IAFOR > The Asian Conference on Business & Public Policy (ACBPP) > ACBPP2021 Overview

ACBPP2021 Overview

Special Announcement: ACBPP2021 will be held Online

Due to continued uncertainties surrounding the ongoing global coronavirus pandemic, IAFOR has made the decision to hold ACBPP2021 entirely online via Zoom.

View the Conference Programme

Join us online for ACBPP2021!

November 01–03, 2021 | Held online from Tokyo, Japan

Welcome to The Asian Conference on Business & Public Policy (ACBPP2021), held in partnership with the IAFOR Research Centre at the Osaka School of International Public Policy (OSIPP) at Osaka University, Japan.

ACBPP2021 encourages academics and scholars to meet and exchange ideas and views in an international forum stimulating respectful dialogue. This event will afford an exceptional opportunity for renewing old acquaintances, making new contacts, networking, and facilitating partnerships across national and disciplinary borders.

Since its founding in 2009, IAFOR has brought people and ideas together in a variety of events and platforms to promote and celebrate interdisciplinary study, and underline its importance. IAFOR continues to engage in many cross-sectoral projects across the world, including those engaging leading universities (Virginia Tech, UCL, Singapore Management University, University of Belgrade, Lingnan University, Barcelona University, University of Hawai’i, Moscow State University), think tanks, research organisations and agencies (the East-West Center, The Center for Higher Education Research, The World Intellectual Property Organization), and collaborative projects with governments, and international governmental organisations (Government of Japan through the Prime Minister’s office, the United Nations in New York), media agencies (The Wall Street Journal, JWT, HarperCollins).

With the IAFOR Research Centre at Osaka University, we have engaged in a number of interdisciplinary initiatives we believe will have an important impact on domestic and international public policy conversations and outcomes.

IAFOR's unique global platform facilitates discussion around specific subject areas, with the goal of generating new knowledge and understanding, forging and expanding new international, intercultural and interdisciplinary research networks and partnerships. We have no doubt that ACBPP2021 will offer a remarkable opportunity for the sharing of research and best practice and for the meeting of people and ideas.

ACBPP2021 will be held alongside The 10th Asian Conference on Sustainability, Energy & the Environment (ACSEE2021). There will be joint plenary session and registration for one conference will allow delegates to attend sessions in the other.

We look forward to seeing you online!

– The ACBPP2021 Organising Committee

William Baber, Kyoto University Graduate School of Management, Japan
Grant Black, Chuo University, Japan
Joseph Haldane, The International Academic Forum (IAFOR), Japan
Tom Houghton, Curtin University, Australia
Anshuman Khare, Athabasca University, Canada
Sela V. Panapasa, University of Michigan, USA
James W. McNally, University of Michigan & NACDA Program on Aging, USA
Haruko Satoh, Osaka University, Japan
Philip Sugai, Doshisha Business School, Japan

Key Information
  • Location & Venue: Held online from Tokyo, Japan
  • Dates: Monday, November 01, 2021 ​to Wednesday, November 03, 2021
  • Early Bird Abstract Submission Deadline: June 10, 2021*
  • Final Abstract Submission Deadline: August 10, 2021
  • Registration Deadline for Presenters: September 30, 2021

*Submit early to take advantage of the discounted registration rates. Learn more about our registration options.

Register for the Conference
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Speakers

  • Anshuman Khare
    Anshuman Khare
    Athabasca University, Canada
  • Patricia MacNeil
    Patricia MacNeil
    Dalhousie University, Canada
  • Philip Sugai
    Philip Sugai
    Doshisha University, Japan

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Programme

  • Integrating Sustainable Development in Business Curricula: A Tailored Approach
    Integrating Sustainable Development in Business Curricula: A Tailored Approach
    Keynote Presentation: Anshuman Khare & Patricia MacNeil
  • What Is a “Good” Company, and How Can Its Value Be Assessed?
    What Is a “Good” Company, and How Can Its Value Be Assessed?
    Keynote Presentation: Philip Sugai

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Organising Committee

The Organising Committee of The 9th Asian Conference on Business & Public Policy (ACBPP) is composed of distinguished academics who are experts in their fields. Organising Committee members may also be members of IAFOR's International Academic Advisory Board. The Organising Committee is responsible for nominating and vetting Keynote and Featured Speakers; developing the conference programme, including special workshops, panels, targeted sessions, and so forth; event outreach and promotion; recommending and attracting future Organising Committee members; working with IAFOR to select PhD students and early career academics for IAFOR-funded grants and scholarships; and overseeing the reviewing of abstracts submitted to the conference.

