I arrived in NYC Thursday morning. I was quite exhausted from all the things I had to do before I left and ended up catching up on sleep on the first day. The second day was spent for the working lunch to discuss details of the Meeting in Montreal on Monday where I am a moderator, followed by walking around Lincoln Center area to pick up concert ticket and checking out the Whole Foods Store.
Lincoln Center is completely renovated and beautiful. The Whole Foods at Columbus Circle remains one of my favorite places in NYC! I ended the second day with the visit to the Standard Jazz downtown.
The third day, Saturday, was a gorgeous, sunny day, but quite windy and chilly. After my daily run around Central Park and visit to the gym, I ended up writing several outlines, forms, reports, etc., which would be due on Monday, Oct. 18, Japan time. (We are still Saturday in NYC, but already noon on Sunday in Tokyo!)
The highlight of Saturday was the visit to Patsy’s on the West side with my stepson’s family (one-, three-, and six-year-olds!) The pizza there is fantastic and the place is noisy and zoo-like with so many kids and families. I am always amazed to see so many kids in NYC during the weekends.
Saturday ended with a concert by the New York Philharmonic at Avery Fisher Hall. One of the charms of NYC is to have so much variety so that you can choose whatever you want – whether it’s music, parks, performing arts, ballet or dance. It is also nice to have all these places within walking distance. (So you end up walking a lot when in NYC!)
Yoko Ishikura is a Professor at Hitotsubashi University ICS in the Graduate School of International Corporate Strategy in Japan. She has held positions as a professor at the School of International Politics, Economics and Business of Aoyama Gakuin University in Tokyo, as a consultant at McKinsey and Company Inc. Japan and a visiting professor at Darden School.
Professor Ishikura is a consultant to a number of multinational companies and has been a frequent speaker at management conferences, seminars, and workshops throughout the world. She was a member of the Regulatory Reform Committee for the Japanese government and the International Competitiveness Commission for METI. She is currently a Forum Fellow of the World Economic Forum.
She is the author of Strategic Shift from OR choices to AND paradigm, Building Core Skills of Organization , and the co-author of the following publications: Managing Diversity in the 21st Century, Strategy for Cluster Initiatives in Japan , and Building a Career to the World Class Professionals – all in Japanese. Her books in English include: Asian Advantage, Hitotsubashi on Knowledge Management and Trust and Antitrust in Asian Business Alliances.
Professor Ishikura’s current research interests are focused on global competition, innovation, and knowledge management. She received her BA from Sophia University in Tokyo, Japan; MBA from Darden School, University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia; and DBA from Harvard Business School.
