CEO Insights Executive Group

2017 June C20 - Build a coaching culture, and watch your business grow
2017-06-07 12:30 - 14:00 (Asia/Tokyo) | Roppongi Hills Club – Club Studio, 51F Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, 6-10-1 Roppongi Minato-ku, Tokyo 106-6151 Japan
Robert Burnside will help you envision a culture of coaching within your company, and how to leverage people’s desire to learn in order to build motivation, initiative, innovation and productivity.
In the 1950s Peter Drucker proposed a management revolution: a flatter, more inclusive approach, tapping the creative power of all levels of the organisation—in place of the entrenched command-and-control culture of the day. The idea caught on, as it made so much good sense. Hundreds of thought leaders and thousands of books elaborated on Drucker, and today, most successful corporations buy into his theory.
So why do many managers complain of disengagement, low motivation, high stress levels, or lack of entrepreneurial spirit? Why do many startups begin to crumble when professional management steps in? Why is it so difficult to execute on Drucker’s great theories? Because we don’t understand the key component of execution at every level—ourselves.
If you coach a person instead of telling him, he will know and trust himself, and you, sufficiently to take more ownership, make his own decisions, grow himself, and grow his results. He will build self-awareness. And if you cascade a culture of coaching through your company, you begin a growth of self-awareness through the organisation, and capture the magic ingredient of motivation, retention, and being a Great Place to Work: trust.
Robert, a full-time professional executive coach and trainer of coaches, will discuss:
• what a coaching culture looks like
• what coaching really means
• why it can benefit your company and you personally
• a simple low-risk how-to of getting started (without ever saying “roll-out”)

2017 June G3 - The Pulse Of Healthcare In Japan
2017-06-06 12:30 - 14:00 | Roppongi Hills Club – Star Anise, 51F Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, 6-10-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 106-6151
For the CEO, there are many variables we must be aware of to manage our business. At CI we talk frequently about taxation, human resources, systems, and many other areas. In taking care of our teams, there are tremendous costs associated with healthcare, retirement, and training. Healthcare is an area that we don’t talk about but is something the boss needs to understand. With the government healthcare has become a major issue with a push towards cost cutting with generic drugs, the social insurance system is struggling to keep up with the ballooning costs, and other challenges make us wonder what is the current condition of healthcare in Japan and how does it affect our business?
In the June CI meeting, our own member boss of J&J’s Japan operations, Mr. Tom Hiiro will guide us through a very interesting discussion on the condition of healthcare in Japan as we plan to cover areas such as
・The condition of healthcare services in Japan
・Behind the scenes insights into the industry and trends
・How healthcare can affect the CEOs bottomline

OTR- Open Dinner Meeting
2017-05-18 18:30 - 20:00 | ANA InterContinental Tokyo, 1-12-33 AKASAKA , MINATO-KU, TOKYO, 107-0052 , Japan
CEO Insights is Japan’s prime gathering of c-levels sharing experience, connections, and insights from the c suite at our monthly lunches. From 2017, we will be adding a new way to network and grow personally. CI will organize random Thursday night dinners that are completely open to discussion amongst our member CEOs called OTR (Off The Record). Unlike other events, there are no pre-planned topics or private room. The meeting will be a joint meeting all groups and will give people a chance to get to know other bosses in an open restaurant dinner environment.
Please arrive between 630PM to 7PM and enjoy dinner with people who you can relate to. Slip away when you are ready to retire for the evening. OTR is scheduled 1830PM to 8PM.

Special Joint CI Meeting- Understanding eCommerce Better In The C-Suite (Barilla)
2017-05-16 12:30 - 14:00 | Bulgari’s Il Ristorante, Ginza Tower 2-7-12 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, 104-0061, Japan
In our era of leadership, CI members have seen the transformation of marketing from print and billboards to digital marketing and online. Having a brand that reflects well online is essential to being a successful enterprise. As eCommerce and online marketing is a relatively new area, there aren’t many universities teaching about the business or people experienced in the area that we can help from day one. There is a lot to learn and it is valuable to get insights from those who have already done so.

