To celebrate the release of the new book in the Shizenkan Lecture Series “Contextual Management” by Dr. Tomo Noda, Shizenkan and Mitsui Fudosan co-hosted a forum at the Shizenkan campus in Nihonbashi on November 7.

As a scholar, Dr. Noda represents the so-called process school of business policy, and in this forum he presented the main findings discussed in his book. He touched on topics such as the quality of management and organizational processes, introducing the idea of “corporate context” and the role of top management in creating such a context. To understand the strategic behavior of the various actors involved in the organizational process (such as frontline, middle, and top management), their functions in decision making and action taking, and the role of top management, Dr. Noda also introduced a framework developed by his Harvard colleague Prof. Joseph L. Bower.

So how do you motivate people to behave positively? As Dr. Noda’s mentor Prof. Sumantra Ghoshal puts it, “changing people’s behavior is not about changing people, but changing the context which they are in: the smell of the place.” Therefore, the top management needs to create a corporate context (or “smell of the place”) that encourages initiative and creativity, creates a culture of trust and support, and instills discipline. In this way, an organization can build sustainable competitive and corporate advantage through people.

The forum was illustrated with several case studies and concluded with a Q&A session.

Title: “Contextual Management: Harnessing Individuality to Enhance the Quality of Management” (コンテクスト・マネジメント 個を活かし、経営の質を高める )

Speaker: Tomoyoshi Noda

DBA in Business Policy, Harvard University

President and Chair, Shizenkan University

Founder, Institute for Strategic Leadership (ISL)

Date: Tuesday, November 7, 2023

Co-host: Mitsui Fudosan