Tak Kawasaki
Senior Consultant - Tokyo, Japan

Takao Kawasaki graduated from Keio University with a major in Economics. He then joined NSG Group, a leading glass manufacturer, where he spent the next four decades. During his career at NSG, he worked within the International Business area where he experienced export work, forming international joint-ventures on several occasions, being stationed at various places in the U.S. for a total of 14 years, heading an Asian business unit, and participating in a project to acquire a European company in the same business. A few examples of his recent achievements were a temporary exit from the too-competitive China market (which was very rare for a Japanese business), privatization of a joint-venture in Malaysia and Vietnam with the goal of more flexible operations, and building a USD100M new manufacturing plant in Southern Vietnam to meet glowing market needs.

Tak’s first experience spending time in a different culture was when he went to Stanford University as an undergraduate exchange student during his days at Keio. After becoming a businessperson, he learned the importance of intercultural communication and its recognition through his various business experiences. He came to the conclusion that we are all human beings after all no matter what our background. He feels that the ability to succeed doing business in any country highly depends on the motivation of the person assigned to do the job. Furthermore, he believes that managers need to communicate with employees to maintain their motivation and keep everyone’s efforts headed in the same direction.

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