  • William Baber
    William Baber
    Kyoto University, Japan
  • Grant Black
    Grant Black
    Chuo University, Japan
  • Joseph Haldane
    Joseph Haldane
    The International Academic Forum (IAFOR), Japan
  • Tom Houghton
    Tom Houghton
    Curtin University, Australia
  • Anshuman Khare
    Anshuman Khare
    Athabasca University, Canada
  • James W. McNally
    James W. McNally
    University of Michigan, USA & NACDA Program on Aging
  • Sela V. Panapasa
    Sela V. Panapasa
    University of Michigan, USA
  • Haruko Satoh
    Haruko Satoh
    Osaka University, Japan
  • Philip Sugai
    Philip Sugai
    Doshisha University, Japan

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IAFOR Research Centre (IRC) – “Innovation and Value Initiative”

The IAFOR Research Centre (IRC) is housed within Osaka University’s School of International Public Policy (OSIPP), and in June 2018 the IRC began an ambitious new “Innovation and Value Initiative”. Officially launched at the United Nations in a special UN-IAFOR Collaborative Session, the initiative seeks to bring together the best in interdisciplinary research around the concept of value, on how value can be recognised, and measured, and how this can help us address issues and solve problems, from the local to the global.

Learn more about the Innovation and Value Initiative

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Anshuman Khare
Athabasca University, Canada

Biography

Anshuman Khare is Professor in 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 a 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, and so on. He is passionate about online business education. Anshuman served as the Editor of the IAFOR Journal of Business and Management, and is 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.

Keynote Presentation (2021) | Integrating Sustainable Development in Business Curricula: A Tailored Approach
Patricia MacNeil
Dalhousie University, Canada

Biography

Patricia MacNeil is an academic practitioner with extensive public sector experience working within multiple governments in Canada. Throughout her 30-year public sector career she has specialised in public policy, strategic management, and stakeholder relations. An enthusiastic advocate for life-time learning, she returned to university as a mature student to obtain a Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA). Currently she is a part-time lecturer at Dalhousie University in her hometown of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada and an Academic Coach at Athabasca University in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Her research interests are corporate sustainability, corporate social responsibility, leadership, and ethics.

Keynote Presentation (2021) | Integrating Sustainable Development in Business Curricula: A Tailored Approach
Philip Sugai
Doshisha University, Japan

Biography

Dr Sugai is a Professor of Marketing within Doshisha University's Graduate School of Business where he currently teaches Marketing, eMarketing, Marketing Research, and Sustainable & Responsible Marketing. Dr Sugai also served as a Visiting Professor for Stanford University from 2015 - 2017, where he taught Innovation in Japan at the Stanford Overseas campus in Kyoto. Prior to joining the Doshisha University faculty, Dr Sugai taught at the International University of Japan in Niigata where he also served as Dean and Associate Dean of the IUJ Business School for six years.

Dr Sugai is the author of two books, The Value Plan and The Six Immutable Laws of Mobile Business (John Wiley & Sons) and has published case studies with Ivey Business School Publishing on KITKAT Japan, AGL, Hatsune Miku and Walt Disney Internet Group.

He received his Doctorate degree from Waseda University and his M.B.A. in Marketing and Operations Management from New York University’s Stern School of Business. He has worked as a marketing executive at American Express, Muze, Inc., and Lightningcast, Inc., and currently serves as a marketing advisor and marketing strategy consultant to companies both in Japan and globally.

