This panel discussion will focus on the progress of CSR in Asia and the role ethics plays in how companies behave in these emerging markets. Specifically, the panel hopes to answer the following questions: Where are multinational companies at in terms of instilling a sense of ethics in the way they do business in Asia? Why does it make financial sense to conduct business ethically? What business students need to know about ethics and its application to doing business in any environment? Come listen to how these business leaders are being innovative with their CSR practices and setting a new standard for success and the way business is done in Asia.

Panelists
Dusty Kidd, Director of Labor Practices, Nike, Inc.
Shiv Sivakumar, CEO, ITC-IBD
Nick Welch, Manager, International Relations, Shell Oil Company
Moderator
Bradley Farnsworth, Director, Center for International Business Education, University of Michigan

During the 1980’s Japan was heralded as one of the economic marvels of the world. Yet from the 90’s onwards it has suffered one of the longest economic recessions in modern history. Can Japan compete in today’s fast paced global economy? Is Japan still an attractive market for global companies hoping to extent their reach into Asia? Has the Samurai returned?

The Asian Business Conference Japan Panel will look into such issues. We will attempt to challenge the dominant logic that Japan has lost its edge. In a survey conducted earlier this year, you told us you are interested in:
1) Strategies of non-Japanese companies that led to their success in Japan
2) Strategies of Japanese global companies
3) Successful turnarounds by Japanese companies during the sluggish economy

This year, the Japan Panel boasts a strong lineup of speakers from major global companies that will address these topics. We will see how a global pharmaceutical company, Eli Lilly, cracked the notoriously tough Japanese market. We will also study Toyota’s global strategy and Matsushita’s (Panasonic) dramatic turnaround.

Panelists
Bruce Brownlee, General Manager of Corporate Planning and External Affairs, Toyota
Robert Greenberg, Vice President, Matsushita Electric Corporation of America (MECA)
Andrew Mascarenhas, Vice President, Sales and Marketing and Former General Manager and President, Eli Lilly Japan
Moderator
Tsutomu (Tom) Nakano, Professor, Center for Japanese Studies, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor and School of Management, University of Michigan-Flint

When western healthcare giants like Johnson & Johnson entered the emerging Asian market, they were confronted with an uncharted business environment, which abounds in opportunities and challenges, excitement and uncertainties. At the same time, indigenous companies like Ranbaxy Laboratories, India, are leading in their home markets, taking full advantage of their local knowledge as well as learning from the western counterparts. In a new healthcare arena there must be champions. All contestants, employing distinct growth strategies, are moving aggressively in building their new empires in the potentially vast Asian healthcare markets.

Two prominent speakers from two representative companies will give you real-world insights of how healthcare giants are moving toward championship in China and India respectively, the combined population of which accounts for 1/3 of the world. It will be an excellent opportunity to understand the strategies behind the companies’ success. Professor Jersey Liang, a renowned expert in the Asian public health field, will moderate this Healthcare panel.

Panelists
Siong Hin Chong, Vice-President, Ortho McNeil Pharmaceutical Inc, Johnson & Johnson
Atul Malhotra, Head, Ranbaxy Asia-Pacific
Moderator
Jersey Liang, Professor, University of Michigan School of Public Health

Southeast Asia was home to the world's best-performing stock markets in 2003, far outpacing their Chinese and Indian neighbors. Growth has been better than expected, especially in booming Thailand, and investors are optimistic that global economic recovery, ongoing domestic restructuring, and advancing plans for regional economic integration under the ASEAN Free Trade Area and the China-ASEAN FTA, including rapidly growing trade and investment with China, will sustain the current momentum.

Datuk Dr Michael Yeoh is Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Asian Strategy & Leadership Institute (ASLI), a Research Institute focusing on Asian strategy, thought leadership, knowledge society and international business partnerships. Dr. Yeoh will discuss how Malaysian firms have responded to the challenges of corporate restructuring, regional integration and Chinese competition and opportunity. Michael Dunne, a University of Michigan alumnus and founder and president of Automotive Resources Asia, a thriving consulting firm based in Beijing and Bangkok, will discuss the Thai automotive market and his entrepreneurial experiences there.

Panelists
Michael Dunne, President, Automotive Resources Asia (ARA), Bangkok and Beijing
Michael Yeoh, CEO, Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute, Malaysia
Moderator
Ong Keng Yong, Secretary General of ASEAN (please see speaker section for biography)
Linda Lim, Professor, University of Michigan Business School

For Indian economy, year 2003 ended on a high note; foreign exchange reserves breached the $100 Billion mark and Gross Domestic Product was projected to grow by more than 7%. This has led to a worldwide interest in the Indian economy, not witnessed since the time of India's independence.

