Every business depends on its sales force, and the ability to attract and keep top performers is critical to success. For international companies in Japan, the chronic shortage of qualified bilingual talent makes the challenge particularly acute.

In the March CEO Insights meeting we will welcome Mr. John Tucker, CEO of specialist executive search firm CDS (part of the Recruit Group). John is no light weight former English but is actually a Harvard University grad running a sizable human resource business in Japan.  John will share some lessons he has learned in building his team — and doubling revenue over the past four years — including:

• The No. 1 thing that motivates experienced sales people (hint: not money)
• Trade-offs between “building” and “buying” a sales team
• Accommodating diversity while maintaining culture
• Why it sometimes makes sense for even a recruitment agency to use a recruitment agency

Date – Thursday, 13 March 2014 1230PM-1400PM
Venue-
Roppongi Hills Club- Roppongi Hills Club- Italian Restaurant- La Cucina
51 fl. Roppongi Hills Mori Tower,
6-10-1 Roppongi,
Minato-ku, Tokyo, 106-6151 Japan

When the first mobile phones came out in sizes such as shoeboxes, people thought it was convenient, but not practical. Car phones came around the same time but weren’t quite life changing yet. Then the phones got small enough for pockets and people in all walks of life started using mobile phones in various places. Undoubtedly, mobile phones have changed people lives.

In Feb, the C8 CEO Insights luncheon is pleased to welcome Dr. Mick Itoh. Mick is the Managing Director of R&D and strategy in Japan, as well as CEO of Docomo Capital based in Palo Alto, California. He will be sharing with us on how he sees the business and technology landscape is changing due to advances in telecommunications and mobility. How companies are prospering in this next generation, and how some firms are actually missing the boat. This is a wonderful opportunity to hear from one of Japan’s leaders from a flagship firm.

Date – Thursday, 13 February 2014 1230PM-1400PM
Venue-
Roppongi Hills Club- Roppongi Hills Club- Italian Restaurant- La Cucina
51 fl. Roppongi Hills Mori Tower,
6-10-1 Roppongi,
Minato-ku, Tokyo, 106-6151 Japan

Advertizing in Japan has many facets such as print, internet, radio and other ‘channels’  Unlike other markets, television does seem to remain somewhat effective.  Did you know that Japan was one of the first nations in the world to experiment with TV in the 1920s? In the February CEO Insights meeting welcomes Mr. Mike Rogers from Switch Media Lab in Tokyo.  Mike has been working in music, radio and television in Japan since 1984.

Mike will discuss the history of entertainment and television broadcasting in Japan and why our favorite Japanese heroes, the Yakuza, are so important to all aspects of entertainment in this country. He will also explain how this relates to today and why the TV ratings system in Japan is a monopoly and how it got there with an eye on the incestuous relationship between broadcasters and ratings agencies. There will also be explanations on exactly how the current system works and why it is so difficult to get proper ratings data as well as trends and good news what the future holds for television advertisers in Japan.

Questions about advertising in Japan?  The Feb C20 Insights meeting is one you want to attend.
Date– Friday, 14 February 2014 1230PM-1400PM

Venue-
Roppongi Hills Club- Roppongi Hills Club- Italian Restaurant- La Cucina
51 fl. Roppongi Hills Mori Tower,
6-10-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku,
Tokyo, 106-6151 Japan

No time to head to NYC for a ball game?  No problem-

In February of 2013 it was the same situation, but a small group of us met at the Tokyo American Club for the annual Super Bowl festivities to watch the American Football game.  Some of us didn’t know the rules, others didn’t know who was playing.  We did have a few experts among us that helped us all become instant specialists on America’s biggest game.

We enjoyed the chance to catch up over a breakfast buffet and see what was going on in the world of American Football.  We’ll be meeting again this year from 7AM on February 3, 2014.

Running a firm in the Japan is no easy task.  Some CEOs have to even cover this at the regional level as well.

There are operational, financial, marketing, and other issues that the CEO has to be constantly thinking about.  With a new year many people set new goals for the year.  Most individuals set regular exercise as there New Years resolution and usually fail in implementing that.  CEOs don’t have that luxury.  CEOs must effectively use their resources or risk giving the reins of the enterprise to some new younger challenger.

In the January CEO Insights meeting we’ll be talking about Setting and Achieving Organizational Goals.  Some areas to be covered will be-

-Setting and motivating the front line sales team for a new year of effective revenue generation
-Insights on how to make sure your Customer Service team is really servicing the customer.
-Engaging and developing the back office team

Enjoy this chance to find out what works well from other CEOs who’ve done it already.

Date– Friday, 10 January 2014 1230PM-1400PM

Venue-
Roppongi Hills Club- Roppongi Hills Club- Italian Restaurant- La Cucina
51 fl. Roppongi Hills Mori Tower,
6-10-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku,
Tokyo, 106-6151 Japan

Running a firm in the Japan is no easy task.  Some CEOs have to even cover this at the regional level as well.

There are operational, financial, marketing, and other issues that the CEO has to be constantly thinking about.  With a new year many people set new goals for the year.  Most individuals set regular exercise as there New Years resolution and usually fail in implementing that.  CEOs don’t have that luxury.  CEOs must effectively use their resources or risk giving the reins of the enterprise to some new younger challenger.

In the January CEO Insights meeting we’ll be talking about Setting and Achieving Organizational Goals.  Some areas to be covered will be-

-Setting and motivating the front line sales team for a new year of effective revenue generation
-Insights on how to make sure your Customer Service team is really servicing the customer.
-Engaging and developing the back office team

Enjoy this chance to find out what works well from other CEOs who’ve done it already.

Date- Thursday, 9 January 2014 1230PM-1400PM

Venue-
Roppongi Hills Club- Roppongi Hills Club- Italian Restaurant- La Cucina
51 fl. Roppongi Hills Mori Tower,
6-10-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku,
Tokyo, 106-6151 Japan