Keynote Presentation (2021) | What Is a "Good" Company, and How Can Its Value Be Assessed?

Previous Presentations

Keynote Presentation (2020) | Valuing Value
Integrating Sustainable Development in Business Curricula: A Tailored Approach
Keynote Presentation: Anshuman Khare & Patricia MacNeil

Once viewed as a management practice, sustainability is now seen as a concept that can benefit both business and society. There is considerable interest in adding it to business school curricula and/or integrating sustainability-related principles in teachings. Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and higher education institutions (HEIs) have a critical role in helping society achieve these goals. However, meaningful implementation has not yet occurred. In practice, most HEIs have put their efforts into advancing sustainable operations such as energy efficiencies, reducing carbon footprints, and recycling policies. Multiple reasons for the slow advance include challenges with fragmented disciplines, a lack of professional development for faculty, and organisational rigidity. We propose that another reason is the debate over how best to do it. The purpose of this study was to identify the optimum model for integrating ESD in an online HEI. We used a systematic literature review to examine ESD approaches. The research uncovered multiple and varied methods that generally reflect one of the following: single mandatory/elective courses, discipline-specific programs, or ESD-integrated across the curriculum. However, these approaches are neither equally effective nor capable of meeting all expectations. Instead, we propose a hybrid solution with multiple components tailored to the respective institution. Key modules included in the approach are broad-based interdisciplinary sustainability curricula, focused electives and/or core courses to build capacity (e.g., strategy), and pedagogical praxes to foster sustainability mindsets. The approach can be adapted by other HEIs with similar interests and requirements.

Read presenters' biography
What Is a “Good” Company, and How Can Its Value Be Assessed?
Keynote Presentation: Philip Sugai

As the world continues to suffer through the COVID-19 pandemic, many have come to realize that not only has the shareholder-first view of business unleashed undeniable negative impacts globally, but that even the more "woke" stakeholder capitalism view is terribly flawed and fails to provide a comprehensive model to help solve these larger issues. This presentation introduces a different approach to assessing and developing solutions to these challenges. It begins by first providing a definition of what "good" actually means for a business irrespective of its size, industry or location, and then proposes a framework that business activities can be objectively assessed against to understand how each individual company is helping to achieve this ideal. To arrive at this framework, 17 of the world's top ESG and sustainability reporting frameworks were analyzed, and the hundreds of impact measurements included within these were synthesized into 80 goals, within 27 larger themes that explain how value can be measured for a company, its shareholders, employees, customers, partners, society and the planet.

Read presenters' biography
William Baber
Kyoto University, Japan

Biography

William W. Baber has combined education with business throughout his career. His professional experience has included economic development in the State of Maryland, language services in the Washington, DC area, supporting business starters in Japan, and teaching business students in Japan, Europe, and Canada. He taught 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 Associate Professor in addition to holding courses at the University of Vienna and University of Jyväskylä. His courses include Business Negotiation, Cross Cultural Management, and Management Communication. He is lead author of the 2015 textbook Practical Business Negotiation and conducts research in the areas of negotiation, acculturation, and business models, especially in relation to Japan. He completed his PhD on intercultural adjustment of expatriate workers in Japan in 2016 at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland. In 2004 he earned a Masters of Education from the University of Maryland (USA) in Instructional Systems Design.

Grant Black
Chuo University, Japan

Biography

Grant Black DSocSci CMgr FCMI FRSA Dr Grant Black is President of Black Inc. Consulting (Japan), a business & university global strategic management firm based in Tokyo. He holds a BA Highest Honors in Religious Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara; an MA in Buddhist Studies from the University of California, Los Angeles; and a Doctor of Social Science (DSocSci) from the Department of Management in the School of Business at the University of Leicester. Grant began his management training at Hyatt and has a career trend as global manager, systems builder, executive leader and university professor. Most recently he held a six-year post as an associate professor in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Tsukuba. Research areas: global management skills, intercultural intelligence (CQ) and organisational management. Dr Black is a Chartered Manager (CMgr), the highest status that can be achieved in the management profession in the UK. In 2018, he was elected a Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute (FCMI) and Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA).

