When 56 year old Harry Ollila moved from Finland to China last September, it was to take on one of the biggest jobs in the industry – chief executive of Konecranes North East Asia, including responsibility for Konecrane’s factory in Shanghai.
Ollila joined Konecranes in 1991 and by 2002, when he was already regional executive in charge of Europe, he was promoted to the additional role of head of group development, responsible for business development, human resources development, group IT and R&D.
Such is the global spread of the company, numerous Konecranes senior managers could have made it on to this list, including Arto Juosila, group vice president, administration and business development, and Ollila’s predecessor as Konecranes’ man in Shanghai.
The selection of Ollila reflects the growing importance of China, both as a market and as a manufacturing centre for lifting equipment.