Changes In 2016 for CEO Insights

It’s been a wonderful 11 years of running CI. Who would have thought that this would have become such an important c-level network, source or insights, and even advice for top leaders?  We’ve been organizing this at AINEO and enjoying the run.  It been all volunteer with me, my assistant, and a couple of your assistants from time to time.

As announced in early December 2016, I was thinking I better move on so we could focus on our business.  People didn’t like that idea, and it was suggested by a couple members that we really should cover the administrative and organizing work with an annual membership fee of some sort.  When I asked membership via email, the response was overwhelming and I was very encouraged to see people not only enjoying the group, and helping run the monthly meetings, but also willing to pitch in to cover the work that we do in the background.

I am always looking for topics and areas that CEOs need to know about.  There is a lot of vetting speakers, developing topics, organizing venues, helping with the introduction of new CEOs (and the replacement of members who aren’t engaged), arranging Global CEO special visits, and various other work associated with keeping the high standards since the founding of our group.

It does take a bit to organize CI, but frankly there is no other organization that even compares to the level and quality of CEO INSIGHTS.  CI is good because of you!  Thanks for all your teamwork in making the group unmatched.

I am very thankful to continue to develop and enhance the group and look forward to making it a group of even more influence in the coming years.

Thank you for supporting CEO Insights!

 

Spencer Wolfe

Organizer,  CEO Insights (AINEO Networks)

2015 Dec C20 Year End Wrap Up – Better Boss, Better Business

As yet another year closes, many executive offices are reviewing what worked and what didn’t, what sold and what didn’t,  what blew up and what overflowed.  In addition to national responsibility, many of our member CEOs have other countries in Asia as well as Australia/New Zealand reporting to them.  Growth is about reflecting on management mistakes as well as building management successes.

The December CEO Insights meetings is one of the most popular and well attended meetings as executives get ready for the Christmas holidays and year’s end.  This will be likely be your last chance to rub elbows with Asia’s top Tokyo-based CEOs and leadership.

The meeting
Date– Friday, 11 Dec 1230PM-1400PM
Venue–
Roppongi Hills Club- Roppongi Hills Club- La Cucina Restaurant (Italian)
51 fl. Roppongi Hills Mori Tower,
6-10-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku,
Tokyo, 106-6151 Japan

2015 Dec G3 Year End Wrap Up – Better Boss, Better Business

As yet another year closes, many executive offices are reviewing what worked and what didn’t, what sold and what didn’t,  what blew up and what overflowed.  In addition to national responsibility, many of our member CEOs have other countries in Asia as well as Australia/New Zealand reporting to them.  Growth is about reflecting on management mistakes as well as building management successes.

The December CEO Insights meetings is one of the most popular and well attended meetings as executives get ready for the Christmas holidays and year’s end.  This will be likely be your last chance to rub elbows with Asia’s top Tokyo-based CEOs and leadership.

The meeting
Date– Tuesday, 8 Dec 1230PM-1400PM
Venue–
Roppongi Hills Club- Roppongi Hills Club- La Cucina Restaurant (Italian)
51 fl. Roppongi Hills Mori Tower,
6-10-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku,
Tokyo, 106-6151 Japan

2015 Nov G3 Keeping The CEO’s Executive Edge

CEOs are all faced with the challenges of satisfying our day-day customers and achieving (short-term) financial objectives to keep our stake-holders happy.  However, the world continues to evolve, change.  Bosses all know that those that do not adapt and those that do not look for the trends and respond accordingly, unfortunately, fall into irrelevancy.  C-levels intuitively know we need to look to the future to maintain our leadership positions, however, the actuality is that some keep the edge much better then others
What works for you? How do you find the balance?  Organizationally, how do you balance long-term (mid-term) planning with the day-to-day?  Do you have specific annual processes that work that can be shared with others?  Who does it?  How do you do it?  Does it work? …or is it a waste of time? With so much responsibility, no boss has mastered everything.  This month’s CEO Insights is all about insights.
What metrics do you or areas do you focus in your planning:  Financial, structure (organization), innovation, looking at competition, threats, opportunities, and much more.  At this month’s CEO Insights meeting, you will have an invaluable opportunity to see inside companies outside of yours.
Date– Tuesday, 10 November 2015 1230PM-1400PM
Venue–
Roppongi Hills Club- La Cucina
51 fl. Roppongi Hills Mori Tower,
6-10-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku,
Tokyo, 106-6151 Japan

