Mary Brannen

Mary Yoko Brannen is Honorary Professor of International Business at the Copenhagen Business School, on leave from the University of Victoria. She recently was made Fellow at the Academy of International Business having served as Deputy Editor of the Journal of International Business Studies for two consecutive elected terms (2011-2016). She received an Honorary Doctorate from the Copenhagen Business School in March 2016 and currently sits on the International Advisory Boards of BI Norwegian Business School, Stockholm School of Economics, and the International House of Japan. She received her M.B.A. with emphasis in International Business and Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior with a minor in Cultural Anthropology from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and a B.A. in Comparative Literature from the University of California at Berkeley. She has taught at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan, Smith College, San Jose State University and Stanford University in the United States, the University of Victoria in Canada, INSEAD in France, Keio Business School in Japan, and Fudan University in China.

Professor Brannen’s expertise in multinational affairs is evident in her research, consulting, teaching, and personal background. Born and raised in Japan, having studied in the US, France and Spain, and having worked as a cross-cultural consultant for over 30 years to various Fortune 100 companies she brings a multi-faceted, deep knowledge of today’s complex cultural business environment. As a researcher, she is internationally recognized as an expert in cross-cultural management, ethnomethodology and qualitative studies of complex cultural organizational phenomena. Her current research projects include book manuscripts on theorizing from qualitative research methods and ongoing research on the role of immigrants and their progeny as bicultural boundary spanners in global organizational contexts. Her consulting specialty is in helping multinational firms realize their global strategic initiatives by aligning, integrating and deploying critical organizational resources.

Dr. Brannen is bilingual in Japanese and English, competent in French and Spanish, and has a working knowledge of Mandarin. Her non-academic interests include, horseback riding (dressage), skiing, Japanese calligraphy, meditation and Zen Buddhism.

Education

• PhD and MBA University of Massachusetts, Amherst (1988 — 1994)
• Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) University of California, Berkeley (1974 — 1981)
• High School Diploma American School in Japan (1963 — 1974)
• Lycee Internationale de St. Germain En Laye (1972 — 1973)
• Bachelor of Arts (BA) Berkeley High (1971 — 1972)

Companies

• Fellow Academy of International Business (2016)
• Consulting Editor Journal of International Business Studies (2016)
• Honorary Professor at the Copenhagen Business School Copenhagen Business School (2016)
• TrustedPeer Expert in Global Strategic Audits TrustedPeer (2014)
• Deputy Editor Journal of International Business Studies (2011 — 2017)
• Professor of International Business University of Victoria (2012 — 2016)
• Previous Jarislowsky-CAPI East Asia (Japan) Chair/ Professor of International Business University of Victoria (2012 — 2016)
• Visiting Professor of Strategy and Management INSEAD (2009 — 2012)
• Professor of International Business San Jose State University (1998 — 2009)

Skills

• Organizational Learning
• French
• Ethnography