CEO Insights Executive Group

2017 Jan G3 – CI New Year Kick Off And Executive Summary
2017-01-10 12:30 - 14:00 (Asia/Tokyo) | 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.

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.

2016 Oct C8 - Developing & Running a Manufacturing JV Business in China
2016-10-13 12:30 - 14:00 | TOKYO
CEO Insights meetings provide a lot of knowledge to c-levels running a business in the major trading centers in Asia such as Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong and various other countries. Many of our firms manufacture in China but we don’t go into too much detail about doing business in China. With such an important player such as China, experience in the market can make the difference between business success or failure. In October, CI members will get a chance to dive into China.. without going there. CI welcomes a c-level that has spent several years doing business in China. Mr. Daniel Onaggowinarso
Mr. Onaggowinarso will be sharing with us his insights on the benefits and challenges of running a Sino-German Joint Venture Operation and the cultural and economic challenges of succeeding in the current and future Chinese Market for foreign companies. Special thanks to Bartek Radzimski for arranging this meeting!
Join us for an insightful lunch on doing business in China and see the connections to the business abroad.

2016 Sept G3 - The Japan Experience- Why Japan Resonates So Well To The World
2016-09-13 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 a business professional, there are many wonderful places in the world to live. However, there is some appeal to Japan that seems to draw people from around the globe. The food, the safety, the thousands of great companies..the reasons may vary. Every major company in the world that is successful, likely has an office in Japan. Why is it that Japan continues to draw people? Why is it that younger Japanese are no longer moving abroad but are actually coming home. There is a draw to the land of the rising sun. We see it in the doubling in the number of international visitors in 2015.
In the September CEO Insights Luncheon will welcome guest, Carl Kay. Carl is founder and president of TOKYO WAY KK, a destination management company specializing in deep access to authentic Japanese culture, both traditional and modern, emphasizing experiential activities. Carl will share some of his views on why Japan is resonating so strongly with today’s travelers and how the perspective of outsiders like himself who love Japan is changing the travel experience here.
Come enjoy another meeting of Japan’s leading and get a fresh perspective as well as the interaction with other CEOs.
More About Carl –
An American residing in Japan since 1996, Carl founded and successfully sold a software localization company. He served as President of the Harvard Club of Japan from 2008-2016. Carl has consulted for companies ranging from Uniqlo to mid-sized Japanese companies in the education and user experience design fields.

2016 Sept C20 - How the Best Companies are Using Advocacy and GR in Japan
2016-09-09 12:30 - 14:00 | Roppongi Hills Club – Restaurants, 51F Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, 6-10-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 106-6151, Japan
The past 30 years has seen a sea change in the willingness, some would say eagerness, of foreign firms in Japan to engage external stakeholders, including government officials and politicians and their staff. Indeed, senior executives in many foreign firms in Japan now see GR as a key element of their business strategy in Japan. The GR space represent a significant shift, it remains to be seen how the Japanese side views the increasingly proactive, high-profile, and “impactful” approach to influence their decision making.
In the August CI lunch we will welcome Keith Henry, a 30 year Japan veteran. Keith began his career in Japan as an aide to a member of the Diet, then as an aide to both the Minister of Defense and the Minister of Environment. After 5 years with a management consulting firm in Tokyo, he established Asia Strategy where he pioneered the establishment of government relations as a profession in Japan. Keith has great client relationships and is very open about what his firm is doing. His clients have included financial services and banking (UBS, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Manulife, Genworth), ICT (Dell, HPE, Vodafone, eBay), healthcare (Pfizer, PhRMA, EFPIA, Bayer, GSK), consumer goods and services (Wynn Resort, Wal-Mart, Philip Morris, UPS), manufacturing (GE, United Technologies, Embraer Aerospace), alternative investment funds (TCI, Elliott Advisors, Caxton Advisors, Perry Capital), among others.
Join us for an insightful lunch on what companies are doing into Japan to work better with our government.

2016 Sept C8 - How the Best Companies are Using Advocacy and GR in Japan
2016-09-08 12:30 - 14:00 | TOKYO

CI Sayonara Summer -BBQ @ Azabu Gardens
2016-09-01 19:00 - 21:00 | Azabu Gardens
Life is not just about knowing people, it’s about knowing good people. There’s no beating the quality of CEO Insights members and our guests around a table. As an executive, it can be lonely at the top and CI fills that void. As we close out and say “sayonara” to summer 2016, we want to give an extra opportunity for our CI groups to get to know each other. The evening of September 1st, we will break away from our regular luncheons and biannual forums and have arranged a special event. This evening of strictly food and networking gives members a chance to catch up with fellow CEOs after a relaxing summer break.
For the evening, real estate developer Pembroke welcomes us back for special outdoor barbecue reception at their luxurious Azabu Gardens property’s Rooftop Terrace. The catering is by Tokyo’s Elio’s restuarant. Please sign up early as space is limited to the first 25 CEOs to sign up.
Cost: 8,000 yen / person
RSVP: Ms. Miho Imai

