Toyota Motor Corp. President Fujio Cho and two other Japanese were picked by BusinessWeek for its "best manager" roster for 2002, the magazine said Thursday.

The other Japanese were Ken Kudaragi, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. president and chief executive officer, and Fujio Mitarai, president and CEO of Canon Inc.

A total of 25 managers were selected.

BusinessWeek cited Cho's role in molding Toyota into a "truly global carmaker" by further expanding production in the United States as well as stretching its reach into Eastern Europe and China.

Kudaragi, "revered as the father of the PlayStation," was noted for generating 60 percent of the Sony group's operating profit in the year that ended in March, BusinessWeek said.

Mitarai, credited for leading the office machine and imaging-related company to report record profits in 2002 by slashing costs, was selected for the second year in a row.

Most of the 25 managers are CEOs of U.S. companies, including Steven Ballmer of Microsoft Corp.

The magazine also picked the 20 "worst" managers, including Citigroup Chairman and CEO Sandy Weill and others once touted as good managers at big multinational firms. None were from Japan.

The lists of the managers of the year are featured in the Jan. 13 issue, published Thursday, BusinessWeek said.