Japan’s business environment used to be one where proactive communication was not seen as necessary. “We are all Japanese so we understand each other naturally, “ went the mantra.  However, increasing complexity and more diverse individual values systems combined with economic challenges have changed the communications dynamic significantly.  The need for companies to communicate their brand value and corporate strategy to both external and internal stakeholders has never been higher.  Ross will talk about the changing communications environment in Japan.  He will cover the drivers of how to build trust,  latest trends in crisis and issues management and how to communicated effectively with employees.

September’s CEO Insights meeting will welcome Edelman’s Japan boss, Mr. Ross Rowbury.  Ross has been living and working in Japan for 35 years.  Originally working in finance, Ross moved to the public relations industry some twenty years ago. Over that period he has been advising executives from both Japanese and non-Japanese companies on communications strategy and implementation.

Date – Friday, 12 September 2014 1230PM-1400PM
Venue– Roppongi Hills Club-
51F Italian Restaurant- La Cucina
Roppongi Hills Mori Tower,
6-10-1 Roppongi,
Minato-ku, Tokyo, 106-6151 Japan

For the large multinational corporation, systems policies, and practices are not just a part of business, they can sometimes become an internal religion.  People are frequently pushed to jump into the mold of the corporate office.  The up and coming new venture companies are on the other side of the spectrum.  Although dynamic to work with, they are frequently missing the processes and programs to truly grow their businesses, manage their teams, and  retain great people.

In the Sept CEO Insights Meeting (C8) will discuss the recent trend, MSE.  How bosses are managing, systemizing and expanding (MSE) their businesses in ways that

-Onboarding new players efficiently and effectively
-Identifying and rewarding top performers
-Establishing programs that retain people
-Eliminating systems that distract and utilizing those that enhance the business
-Keeping Quality levels high even as the business expands

Date – Thursday, 11 Sept 2014 1230PM-1400PM
Venue– Roppongi Hills Club-  51F Chinese Restaurant-
Roppongi Hills Mori Tower,
6-10-1 Roppongi,
Minato-ku, Tokyo, 106-6151 Japan

Not many companies in the world are run by charismatic personalities that emulate a form of leadership that is easy for these corporate teams of people to follow. And not every Chief Executive is a Steve Jobs type of individual with a great charisma may motivate people for long. Great leadership is something that is the result of consistency and dedication.

Corporations need to have guidelines, programs, recognition strategies, and other practices in place that motivate the achieving employees but also nurture and develop the new players and those people not achieving their potential.

In the August CEO Insights we will discuss this topic and discuss who we-

• Identify and reward top performers
• Develop and maximize the performance of new staff
• Look at differences in motivating Western versus Asian nationalities in a corporate environment
• Dealing with your back-office staff and customer support teams
• Managing the various personalities and expectations within the team
• Dealing with Conflicting Individuals

Date – Friday, 8 August 2014 1230PM-1400PM

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

Like or not, sales is the lifeblood of any healthy business.  Legal firms don’t like to admit it, however in order to gain new clients firms must be known and liked to be able to get new business.  Every c-level must be aware of what their strengths are and be able to promote those areas.  With the advent of the internet, sales and marketing tools and practices have changed dramatically.

The CEO Insights Luncheon will dive into just exactly what has changed and what the CEO can do about it.  We’ll be welcoming special guest Amy Guarino, VP of Corporate Planning at Marketo KK.  She’ll be sharing some insights on what she has learned in her 16 years 16 years working at Silicon Valley cloud start-ups. During the last six years, Amy headed business development at Marketo, one of the leaders in the marketing space, where she helped grow the company from 100 customers to almost 4000 customers and from less than US$1M revenue to over US$1B in market cap.

Date – Thursday, 14 August 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

Judging by the comments of the c-levels that attended, the CIF was a huge success.  The AINEO Networks Managing Director welcomed all the guest Chief Executives to the top of the Roppongi Hills tower.  Each boss got a chance to talk a bit about what was going on in their business and was able to connect with the large group as an individual.

A delicious buffet was prepared by the Hyatt chefs that followed with a chance for the diverse bosses from Japan, Europe, Australia, and the United States. C-levels had a chance to to connect and talk about their businesses in Asia.  The CEO of ING Mutual Japan was introduced to moderate the special guest speakers.

Following the fabulous meal, the Saatchi & Saatchi Fallon CEO captivated the Forum with great insights on “How To Be A Creative Leader”.  He combined a lively talk with a presentation to match as well as video examples.  The CIF attendees were impressed.

Ernest & Young had a strong presence at the event with the Executive Director for Japan’s operation introducing E&Y Partner and Big Data special who had flown in from Munich as the speaker.  Although the E&Y speaker is a specialist integrated business solutions with focus on Analytics, Social Media, Portals and Data Management, the crowd was thoroughly engaged.  CEOs were able to glean many points to take back to their businesses.  The conclusion was Big Data should be an integrated part of any company wishing to do big business and continue into coming years.