Dr Grant Black is a Vice-President (at large) of IAFOR and Auditor of the organisation. He is a member of the Business & Economics section of the International Academic Advisory Board.

Joseph Haldane
The International Academic Forum (IAFOR), Japan

Biography

Joseph Haldane is the Founder, Chairman and CEO of IAFOR. He is responsible for devising strategy, setting policies, forging institutional partnerships, implementing projects, and overseeing the organisation’s international business and academic operations, including research, publications and events.

Dr Haldane is a founding Co-Director of the IAFOR Research Centre, an interdisciplinary think tank situated at The Osaka School of International Public Policy (OSIPP), Osaka University, where since 2015 he has also been a Guest Professor, teaching on the postgraduate Global Governance Course.

A Member of the World Economic Forum’s Expert Network for Global Governance, Professor Haldane’s research and teaching is on history, politics, international affairs and international education, as well as governance and decision making.

In 2020 Dr Haldane was appointed Honorary Professor of UCL (University College London), through the Bartlett School of Construction and Project Management. He also holds Visiting Professorships in the Faculty of Philology at the University of Belgrade, and at the School of Business at Doshisha University in Kyoto, where he teaches Ethics and Governance on the MBA programme. He is a Member of the International Advisory Council of the Department of Educational Foundations at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.

Dr Haldane holds a PhD from the University of London in 19th-century French Studies, and has had full-time faculty positions at the University of Paris XII Paris-Est Créteil, Sciences Po Paris, and Nagoya University of Commerce and Business, as well as visiting positions at the French Press Institute in the University of Paris II Panthéon-Assas, The School of Journalism at Sciences Po Paris, and the School of Journalism at Moscow State University (Russia).

Dr Haldane has given invited lectures and presentations to universities and conferences around the world, including at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, and advised universities, NGOs and governments on issues relating to international education policy, public-private partnerships, and multi-stakeholder forums. He was the project lead on the 2019 Kansai Resilience Forum, held by the Japanese Government through the Prime Minister’s Office and the Cabinet Office in collaboration with IAFOR.

From 2012-2014, Dr Haldane served as Treasurer of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan (Chubu), and since 2015 he has been a Trustee of the HOPE International Development Agency (Japan). He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society in 2012, and the Royal Society of Arts in 2015.

Tom Houghton
Curtin University, Australia

Biography

Dr Tom Houghton is Director of the MBA (Oil & Gas) at Curtin Graduate School of Business, Australia, and was previously a Research Fellow at the University of Strathclyde, UK. His principal field of research is sustainable energy economics and he has a keen interest in energy for development, having established a training program in Renewable Energy for Developing Countries with UNITAR. Dr Houghton is a Visiting Professor at Nagoya University of Commerce and Business, Japan, where he provides courses in sustainable energy to MBA students. Before joining Strathclyde he spent more than five years in the power industry and a further eight in the banking sector, latterly as director at the Japanese bank Nomura. With colleagues in Asia and the United States, he established a consulting company in the renewable energy sector in 2011. Dr Houghton holds an MEng from Imperial College, an MBA from London Business School and a PhD from the University of Strathclyde.

Anshuman Khare
Athabasca University, Canada

Biography

Anshuman Khare is Professor in 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 a 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, and so on. He is passionate about online business education. Anshuman served as the Editor of the IAFOR Journal of Business and Management, and is 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.

Keynote Presentation (2021) | Integrating Sustainable Development in Business Curricula: A Tailored Approach
James W. McNally
University of Michigan, USA & NACDA Program on Aging

Biography

Dr James W. McNally is the Director of the NACDA Program on Aging, a data archive containing over 1,500 studies related to health and the aging lifecourse. He currently does methodological research on the improvement and enhancement of secondary research data and has been cited as an expert authority on data imputation. Dr McNally has directed the NACDA Program on Aging since 1998 and has seen the archive significantly increase its holdings with a growing collection of seminal studies on the aging lifecourse, health, retirement and international aspects of aging. He has spent much of his career addressing methodological issues with a specific focus on specialized application of incomplete or deficient data and the enhancement of secondary data for research applications. Dr McNally has also worked extensively on issues related to international aging and changing perspectives on the role of family support in the later stages of the aging lifecourse.

