After seizing backyard, LIXIL looking abroad

"Having a big vision is a great thing," says CEO of LIXIL Group Yoshiaki Fujimori. Already on top in its native Japanese market with the largest market share in its sector, housing equipment and building materials leader LIXIL has no greater vision than recreating its success at home in the rest of the world.

This strategy has been a key facet of LIXIL's decision to focus global activities in the world's current growth hub - Asia. Dubbed the "10x10 Matrix", its plan is to concentrate on 10 product segments in 10 Asian countries. In China it is leading the matrix pack by a significant margin, and China is a key part of its global plan.

"In China almost 20 million new homes are built annually, compared to Japan's 900,000 and 900,000 in the US," says Fujimori. China's rise to the world's second largest economy has resulted in a ballooning middle class now approximately 10 times the size of Japan's.