JP / EN
PROFILE

Profile

Akihiko Shimizu
Founder & Consultant │ MBA
Akihiko Shimizu

Bridging your business and Japan,
and turning agreement into action that works.

Decisions in Japan that take longer than expected. Global standards that don’t fit how Japanese teams and partners work. Market entry plans that stall on regulation, custom and language. These are challenges that executives and department heads at global companies tend to face when doing business in Japan, regardless of company size or industry.

I spent more than seven years at a major Japanese general consulting firm, advancing from consultant to senior manager and supporting large companies across a wide range of industries, including pharmaceuticals, financial services, insurance and telecoms. My projects ranged from market research and strategy development to process improvement, new business launches and PMO, and I have led teams of around 30 people. Underlying all of this is my early-career experience at an engineering company, where I led manufacturing and installation projects for large industrial machinery.

The aim is not to hand over a report and walk away, but to see the work take root on the ground and deliver results. Standing between multinational stakeholders who differ in language, time zone and business customs, I build agreement and move it into execution. That is my role.

Qualifications & education: MBA(Master of Business Administration) / Master’s in Environmental Studies / Bachelor’s in Engineering
Languages: Japanese / English

AUSTRALIA

I know two working worlds:
Japan and Australia.

Alongside consulting in Japan, I have also built experience in Australia. I earned a full-time MBA at a business school ranked No.1 in Australia and among the top 50 worldwide, learning and debating with classmates and local professionals from more than 30 countries.

I then joined a local consulting firm specializing in procurement and supply chain. Working with a major mining company, I handled the work end to end, from analyzing procurement spend data to building a strategic sourcing plan and supporting the procurement process. Working in English with local colleagues and clients has become a real strength when standing between a global organization and its Japan operations.

TRACK RECORD

Track Record

Reviewing documents in a meeting
Major Japanese global pharmaceutical company
Visualizing and Standardizing GVP Training Processes Across Japan and Europe
Support provided
The client’s GVP (Good Vigilance Practice) training, which is essential for regulatory compliance, had become person-dependent and siloed across its sites in Japan and Europe, leaving little visibility into how it actually worked. Through careful interviews with staff in Japan and Europe, current operations were mapped out, the areas to align globally and the areas to improve were clarified, and a transparent process was built.
Results
Stronger governance aligned with regulatory requirements. Better operational quality through process visibility, and buy-in from stakeholders.
A team meeting in a conference room
Major Japanese global pharmaceutical company
Globally Unifying One GVP Training Set (Asia, Oceania and Central America)
Support provided
One set of training within the client’s GVP (Good Vigilance Practice) training had previously been run independently in each region, and the client planned to unify that set globally into a single program for the first time. The project called for a smooth transition at sites around the world. Responsible for the sites in Asia, Oceania and Central America, we drew up the transition plan and implemented the globally unified training through careful communication with sites in more than 10 countries.
Results
Stronger governance through the global unification of this training set, and a raised baseline of training quality across the participating sites.