Leading Across Cultures: An Executive Journey in Japanese Organizations
Details:
Insights from a Global Leader with Experience Across Japan, Europe, and the U.S.
What does it really mean to lead within a Japan-headquartered organization as a non-Japanese professional?
In this 1-hour online seminar, we are honored to welcome Dirk Schapeler, a seasoned executive with extensive leadership experience across Japan, Europe, and the United States, for an honest and practical conversation on navigating Japanese corporate culture at the executive level.
Drawing from his personal career journey, Dirk-san will share firsthand insights into leadership, decision-making, innovation, and career development within Japanese organizations—offering a realistic and nuanced perspective for those aspiring to build senior-level careers in Japan or within Japanese companies globally.
Why Attend?
This session is especially valuable for professionals who:
- Aspire to executive or leadership roles in Japan or Japanese corporations
- Are currently working with, or planning to work with, Japan-headquartered organizations
- Want a realistic, experience-based view of Japanese corporate culture beyond textbooks or stereotypes
- Are curious about how Kaizen, innovation, and leadership are practiced in real business settings
Rather than presenting “one right answer,” this seminar emphasizes personal experience, reflection, and lived insight—exactly what many globally minded professionals wish they had known earlier in their careers.
Key Topics
We plan to touch on themes such as:
- Differences in decision-making processes in Japanese organizations
- Leadership styles and expectations within Japanese corporate culture
- Career development, internal mobility, and the path toward executive roles
- Skills, attitudes, and mindsets that help non-Japanese professionals thrive
- “What I wish I knew earlier”—lessons learned along the way
- How Japanese innovation and Kaizen show up in day-to-day leadership
Please note: These reflections are based on personal experience and are not intended as universal rules—this candid perspective is exactly what makes the discussion meaningful.
Overview
| Date: | Monday, February 23, 2026 |
|---|---|
| Time: | 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM (Pacific Standard Time) |
| Where: | Online |
| Registration Fee: | Free of charge |
| Language: | English |
Agenda
| 5:00 - 5:05 PM | Welcome & Introduction to GLOBIS |
|---|---|
| 5:05 – 5:35 PM | Dirk-san’s Presentation |
| 5:35 – 5:50 PM | Dialogue Discussion: Dirk-san & Hirose-san |
| 5:50 – 6:00 PM | Survey & Live Q&A |
Dirk Schapeler
(Speaker)
Dirk Schapeler is SVP and President of Niterra Ventures Company (NVC) based in San Jose, CA and Nagoya, Japan. NVC establishes new revenue streams in mobility, medical, energy and environment. He has been working in Automotive, Material Science and Healthcare for more than 25 years in the US, Germany, France, Japan and Mexico. In his current role, he invests in and internally develops game-changing technologies that improve quality of life.
Previously he was Vice President of Digital Health at Bayer and had founded Bayer’s LifeScience iHUB innovation center in 2015. Prior to that he served as the CEO of Bayer’s ViviTouch subsidiary Artificial Muscle Inc. in Sunnyvale. He is a co-inventor of electro active polymers and owns more than 14 patents. An engineer in electronics and mechanics, he studied in Karlsruhe, Germany.
Dirk is passionate about innovation and technology, and their emerging role in digital health, clean air and water, and mobility.
Satoshi Hirose
(Speaker)
Satoshi Hirose is the dean of GLOBIS University. Before joining GLOBIS, he worked at BELLSYSTEM24, the largest CRM company in Japan. After it was acquired by Bain Capital, he launched a new business as SVP/Co-COO.
Satoshi began his career as a derivatives trader and corporate risk manager. He then joined A.T. Kearney as a management consultant specializing in corporate strategy development and implementation, corporate transformation, M&A arrangements, and post-merger integration for various companies in Japan and Asia.
Later, he took on various roles at AIG/AIU: corporate executive officer, VP in charge of operations and technology, chief of staff, and project management officer. While there, he led several corporate transition programs, including a turnaround after the 2008 financial crisis.
At GLOBIS University, he teaches Finance, Financial Reorganization, Global Strategy, Leadership, and Management Philosophy for both the Japanese and English MBA programs.