India’s growth has been driven both, by corporations making their mark in the global market as well as the expanding consumer demand. Indian corporations are innovating and expanding into global markets. At the same time, corporations are increasingly looking at India as a destination of choice for outsourcing and seeking innovative ways to tap into the billion people market.

Can India sustain this growth? What opportunities and challenges lie ahead? Top business leaders from India, who are shaping this trend, share their insights on the India Panel.

Panelists
B. Ramalinga Raju, CEO, Satyam Computer Services Ltd
Atul Malhotra, Head, Ranbaxy Asia-Pacific
Anurag Jain, Director, Perot Systems Healthcare, Founder and CEO Vision Healthsource
Shiv Sivakumar, CEO, ITC-IBD
Moderator
Gautam Ahuja, Professor, University of Michigan Business School

Asia financial markets has experienced a roller-coaster ride in the past decade, starting from the spectacular growth in the early 90s, to the Asia Financial Crisis in the late 90s, followed by the dot-com crush shortly after. Now, with the emergence of China as a new economic power and economic recovery in Southeast Asia, the region seems poised to enter another new era of growth. The Finance Panel will therefore look at the role of the financial sector within Asia’s economies, particularly its influence on the re-structuring efforts there, and what the private and public sectors are doing to help Asia finance its new growth opportunities.

Panelists
William Byun, Principal, Byun & Co., Singapore
Jerome Corcoran, Director of Due Diligence,Tech Coast Angels
Tom Kloet, Chief Operating Officer, FIMAT USA
Moderator
Guojun Wu, Professor, University of Michigan Business School

In the era of globalization, new technologies are rapidly reshaping businesses throughout the world. With internet penetration rapidly on the rise, emerging economies in Asia are in the forefront of this transformation. In fact, some countries are adopting next generation technologies and leapfrogging into the future. The emergence of distributed knowledge-centric systems are enhancing information access, increasing productivity and resultantly improving the quality of the goods and services produced and consumed. This panel will bring together industry experts and practitioners to share their knowledge and experience in addressing how the convergence of information and communication technologies has changed the way companies in Asia operate today.

Panelists
David Hind, General Manager, Business Development, Qualcomm China
Kevin Walsh, Vice-President, Internet Strategy, Oracle
Pam Lopker, CEO, QAD
Tim Reed, Information Officer, Global Finance, General Motors
Moderator
M. S. Krishnan, Professor, University Michigan Business School

The Northeast Asian regional GDP is expected to account for 30 percent of global GDP by 2020 to emerge as one of three major trading blocks that will help fuel global economic growth. Korea lies at the center of that opportunity – almost 2 billion people, or 32 percent of world’s population lives within three and half hour distance by flight from Seoul, the capital city of Korea. The entire Korean market will double in size by 2010 to US$1 trillion.

However, Korea is different from Japan and very different from China in many ways. The panel seeks to present those differences and the challenges of understanding how different the Korean cultural environment can be from other Asian countries.

Three prominent speakers from three representative companies will discuss opportunities and challenges businesses face in Korea, and they will also provide us with interesting examples of how they examine Korea’s future and its unique cultural environment from a western perspective. In addition, speakers from Korean multinational companies will discuss their global marketing strategies including Hyundai Motor’s success marketing story in US market.

Panelists
Paul Koh, Marketing Director, Hyundai Motor America
Paul Tucci, Partner, Cranbrook Partners and Co., Private Equity Investments
Jenkun Lah, President, Dongah Aluminum Corroboration
Moderator
Meredith Woo-Cumings, Professor, University of Michigan

Among the world’s most influential business leaders, there are no topics more prominent than the emerging opportunities and competitive threats in China. As trade barriers fall and direct investment becomes more feasible, it has become paramount that companies understand the dynamics of the China market. The changes in China’s political, economic, and social structures require an understanding of both the new and the old. This panel will discuss the challenges of manufacturing product in and for the China market, provide insights into China’s growth in consumer purchasing power and how Chinese companies are reinventing their brands to compete at home and in the West. It will also discuss the intellectual property and foreign investment challenges facing firms that compete in China today.

We hope you will bring questions, opinions, and suggestions on how the changing Chinese landscape will affect business throughout the world.

Panelists
Viveca Chan, CEO, Grey Global Group, China/HKSAR
Keith Davey, Director of Business Strategy Asia, Ford
Xiaolin Zhou, Partner, Jun He Law Offices, New York
Moderator
Kenneth Lieberthal, Professor, University of Michigan Business School