Mr. Guy Keeling, Vice President Global e-Commerce at the Barilla Group, will be visiting Japan in May. Barilla Group is a global leader at driving online food sales working with the world’s winning grocery e-retailers, being hailed by L2 as a Thought Leader and publicly recognized by Amazon as a Top 5 CPG to work with. For the past four years, Barilla’s global e-Commerce revenues have grown at double the industry average. Prior to taking up his role at Barilla four years ago, Mr Keeling worked in leadership roles at Tesco and at Procter & Gamble. On May 16, we will have the opportunity to get to know Mr. Keeling in a joint CEO Insights event.

You will also have the opportunity to catch up with other CI members from the other two groups. Please note, this is an invitation-only event with limited space due to the room size. We will accommodate as many people in as possible.

2017 May C8 - Legal Round Robin- The Latest On Legal
2017-05-11 12:30 - 14:00 | Ropphongi Hills Club – Proteus, 51F Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, 6-10-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku, 106-6151
Many CEOs have extensive legal experience, however as the representative of a major business it is not easy to know everything. Knowing how things work legally in advance can save a lot of pain later on. In the May CI lunch, we will have a Legal Round Robin. There will be no slide decks. CI welcomes Mr. David Case, a partner with Orrick Tokyo Law Offices as our guest. We have prepared a list of topics and questions to spur the conversation but this is your chance to ask ANYTHING legal. The meeting will follow the flow of the group, however initial areas planned may include
People- Hiring & Firing
Data Protection
Mergers & Acquisitions
eCommerce
Corporate Liability
Digital Currencies
Agreements
Protections
Don’t miss this chance to catch up with one of CI’s favorite legal professionals and compare notes with your CEO peers.

2017 May C20 - Shifting A Nation- From Savers To Investors
2017-05-10 12:30 - 14:00 | 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
For decades, Japan has been the land of low interest rates, and with the advent of Abenomics interest rates have gone from low to zero and even into negative territory. Taking a loan has never been so cheap, yet Japanese citizens and companies continue to hesitate to borrow and invest. Citizens in Japan are sitting on huge and increasing savings, more than half of which lay idle in cash deposits bearing no interest. The government wants to change the country from a savings mindset to an investing mindset to ensure better future prospects for all, and has engaged various measures towards that goal. But encouraging people to take more risk is one thing; protecting the public from overly risky or unscrupulous investments is another. This makes changing the savings to investment transition even more challenging. Enter the revived concept of Fiduciary Duty, Japan-style, which requires our banks and financial intermediaries to implement measures protecting their clients and investors.
In the May CI meeting, experienced banker and financial boss Mr. Laurent Depus leads the discussion on what is going on inside the consumer market, the banking industry, and government. Mr. Depus is the Managing Director of French financial house Natixis’ Japan business and a long term resident of Japan. He also serves on the board of a Japanese financial industry leading firm.
Come join us for insights on what our bankers sell us in Japan, and how!

2017 May G3 - The New Model- Using Multi-Channel Media To Increase Our Brand Influence And Revenue
2017-05-09 12:30 - 14:00 | 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
Online advertising surpassed print advertising in volume in 2012. According to a study released in 2012 by eMarketer, online advertising was expected to generate $39.5 billion in sales that year — a 23.3% increase from 2011 — compared to $33.8 billion on print. However, like anything humans do, it’s hard to break old habits. Fast forward to 2017, there are still some newspapers with help wanted adverts and magazines advertising luxury brands. How effective is that? The model for raising your brand awareness and your important influence on the market has changed. CEOs must be aware of what media, whether it be social, online, or print, can have on their brand.
How can we manage our brands with our team members? How do we increase the exposure for the brands that our teams sell and support? What can we do for the future of our brand and new product ideas? How do we harness the power of the new Millennial work force coming into our ranks? In the May CEO Insights, we will discuss effective ways to manage our corporate brands in this new era of media for our teams, distributors, and most importantly our clients.

