He was a visiting professor at Bocconi University's Graduate School of Management in Milan, Italy, and an associate professor at Hitotsubashi University's Graduate School of International Corporate Strategy before assuming his current position in 2010. His book, ""Competitive Strategy as a Story: Conditions for Excellent Strategy"" has sold 200,000 copies, an unprecedented number for a management book.
He joined Accenture in 1993 and has been involved in consulting for the manufacturing industry for many years. After serving as the head of the Industrial Group in the Asia-Pacific region, he became the head of Industry X.0 Group Japan, which promotes and supports digital transformation in the manufacturing industry, in 2017.
Philippe Godbout currently leads JAPAN geo as Managing Director. Prior to the current role, he led the Value Solutions Sales channels for Dassault Systemes in North America.Philippe started as CAD/CAM/CAE application engineer before moving in program management early in his career. He acquired deep knowledge of the Aerospace and Automotive Industries during his 20 year working in different positions at Dassault Systemes. His experience ranged from leading the technical direction of Dassault Systemes Global Accounts to defining and operating the Global Collaborative Environment for the Boeing 787 Program. Philippe also managed Dassault Systemes’ services and consulting businesses across Asia while based in Tokyo for over 8 years.
For the last several years Philippe implemented key business transformations initiative leading to a sustainable development of the partner ecosystems in North America. He was recently appointed in Japan to build a healthy and creative organization engaging in the market transformation in Manufacturing, Infrastructure and Healthcare segments. Philippe holds a Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Master degree from Universite de Sherbrooke.
After beginning her career in project financing at the Société Générale Investment Bank in New York in 2002, Florence Verzelen worked at the European Commission from 2004 to 2007. She then joined the office of the Secretary of State for European Affairs, as an Advisor, in charge of industrial and commercial matters.
In 2008 she joined the Engie group (GDF SUEZ), where she was Director of Group Acquisition activities, and then became Manager of the subsidiary GDF Suez Qatar BV. She also held the position of President of the Purchase Performance Plan. Since 2015, she has been Deputy Director of Engie Europe, in charge of Operations, Business Development and Innovation and Managing Director of Engie Russia. Florence Verzelen is currently an independent director on the Board of Directors of Air France.
Yuka Tanimoto earned an MBA in the U.S. in 2004 after gaining experience at a brokerage firm and serving as a financial and economic anchor for Bloomberg TV. She next worked as a newscaster for Nikkei CNBC and became the company's first-ever female commentator.
Through her career, Ms. Tanimoto has interviewed over 3000 VIPs from every corner of the globe including former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, and Co-founder of Apple, Steve Wozniak, and founder of Starbucks, Howard Schultz. She has also appeared on numerous television programs including ""Sunday! Scramble"" (TV Asahi), ""Your Time"" (Fuji TV), “Vivit”（TBS）, “Morning CROSS”(MX ), and ""AbemaPrime"" (Abema TV) as a commentator.
She currently serves as a column contributor to the media, as moderator of the economic symposium, as a corporate advisor.
In April 2016, she became a lecturer at Atomi University. Also, from February 2016, she joined Forbes JAPAN as a Deputy Editor in Chief and Web Editor. In June 2020, she became a Managing Editor for Forbes JAPAN Web Editorial Team.
Yuka Tanimoto's literary works include “Active Listening The Art of Listening for Success”（Diamond, Ine.）,”Time Mastery of 1000 Top World Leaders”（Kadokawa/Chukei Publishing）, “The Habits of Leaders Who Create Followers without Trying”（SB Creative）,and “Power of Keen Predilection: Learning from the top world business leaders”.