Creating a product that you can market for 100 years with minimal changes is likely a dream business. Coca-Cola is one of a handful of brands that actually still exists.  Unfortunately, not all companies have the luxury of marketing and promoting their products and services the same way for decades with consistent success.  
In the IT industry, where the products and services progress at an astonishing speed, the formula is even more challenging. IBM is such a company which was founded over 100 years ago in 1911, in the United States by a merger of three companies. Since then, the name of the company remained the same but the IBM yesterday and IBM today are considerably different. The company has been continuously transforming its business through a shift toward higher value, making new markets, remixing skills and expertise and reinventing the enterprise itself.  

At this month’s CEO, we welcome the general manager of IBM Japan, Mr. Martin Jetter, who was appointed to this position last May.  Mr. Jetter is an IBM veteran of 26 years who has successfully led the transformation of IBM Germany from 2006 to 2011. He then led the Corporate Strategy and Enterprise Initiatives for the entire IBM Corporation.  Mr. Jetter will share some of his insights on what he and the IBM leadership team are doing to transform IBM Japan’s business and the initiatives they are driving to help clients in Japan to gain competitiveness in the globalizing market.  Also, Mr. Jetter will likely touch on:

– IBM’s transformation as an ongoing journey
– Helping Japanese companies gain competitiveness in the globalizing markets
– Driving global collaboration across the organization

Date- Thursday, 14 March 2013 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

Identifying and Dealing with Outside Influences That Effect Your Business

The management team team of most companies pride themselves on understanding their market and the changing conditions of that market.  The CEO’s job is to be the visionary and keep the ship on an even keel to success financially as well as heading to the future.  Unfortunately, the CEO can’t control everything but must learn to identify the potential business threats.

In the March CEO lunch, the group welcomes a special guest.  We’ll have the Commercial Attache representing an influential country in Japan sharing on the influence of outside forces on business.  Areas such as commercial policies, immigration, reginoal conflict and a variation of other factors can enhance or maybe detract from the business.  He will start the discussion on things that you, the visionary CEO need to be aware of as you navigate your company through the world theater.

Date- Friday, 8 March 2013 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

Kicking off 2013, we start it off right with the always popular legal segment and a guest professional who spoke at last years CEO Forum.

2012 has seen several important legal changes. The first large-scale review of the Corporations Act is still under heavy discussion and should be approved in 2013. Jean-Denis Marx, a partner with Baker & McKenzie (Gaikokuho Joint Enterprise) will share his insights on these discussions. JD will also discuss important changes to the workers dispatch law (haken law) and to the copyright law. These are already in effect. Some new rules affecting specifically foreign companies from 2013 will also be discussed.

Join us at 1230PM-1400PM

Date- Friday, 11 January 2013 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

CEOs have been through a lot around the world over the last few years.  We’re post financial crisis, yet we still have governments out of control, natural disasters and various other events that affect supply and demand.  Yet companies are still making money and life goes on.  Now, the American and French governments are bordering on disfunctional as they look for money to satisfy their never ending desire to get bigger.  It’s a challenge to pilot a company in these waters.

In the January CEO meeting, we’ll be talking finances and giving you a perspective from various businesses.  We will be addressing areas such as

-Equitizing idle cash in the firm
-Dealing with the pensions (and current AIJ Scandal impacts)
-Making better use of financial intermediaries.

Get insights on finances that you can apply to your business and the bottom line from the next day.

Join us at 1230PM-1400PM

Date- Thursday, 10 January 2013 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

2012 has been a busy year for the CEO Luncheon.  The C8 is the only meeting in Tokyo that brings together CEOs of the market’s leading businesses around the table to discuss what matters most.

In 2012, we have discussed labor law, how to make sales teams more effective, taxation, the Japanese mafia, the Japanese Consumer, the usefulness of an executive coach, security, convergence in the world, Japanese government and many other topics.  On top of that, we’ve had two CEO Forums gracefully hosted at Oakwood’s Tokyo Midtown property.  It’s been a good year.

The December CEO Luncheon will center around growth and expansion.  What have CEOs implemented in 2012 that worked, and what didn’t.  What to expect

-With your team
-With your customers
-Global trends that bleed into Japan.

Don’t miss the last and most popular meeting of the year that will bring insights on growth and expansion in your business in 2013!

Date- Thursday, 13 December 2012 1230PM-1400PM
Venue-
Tokyo American Club
Please Follow Signboard to C8 Luncheons
Please let us know if you need parking

2012 has been a busy year for the CEO Luncheon.  The C20 is the only meeting in Tokyo that brings together CEOs of the market’s leading businesses around the table to discuss what matters most.

In 2012, we have discussed labor law, how to make sales teams more effective, taxation, the Japanese mafia, the Japanese Consumer, the usefulness of an executive coach, security, convergence in the world, Japanese government and many other topics.  On top of that, we’ve had two CEO Forums gracefully hosted at Oakwood’s Tokyo Midtown property.  It’s been a good year.

