SIEM / Spaces of International Economy and Management

Report SIEM Special Events & Conferences

Contact information

Professor Dr. Rolf D. Schlunze

Ritsumeikan University, Department of International Management

1-1-1 Noji-higashi, Kusatsu, Shiga, 525-8577
Tel +81 (0)77-561-5962
FAX +81 (0)77-561-3955
info@siemrg.org

SIEM members & their activities

The research group started at the Annual Meeting of the Association of Japanese Geographers (AJG) in March 2007. The group has been growing since then rapidly world-wide! Please find below a list of members who support SIEM pro-actively.

Academic members

Rolf D. Schlunze

Rolf D. Schlunze

Rolf D. SCHLUNZE is Professor for Intercultural Management in the Department of International Business Administration of Ritsumeikan University. His PhD is from The University of Tokyo and his post-doctoral research has focused on the locational adjustment of managerial systems. His work has been published in reviewed journals such as TESG, the Japanese Journal of Human Geography and the Annals of the Japan Association of Economic Geographers. In his conference presentations he is addressing issues of management and geography. He is adviser of the Euro-Asia Management Study Association (EAMSA) and is leading an international research group called Spaces of International Management and Economy (SIEM) founded in March 2007 at the Association of Japanese Geographers.

Lech Suwala

Lech Suwala

Lech Suwala is lecturer in economic geography and regional economics. He is a geographer and economist with working experience in science and industry. As a post-doctoral fellow at the Humboldt University, Berlin and lecturer at the University of Applied Sciences on Technology and Economics, Berlin; his expertise includes spatial creativity and innovation research, globalization and development studies and their relevance in emerging, informal and temporal settings for Management Geography.
Currently, his research agenda comprises "Management Geography in Developing and Emerging Countries (esp. Southeast Asia, Latin -/ South America)". Furthermore, he was an Associate at the Brandenburg Institute for Entrepreneurship and SME Promotion at the University of Applied Sciences, Potsdam, research fellow and head of international projects of a private policy consulting company conducting manifold projects in the field of creativity, innovation and management in emerging countries. He holds a M.A. in Economics from Free University, Berlin and a Ph. D / M.A. (Geography) from Humboldt University, Berlin and has held the NEURUS Graduate Student fellowship at University of California, Irvine and Los Angeles.

Dr. Atsushi Taira

Atsushi Taira

Atsushi Taira got his Ph.D. from the University of Tsukuba and holds a professorship at the Faculty of Education, Kagawa University in Shikoku, Japan. His research interests cover corporate and management related topics within urban, economic, and social geography. He has contributed significantly with empirical research for a better understanding of the overseas operations of Japanese-affiliated firms within the local and global context.

Ming LI

Ming LI

Ming (Lily) Li is an assistant professor at the Department of Management and Organisation at the ESC Rennes School of Businessin Rennes, France.
She earned her Master and Ph.D. degrees in management at the Michael Smurfit School of Business, University College Dublin, Ireland and her Bachelor of Science degree from the Management School of Shanghai Jiaotong University in China. Her major research interests are on the competencies of global managers in managing cultural challenges in different business environments. She is co-editor of book volumes Advances in GlobalLeadership (Emerald). Previously, she has been engaged in research and consulting activities with the China Europe International Business School and Mobley Group Pacific, Ltd. She has also delivered workshops in the area of global leadership as part of the Executive Leadership Program for senior ranks of the Irish Police, China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) MBA andExecutive Education programs and conducted company customized workshops for Johnson& Johnson, Michelin, etc. Her doctoral dissertation has been awarded as the runner-up for the BestDissertation Award from the Global Leadership Advancement Center (GLAC) at SanJose State University, US and a distinguished dissertation of the 2010 ThesisCompetition at the European Doctoral Programmes Association in Management andBusiness (EDAMBA). Her research had been presented at international conferences such as Academy of Management meeting, Academy of International Businessmeeting, Academy of Applied Psychology meeting, etc. (e-mail: lily-ming.li@esc-rennes.fr)

HENRY Wai-chung YEUNG

Dr. HENRY Wai-chung YEUNG

My research interests cover broadly theories and the geography of transnational corporations, Asian firms and their overseas operations and Chinese business networks in the Asia-Pacific region. I have conducted extensively research on Hong Kong firms in Southeast Asia, the regionalization of Singaporean companies, and the emergence of leading Asian firms in the global economy.

Professor
Department of Geography, NUS, 1 Arts Link, Singapore 117570

Andrew Jones

Dr. Andrew Jones

Andrew Jones is an economic geographer with a leaning towards the sociocultural aspects of economic activity. His research has been concerned with topics at the cross-over of economic geography, management studies and sociology, notably in his interest in global business service firms and transnational management practices. Recent research projects have in including work on global management, professionalism and business travel in transnational banking, law, consultancy and accountancy firms.

