AWF’s February 2nd event, featuring guest speaker Takumi Shibata, Deputy President & COO of Nomura, was a huge success – with about 150 people turning out to hear Mr. Shibata speak, it was the biggest event in the history of our organization.
Mr. Shibata, a truly engaging speaker with a comfortable, storytelling, approach, began the evening by alluding to the history of the Nomura building we were in and why it was the perfect venue for an AWF meeting. He then went on to a day-by-day, almost hour-by-hour, description of the weekend in September 2008 during which Nomura acquired Lehman’s Asia unit. While we have all read newspaper stories about the acquisition, Mr. Shibata brought the deal to life with his energetic retelling of the event.
Mr. Shibata also talked about diversity and how important it is for Nomura to continue to level the playing field for all employees. He mentioned that, in particular, as the father of a young daughter, he is driven to make sure that the same doors are open for her as there would be for a young son.
To finish off his talk, Mr. Shibata opened the floor to questions. The first question, about the current climate for bankers and the banking industry, led him into a lengthy analysis of the fact that we are simply living in a tricky time for financial institutions: people are hungry for regulation and regulators are obliged to act on that. However, Nomura differentiates itself from other firms in its style of business and Mr. Shibata feels that Nomura’s more conservative approach to risk has been a key factor in its ability to thrive in this new landscape.
Finally, as a somewhat suitable way to end his talk, Mr. Shibata was asked what he sees as the five strengths of women and how those strengths can be carried over into day-to-day business life. As he answered, there were smiles and nods throughout the room: clearly he had made a connection with many in the room, and the very long line to meet him after the talk confirmed that fact.
We are delighted to announce the publication of a new business book edited by long-time AWF supporter Parissa Haghirian. The details are below.
Innovation and Change in Japanese Management
Edited by Parissa Haghirian (Sophia University) with an introduction by Makoto Abe (Tokyo University)
Palgrave Macmillan (2010) / Hardcover: 240 pages / ISBN-10: 0230216676 / Price: 95 US$
http://us.macmillan.com/innovationandchangeinjapanesemanagement
The Book
The mystic image of Japanese management changed during the recession of the 1990s. Japanese corporations had problems adapting to the restructuring measures. They were economic challenges and were slow in the implementing reforms and expected to develop more shareholder value and become more like their Western counterparts. Western observers and media criticized Japanese corporations and managers for being too consensus and harmony oriented and not being able to deal with crisis or rapid changes. But Japan and Japanese management did change.
In many cases these changes were not as radical or as spectacular as expected. Western suggestions and business models were not completely ignored, but many of them are not applicable in a Japanese context. Japan and Japanese management changed in its own way, in a Japanese Way. Innovation and Change in Japanese Management shows which transformation processes and changes can be observed in Japanese companies in reaction to the economic challenges of the past decade. The book presents new research results and investigates the variety of changes Japanese corporations and managers have experienced in recent years.
The Editor
Parissa Haghirian is Associate Professor at the Faculty of Liberal Arts at Sophia University in Tokyo, Japan. She obtained her Master’s in Japanese Studies from Vienna University (1998) and was awarded a Master’s Degree (2000) and PhD in International Management (2003) by Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration. Parissa is also a visiting professor at Groupe HEC in Paris, Helsinki School of Economics, Keio Business School and an adjunct professor at Temple University in Tokyo. Parissa’s research and consulting interests include Japanese management, market entries of Western firms into the Japanese market, and Japanese consumer behavior. www.parissahaghirian.com
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Please find details below on a book publishing internship with the local entrepreneur and publisher Caroline Pover.
Message from Caroline:
I noticed a significant number of enquiries coming my way toward the end of
last year, specifically regarding the possibility of doing a publishing
internship with me. Perhaps the time of year lends itself to new beginnings;
or perhaps employment situations (or lack thereof!) inspired many to test
out a new career or invest time in oneself for the purpose of learning a
whole new range of skills!
Either way ……… I have decided to make one internship spot available for
someone specifically interested in immersing themselves in the world of book
publishing. This is a three- to six-month internship, for three days per
week (Monday to Wednesday), based in the Ebisu area. You will work directly
with me and gain hands-on experience in all areas of book production,
including developing written material, layout and design, storage,
budgeting, marketing, and distribution. You will also work with
illustrators, photographers, editors, proofreaders, designers, translators,
and printers.
This is an opportunity for someone keen to explore a new career, or to catch
up with (or even get ahead of!) others already in this field. Virtually
every intern who has worked with me since my first one in 2002 has gone on
to be hired by a publishing company or been accepted on a publishing-related
program.
No prior experience is necessary but excellent written English skills,
enthusiasm, and a willingness to learn are essential. Men, women, foreign,
and Japanese candidates are welcome to apply.
