Akio Miyabayashi was CEO of Minolta Europe for twenty years and is considered the outstanding Japanese businessman in Europe.

He became CEO Minolta Europe in 1975, and led them through a period of tremendous change until 1995. His clear understanding of the criteria and driving forces of global competitiveness enabled him to successfully develop the European operations

From 1987 to 1995 he was a member of the Board of Directors of Minolta Ltd in Japan, with special responsibility for Europe. In 1995 on his retirement he became Senior Corporate Adviser for Minolta.

Akio's ability to understand different cultures of the world and utilising them for successful growth, enabled Minolta to become a major player in Europe, with 44 companies and subsidiaries and 2 factories throughout Europe, including Eastern Europe and throughout the former Soviet Union.

Akio Miyabayashi is a charismatic speaker with knowledge of European, American and Japanese cultures. He has shared centre stage with many of the world’s prominent politicians and business leaders. His presentations give insights into European and Asian developments in industry, management and society, and offer meaningful projections into the 21st Century.

His particular areas of interest include: Achieving Global Competitiveness, Strategy; Preparing for Future Trends in Customer Behaviour; Managing across Cultures and The Company on the Way to the 21st Century - Trends and Prognoses.

Akio is an Advisory Board Member of the Graduate School of Business Administration, Zurich and is a Lecturer in Strategy. He conducts the Executive Leadership Program for the American Management Association where he lectures in Business Strategy.

Apart from lectures and keynote speeches he is also a regular panelist and can deliver his presentations in English, German or Japanese.

He also advises several major Japanese corporations operating in Europe.