Sela V. Panapasa
University of Michigan, USA

Biography

Dr Sela V. Panapasa studies family support and intergenerational exchanges among aged Pacific Islanders living in the US and Pacific region. Her work examines changes in elderly living arrangements and headship status in response to demographic and socioeconomic change. Her interests include family demography, race and ethnicity, measuring health disparities and comparative studies.

Haruko Satoh
Osaka University, Japan

Biography

Haruko Satoh is Specially Appointed Professor at the Osaka School of International Public Policy (OSIPP), where she teaches Japan’s relations with Asia and identity in international relations. She is also co-director of the OSIPP-IAFOR Research Centre and she was previously part of the MEXT Reinventing Japan project on “Peace and Human Security in Asia (PAHSA)” with six Southeast Asian and four Japanese universities.

In the past she has worked at the Japan Institute of International Affairs (JIIA), Chatham House, and Gaiko Forum. Her interests are primarily in state theory, Japanese nationalism and identity politics. Recent publications include: “China in Japan’s Nation-state Identity” in James DJ Brown & Jeff Kingston (eds) Japan’s Foreign Relations in Asia (Routledge, 2018); “Japan’s ‘Postmodern’ Possibility with China: A View from Kansai” in Lam Peng Er (ed), China-Japan Relations in the 21st Century (Palgrave Macmillan, 2017); “Rethinking Security in Japan: In Search of a Post-‘Postwar’ Narrative” in Jain & Lam (Eds.), Japan’s Strategic Challenges in a Changing Regional Environment (World Scientific, 2012); “Through the Looking-glass: China’s Rise as Seen from Japan”, (co-authored with Toshiya Hoshino), Journal of Asian Public Policy, 5(2), 181–198, (July 2012); “Post- 3.11 Japan: A Matter of Restoring Trust?”, ISPI Analysis No. 83 (December 2011); “Legitimacy Deficit in Japan: The Road to True Popular Sovereignty” in Kane, Loy & Patapan (Eds.), Political Legitimacy in Asia: New Leadership Challenges (Palgrave Macmillan, 2011), “Japan: Re-engaging with China Meaningfully” in Tang, Li & Acharya (eds), Living with China: Regional States and China through Crises and Turning Points, (Palgrave Macmillan, 2009).

Professor Satoh is a member of IAFOR’s Academic Governing Board. She is Chair of the Politics, Law & International Relations section of the International Academic Advisory Board.

Philip Sugai
Doshisha University, Japan

Biography

Dr Sugai is a Professor of Marketing within Doshisha University's Graduate School of Business where he currently teaches Marketing, eMarketing, Marketing Research, and Sustainable & Responsible Marketing. Dr Sugai also served as a Visiting Professor for Stanford University from 2015 - 2017, where he taught Innovation in Japan at the Stanford Overseas campus in Kyoto. Prior to joining the Doshisha University faculty, Dr Sugai taught at the International University of Japan in Niigata where he also served as Dean and Associate Dean of the IUJ Business School for six years.

Dr Sugai is the author of two books, The Value Plan and The Six Immutable Laws of Mobile Business (John Wiley & Sons) and has published case studies with Ivey Business School Publishing on KITKAT Japan, AGL, Hatsune Miku and Walt Disney Internet Group.

He received his Doctorate degree from Waseda University and his M.B.A. in Marketing and Operations Management from New York University’s Stern School of Business. He has worked as a marketing executive at American Express, Muze, Inc., and Lightningcast, Inc., and currently serves as a marketing advisor and marketing strategy consultant to companies both in Japan and globally.

Keynote Presentation (2021) | What Is a "Good" Company, and How Can Its Value Be Assessed?

Previous Presentations

Keynote Presentation (2020) | Valuing Value
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