On this holiday weekend, I see many families spending their vacation in Whistler, British Columbia; it’s loaded with RVs in parking lots. Whistler seems to be one of the best places with reasonable development and nature combined. I spent a week in Kananaskis near Calgary many years ago, but we got bored after a few days. You are close to nature there, enjoying hiking, golf, walking along the river etc., but eating same type of breakfast at the same place at the hotel gets a bit boring.
In Whistler, you can be close to nature (You can walk along the river like in the photo) and and at the same time, can have some fun. We have concerts every day this weekend. outside. (You can tell how cool/cold it is from what people wear)
In fact, every Sunday, Whistler has a farmers market where you can buy local vegetables, fruits and other fancy food. I come to farmers market every Sunday while I am in BC, but this year, it has expanded quite a bit. They even had OKONOMIYAKI type place–they called it Japanese pancake. (see photo left of the berries etc. I bought at the Farmers market this morning. It cost CDN 20.)
The winding road we drove last week from Morioka to Miyako reminded me of the road I drove in BC when I drove about 300 km going interior.
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.