2017 Apr C8 - The C-Level- Tax Planning and Effectively Using Your Money Toolbox
2017-04-13 12:30 - 14:00 | Roppongi Hills Club – Club Studio, 51F Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, 6-10-1 Roppongi Minato-ku, Tokyo 106-6151 Japan
As a CEO of a Japanese, MNC, or regional firm we are responsible for many resources. We have people, facilities, business development, marketing, warehousing, and a myriad of other company ‘assets’ to manage, maximize and grow. Although human resources seem to be a frequent theme at CEO Insights, there is another area that heavily impacts our output: finances and taxes. CEO are not only responsible for corporate finances but also need to be wise with our personal finances as we live in multiple countries, travel frequently, and have many organizations wanting to get into our wallets. Individual income rate go up to 55.9%. Income and asset reporting duties have become more onerous. Tax liabilities abound. Bright CEOs must understand both corporate and individual implications.
Challenges in corporate tax risk management and compliance hit the c-level on the company side with constant change and ever evolving tax changes. In the April please join us for lunch with Hans-Peter Musahl, a partner with EY Tax in Tokyo. Mr. Musahl has hands on experience in advising people on how to use their financial toolbox. He advises executives and business in mostly Japan and Europe.

2017 Apr C20 - Understanding The Power Of LIcensing
2017-04-12 12:30 - 14:00 | Roppongi Hills Club – Restaurants, 51F Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, 6-10-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 106-6151, Japan
Japan has a constant influx of international brands looking to come to advantage of the market and it’s buying power each year. Of course, importing a product, setting up distribution, and building brand aware all contribute to success in Japan, this is not the only way. Licensing your brand in Japan is another option.
France’s FAUCHON is having considerable success in licensing their brand in Japan. In the April CI lunch we will get a chance to hear the strengths of the FAUCHON model that has worked for over 45 years. They work in food, drinks, clothing, and bags to name a few. Why would licensing be an option? What are the pros and cons for choosing the licensing model? How do you pick a good business partner? How do you really negotiate a win-win agreement with that business partner?
In April, FAUCHON’s Japan CEO Mr Philippe Jardin, will present his thoughts on these many areas in the world of licensing that builds your brand.

2017 Apr G3 - Telsa, Disrupting Distribution With A Direct Retail Approach
2017-04-11 12:30 - 14:00 | Roppongi Hills Club – Restaurants, 51F Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, 6-10-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 106-6151, Japan
Many people think of Henry Ford when we think of automobiles and their invention. However, self propelled vehicles have been around in various forms since the 1800s. We saw steam, electric, and petroleum powered vehicles. Various electric cars concepts have been around, yet without breaking the monopoly of fossil fuel powered engines. Combustion based engines have dominated and networks of dealers as well as services has been around them. Things have finally started to change.
Tesla came to market with high-performance battery based vehicles and has not only challenged the automotive dealer models but also gotten into the core software architecture as well as energy infrastructure area. In this month’s CEO Insights join us as we hear from Tesla’s VP of North & SE Asia. We welcome Mr. Nicolas Villeger who will share his insights on how Tesla is completely changing the way people think about automobile purchase and ownership. Mr. Villeger is no stranger to brands, he joined Tesla after a successful career at Coach, Longchamp, and Estee Lauder.

2017 Mar C8 - From Story-telling To Story-making: Designing Product-Service Experiences That Enables Real Business Transformation
2017-03-09 12:30 - 14:00 | Roppongi Hills Club – Restaurants, 51F Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, 6-10-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 106-6151, Japan
Storytelling. Big Data Analytics. Customer Journey. Omni-channel. Consumer Experience. Disruption. All concepts flipped around C-Suite, Marketing and IT circles over recent times. And yet, the rise of the very technology that has enabled and empowered individuals can create seemingly impossible paradoxes for B2C and B2B companies to overcome.
Enter the rise of Design Strategy. What began as a strategic process applied to designing products is now permeating all manner of how to engage with customers, consumers, clients, patients, stakeholders, users… you know, people. Design strategy principles & tactics are impacting boardroom decision making, product and service development and how best to connect with the people you want to build an ongoing relationship with.
On Thursday March 9 please join us for lunch with Phillip Rubel, head of Designit Tokyo & a global board member of the firm. Designit is one of the largest and most successful strategic design companies in the world, recently acquired by IT powerhouse Wipro. Designit consults for and co-creates with some of the world’s most successful companies across a huge variety of industries. Come learn how Designit helps companies first understand their customers deeper, then develops new products, services and ultimately relationships with these customers in agile and practical ways.

