This past week, I went to have dinner at the wine bar near Jiyugaoka in Japan with Chris, our Dean. I wanted to continue my small effort of supporting the food service industry which has suffered. The wine bar was crowded, the lights are dimmed, the spirit and energy high.
We ordered champagne and wine as we dived into leadership (what else? both of us teach at Business School!)–its absence, its negative impact with long leadership tenure at the organization, the quiet power of people on the street in Japan, and the dedication of experts such as Self Defense Forces, fire fighters, and engineers. Decision making process and incremental improvement (Kaizen style) she saw was new and very inspiring to me, for example.
We also talked about the long term impact of non-Japanese people leaving/moving out. I was overseas at the time of the earthquake and watched somewhat sensationalized reporting of foreign media (I was isolated from the Japanese media except NHK, so probably the same thing holds true with all press). I understand the panic which must have been felt by non-Japanese inside and outside of Japan to some extent and their desire to get home at a time of crisis. Japan is my home and I feel at ease here, despite all the panic so for me, it was easy to came back without any hesitation.
There’s obviously going to be a long process of recovery from the total destruction, so we talked about how we could support the process in our own capacity, which led to the discussion of what each of us wants to do with our life, as the earthquake and the series of disasters made us think of what we are and who we are.
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.
