Vietnam-Japan International Business Conference

Institute for Business and Finance

Takahiro FUJIMOTO is Professor of Waseda University, Professor Emeritus of the University of Tokyo and since 1997 Senior Research Associate at Harvard Business School, where he received his D.B.A. in 1989. His research focus lies on Economics and Business Administration, in particular on technology and operations management. More specifically, he is focusing on three areas: production management, product development, and suppliers management. He has published numerous books and monographs in Japanese as well as English including titles such as Competing to Be Really, REALLY Good; Business Architecture: Strategic Design of Products, Organizations, and Processes; Successful Product Development, and The Evolution of a Manufacturing System at Toyota. He is the recipient of, among others, the Japan Academy Prize (2002) and The Shingo Prize for Excellence in Manufacturing (2000 and 2001).

Doctor of Philosophy(University of Sussex)

Mai FUJITA is a Senior Research Fellow at the Area Studies Center of the Institute of Developing Economies (IDE-JETRO), which she joined in 1996. Her research focus lies on Vietnamese studies and development studies, in particular on industrial development and the economics of transition. More specifically, she is focusing on the domestic economy, political economy with respect to institutions, state-business relationships, and the strategies of suppliers in global value chains. She has published significant works highlighting the processes of market-driven industrial development, including her notable edited book The Transformation of Vietnamese Industry during the Period of Transition (2006). Furthermore, her highly influential fieldwork-based research and publications examine the dynamics of the Vietnamese motorcycle industry, state-owned enterprise reform, the rise of new digital startups, and the impact of US–China trade tensions on the Vietnamese economy.