2017 Mar C20-Legal Round Robin- Turning Mine Fields Into Cake Walks
2017-03-08 12:30 - 14:00 | Roppongi Hills Club – Restaurants, 51F Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, 6-10-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 106-6151, Japan
Many CEOs have extensive legal experience, however as the representative of a major business it is not easy to know everything. Knowing how things work legally in advance can save a lot of pain later on. In the March CI lunch, we will have a Legal Round Robin. There will be no slide decks. CI welcomes back Mr. Jean-Denis Marx, a partner with Baker & McKenzie (Gaikokuho Joint Enterprise). We have prepared a list of topics and questions to spur the conversation but this is your chance to ask ANYTHING legal. The meeting will follow the flow of the group, however initial areas planned include

Data leakage: How to protect your enterprise

Human resources- How to bring In the good and release the bad
The real Implications of an NDA in Japan
Selling in the information age

Data Soveignerty And Where Its Going

Corporate Liability

The Cloud, What Works And What Doesn’t

Don’t miss this chance to catch up with one of CI’s favorite legal professionals and compare notes with your CEO peers.

2017 Mar G3 – Understanding the Trust Barometer- Measuring Your Clients
2017-03-07 12:30 - 14:00 | Roppongi Hills Club – Club Studio, 51F Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, 6-10-1 Roppongi Minato-ku, Tokyo 106-6151 Japan
The Edelman Trust Barometer, the world’s largest survey of trust in institutions conducted in 28 countries shows that only 40% of Japanese employees trust the company they work for. This is somewhat counter intuitive given the image of the self-sacrificing, all for the company image that is held about Japans salarymen. Ross will address this and other issues including what is behind the Trump phenomenon and rising populism in the world’s advanced economies.
February’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.

OTR- Open Dinner Meeting
2017-02-23 18:30 - 20:00 | Roppongi Hills Club- Roppongi Hills Club- Restaurant 51, 51 fl. Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, 6-10-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo, , 106-6151 , Japan
CEO Insights is Japan’s prime gathering of c-levels sharing experience, connections, and insights from the c suite at our monthly lunches. From 2017, we will be adding a new way to network and grow personally. CI will organize random Thursday night dinners that are completely open to discussion amongst our member CEOs called OTR (Off The Record). Unlike other events, there are no pre-planned topics or private room. The meeting will be a joint meeting all groups and will give people a chance to get to know other bosses in an open restaurant dinner environment.Please arrive between 630PM to 7PM and enjoy dinner with people who you can relate to. Slip away when you are ready to retire for the evening. OTR is scheduled 1830PM to 8PM. The next meeting

2017 Feb C8 – Understanding the Trust Barometer- Measuring Your Clients
2017-02-09 12:30 - 14:00 | 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

2017 Feb C20 - From Decommissioning Fukushima Dai-ichi, to New Build in the UK - The UK-Japan Relationship in Civil Nuclear Power
2017-02-08 12:30 - 14:00 | AIG’s Tokyo Boardroom, Kamiyacho MT Bldg, 19F, 4-3-20 Toranomon, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 105-0001, Japan
The accident at Fukushima Dai-ichi in 2011 has left a decommissioning project which is expected to last 30-40 years. What is nuclear decommissioning, what does it involve, and how do you tackle a project with a likely lifetime longer that those who will be there at the beginning? How do you deal both with the technical challenges, and the challenges of a sceptical public so that the project can be completed successfully.
The UK nuclear industry began in the 1940s, and with the opening of the world’s first civil nuclear power plant at Calder Hall plant in Cumbria in 1956. By the nature of having some of the first power stations in the world, the UK is one of the first countries to enter a phase of decommissioning. This experience has resulted in UK organisations forming a close partnership with those in Japan tackling the situation at Fukushima Dai-ichi.
Keith Franklin, First Secretary at the British Embassy in Tokyo, on secondment from the National Nuclear Laboratory, who has visited the site many times over the past 6 years, will explain the current situation, and give an insight of the challenges which still need to be overcome, and will talk about how the UK has decided to build a new fleet of power stations, as the current 1st and 2nd generation plants come to the end of their operating lifetime.
[Lunch will be ordered so cancellations required before 3 Feb.]