2016 Aug C20 - Death Or Taxes, We Choose The Latter - Understanding Japan Inheritance Taxation
2016-08-19 12:30 - 14:00 | TOKYO
Everyone knows the joke about the two things we must do in life, pay taxes and die someday. The good thing about paying a lot of tax is that can generally indicate you are doing well as a CEO. If you’ve been running any size organization for any amount of time, you will know that understanding taxation is something that can make or break your business.
In the August CEO Insights luncheon we will welcome Mr. Nasir Majid who is a Partner running the International Assignment Services (IAS) practice in Tokyo, Japan for PwC. The lunch will be regarding taxation on the personal level. We plan to focus on group discussion and will cover the below areas-
• Tips & tricks for saving money on income tax
• How to more effectively pass the fruit of your labor on to the next family generation
• Understanding Japan Estate tax and the new Exit tax
Join us for a very engaging CI luncheon. You will leave the meeting with more than you left and have more connections to reinforce that.

2016 August C8- Is It Too Late For Casinos And The Gaming Industry In Japan?
2016-08-18 12:30 - 14:00 | Roppongi Hills Club – Restaurants, 51F Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, 6-10-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 106-6151, Japan
Earlier this year, once again, Japan’s LDP decided not to seek passage of a bill to legalize casino operations in Japan. The bill would lift the ban on casino operations and development. This was yet another disappointment in a long line of setbacks for those who would like to see casinos in Japan as a boost to tourism and local economies.
Integrated Resorts were meant to be an important part of PM Abe’s development model, but now some people say Japan has missed the boat on another regional opportunity. The question now is whether developer and operators that were interested have thrown in the towel? Or is the market opportunity too large to abandon, with those that know Japan playing the long (waiting) game?
Kiyoshi Nishijima has spent a good deal of his time involved with major hospitality projects in the region, as well as various government entities. 10 years ago he founded CLC and three years later formed the Japan Gaming Development Organization (JGDO) for the purpose of representing casino/gaming interests in Japan as a lobbying organization. Since then he has become a legal representative of Melco Crown Entertainment with respect its interests in Japan. Kiyoshi will be able to give us good insight into where the casino bill is headed, whether indeed Japan has lost the opportunity and perhaps some other interesting stories from the work he has done so far to push this casino bill through in Japan.

2016 Aug G3 - How A CEO Can Master The Art Of Acquisition
2016-08-16 12:30 - 14:00 | TOKYO
In business, when we think of “acquisition” immediately the image of a large firm buying a smaller firm to get into a national market, buy market share, or even kill potential competition. In the August CEO Insights, we will be talking about when it is right to buy a company, and when it is best to hold steady.
We will be expanding our definition of acquisition to incorporate the view of the c-level. Acquiring new talent is a huge challenge for every firm but there are many other areas. In a start up business, the three Ps are pricing (costs), productivity, and planning. As we grow we must know how to speed our processes both internally and externally. A healthy business is a living growing organization.
In the August CEO Insights luncheon, our discussion will center on acquisition from many angles. We’ll discuss some actual examples of some great decisions (and likely see some things that didn’t go so well as we expected).

2016 July G3- Using Outside Resources To Accelerate Business Growth
2016-07-19 12:30 - 14:00 | TOKYO
With the global market trending towards sharing, it is fascinating to watch that trend and how it effects our businesses. We’ve got ride-sharing (Uber, Lyft), room-sharing (AirBNB), and a lot of resource sharing (freelancer.com) and many other new business models that seem to show the market going from “owning your resources, to sharing your resources”.
Traditionally, we’ve seen consulting firms as the way to get extra resources for your accounting, advertising, and other marketing areas. In the July CI meeting, we’ll be discussing how to more effecctively use outside resources to build your business.
– The increase in business benefits derived from the use of consultants through more effective selection, management and control of them;
– The reduction of consulting fees and expenses from not only being better equipped for negotiations but also through more effective structuring of consultant vs. company resources; and
– The transfer of knowledge and capabilities to company personnel by using them more effectively in projects involving consultants.