2015 Nov C8 Keeping The CEO’s Executive Edge

CEOs are all faced with the challenges of satisfying our day-day customers and achieving (short-term) financial objectives to keep our stake-holders happy.  However, the world continues to evolve, change.  Bosses all know that those that do not adapt and those that do not look for the trends and respond accordingly, unfortunately, fall into irrelevancy.  C-levels intuitively know we need to look to the future to maintain our leadership positions, however, the actuality is that some keep the edge much better then others
What works for you? How do you find the balance?  Organizationally, how do you balance long-term (mid-term) planning with the day-to-day?  Do you have specific annual processes that work that can be shared with others?  Who does it?  How do you do it?  Does it work? …or is it a waste of time? With so much responsibility, no boss has mastered everything.  This month’s CEO Insights is all about insights.
What metrics do you or areas do you focus in your planning:  Financial, structure (organization), innovation, looking at competition, threats, opportunities, and much more.  At this month’s CEO Insights meeting, you will have an invaluable opportunity to see inside companies outside of yours.
Date– Thursday, 12 November 2015 1230PM-1400PM
Venue–
Roppongi Hills Club- Salon (French)
51 fl. Roppongi Hills Mori Tower,
6-10-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku,
Tokyo, 106-6151 Japan

2015 Nov C20 Japan’s People Problem- The Facts About A Talent Shortage

Getting right people on the team is absolutely critical for business success anywhere and Japan is without doubt one of the most difficult places to hire in the world. With 1.27 open jobs per job seeker nationwide there is currently a huge shortage of suitably qualified professionals to do a wide range of jobs across industries. Unfortunately, for those of us running businesses here it’s only going to get a whole lot harder in the coming years and it’s absolutely critical that organisations prepare themselves for the challenges that this will pose.

David Swan, Managing Director Japan & Korea for Robert Walters will explain the dynamics of the job market that have created this situation and provide some strategies and ideas for you and your organisations to be in the best position possible to obtain the talent you need on your team.

Robert Walters is the leading foreign, mid-career global recruitment consultancy in Japan. David joined Robert Walters Japan in 2002, was appointed Managing Director in November 2009 and he established the Group’s Korea operations in October 2010. Since this time, the Japan business has become the most profitable, Tokyo the second largest office and Seoul one of the fastest offices for the group globally. David is also a regular commentator to the media on a wide range of issues pertaining to the Japanese labour market.

Date– Friday, 13 November 2015 1230PM-1400PM
Venue–
Roppongi Hills Club- PROTEUS Room
51 fl. Roppongi Hills Mori Tower,
6-10-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku,
Tokyo, 106-6151 Japan

2015 October C20- Understanding What Real Cyber Threats Mean To Your Business

As Japan is getting ready for the upcoming Tokyo 2020 Olympics Games as well as the current high tension with China and Korea, cyber security has become a key focal point for both the government (with JPS as a recent example of the current weaknesses that exist) and for the private sector. Another complicating factor is the convergence of physical and cyber security issues, shown most prevalently by a couple of recent attacks:

  • Target, a large US based retail organization, had up to 70M customer credit cards and other PPI stolen after being hacked via their building’s HVAC system.
  • A small team recently took over a Jeep that was traveling 70 mph (or about 110 kph) on the highway via its 3G mobile connection, and Range Rover is doing a recall of many of their vehicles due to their door and ignition system being easily hacked.
  • The emergence of IoT, especially in control systems for manufacturing, health care services, etc., presents a huge new set of opportunities for hackers to exploit and either gain control of various functions or bridge into the enterprise network.

In the October CI meeting, Mr. Phillip Morris, CTO for British Telecom (BT) Japan, will speak to us about BT’s experiences protecting the London 2012 Olympic Games. He will also share on where cyber security and risk management is going over the next few years.

Date– Friday, 9 October 2015 1230PM-1400PM
Venue–
Roppongi Hills Club- Roppongi Hills Club- Chinese Restaurant
51 fl. Roppongi Hills Mori Tower,
6-10-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku,
Tokyo, 106-6151 Japan

BT is a global telecommunications company with a heavy focus on the financial services, manufacturing, health care/life sciences and CPG sectors. BT is world renowned for their managed security services, protecting not only the Olympic Games, but also high profile organizations such as NATO Summits, large UK ministries, and global banks.