2017 Feb G3 - Recent Developments on Inheritance Tax in Japan
2017-02-07 12:30 - 14:00 | Roppongi Hills Club – Star Anise, 51F Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, 6-10-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 106-6151
Taxation is always an area of great interest. Japan is a excellent place to live but changes by the Japanese government meant to catch rich Japanese residents coming in and out of Japan have also accidentally applied to foreign residents of Japan as well. In early December, the FY17 proposed tax reforms were announced, which included some changes to the Japan inheritance tax laws. The proposed reforms were light on details and as the bill has not been introduced in the Diet yet there are still some open questions and issues. Nonetheless, experts do expect these changes, especially the ones that would extend the period of time that Japanese nationals and long-term foreigners would continue to be subject to Japan gift and inheritance tax after moving out of Japan to potentially have a significant impact on future estate planning. CI members will discuss these changes and the impact on our businesses and professional lives.
In the February CEO Insights luncheon we will welcome PWC Partner Mr. Nasir Majid who is running the International Assignment Services (IAS) practice in Tokyo at the global firm. He will share the latest updates on the changes going on in government and give you his insights on how to prepare for possible changes.

2017 Jan C8 – CI New Year Kick Off And Executive Summary
2017-01-12 12:30 - 14:00 | Roppongi Hills Club – Restaurants, 51F Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, 6-10-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 106-6151, Japan
In December, two member reps from each CI group met for breakfast and brainstorming on the New Year. We discussed our guidelines, processes, new members, topics and speakers worth inviting to share.
In January, we will kick off the CEO Insights meetings with an executive summary of what was discussed in that meeting and continue with a bit more of a customer CI brainstorm. We will discuss plans for our group as well as topics that we will be covering in the new year and into 2018.
Don’t miss this chance to catch up with fellow CEO members and set the course for our future together.

2017 Jan C20 – CI New Year Kick Off And Executive Summary
2017-01-11 12:30 - 14:00 | Ropphongi Hills Club – Proteus, 51F Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, 6-10-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku, 106-6151

2017 Jan G3 – CI New Year Kick Off And Executive Summary
2017-01-10 12:30 - 14:00 | Roppongi Hills Club – Restaurants, 51F Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, 6-10-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 106-6151, Japan

2016 Dec C20 - Year End Wrap Up- Better Boss, Better Business
2016-12-09 12:30 - 14:00 | 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
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.

2016 Dec C8 – Year End Wrap Up- Better Boss, Better Business
2016-12-08 12:30 - 14:00 | Roppongi Hills Club – Restaurants, 51F Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, 6-10-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 106-6151, Japan

2016 Dec G3 - Year End Wrap Up- Better Boss, Better Business
2016-12-06 12:30 - 14:00 | Roppongi Hills Club – Restaurants, 51F Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, 6-10-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 106-6151, Japan

