Diversity in the workplace, especially at middle and senior management levels, has now come to be globally accepted as one of the critical levers for getting the best out of people and creating value. Even in Japan, with the Abe administration pushing “womenomics” to create “a society where every individual can shine”, diversity has emerged […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]