2015 Oct G3 – Attracting and Retaining a High-Performing Sales Team

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 October 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, 6 Oct 2015 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

2015 October C8 – Japan’s Talent Crisis – what you need to know

Getting right people on the team is absolutely critical for business success anywhere and Japan is without doubt one of the most difficult places to hire in the world. With 1.27 open jobs per job seeker nationwide there is currently a huge shortage of suitably qualified professionals to do a wide range of jobs across industries. Unfortunately, for those of us running businesses here it’s only going to get a whole lot harder in the coming years and it’s absolutely critical that organisations prepare themselves for the challenges that this will pose.

David Swan, Managing Director Japan & Korea for Robert Walters will explain the dynamics of the job market that have created this situation and provide some strategies and ideas for you and your organisations to be in the best position possible to obtain the talent you need on your team.

Robert Walters is the leading foreign, mid-career global recruitment consultancy in Japan. David joined Robert Walters Japan in 2002, was appointed Managing Director in November 2009 and he established the Group’s Korea operations in October 2010. Since this time, the Japan business has become the most profitable, Tokyo the second largest office and Seoul one of the fastest offices for the group globally. David is also a regular commentator to the media on a wide range of issues pertaining to the Japanese labour market.

Date– Thursday, 8 October 2015 1230PM-1400PM
Venue–
Roppongi Hills Club- Roppongi Hills Club- La Cucina
51 fl. Roppongi Hills Mori Tower,
6-10-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku,
Tokyo, 106-6151 Japan

2015 Fall CEO Insights Forum (CIF)

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September 30 @ 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm

We are pleased to announce the semi-annual CEO Insights Forum (CIF) on 30 September from 7PM.  The CIF is the highest level regular gathering of c-suite executives in Japan.  This is the second and final CIF for 2015.  We will have two excellent speakers, great food, and insightful discussions. We’ll have brief presentations followed by Q&A so you can ask the experts. The evening will be mostly a chance for you to interact with other market leaders like yourself.
Register Online HERE

The speakers are Mr. Nicholas Benes and Mr. Martin Schultz.  The topics planned are-

Nicholas Benes, Representative Director, The Board Director Training Institute of Japan will speak on

“Brave New World: How The World Has Changed Radically Since 1990. The Four Accelerating Global Trends That You Can’t Afford To Ignore As A CEO”

Japan is not exactly known for transparency in its corporate governance.  With pressure from the outside, Japan is being forced to internationalize and be more accountable globally.  Nick brings decades of experience to the CIF as he runs a popular organization that provides c-level training in governance to help you understand the importance of dealing with digital client data, changing legal environment, and building corporate boards that actually make firms more productive.
You can find out more about Mr. Benes here.  In addition,
Mr. Martin Schulz, Senior Research Fellow, Fujitsu Research Institute will present on-
Japan and Asia in the “New Normal” (of much lower growth and increasing competition)
Growth rates have come down in Japan and much of the mature world to bare-productivity levels of around 1%. In emerging Asia, at the same time, “middle income traps” are challenging outmoded development models and government control. The result is a race for success in overseas markets and productivity-oriented governance improvements – with geopolitical tensions as a sideshow. For companies, the “new normal” means tougher export competition at the base but tremendous opportunities for top products and services that do things smarter and in a more globally connected way.
More about Mr. Schulz here.
CIF brings together bosses of fashion, industrial, consumer products, high tech, media, hospitality, real estate, and other areas under one roof.  We look forward to seeing you at the Fall event.  Please sign-up online or if you questions, please have your PA contact Ms. Waijo (in Japanese) at 03-4550-6500.

Date-

Wednesday, 30 September 2015 700PM-830PM (Soft closing with drinks until 930)
Venue-  

Oakwood Premier- 1F

Tokyo Midtown Complex
9-7-4 Akasaka
Minato-ku, Tokyo, 107-0052 Japan

Cost- 8,500 yen

Register Online HERE

(**For expediency, we’d like to do all bookings online.  If you don’t have a Paypal registered Credit Card, please just select “check” so we can get you registered and AINEO Corporation email you a paper invoice.  Pay online or request invoice in advance from AINEO Corporation.  Thank you!)