Tucked away in a basement beneath the veritable hustle of Tokyo’s fashionable Ginza district – a literal stone’s throw away from a subway station – Sukiyabashi Jiro’s restaurant doors open for another day. Geared to serve 10 discerning gourmet voyeurs paying upwards of $350 dollars for the privilege of a seat, this is sushi with ...

In the ongoing ‘battle of the brands’, the brand advocate is the go-to weapon of mass seduction. Always there to offer a Facebook thumbs-up; forever putting ‘the dukes’ up in times of defensive need – there’s no denying that they show love like no other. Indeed, the majority of brands seem to breathe a sigh ...

Speaking to Alex Eymieu, a Partner at premier executive search firm CTPartners, from his Shanghai office a few weeks ago on the osmosis of many senior executives from the Western world to their emerging market counterparts – and specifically China – it would seem that the recipe for success for those deciding to up sticks ...

Innovation. Innovation. Innovation. If I had a penny for every time I heard that word then…well… then I’d probably stop taking the pennies. But that’s beside the point. We’ve become accustomed to talking about innovation at every turn; ‘true’ innovation, where a new idea or concept reigns supreme and slaps you in the face on ...

It’s 2005. Your foot is well and truly in the door with your dream job at Ogilvy & Mather. A year in, you decide to scrap it and work for your younger brother’s under-the-radar start up. No more world-leading reputation. No more job security. And, yep, no more company expense accounts. You’ve just seemingly waved ...

What came first: the chicken or the egg? Well, depending on what context you subscribe to, it could be the former, the latter, both or neither (not quite sure about the last one?). Regardless, we’re all aware of the futility in trying to identify the victor. Of course, the question is meant to provoke an ...

A question as old as time – asked by many and confirmed by none – has caused more than the scratching of a few heads. From philosophers and physicists to bored kids on long car journeys, we’ve all had that ‘why are we here?’ moment. Its mysterious and unfathomable nature is what life is inextricably ...

He may not have done it conventionally, but David Fairhurst, Chief People Officer of McDonald’s Restaurants Northern Europe, has been voted HR magazine’s most influential practitioner for the third year running. “This person has done a lot of work in putting out there an evidence base for the power of good HR practice, which has ...

If there was a company that is an essential part of any office environment, then it would be Canon. Developing not just cameras, but photocopiers, printers and computers, Canon has over the past 40 years made itself more than a manufacturer of cameras, but a leader in the business solutions market. The company’s origins can ...

Is there such a thing? Two sincere comments convinced us we had to at least try… Occasionally – call it serendipity – you find yourself in exactly the right place at the right time to catch someone or witness something that firms up previously ethereal thinking. Very occasionally, you’re in the right place twice in ...