It was a great event.  Thanks to Saatchi & Saatchi Fallon and Ernest & Young for thought-provoking presentations.  Special thanks to all those bosses that participated in the CIF to make it an event like no other of this caliber.

We look forward to next Fall CEO Insights Forum in October.

 

Many companies believe in growth via the building sales teams, hiring supporting staff, building new facilities and a lot of hard work. One area that many CEOs don’t think about it M&A due to the baggage that can sometimes come along with buying a company.
If you want to get to market sooner, the c-level can speed things up by buying into that area. Although, we see many firms doing this, some are successful and others are failures. In the April CEO we will be talking about Japan and other Asian nation success stories and how to identify key opportunities.

The CEO welcomes Mr. Bruce Power, of Westgate Advisory. He’s been doing M&A work for nearly 25 years. He has covered a broad range of industries such as IT, Internet servicees, logistics, pharma, manufacturing as well as food and beverage firms.

Date – Thursday, 10 July 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

More On Bruce-
Bruce Pomer has spent his career at Merrill Lynch, Bank of America Securities and Shinsei providing M&A advisory services related to Japan for over 25 years before establishing Westgate Advisory 5 years ago. Bruce has significant experience advising foreign companies in Japan for acquisitions, minority investments, joint ventures and fund raising and similarly has advised Japanese companies both in Japan and overseas for similar transactions. He has covered a broad range of industries from IT and Internet services to logistics, pharma, food & beverage and general manufacturing.

The global financial crisis let loose an expanding re-think of corporate governance and compliance issues. Fines, liability and risks of reputational and career loss all continue to climb, even skyrocket. You know the change is major when even Japan has reached a tipping point, with the LDP’s growth strategy committee recently proposing a Corporate Governance Code, independent directors, board training rules, the near-elimination of cross-shareholdings, and a Stewardship Code. This would have been unthinkable even three years ago. Corporate governance is now a topic you need to know about and instill in the bones of your staff.

Nicholas Benes, founder and Representative Director of the government-certified Board Director Training Institute of Japan (BDTI), will tell us about these accelerating trends, and how they will affect you. He’ll share his insights as someone who contributed directly to many of the growth strategy and corporate governance changes that are now underway in Japan, and was sent to sit on boards such as Livedoor’s after the scandal that destroyed it.

Nick is an experienced investment banker, M&A advisor, thought/policy leader, social entrepreneur, government advisor, and editorial writer. He is an inactive member of the bar in NY and CA.

Date – Friday, 11 July 2014 1230PM-1400PM
Venue-
Roppongi Hills Club- Italian Restaurant- La Cucina
51 fl. Roppongi Hills Mori Tower
6-10-1 Roppongi,
Minato-ku, Tokyo, 106-6151 Japan

Nick’s CV

The Board Director Training Institute of Japan (nonprofit)

AINEO Networks is pleased to invite you to the semi-annual CEO Insights Forum for Spring 2014.

The CEO Forum is an evening of CEOs meeting only with other C-levels. Two special speakers will share off-the-record insights from their areas of specialty:
– Mr. Phil Rubel, CEO of Saatch & Saatchi Fallon, will share views on Creative Leadership: How company Leaders & Their Brands Can Win in Today’s World.
– Mr. Jan Kaiser, Executive Director with Ernest & Young and their London-based expert on Big Data, will advise us on what every CEO should understand about Big Data and doing big business.

For biographies of our speakers, click here.

Come enjoy a buffet meal, drinks, and mingling with top C-level executives running businesses in various industries across the marketplace.

Space is limited so book your spot early.

Place: Roppongi Hills Club 51F, Roppongi Hills Tower
Date: Thursday, 19 June
Time: 1900PM-2100PM
Cost: 8,000 Yen
RSVP: Sign Up On line here.

Every business needs to continually adapt, reinvent itself, to remain relevant and competitive. This is particularly critical in the dynamic, Consumer Electronics Industry.
In the June CEO Insights meeting, fellow team member, Tim Bailey, President at D+M, will share his insights, lessons learned, in transforming one of the great Consumer Electronic Companies with well known brands like Denon and Marantz. Owned by private equity, the journey is not complete; a work-in-process with great hope.
Tim will wrap-up the session engaging the group in a best practice sharing discussion.

Date – Thursday, 12 June2014 1230PM-1400PM
Venue-
Roppongi Hills Club- Italian Restaurant- La Cucina
51 fl. Roppongi Hills Mori Tower
6-10-1 Roppongi,
Minato-ku, Tokyo, 106-6151 Japan

Close the doors, let’s rate Abenomics from the management office. It’s no doubt that the overall business sentiment has been lifted since 2013 but financial analysts are divided on its success.

The next C20 CEO Insights meeting, luncheon will be a round table to share REAL impacts of Abenomics we observe in our various companies, impacts on our top line AND bottom line. Philippe Boue, CEO of Schindler Japan will lead the discussion. When you talk finances Mr. Boue knows his stuff. Prior to accepting the CEO position at Schindler in Japan, he was CFO based in Shanghai. You may want to anticipate Tokyo 2020 impacts as well.

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