The December CEO Luncheon will center around growth and expansion.  What have CEOs implemented in 2012 that worked, and what didn’t.  What to expect

-With your team
-With your customers
-Global trends that bleed into Japan.

Don’t miss the last and most popular meeting of the year that will bring insights on growth and expansion in your business in 2013!

Date- Friday, 14 December 2012 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

Tired of the sales team not delivering?  Are they order takers who can’t prospect?.   Do they lack skills such as acquiring new customers through research, strategy, cold calling, and networking?  Other issues are-

• Cross Selling and Up-Selling are also underdeveloped skill sets.
• Features are rarely matched with corresponding benefits.  Application of the benefit and evidence to support sales person claims are not articulated
• Questioning skills are usually replaced with simple “telling” about the product or service spec.
• Closing and asking for the order is lacking, instead meetings end with no next step and no clear outcome.

At the November CEO Luncheon we welcome Dr. Greg Story. He has been in Japan running and training sales teams for 20 years.  Greg is currently running Dale Carnegie Training Japan and in fact owns the company.  He will lead a discussion to uncover the reality of sales in Japan today and what companies can do to improve results.
Friday, 9 November 2012
1230PM-1400PM
Roppongi Hills Club (Reservation under Soo)
51 fl. Roppongi Hills Mori Tower,
6-10-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku,
Tokyo, 106-6151 Japan

2012 November C8 Meeting- “How to successfully survive and negotiate a tax audit”

Some say there are only two things in life that you can’t avoid, death and taxes.  Well, hopefully we are all right with God, so this Thursday we’ll be talking about the other topic, taxes.  Taxation is an area of great interest these days as governments have declining treasuries, management issues, and higher costs.  Most companies will experience some type of Audit from the tax authorities.

At the November C8 CEO meeting we will have special guest Hans-Peter Musahl from Ernest & Young.  Mr. Musahl is partner in the Business Tax Services division at E&Y.  He will be giving of insights from one of America’s leading accounting firms on how to survive and negotiate a tax audit.

Thursday, 8 November 2012
1230PM-1400PM
Roppongi Hills Club (Reservation under Rubel)
51 fl. Roppongi Hills Mori Tower,
6-10-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku,
Tokyo, 106-6151 Japan

Japan is undergoing a period of dramatic political transition. Prime Minister Noda has just been reelected as DPJ leader and has undertaken a Cabinet reshuffle in an attempt to boost sagging popularity. Meanwhile the LDP has elected former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as the party president, and is positioning to take control of the government after lower house elections. And a third party candidate, the popular Toru Hashimoto, is emerging from the shadows of Osaka to the national stage with his Japan Restoration Party.

At this time of political transition and uncertainty, Japan is struggling with a number of weighty and controversial issues:

• territorial disputes with China and Taiwan over the Senkakus, Korea over Takeshima and Russia over the Northern Territories
• a new basic energy policy, including a future energy mix that relies more on renewable energy and a decreased reliance on nuclear energy
• whether to join the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade agreement, despite significant opposition from various special interest groups
• how to deal with continued fiscal imbalances and the high yen

What does the political uncertainty mean for Japan’s attempt to deal with these challenges, and how will your business be impacted? How is Japan communicating its strategy to the rest of the world, and are they listening? And does your business have the right channels of communications open to ensure that you are getting the full picture to enable you to deal with the risks and potential leadership changes?

Friday, 12 October 2012
1230PM-1400PM

Roppongi Hills Club (Reservation under Soo)
51 fl. Roppongi Hills Mori Tower,
6-10-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku,
Tokyo, 106-6151 Japan

The Japanese consumer has not been an easy animal to tame, but multinational companies have had great success marketing products to one of the world’s largest market places. Luxury brands have been particularly successful over the years in Japan. Can they continue?

At our October CEO luncheon, we’ll be welcoming Mr. Georges Desvaux. Mr Desvaux is Managing Partne of McKinsey in Japan and comes from a assignments in Beijing and Paris before he took the reins of McKinsey in Tokyo. In Japan, in addition to leading McKinsey Japan, Georges focuses on supporting retailers, technology companies, and financial institutions in strategy – corporate, business units; and in marketing –go to market, digital marketing, customer satisfaction. He is a regular contributor to debates on the future of Japan to forums and conferences such as World Economic Forum, Roundtable Japan, APEC. In the CEO discussion we will likely touch on

– Learnings from the latest update in McKinsey japan yearly research on the luxury consumer in Japan
-Some thoughts on successful cases
-Contrast the Japan market with other markets in Asia
-The future of Japan

Thursday, 11 October 2012
1230PM-1400PM

Roppongi Hills Club (Reservation under Rubel)
51 fl. Roppongi Hills Mori Tower,
6-10-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku,
Tokyo, 106-6151 Japan