Traditionally, companies have expanded beyond their home country for two main reasons – for market growth or to seek resources.
The global competitive landscape has changed to where now, more companies are internationalizing for knowledge appropriation – not only to acquire market knowledge, but also to learn from best practices dispersed throughout the world. They then use these insights as a source of ongoing strategic renewal.
Global strategic audits are a valuable tool for corporations of all sizes, helping identify and leverage untapped sources of knowledge and internal resources. A comprehensive audit includes assessing geographic, technological and human resource advantages that the company has overlooked in order to build a knowledge-sharing architecture as an engine for sustainable competitive advantage.
The global competitive landscape has changed to where now, more companies are internationalizing for knowledge appropriation – not only to acquire market knowledge, but also to learn from best practices dispersed throughout the world. They then use these insights as a source of ongoing strategic renewal.
Global strategic audits are a valuable tool for corporations of all sizes, helping identify and leverage untapped sources of knowledge and internal resources. A comprehensive audit includes assessing geographic, technological and human resource advantages that the company has overlooked in order to build a knowledge-sharing architecture as an engine for sustainable competitive advantage.
Meet the
Expert
Mary Yoko Brannen PhD
Professor of International Business, University of Victoria Gustavson School of Business
Victoria, British Columbia
- English
- French: Français
- Japanese: 日本語
- Spanish: Español
About Mary Yoko
- Born and raised in Japan, with advanced studies in the U.S., France and Spain, Mary Yoko Brannen has worked as a cross-cultural consultant for over 25 years to mostly Fortune 100 companies.
- Specializes in helping multinational firms realize their global strategic initiatives by aligning and integrating critical internal organizational resources. Advises management on developing knowledge-sharing architectures, creating a global language strategy, leveraging bicultural boundary-spanners, and careful selection and deployment of global teams.
- Holds the Jarislowsky East Asia (Japan) Chair of Cross-Cultural Management at the University of Victoria Gustavson School of Business and holds a Visiting Professorship of Strategy and Management at INSEAD. She is a founding director of the Institute for Global Learning and Innovation.
- Serves as Deputy Editor of the Journal of International Business Studies – the highest ranked journal in the field of international business.
- As a researcher, internationally recognized as an expert in ethnomethodology and qualitative studies of complex cultural organizational phenomena. Current research includes knowledge-sharing across distance and differentiated contexts; also, directing a global research project focusing on biculturals and people of mixed cultural origins as the new workplace demographic.
Experience
Professor of International Business
•
University of Victoria Gustavson School of Business
Jul, 2012
—
Present
- Interdisciplinary endowed chair in cross-cultural management with emphasis on research involving East Asia (Japan)
- Regularly teaches on the topics of Integration in International JVs, M&As, Global Teams, Knowledge-Sharing Across Distance and Differentiated Contexts, and Collaboration in Cross-Border Partnerships and Strategic Alliances.
- Ongoing research on knowledge sharing across distance and differentiated contexts;
- Currently directing a global research project focusing on biculturals and people of mixed cultural origins as the new workplace demographic — identifying types of biculturals, personal case histories, and designing and conducting a larger quantitative study to determine key attributes of people with mixed cultural identities as cultural brokers (bridges) in multinational companies.
Senior Partner
•
CLIA Consulting
2000
—
Present
- Distilling the Essence of Tesco: May-October, 2011. Trained nine managers from Tesco’s Asian Stores to conduct an internal ethnography of Tesco UK to distill its essence and understand what aspects are easily transferable to their country context and which will be vulnerable to recontextualization.
- Integration Advisor: Top management team coach at Spansion, Ltd, previously a joint-venture between Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Fujitsu in flash memory technology.
- Other clients have included: Agilent Technologies, Applied Materials, Advanced Micro Devices, Cisco Systems, Dupont Photomask, Ford Motor Company, Fuji/Xerox, Fujitsu, Hewlett/ Packard, Honeywell, Intel, Marubeni Corporation, Motorola, Proctor and Gamble, Schlumberger, Sony Japan, Sony Electronics, Sony USA, Toppan Ltd., Toyota Motor Company, UNESCO, and the Walt Disney Company.
Deputy Editor
•
Journal of International Business Studies
2009
—
Present
- Elected to second 3-year term beginning July 2013
Visiting Professor
•
INSEAD
2009
—
Present
- Visiting Full Professor of Strategy and Management
Professor of International Business
•
San Jose State University, Lucas Graduate School of Business
1998
—
2008
- Appointed to Spansion Chair of Multicultural Integration
Assistant Professor
•
University of Michigan Ross School of Business
1992
—
1998
- Assistant Professor of International Business, Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management
Education
University of Massachusetts, Amherst
PhD, Organization Studies, 1994
Academic Honors
Elected to Beta Gamma Sigma Honor Society, 1992Thesis
Dissertation: "Your Next Boss is Japanese: Negotiating Cultural Change at a Western Massachusetts Paper Plant"
University of Massachusetts, Amherst
MBA, Organizational Behavior, International Business, 1988
University of California, Berkeley
BA, Comparative Literature, 1981
Academic Honors
Dean's List, Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society
America School in Japan
High School Diploma, 1974
Awards
- Recipient of the Distinguished Teacher's Award, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, May, 1990.
