As signs increase that the recession is lifting, Japan is preparing to recover fast from the crisis and post positive growth in the second half of 2009. How is this possible? Japanese business has passed a strategic inflection point during which Japan’s largest companies have refocused and repositioned as nimble, lean competitors. As a result, the Japanese business system we used to know, with its lifetime employment, business groups and main banks, has been fundamentally changed. Join us as Dr. Ulrike Schaede explores how this transformation has prepared Japanese companies to exploit the current economic crisis as an opportunity to assume leadership in critical 21st century technologies.

Dr. Ulrike Schaede is Professor of Japanese Business at the School of International Relations and Pacific Studies (IR/PS), at the University of California San Diego. She is the author of multiple books, papers, and chapters on Japan’s government-business relationships, antitrust and trade associations, financial markets, and corporate strategy. Schaede earned her M.A. and PhD degrees in Germany, and has conducted research in Tokyo for a total of more than six years, including at Hitotsubashi University, the Bank of Japan, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

6:00 pm Registration
6:30 to 8:00 pm Program

Free and open to the public.

Co-sponsored by San Francisco State University College of Business, JETRO San Francisco and USF Center for the Pacific Rim.
This is a lecture event hosted by the Japan Society of Northern California. Seating is limited and advanced registration is strongly recommended to confirm a seat. The deadline to RSVP for this event is Tuesday, September 8, 2009.