Publications

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June 1997
Case

Tokyo Electric Power Company

By: Forest L. Reinhardt

Keywords: Utilities Industry; Tokyo

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25 May 2011
News

multicultural, turnaround artist and shake-things-up executive, born in Brazil, raised in Lebanon, educated in France, and revered in Japan (One poll there had Japanese women selecting the happily married Ghosn as their top choice for an... View Details

Keywords: Garry Emmons

22 Mar 2018
Blog Post

“Mission + Profit: What’s the Balance?” asks SECON 2018

from as far as Japan and New Zealand. It was a great honor and experience to meet students, professionals and practitioners hailing from many parts of the world. SECON kicked off to a great start as Matt Forti, Managing Director of One... View Details

Keywords: Manufacturing; Nonprofit / Government; Technology; Entrepreneurship; Health Care

Profile

Casey Gerald

book of second-year EC colleagues. When he wanted to know more about consumer goods in Asia, he found an expert on retailing in Japan through the Retail & Luxury Goods Club. “Second,” says Casey, “HBS is uniquely suited to prepare me... View Details

18 Oct 2017
Blog Post

4 Advantages of the MS/MBA: Engineering Sciences Program

AI. I get the exciting challenge of building our business in Japan while honing my technical skills! My MBA is already paying dividends in my new job, but I’m also having to re-learn some of my previous technical skills. The unique... View Details

January 2021
Supplement

Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (B)

By: David J. Collis, Nobuo Sato and Akiko Kanno

This case is a follow up to HBS Case No. 721-373, Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (A). Following the events of the previous case, Takeda reached an agreement to acquire Ireland-based Shire Plc. The case follows some of the achievements and challenges Takeda and... View Details

Keywords: Pharmaceutical Companies; Pharmaceuticals; M＆A; Mergers ＆ Acquisitions; Biotech; Biotechnology; R＆D; Talent Management; Mergers and Acquisitions; Globalization; Global Strategy; Talent and Talent Management; Strategy; Biotechnology Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; Japan; Asia

December 2018 (Revised October 2020)
Case

Shiseido: Reinvesting in Brand

By: Jill Avery and Nobuo Sato

Shiseido was in the midst of a six year corporate turnaround, trying to reverse the effects of decades of under-investment in R&D and marketing which had led to a cycle of declining customer support and brand value. Would the CEO’s VISION 2020 plan, centered on four... View Details

March 2007 (Revised March 2008)
Case

The Nikkei 225 Reconstitution

By: Robin Greenwood

Taka Haneda, a proprietary trader at the Tokyo office of Goldman Sachs, has just learned that the Nikkei 225 will undergo a significant redefinition over the coming week. He faces several billion dollars of customer orders, as well as the opportunity to commit the... View Details

Keywords: Financial Liquidity; Stocks; Investment Return; Price; Market Transactions; Financial Services Industry; Tokyo

October 2006 (Revised March 2007)
Case

Production I.G: Challenging the Status Quo

By: Andrei Hagiu, Tarun Khanna, Felix Oberholzer-Gee, Masako Egawa and Chisato Toyama

In July 2006, Mitsuhisa Ishikawa wondered how he could further enhance the success and visibility of his animation production company headquartered in Tokyo, Production I.G. For the year ended May 2006, Production I.G. had sales of 5,439 million yen ($47.3 million),... View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Competitive Advantage; Markets; Animation Entertainment; Going Public; Growth and Development Strategy; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Tokyo

01 Apr 2001
News

Student Conferences Tackle Business Issues

linked every Asian nation to its regional neighbors and to the rest of the world through three main avenues: information and technology, capital flows, and trade. HBS professor Michael E. Porter moderated “Japan towards the 21st Century: How Should View Details

Keywords: Business Schools & Computer & Management Training; Educational Services

Profile

Casey Gerald

book of second-year EC colleagues. When he wanted to know more about consumer goods in Asia, he found an expert on retailing in Japan through the Retail & Luxury Goods Club. “Second,” says Casey, “HBS is uniquely suited to prepare me... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Retail; Nonprofit / Government

01 Dec 2002
News

Faculty Updates

Management Program, the Program for Management Development, and the International Senior Management Program in Switzerland. The author or coauthor of eight books and dozens of articles, Yoshino's next book on corporate restructuring in Asia will be published next year.... View Details

March 2025 (Revised March 2025)
Case

Good for the Seller, Good for the Buyer and Good for Society: Sampo-yoshi, Sustainability and Trust at ITOCHU

By: Sandra J. Sucher and Bethelehem Y Araya

In 2024, ITOCHU CEO Masahiro Okafuji was at a crossroads. As the thirteenth CEO since ITOCHU’s founding in 1858, he had fueled the company’s growth since 2011 by bringing ITOCHU’s founding philosophy of Sampo-yoshi (good for the seller, good for the buyer and... View Details

Keywords: Sustainability; Trust; Profit; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Mission and Purpose; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Environmental Sustainability; Japan

January 1987 (Revised May 1989)
Case

Merck-Banyu

By: Timothy A. Luehrman

Merck acquired control of Banyu in 1983. This was the first acquisition by outsiders of a major publicly traded Japanese company. This case is focused on valuing strategic investments in an environment of global competition. The case is complex because of the... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Investment; Globalization; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Industry Structures; Negotiation Deal; Public Ownership; Competition; Valuation; Japan

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June 2021
Case

Akira Fukabori and Kevin Kajitani at avatarin (A) (Abridged)

By: Linda A. Hill and Emily Tedards

In 2016, Akira Fukabori and Kevin Kajitani, aeronautical engineers at All Nippon Airways Co., Ltd., began to wonder why, in a world of accelerating globalization and digital connectivity, those who lived in far-remote villages or impoverished urban areas could not... View Details

Keywords: Agility; Ecosystem; Innovation Ecosystems; Innovation; Crowdsourcing; XPRIZE; Open Innovation; Partnership; Government; Collaboration; Co-creation; Purpose; Impact; Social Impact; Movement; Organizational Behavior; Organizational Ambidexterity; Ambidexterity; Culture; Culture Change; Global Teams; Experimentation; Space; Space Industry; Airline Industry; Start-up; Platform Business; Platform Strategy; Platform; Digital; Robotics; Robots; Avatar; Telepresence; Innovation Lab; Mobility; COVID-19; Intrapreneurship; Public-private Partnership; Innovation and Invention; Technological Innovation; Partners and Partnerships; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Alignment; Leadership; Leading Change; Diversity; Organizational Culture; Change Management; Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Digital Platforms; Transportation Industry; Aerospace Industry; Japan

April 2018
Case

Globalizing Japan's Dream Machine: Recruit Holdings Co., Ltd.

By: Sandra J. Sucher and Shalene Gupta

Recruit Holdings, an advertising media, staffing, and business support conglomerate was founded in 1960 by Hiromasa Ezoe. Recruit was built on the principle that the company should add value to society. To do this, it hired young and talented employees and created a... View Details

Keywords: Business Conglomerates; Mission and Purpose; Organizational Culture; Crime and Corruption; Transition; Globalization; Japan

Article

Can You Cut 'Turn Times' Without Adding Staff?

By: Ethan Bernstein and Ryan W. Buell

The president of RSA Ground, the subsidiary of Rising Sun Airlines responsible for servicing its planes at airports across Japan, goes undercover as a service crew member to discover how and whether his employees can speed up cleaning, checking, restocking, and... View Details

Keywords: Employee Empowerment; Employee Motivation; Turnaround; Service Operations; Employees; Motivation and Incentives; Leadership; Air Transportation Industry; Japan