2016 July C20
2016-07-15 12:30 - 14:00 | TOKYO
Sorry, this lunch has been cancelled.

2016 July C8 - Digitalization Towards New Economy
2016-07-14 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
The Internet is now the forth social infrastructure and continue to be evolved just from connectivity to digitizing the world. IoT is creating new economy connecting unconnected with people, processes and big data. We live in a generation of great change.
Sharing economy is one of the new business opportunities leveraging the power of the Internet. Under this circumstance how do businesses continue to create innovation ? What is the ideal organization to promote entrepreneurship ? What does globalization really mean for the Japanese enterprises ?
Come join us at the July CEO Insights Luncheon where we will Rakuten executive Yasu Arai as he shares his thoughts with the our group in this interactive luncheon.

2016 June G3 - An Insider’s Look At The Upcoming Japan Elections
2016-06-21 12:30 - 14:00 | Roppongi Hills Club – Restaurants, 51F Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, 6-10-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 106-6151, Japan
Understanding politics even in one’s own language is sometimes a chore, sometimes a bore. For those of us who live in Japan, though, this challenge is exponentially greater and not just because of the language and culture: it truly is a black-box here even for Japanese citizens (who at least can peer into the inner workings and make good guesses). For an internationally educated CEO, staying abreast is a tall order. In fact, the day after our lunch (7/22), 18 days of boisterous campaigning begin: what exactly does this mean for the Diet, the Prime Minister and his Cabinet, the loose alliance of opposition parties… and importantly: should we care?
For our June CEO Insights meeting, please welcome Timothy Langley (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy_Langley). Timothy will share insight on what the coming elections have in store for us and why it might be important to follow these developments. The postponed consumption tax raise, Abe’s 2nd Three Arrows, the inclusion of 18 year-olds in the ballots, and more all conspire to create an exciting ride for business leaders.

2016 June C20 - Gaining An Understanding of the Power of the Corporate Director In Japan
2016-06-10 12:30 - 14:00 | Roppongi Hills Club – Restaurants, 51F Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, 6-10-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 106-6151, Japan
Many companies send middle or blossoming upper management from the head office to take on the Representative director role in the Japan entity. The challenge is that many of those people don’t completely understand the implications of the role much less the person going. In the June CI lunch we will have John Dorff of the TMF Group and a member of the CI group sharing an Overview of the Role Of A Legal Director in a Japanese corporation. He will be engaging us talking about:
Over-guiding Responsibilities
– Employer v. Employee
– Is a local director required? (Changes Given the March 2015 Changes to the Corporate Law Fiduciary Responsibility)
– Directorship with/without a Board
– Personal Implications
– Tax Implications
John has been in Japan for 20 plus years, speaks Japanese fluently and is/has been the Legal Representative or is/has been on the board of over 100 companies in Japan.
We look forward to seeing you Friday.

2016 June C8 – Tokyo Real Estate Market Update
2016-06-09 12:30 - 14:00 | Roppongi Hills Club – Restaurants, 51F Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, 6-10-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 106-6151, Japan
The Tokyo real estate market is ever changing and as one of the highest fixed costs it has a profound effect on every company.

With the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games approaching, landlords are bullish and contractors have limited capacity and are experiencing historic profit levels. This month’s luncheon focuses on getting inside perspectives from key market players on how they view the current market status and their thoughts on future forecasts.

Shinichiro Fujisawa, a Deputy Managing Director at Shimizu Corporation, one of the ‘Top 5’ Japanese General Contractors will join a major landlord representative and our Todd Olson, President of Cushman & Wakefield, in a discussion of the current market and trends focusing on how it may continue to impact your business moving forward.

Please join us for this real estate market update and discussion.

Spring CI Forum- Business, Bosses And Working The Government
2016-05-25 19:00 - 20:30 | Oakwood Premier Tokyo, 1-8-2 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku,, Tokyo, 100-005, Japan
We are pleased to invite you to the 2016 Spring CEO Insights Forum (CIF). The CIF is a semi-annual gathering of 30 plus company c-levels for connecting, networking, and insights. This is all done over great food and free flowing drink. All at Oakwood’s new hotel facility just adjacent to Tokyo Station.
Past CIF meetings have brought in leadership of Amazon, American Express, ToysRus, Sumitomo, Mitsubishi, Major League Baseball, Saatchi & Saatchi, and many other insightful speakers. In this year’s Spring event, we are pleased to have two great speakers and lots of time for Q&A and networking with other top executives of some of the world’s most influential brands.
In the Spring CIF, we will have two interesting executive speakers. One will be Mr. Toshitake KUROSAWA from METI. He is the Deputy Director-General, Trade and Economic Cooperation Bureau. He will be sharing on how MNCs (multi-national corporations) can maximize their dealings with the Japanese government.
In addition, we will be welcoming Mr. Peter Landers, the Tokyo Bureau Chief of The Wall Street Journal, a Dow Jones company. Mr. Landers is also a writer and seasoned presenter and will be giving his take on the Japan of the future. What Japanese companies will look like in 15 years, and how multi-nationals corporations can prepare for future business.
Don’t miss this opportunity to network with the Japan’s top business leaders. Space is limited so please book your seat soon by using our online registration
We look forward to seeing you there!