To apply:
Send your resume and cover letter directly to me at
caroline@carolinepover.com. Your cover letter must include the following:
— why book publishing interests you
— why this particular internship interests you
— what current skills you hope to build on
— what brand new skills you hope to learn
— what your long-term career goals are and how this internship can help
you achieve them
— how you plan to support yourself financially during the internship
(transportation will be reimbursed and there are quite a few perks too!)
You will then receive more details about the internship, along with some
comments from past interns that may be helpful. Interviews will be held on
Sunday 17th January.
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We wanted to bring your attention to interesting events that will be taking place this month as part of the Japan edition of Global Entrepreneur Week.
http://www.entrepreneurshipweek.jp/en/
The GEW: Globally Successful Entrepreneurism on November 20th (held at National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies) event is free and by invitation and if you are interested please contact us with your details.
http://www.entrepreneurshipweek.jp/en/news/archives/2009/10/1120-the-global-entrepreneur.html
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The September AWF event was a workshop entitled: “Conscious Growth: Increasing Effectiveness & Life Quality by Balancing and Energizing Self” led by Chad Stewart. Chad’s goal was to provide some tips on how to achieve better work-life balance and he outlined his method for balancing his own life by ensuring conscious growth and balance within these 3 areas:
- Personal (through self development activities and by actively pursuing hobbies)
- Private (by spending quality time with his family and friends)
- Professional (through Executive Development)
He outlined the five elements that are involved in achieving this balance: Character, Capacity, Competencies, Consciousness, and Content.
According to Chad, in order to achieve something, we don’t need to do anything extreme. First, we should start with a simple and small activity that we can continue for at least 3 months (long term and short term); second, we should share with our friends through verbal commitment or written commitment; and third, you should reward yourself when you have achieved your target.
Since most of seminar participants said they had difficulty finding time for regular exercise, Chad provided a good example. Chad does repeated sprint and walking combination for 5 minutes instead of a 30 minute run as he found out that both have the same impact. Another suggestion was to do 10-15 seconds of pushing against a wall. This has the same impact as bench pressing in the gym. Chad said “It’s not the time that we put into it, but the energy that matters”.
We then moved on to a Personal Mapping Sheet, which allows you to see yourself more clearly.
In every area (Personal, Private and Professional), there are 4 factors that support each other, which Chad compared to the construction of a house:
1. Roof (Connection): Mission/vision, values, trust, resonance, communication and conflict
2. Pillar I (Emotions): moods, states and triggers
3. Pillar II (Mind): cognition, commitment and consequences
4. Floor (Body): breathe, posture, temperature, eat/drink, sleep and exercise
A house cannot be deemed complete if one factor is missing. In every area of life, it’s important to reflect on where we devote too much energy and time, and where we don’t. Through self-reflection, we can learn to allocate more of our time to areas where we haven’t spent enough time previously.
Most seminar participants agreed that a lack of sleep and exercise, and emotional well-being, were the areas they spent less time on. Chad gave the following advice on how to nurture the emotional aspect:
1. Have a picture of your loved ones on your desk at work or somewhere where you can easily see it. This will make you smile and help you to remember what your mission in life is and why you are working hard, etc
2. Take 5 – 10 minutes of meditation time before going to sleep and upon waking
3. 1-2 minutes of breathing exercise (this is actually being practiced by one of Chad’s corporate customers every morning!):
Inhale for 6 seconds
Hold on to it for 2 seconds
Exhale for 4 seconds
Repeat this cycle for around 1-2 minutes daily.
All of us then practiced the breathing exercise and everyone felt relaxed and great after that! To close, we came back to the personal map and plan what we need to make in order to balance our life.
It was a great night for everyone to take the opportunity analyze what we need to do in order to introduce more balance in our life. Everyone left feeling very positive and energized and we received a lot of great feedback.
If you are interested in finding out more about Chad and what he does, you can visit his company’s website.
Volunteers are being asked to come together on October 4th for the International Coastal Cleanup Campaign in Shonan. The Fujisawa Beach Cleaning Project is a chance for local and expat communities to do good together and feel good while giving back to the community. It involves a beach cleanup at Kugenuma Kaigan in Fujisawa, and a light buffet aperitif after at Soleil Provence for networking. All debris collected during the beach cleaning will be recorded and will be included in a JEAN national report on Japan’s beaches as well as Ocean Conservancy’s international survey of the state of the world’s coastal areas.
A donation box will be set up on October 4th at the reception desk, and volunteers are free to contribute what they can on the day.
Volunteers will receive an event T-shirt when they check in at the reception.
Registration now open for general volunteers.
Registration: September 18th -28th
Number of volunteers needed: 100
Contact: info@soleilprovence.com for information and registration.
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