Sato Set To Direct HBS Japan Center

The Harvard Business School announced this week the appointment of Nobuo Sato as Executive Director of the Japan Research Center, welcoming him to the HBS Global Initiative community.

Victoria W. Winston, executive director of the HBS Global Initiative, said that she is “thrilled” to welcome Sato to the community, and feels the development of the Global Initiative is critical to the future of HBS.

“As the second-largest economy in the world, Japan continues to be an important source of business innovations and challenges,” Winston wrote in an e-mail. “Nobuo will help to ensure that HBS faculty will have access to the companies and practitioners behind these innovations,” she added.

The Center in Tokyo is one of six across the globe which facilitates understanding of regional companies, organizations, and trends as a resource for HBS faculty members, according to the Global Initiative website.

The Executive Director is responsible for reaching out to business leaders across the region, working with HBS alumni, and navigating a complex web of time zones to communicate with other Centers.

Sato has years of experience in Tokyo’s business world.

Sato, who graduated from HBS in 1982, worked for 15 years at the Industrial Bank of Japan, according to an HBS press release.

Sato then worked for 15 years as a global partner at Egon Zehnder International, an executive search and assessment firm.

He also managed a corporate governance practice group and supervised the firm’s Japan-based industry sector research team.

Sato’s work will extend beyond the borders of Japan.

The Executive Directors of all six Centers gather in Boston at least three times a year to compare “notes on research intelligence, business innovation and best research practices,” according to Winston.

Sato replaced founding Executive Director Masako Egawa, who was appointed managing director for strategic planning at the University of Tokyo.

“We are delighted to hear that Mr. Sato is heading the Japan Research Center in Tokyo,” Associate Director of Harvard’s Reischauer Institute of Japanese studies Theodore J. Gilman wrote in an e-mail.

“He brings a wealth of experience to the position and to Harvard. This is an exciting time to be engaged in Japanese studies, and we look forward to continued collaborative efforts that benefit Harvard faculty and students interested in Japan,” he added.

Sato has already made his presence known at HBS, asking second-year business students to have dinner with him next week, said Soto Yasuda, a student at HBS and co-chair of the Asian Business Conference.

Yasuda said that the Center in Tokyo provides access to contacts who assist in Field Work Projects or Individual Study Projects which second-year students at HBS can elect to engage in.