In early June 2021, an independent investigation team released its report into the way Japan-based Toshiba Corporation (Toshiba) had conducted its 2020 annual shareholder meeting, finding that the company had mishandled the annual general meeting with respect to shareholder rights. As a result, Toshiba had to deal with the immediate problem of putting up a new slate of nominee board directors to be put to a vote at the next annual shareholder meeting .....more

In May 2021, Asahi Group Holdings, Limited (Asahi), a Japanese global beer, spirits, soft drinks, and food company, shifted its focus to non-alcoholic beers. The shift was made after spending US$20 billion to acquire premium beer brands from Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV, a Belgian multinational drinks and brewing company.<br><br>The Japanese beer market had been shrinking for decades with Japan’s declining population, and more recently, .....more

Fast Retailing Co. Ltd.’s UNIQLO brand (UNIQLO) was planning to relaunch +J, its collaboration with the legendary high-end designer Jil Sander in the fall of 2020; however, the COVID-19 pandemic began in March of that year, causing many consumers to spend less on clothes and more on essentials. Just like the first launch of the +J collection in 2009, this launch would once again happen during a global recession. The affordable street fashion brand .....more

In late 2018, the chief executive officer and president of Domino's Pizza Japan Inc. was convinced that a substantial expansion in the Japanese market was needed and feasible for continued growth. His company had already grown to nearly 550 stores across Japan, which was over double the number only five years earlier. The company had numerous opportunities to grow further, including opening new markets; opening stores closer to the company's .....more

On July 8, 2019, Barry Robinson, president and managing director of International Operations for Wyndham Destinations Asia Pacific (Wyndham Destinations AP), and Liam Crawley, chief financial officer, were in receipt of a report provided by law firm Baker McKenzie’s Corporate Mergers and Acquisitions team. Wyndham Destinations AP was in the process of acquiring the privately held Resort Frontier Co. Ltd., the management company for Sundance Resort .....more

A dramatic dispute between two partners was about to push their long-time, successful international alliance to the verge of collapse. FamilyMart Co. Ltd. (FamilyMart) Japan and Taipei-based Ting Hsin International Group (Ting Hsin) had collaborated through a brand licensing arrangement to develop and operate FamilyMart convenience stores in mainland China for nearly 20 years. With FamilyMart stores topping the ranking of foreign convenience store .....more

Atrae Inc. was a Japanese software firm providing platform matching services for job recruitment in the software engineering industry. As compared to traditional Japanese firms, Atrae adopted a unique approach to managing its employees. Instead of the rigid hierarchy and top-down management approach that typified a Japanese firm, Atrae had a flat organizational structure and heavily relied on decentralized decision-making and individual motivation. .....more

Formed in 1997, Star Alliance was the first global airline network or constellation. Its aim was to shift the airline industry away from a network of loose bilateral agreements between individual airlines to a more comprehensive network of multilateral agreements between members. A wave of deregulation in the industry in the 1970s and 1980s, which opened free travel between countries, led to the creation of three major global constellations: Star .....more

In 2019, the global airline industry generated revenues of over US$880 billion. One year later, as the COVID-19 pandemic raged, demand had fallen to half of its previous level and airlines faced tough challenges. The COVID-19 pandemic was a new and severe crisis. The responses of airlines and their alliances depended on the fundamental economics and structure of the industry. To devise new strategies for their futures, global airlines had to consider .....more

In 2018, Toyota Tsusho South Pacific Holdings, the leading automotive company in the South Pacific, was celebrating its 20th anniversary. The company, which operated a network of 27 dealerships through subsidiary companies in seven island nations, had been through a number of dramatic changes since its origins in the 19th century, and its Brisbane, Australia, office had transitioned from its early role as a corporate head office with 15 employees .....more