- INSEAD: Abu Dhabi Research Grant (2800028) awarded for a conference on Biculturals and Individuals with Mixed Cultural Identities as Key Players in Global Strategy Implementation. Total: Euros 62,536.00
- Dean’s Faculty Research Awards – Awarded for outstanding contributions to the field of Organization Management Theory, May 2008; May 2002
- SJSU Provost Award for Research Excellence 2003
- Breaking the Frame Award – Journal of Management Inquiry award for most innovative contribution for the academic year 1999-2000, sponsored by the Academy of Management
- California State University Award for Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity, 1999
- Selected jurist for the Hiromi Arisawa Book Award for the best book on Japan. Sponsored by Columbia University Press. March, 1994.
Boards
- Founding member of the International Organization Network (ION) sponsored by the McIntire School of Business at the University of Virginia.
Committees
- Elected to the Executive Committee of the International Management Division of the Academy of Management (5 Year Term beginning July 2008.
- Appointed division co-chair for Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management for the 1999 Academy of International Business.
- Served on the Research Committee of the Department of Organization and Management, College of Business, San José State University.
- Served on International Business Committee, College of Business, San José State University.
- Served as chair of the Curriculum Committee of the Department of Organization and Management, College of Business, San José State University, 1998-99
Keynote Speeches
- Keynote Speaker, Financial Times European Sub-Advisory Summit, Paris, Concorde Opera Hotel, November 9, 2010.
- Keynote Speaker, Kobe University Center for Research in Economics, Industry and Business. March 28, 2008.
- Keynote Speaker – Toshiba Corporation. By invitation of the International Global Business Network, Japan, Spring 2007. Keynote delivered in Japanese.
- Keynote Speaker – Identifying Culture Conference, Svennsgaard, Sweden. Invitation by the Stockholm School of Economics, June 2003.
Panels
- Presenter, facilitator or panelist at more than 40 academic conferences
- Contributor—Stockholm School of Economics—Organizational Identity Conference, June 2006.
- Invited Scholar – Stanford University workshop on process in the international transfer of managerial technology at Green Gulch Zen Center hosted by Professor Thomas Rohlen, Sept. 23-26, 1996.
- Invited participant in the International Junior Faculty Consortium of the Academy of Management Meetings, Dallas, August, 1994.
- Invited participant in the Junior Faculty Consortium of the Academy of International Business, Maui, Hawaii, October, 1993.
- Invited participant of the Doctoral Consortium for International Business at the Academy of Management Annual Meeting, San Francisco, August, 1990
Academia
- Invited to Serve as Formal Dissertation Opponent in the Doctoral Dissertation Disputation for Laurence Romani, doctoral student, Stockholm School of Economics.
- Invited Scholar – Center for Knowledge and Innovation Research (CKIR), Helsinki School of Economics and Business Administration. One of thirteen international business scholars invited to the organizing workshop for a new intellectual forum between practitioners and academics on New Forms of Global Firms and Innovation. Professors Ikujiro Nonaka (Hitotsubashi University/ UC Berkeley) and Yves Doz (INSEAD), founders, July 2001.
- Scholar-in-Residence – China Zen Founders Tour, Sept. 26-Oct.16, 2000. Sponsored by the San Francisco City Zen Center. Invited to document the process of cultural change in the organization and practice of Zen Buddhism in China.
Publications
- Author or co-author of dozens of published research papers and articles.
- Editorial board member, editor or reviewer for publications including Management International Review, Global Strategy Journal, International Journal of Business Innovation and Research, Independent Journal of Cross-Cultural Management, Organizational Research Methods, Administrative Science Quarterly, Academy of Management Review, Organization Science, Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of International Management, Journal of Asian Studies, Academy of Management, Academy of International Business.
Packages with Mary Yoko starting from $500
Your Expert Package Includes:
Best Practices
Access to ALL Best Practices authored by TrustedPeer
Expert Mary Yoko Brannen PhD on this topic.
Pre-Meeting Discovery Process
Review and analysis of your issue with pre-meeting discovery questions by Mary Yoko, followed by
a 30- or 60-minute one-on-one call.
Sample
One+-on-One Call
Your (+colleagues) meeting is directed and focused from the first minute.
Meeting Summary Report
After your call, Mary Yoko completes a Meeting Summary Report to provide you with the
session’s discussion topics, analysis, assessment and recommendations for next steps.
Sample
Post-Meeting Engagement
After your meeting, continue your relationship with Mary Yoko
on your own, or with TrustedPeer’s support.