Fall CI Forum- Evening C-Level Network- “Looking Inside”
2016-11-17 19:00 - 20:30 | Roppongi Hills Club – The Study, 51 fl. Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, 6-10-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 106-6151, Japan
Join leading Japan-based CEOs for a night of networking and discussions with the theme “Looking Inside”. A biannual invitation event, the CEO Insights Forum (CIF) is Tokyo’s gathering of the top brass of of the world’s leading brands.
In the November, in addition to great networking, we will have Mr Ben Rowse, MD Nardello & Co. speaking on “The Nexus Between Politics and Business”. Japanese companies operating overseas have learned the hard way that they are not immune from the long arm of US law enforcement. High profile investigations into Marubeni and Hitachi among others have awoken Japan Inc. to the reputational, legal and financial costs of non-compliance.
Also speaking will be our own CI member, Mr. Harry Hill. Mr. Hill and his partner Robert Roche founded Oak Lawn Marketing, a media company, which was acquired by Japan mega-company NTT Docomo in 2009. Flowing with the CIF theme, Mr. Hill be focusing on the CEO’s need to “Look Inside” from the standpoint of a entrepreneur as well as a the CEO of a large Japanese organization.
The meeting will be moderated by Mr. Ross Rowbury, President of PR Firm Edelman Japan and will give you insights from c-level peers, great food, and networking at the top of Roppongi Hills. See a report of the Spring CIF here.
Date–
Thursday, 17 November 2016
7:00PM-8:30PM (Soft closing with drinks until 9PM)
Cost- 9,990 yen
**Registration deadline 11 November at 5PM. Due to venue preparations, no cancellations after 15 Nov.
Sign up here via our online registration. We will be focusing on the event that evening therefore invoices and payments will be completed prior to event day.

2016 Nov G3 – Power Hitting- What Do I Need To Do For Explosive Growth?
2016-11-15 12:30 - 14:00 | Roppongi Hills Club – Restaurants, 51F Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, 6-10-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 106-6151, Japan
It’s rare that the CEO gets a chance to compare notes with other c-levels in their industry or even other businesses both greater and smaller. The CEO needs to be the visionary that sets the tone for the whole team. Any CEO that says she or he has no internal issues is usually hiding something. The power CEO identifies the issues and figures out a way to do things better.
As we bring 2016 to a close, we will take advantage of the experience and mental power in the CI meeting. Our focus will be on what the CEO needs to do for planning the future of the firm. We plan to discuss
• How to set and implement realistic budgets
• Setting corporate sales, service, and production targets
• The big R- Resources, Resources, Resources!
Although, we will focus on planning. Other areas that may up are executive privilege, making the most of real estate, and corporate security.
Looking forward to seeing you at CI as we plan for explosive growth!

2016 Nov C20 – The Champion- Keeping It All Together, When Other CEOs Fail
2016-11-11 12:30 - 14:00 | Roppongi Hills Club – Restaurants, 51F Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, 6-10-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 106-6151, Japan
When the earthquake, tsunamis, and nuclear meltdowns of 2011 hit Japan the leadership skills of the CEO were evident. Great leadership led while weak leadership buckled and bailed. Life is waves of ups and downs, but it is possible to have more high points than disasters. Being prepared for natural disasters, regulatory changes, human resource challenges, cyber attacks, corporate espionage and nearly anything that can come at us is mostly about being ready. Readiness comes because we’ve given thought to an area of our business. As the CEO, we are expected to lead our companies into success.
In the November CEO Insights meeting, bosses will have the chance to hear about issues that other businesses have had and how the CEO was able to keep it together. We’ll be covering HR, technology, logistic, legal, and other challenges in this interactive exchange.

2016 Nov C8 – Riding The Constant Wave Of Business Change
2016-11-10 12:30 - 14:00 | Roppongi Hills Club – Restaurants, 51F Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, 6-10-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 106-6151, Japan
Things no longer flow as they used to. Just one look at politics around the world will shows the CEO can’t just do business as usual. Businesses are no longer built on R&D, sales, and production. Successful companies of our generation take an idea that simplifies life for people and are able to turn that into a business that can make money. In many cases a business idea may not make any money at all, but draw in investment from people who have bought on to the idea itself. CEOs cannot be asleep at the wheel, we must always be moving because what sells today could be easily take over tomorrow by someone with a great idea working out of a garage. Once a company gets mass and momentum, there is more infrastructure and team that needs to be supported. Innovation is essential to the longevity of that company, but innovation is a moving target.
Rather than being clobbered by the weight of change and business waves, the November CEO Insights lunch CEOs will be talking about how to ride the wave of business change and innovation. Some of the planned topics to be covered will be
-Communicating with the team
-Finding the next business that harmonies with your strengths
-Protecting your innovation
-Knowing when to invest and when to cut your losses
This interactive CEO lunch will bring together top business insights to help you ride the wave of change.

