Roppongi Hills Club – Restaurants

As a network of able CEOs, both younger and older, we always enjoy hearing about other people's businesses. We've enjoyed discussions with major software global CEOs, global retailers, local robot manufacturers, and countless other dives into various businesses. For some reason, the English media has a news cycle that restarts every year or so about the […]

The higher one goes in an organization, the heavier the weight of management, and success, can be.  Budgets, hiring, strategic planning, new product roll outs, CSR... the list can go on... and on.  How can a boss get things done, work to be responsive, and find new business without blowing up personally?  There are many […]

Over the last year, both inside and outside of the CI network business leaders have discussed the future of work.  The larger companies have predicted a complete move to WFH (work from home), while medium-sized businesses have questioned the productivity of the team.  For employees, eliminating the commute cuts an hour or two of transport […]

Whatever negative impact COVID has had on industries such as retail and hospitality, e-commerce is as strong as ever and--in most cases--continues to grow and evolve, often at a dizzying pace. In this month's CI lunch,  Mr. Michael Rollins, Founder and President of Tokyo-based e-commerce agency Netwise, will present a macro-level survey of the current […]

Recently, the national government declared another 'state of emergency' in an effort to keep the coronavirus from spreading. All the lockdowns, work from home (WFH) and daily fear in the mass media seem to have greatly stressed the population. Being stuck at home with limited social interaction, mass layoffs by struggling businesses, and other concerns […]

The novel coronavirus pandemic has exposed long-acknowledged shortfalls in some critical government administrative services and highlighted how much Japan must do to address its lag in digitization. To that end, the government in February approved bills to promote digitization and establish a Digital Agency in September. Coordinating, integrating and standardizing a unique digital framework to […]

AI seems to be the battle cry of executives looking to cut staffing costs or increase revenues. You hear discussions in trade shows, boardrooms and offices around the world. The concept of Artificial Intelligence is a bit hazy for some. Both those professing to know it, as well as those who think they are using […]

With the ending of the Apollo program and the retirement of the Space Shuttle in 2011, many may have been concerned about next steps for NASA and the exploration of outer space.  However, we have watched how private companies have thrived and been able to discover new and innovative opportunities in space, while NASA has […]

The topic that frequently comes up around our CI Network board room tables is people. Besides money, people are probably the most challenging part of our businesses. People are who service our clients, people are the root of many management issues (our time), and in many cases people are the difference between failure or phenomenal […]

All companies go through various corporate life stages, maybe even including the fight for survival and the fight for revitalization when growth success has settled. This spans from when resources are limited and the manager has to play the game as her/his current players can handle it, as opposed to replacing the team and playing […]