Transforming Japanese Business

Anshuman Khare is a professor for Operations Management at Athabasca University, Canada. He joined Athabasca University in January 2000. He is an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow and has completed two post-doctoral terms at Johannes Gutenberg Universität in Mainz, Germany. He is also a former Monbusho Scholar, having completed his postdoctoral assignment at Ryukoku University in Kyoto, Japan. He has published a number of books and research papers on a wide range of topics. His research focuses on environmental regulation impacts on industry, just-in-time manufacturing, supply chain management, sustainability, cities and climate change, online business education, etc. He is passionate about online business education. Anshuman serves as the editor of IAFOR Journal of Business and Management and associate editor of the International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education published by Emerald and is on the editorial board of the International Journal of Applied Management and Technology.Hiroki Ishikura is a professor at the Faculty of Commerce in Osaka Gakuin University, Japan, and used to be an assistant professor in Kyoto University. He received a Doctor of Engineering degree from Kyoto Institute of Technology and graduated from Fukui University textile engineering department. His research interests lie in manufacturing systems. He is closely involved with academic societies such as the International Journal of the Japan Society for Production Management (editor in chief), International Journal of Standardization (editor in chief), International Journal of Manufacturing Technology and Management (UK) (editorial board member), the Society for Standardization Research (Vice Chairman), the Japan Society for Production Management (President), the Textile Machinery Society of Japan (Fellow), International and Domestic Technologies, Japan (Secretariat), and Textile Research Journal, USA (reviewer).William W. Baber has combined education with business throughout his career. His professional experience has included economic development in the State ofMaryland, language services in the Washington, DC, area, supporting business starters in Japan, and teaching business students in Japan, Europe, and Canada. Hetaught English in the Economics and Business Administration Departments of Ritsumeikan University, Japan, before joining the Graduate School of Management at Kyoto University, where he is an associate professor, in addition to holding courses at University of Vienna and University of Jyväskylä. His courses include Business Negotiation, Cross Cultural Management, and Management Communication. He is the lead author of the 2015 textbook Practical Business Negotiation and conducts research in the areas of business models, negotiation, and acculturation particularly in relation to Japan. He completed his PhD on intercultural adjustment of expatriate workers in Japan in 2016 at the University of Jyväsklä, Finland. Earlier in 2004, he earned a Master of Education from University of Maryland in Instructional Systems Design.