This summer will be remembered as the one with the most extreme weather and natural disasters throughout the world. Flooding in Pakistan and in China, heat waves in Russia and in many parts of North America, just to name a few.
It is good to send relief aid of food, water, etc. to the places which are hit by the extreme weather, and we need to do so swiftly. I am also concerned about the shortage of foodstuff–such as wheat, etc. which are affected by the extreme weather and the subsequent sharp rise in prices, not to mention the health -elated issues at the places hit.
As the world is so interconnected today, natural disasters seem to influence all of us in some way or other, regardless of where we are. What we need to do, it seems, is not only taking immediate actions such as sending relief aid, but also DO something to prevent and/or prepare for these disasters. Though I am not an expert on climate change, the summer this year has given us a severe warning to us and can serve as “wake up” call to action.
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.
