Harvard Business School Appoints Nobuo Sato Executive Director Of Japan Research Center In Tokyo
Nabuo SatoPhoto Credi: Evgenia Eliseeva BOSTON, October 6, 2009 — Harvard Business School (HBS) has named Nobuo Sato executive director of its Japan Research Center (JRC) in Tokyo. A graduate of Keio University and Harvard Business School (MBA 1982), the former banker and executive recruiter officially assumed his duties in August. Harvard Business School established the Japan Research Center in 2002 to provide formal support for faculty research and case-writing activities in Japan. The Tokyo facility is part of a global network of centers located in regions that play a vital role in the world economy, including Asia-Pacific, Europe, India, Latin America, and California's Silicon Valley. Through these centers, HBS faculty work with leaders of industry, government, and academia worldwide and learn from business challenges and innovations around the globe. "We are pleased that Nobuo has taken on this important leadership role at our Japan Research Center," said Krishna Palepu, the School's Ross Graham Walker Professor of Business Administration and Senior Associate Dean for International Development."Forming strong ties with business and academic organizations around the world is central to the HBS Global Initiative. It allows the School to expand research and course development and continuously infuse timely and relevant content into our educational programs. Nobuo will also concentrate on maintaining strong relationships with our alumni and other senior business leaders throughout Japan." Sato's business career has spanned three decades. Most recently, he was a global partner at Egon Zehnder International, a worldwide executive search and assessment firm. During his more than 15-year tenure there, he launched the firm's Tokyo-based financial service practice group and oversaw all executive searches in the financial sector. In addition, he managed a corporate governance practice group and oversaw the firm's Japan-based industry sector research team. Prior to Egon Zehnder, Sato worked for 15 years in the Tokyo and London offices of the Industrial Bank of Japan (now part of Mizuho Financial Group). Since 2002 HBS faculty and researchers, with the assistance of the Japan Research Center, have developed case studies focused on more than 60 Japanese companies-from large, established organizations to Internet startups. In 2007, the JRC and HBS Dean Jay O. Light hosted a research symposium in Tokyo that brought together Japanese academics, business leaders and government officials with HBS faculty and alumni. Approximately one-third of the Harvard Business School cases developed each year are international in scope, and a wide variety of courses and cases in the HBS MBA program address global business issues. At any given time, HBS researchers are active in more than 40 countries. About the Global Initiative: |
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Founded in 1908 as part of Harvard University, Harvard Business School is located on a 40-acre campus in Boston. Its faculty of more than 250 offers full-time programs leading to the MBA and PhD degrees, as well as more than 175 Executive Education programs, and Harvard Business School Online, the School’s digital learning platform. For more than a century, faculty have drawn on their research, their experience in working with organizations worldwide, and their passion for teaching, to educate leaders who make a difference in the world. The School and its curriculum attract the boldest thinkers and the most collaborative learners who will go on to shape the practice of business and entrepreneurship around the globe.