages)
Compare
Grupo Modelo brews Corona beer.
Spanish English dictionary
modelo (noun masculine): “a model (machine, miniature)”
(noun masculine & feminine): “a model (person who serves as a subject for artwork or fashion)”
en.wiktionary.org/wiki/modelo
English original: “He plans to abolish sales quotas in favour of broader ‘evaluation targets’ tilted towards customer satisfaction measures and to introduce more merit-based promotions aimed at motivating younger employees. Through such changes, Mr Uotani hopes to develop what he calls a ‘hybrid model’ by grafting a measure of American management practices on to the Japanese culture that constitutes the core of Shiseido. The strength of Japanese culture is that ‘people are very loyal, hard-working — sometimes they work too hard — and they try to work as a team, collaborating with each other.’ But ‘the flip side is because Japanese companies have a seniority order, even if you are good, you have to wait. In the western management style, it doesn’t matter what age you are, whether you are a man or woman.’”