Global CEO CI Visit - What To Say When You're In International M&A, Meet One of Europe's Best-Known Financial PR Advisor
2016-10-27 12:00 - 14:00 | 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
In January 2016, CEO Insights members welcomed Dr. Christoph Walther, CEO and founder of CNC – Communications & Network Consulting. The meeting was off the record but something that everyone enjoyed gaining insights on the importance of communications for the inter-workings of business and governments incl. political leaders. We continue to receive great feedback for that gathering.
This time, our guest speaker will be Mr. Bernhard Meising, the new global CEO of CNC, one of the world’s top 3 leading financial communication consultancies.
Bernhard will open CI members to a different perspective. Bernhard will share with us his insights into the communication challenges of complex international M&A transactions and the Do’s and Don’ts during such situations.
This special meeting will be a joint meeting open to all CEO Insights members (limited to space in room). Please register early if you plan to attend. Bernhard is probably Germany’s best known financial PR advisor. Among others, he advised Bayer on its recent announcement to acquire Monsanto, the largest takeover ever by a German firm.
We look forward to seeing you at the CI Joint lunch!

2016 Oct G3 - Internet of Things: A New Era Begins
2016-10-18 12:30 - 14:00 | Roppongi Hills Club – Restaurants, 51F Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, 6-10-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 106-6151, Japan
Years ago, we heard the term multimedia for nearly everything. It was a buzzword that has disappeared but using multiple media in presenting, entertainment, teaching, and other areas is here to stay. Recently, we hear a lot about the Internet of Things or IoT. The concept that all these devices will interconnect via the network. Although, the term IoT may or may not be with us 10 years from now. The interconnection of devices is definitely here to stay.
The combination of artificial intelligence (AI), the cloud and IoT means that systems of machines will be able to interact with human beings, learn about them and better adapt to their needs. How these new cyber-physical systems are transforming human behavior and companies’ business models is the topic of the C3 meeting of October. CI is pleased to welcome Mr. Amit Ranjan, EY Advisory Innovation and Digital Business Leader in Japan. Mr. Ranjan will share on successful implementations of IoT in different fields and industries. The discussion will be open and give CI members a chance to share views and opinions on the role of top management to instill innovation in the organizations and drive the technological change towards to new frontiers.
More On Mr. Ranjan-
Amit Ranjan has been working for 17 years in Japan with an extensive experience in the Techno-Functional environment in big organizations and currently a partner at Ernst and Young Japan. He has recently been a speaker at the CEATEC 2016 Conference in Tokyo.

2016 Oct C20 - From Story-telling To Story-making: Designing Product-Service Experiences That Enables Business Transformation
2016-10-14 12:30 - 14:00 | Roppongi Hills Club – Restaurants, 51F Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, 6-10-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 106-6151, Japan
Storytelling. Big Data Analytics. Customer Journey. Omni-channel. Consumer Experience. Disruption. All concepts flipped around C-Suite, Marketing and IT circles over recent times. And yet, the rise of the very technology that has enabled and empowered individuals can create seemingly impossible paradoxes for B2C and B2B companies to overcome.
Enter the rise of Design Strategy. What began as a strategic process applied to designing products is now permeating all manner of how to engage with customers, consumers, clients, patients, stakeholders, users… you know, people. Design strategy principles & tactics are impacting boardroom decision making, product & service development and how best to connect with the people you want to build an ongoing relationship with.
On Friday October 14 please join us for lunch with Phillip Rubel, head of Designit Tokyo & a global board member of the firm. Designit is one of the largest and most successful strategic design companies in the world, recently acquired by IT powerhouse Wipro. Designit consults for and co-creates with some of the world’s most successful companies across a huge variety of industries. Come learn how Designit helps companies re-invent themselves, develop products, services and ultimately relationships with their customers in agile and practical ways.