Event– Spring CEO Insights Forum (CIF)
Date– Wednesday, 25 May 2016
Time– 7PM-830PM
Venue– Oakwood Primere Tokyo
Cost-8,500 Yen
Registration Closes 14 May, 5PM

2016 May C8 - The Business of Managing Middle Management
2016-05-19 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
Middle Managers are the glue that connects the bottom with the top. Executives rely on Middle Management to cascade their messages to the front line. However, do they actually do a good job of this or are they information hoarders and not sharing it with those below?
They are also expected to be conduits pushing valuable ideas and insights from the front line upward to the senior leaders. The innovation capacity of companies often relies on those closest to the customer. Invariably many great ideas potentially emanating from the front line are never tapped, because there was not the environment to do so. That environment creation is the responsibility of the Middle Managers.
Middle Managers will play an even more important role in the future, as the supply of young workers dwindles and a ferocious war for talent consumes us all. The inability of Middle Management to retain the young will have a direct negative cost on the bottom line of our businesses. Replacing and covering for the departing young has many costs – recruitment, disruption, opportunities, team motivation etc.

In this month’s CI Luncheon, Dale Carnegie’s Japan President and CI member CEO, Greg Story will be leading the discussion on “The Business Of Managing Middle Management”. Come join us as we talk about developing a companies most important asset, it’s team.

2016 May G3 - Understanding The Global Web Of Customer Data Protection Laws
2016-05-17 12:30 - 14:00 | Roppongi Hills Club – Restaurants, 51F Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, 6-10-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 106-6151, Japan
Both the EU and Japan have significantly amended their data protection laws. The new laws will enter into force in 2017 for Japan, 2018 for the EU. At the same time, the rules governing transfers of personal data between the US and the EU are being renegotiated. Some of these changes are very important and may impact how customer data or employee data is being managed. The presentation will focus on the impact for foreign retailers in Japan, but is something every CEO should understand.
In the May CEO Insights meeting, CI members will get a chance to meet with one of Japan’s foreign lawyers practicing in the country. CI welcomes Jean-Denis Marx, a partner with Baker & McKenzie (Gaikokuho Joint Enterprise) who will share his insights as a lawyer representing the needs of many famous companies in Japan and helping them understand how events abroad effect their local and global businesses.

2016 May C20 - Understanding The Global Web Of Customer Data Protection Laws
2016-05-13 12:30 - 14:00 | Roppongi Hills Club – Restaurants, 51F Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, 6-10-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 106-6151, Japan

2016 Apr C20 - Managing The Media- How To Keep Your Company & Job Intact During A Crisis
2016-04-15 12:30 - 14:00 | Roppongi Hills Club – Restaurants, 51F Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, 6-10-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 106-6151, Japan
The media is a powerful force in every country. We see the influence in social media and other ways to broadcast your corporate message changing. Media in Japan works very differently from media in other countries. This turns into a special challenge during crisis situations where the company reputation is at stake. Foreign firms in particular struggle as they have to manage both the Japanese media but also headquarters back home. More than once the Japan MD has been replaced by headquarters during or after a crisis happening in Japan.
In the April C20, we welcome Jochen Legewie the MD of CNC Japan to discuss managing the media and show the typical challenges and pitfalls and how to keep your job while also offering hands-on advise how to prevail and overcome crisis situations with the company reputation intact. After this meeting, you will be better prepared for dealing with the Japanese press.
Biography:
Dr. Jochen Legewie is Managing Director of CNC Japan, the Tokyo office of the strategic communications consultancy CNC headquartered in Munich/London. He has studied at Hitotsubashi University and Cologne University, where he obtained his Ph.D. in Economics in 1996. Spending over 20 years in Japan, he is fluent in Japanese, German and English and has authored numerous books on business and politics. He is a sought after commentator on Japan issues and has appeared on BBC, Bloomberg TV and BS Japan. He is widely published in various journals and newspapers. He is one of the few foreign trustees of business federation Keizai Doyukai and Vice-Chair of its Europe/Russia Committee.
Between 2001 and 2004, he served as Executive Officer in charge of Communications at Mitsubishi Motors Corporation. Prior to this, he was Vice-Director of the German Institute for Japanese Studies. He has also worked at Keidanren and as a freelance journalist.
Over the last 15 years, he has been dealing with a number of high profile company crises, both from inside of affected companies and from outside as a communications consultant.