Membership of academic associations & research groups:
Director, Centre for Applied Economic Geography, Birkbeck College, University of London
Fellow of Royal Geographical Society & (Incoming) Chair, RGS-IBG Economic Geography Research Group
Member Association of American Geographers
Member of Sloan Industries Study Group

Tim Reiffenstein

Tim Reiffenstein

My research focuses on Japanese industrial geography, in particular by exploring how evolving intellectual property policy and associated management practices have shaped Japan's international economic relations. Projects include comparative studies of Japanese and American patent law professions, Japanese intellectual property in relation to Vietnam, and linguistic and institutional challenges of patent policy harmonization between Japan and the US.

Associate Professor
Department of Geography and Environment
Mount Allison University, Sackville, NB, Canada
Member of: Canadian Association of Geographers, Canadian Regional Science Association, Association of American Geographers

Patrik Strömn

Patrik Ström

Patrik Ström is the “Staffan Helmfrid Pro Futura Fellow” at the Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study in Uppsala, and the Department of Human and Economic Geography, School of Business, Economics and Law, University of Gothenburg, Sweden. Ström holds a PhD in Business Administration and an Econ. Dr. in Economic Geography. The research interest focuses on the internationalization and development of the East Asian service economy. Recent publications include: Ström, P. & Yoshino, N. (2009) Japanese financial service firms in East and Southeast Asia: Location pattern and strategic response in changing economic conditions, in Asian Business & Management, 8(1):33-58; Alvstam, C., Ström, P. & Yoshino, N. (2009) On the economic interdependence between China and Japan- challenges and possibilities, in Asia Pacific Viewpoint, 50(2): 198-214; Ström, P. & Wahlqvist, E. (2009) Regional and Firm Competitiveness in the Service Based Economy - Combining Economic Geography and International Business Theory, forthcoming in Tijdschrift voor economische en sociale geografie.

Dr. Ikuta

Masato Ikuta

Prof. Masato Ikuta's is an economic geographer doing research on Asian Mega Cities such as Tokyo, Osaka, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. He has published various articles and books on the economic development and regionalism of the Kansai region. Through his field research he investigated many actors at the corporate and governmental level within Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and Canada. Growth triangles in Southeast Asia and the related urban and regional development policies in Malaysia is his recent research interest.

Dr. Nathaniel O. Agola

Nathaniel O. Agola

Nathaniel O. Agola, PhD in International Development (Business Economics), Nagoya University; Lecturer at Ritsumeikan University, Department of Business Administration and Graduate School of Management of Technology; Research interests include Technology management-product and service innovation, management of emerging technologies into markets, and innovative transfer of technology products and services across borders.
Recent publications include value innovation as an operational strategy in international markets.

William W. Baber

William W. Baber

Will Baber has combined education with business throughout his career, teaching English to business students in Japan and Europe and working in economic development for the State of Maryland, Department of Business and Economic Development (DBED). In his work in international business attraction for DBED, he frequently encountered cross cultural conflicts and synergies. He studies these issues in the course of his master's degree and applies his theoretical and practical knowledge to the task of teaching business and English skills in Japan.
Research interests include cross-cultural adaptation and interaction.

Sawako Maruyama

Sawako Maruyama

Sawako Maruyama is a researcher at Osaka Prefectural Institute for Advanced Industry Development and an adjunct instructor at the School of Foreign Studies, Osaka University. She received her Ph.D. from the School of Economics, Nagoya University. Her research interest includes international economics and regional economics. In recent research she focuses on the empirical research on international trade and the activities of multinational enterprises. She also has an interest in the regional economies of Osaka/Kansai and Sweden.

Ji Weiwei

Ji Weiwei

Ji Weiwei is an excellent Ph.D. candidate in Graduate School of Business Administration of Ritsumeikan University. He received his B.S. from Soochow University and a M.A. from Ritsumeikan University. His research is sponsored by the Japanese government and the foundations of entrepreneurship studies. He is innovative in creating new insides about managerial behavior investigating various business networks from a spatial perspective. His PhD work includes work about Chinese business expansion in Japan and international business in China. His research had been presented at international conference within Geography and Management Science such as the annual meeting of Association of American Geographers and Euro-Asia Management Studies Association.



International Managers

Michael Plattner

Michael Plattner

Michael Plattner is R&D Manager with a global scope in JT International, a Japanese multinational company. Mr. Plattner has worked over 10 years academically about the globalisation of production and innovation systems with the support of the German Science Foundation (DFG), the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (AvH), and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS). He has published several articles in the field of Economic Geography. Through his publications, lectures, and presentations at conferences he is an influential key contributor in the field of Management Geography. Michael Plattner has a M.Sc. degree with distinction in Social and Economic Geography from Johannes Gutenberg-Unviersity (Germany)/ Nihon University Tokyo (Japan) and a PhD with emphasis in Economic Geography from the Philipps-University of Marburg (Germany) having completed research studies as a Postdoc at the University of Trier (Germany) and the Faculty of Economics at Osaka City University (Japan). Since 2010 Mr. Plattner is visiting scholar at the School of Biosciences/ University of Nottingham (UK).