An Insider’s Perspectives on American IT Multinationals in China and Japan

Seminar with Ms. Junko Sasaki, General Manager, Customer Service & Support, Microsoft Japan

Friday, June 22, 2012 - 10:30 to 12:00

Even though China and Japan offer many opportunities, foreign companies are faced with challenges and difficulties when doing business in these countries. One of the major organizational difficulties concerns cross-cultural management of human resources. What are the similarities and differences between Chinese and Japanese employees? Why are there more Chinese than Japanese in leadership positions in American IT multinationals like IBM and Microsoft in China, Japan and the rest of Asia? Should American multinationals be sensitive and not appoint a Japanese to manage Chinese employees when they operate in China? How can a Japanese manager win the trust and confidence of Chinese employees, and vice versa?

These questions are some of the issues that Ms. Sasaki has been struggling to tackle while at IBM and Microsoft. As a Japanese female executive, which some call an oxymoron, she has been leading major services divisions for the two prominent American IT multinationals at their Japan, China and Asia Pacific regional headquarters. The roundtable seminar provides a rare insider perspective on organizational dynamics of these American IT multinational firms in their Asian operations.

Ms. Junko Sasaki is General Manager, Customer Service & Support, at Microsoft Japan. Prior to joining Microsoft, she spent 26 years at IBM, where she started as a systems engineer for the Japanese banking sector and subsequently was promoted to various management positions with increased responsibilities. In her last position at IBM, she spent three years as the Director of Global Delivery, IBM China, and was stationed in China (initially in Shanghai and later in Dalian) as the first Japanese female executive to head IBM China’s rapidly growing outsourcing operations. She received her B.A. in economics from Keio University.

Registration

 

Please register by mail to arc@cbs.dk. The seminar is free of charge and everybody is most welcome.

 

Arranged by Asia Research Centre, CBS.

The page was last edited by: Communications // 09/26/2023