Business as a force of peace

This past May, Kellogg faculty and alumni took part in the “2025 Hiroshima Business Forum for Global Peace” in Hiroshima, Japan, where leaders from Japan and abroad discussed peacebuilding over two days and multiple sessions.

The origins of the Hiroshima Forum’s current format can be traced back to Kellogg’s own academic and alumni community. In 2016, Kellogg professor emeritus of marketing Philip Kotler introduced the concept of “Marketing for Peace” in a Japanese newspaper article, which caught the attention of Hiroshima Governor Hidehiko Yuzaki. Inspired by the idea of linking business with peacebuilding, the governor reached out to Professor Kotler, sparking a collaboration that would reshape the event.

Members of the Japanese Kellogg community — including alumni such as Ko Fujii ’05 MBA, Yoshimitsu Kaji ’97 MBA and Yoko Mase ’01 MBA — joined as advisors, consultants and partners, helping the Hiroshima prefectural government evolve the conference from a part of a music-focused project into a platform for global dialogue on business, sustainability and peace. Professor Kotler’s keynote at the 2016 conference marked a pivotal moment, and Kellogg’s involvement has remained strong ever since.

The Forum is hosted by Hiroshima Prefectural Government and Hiroshima Organization for Global Peace (HOPe) (2021~), about the role that business should play, which reflects on the legacy of the city’s atomic bombing during World War II. HOPe has planned several initiatives this year to mark the 80th remembrance of the atomic bombing, aiming to realize a peaceful world without nuclear weapons with various sectors.

Kellogg has long been at the forefront of educating future business leaders about environmental, social and governance (ESG) frameworks, offering specialized toolkits and MBA pathways. A nexus of those efforts is the Dispute Resolution and Research Center (DRRC), led by Clinical Professor Cynthia Wang ’07 PhD. Grounded in Kellogg’s culture of collaboration, the center has convened interdisciplinary scholars since 1986 to foster dialogue and connect research to real-world applications.

At this year’s Hiroshima Forum, Professor Wang moderated a session titled, “Business as a Force for Peace: ESG, Sustainability, and Economic Resilience in a Changing World,” which brought together Kellogg alumni to discuss the business case for promoting peace in society. The group shared their own experiences and a few lessons with attendees. Read on for some of the top takeaways.

Adding a “P” for Peace in ESG? 

Wang kicked things off by discussing her work with the DRRC — especially their goals for peace and their focus on active learning to resolve conflict, which became a thread throughout the session.  

“What we want to do is in the spirit of this forum, which is to bridge interdisciplinary research with real-world impact by increasing dialogue among academia, government and business ... because that's when real change happens,” Wang highlighted.  

Wang then shared the Forum’s 2025 Declaration: addressing obstructions on the path to peace and proposing the idea of adding “P” for peace to the ESG framework to become ESGP. Together, Wang and the distinguished Kellogg alumni panel discussed global challenges ranging from inequality to food insecurity, as well concrete solutions, and how peace dovetails into many existing ESG-driven practices. 

Stronger Communication Channels 

Early on, Ryujiro Nemoto ’04 MBA, senior vice president of the business management division at NTT DOCOMO GLOBAL, Inc., spoke to the power and value of communications.

Nemoto highlighted his work at Japan’s largest telecommunications company, and NTT Group’s track record and desire to build broadband networks like 5G and FTTH, or fiber to the home, in Japan and developing regions. According to Nemoto, this is the “very basis of peace building.”

By utilizing core digital infrastructure expertise developed in Japan, investment in cross-border communication infrastructure enhances the capability of cross-border communication, “a basis of closer relationship between countries,” according to Nemoto. One could argue this strategy is rooted in his experiences at Kellogg.

“Kellogg has emphasized teamwork and also mutual respect,” Nemoto added. “And this is very important for us: collaboration with local partners, which is essential to success."

Conflict Resolution 

On the topic of tech, Tomoyuki Kimura ’91 MBA added that big data, AI, and emerging tech can “improve how the governments and investors analyze needs and plan their interventions and manage risks.”

The senior vice president at energy services startup ZettaJoule Inc. expressed hope in these tools’ abilities to analyze vast sets of data — such as public records or projects — to identify underserved areas. According to Kimura, with proper safeguards, these practices can help predict early signs of unrest, such as rising tensions or misinformation.

Kimura also shared lessons learned from his 25 years at the Asian Development Bank, where he worked to develop projects in fragile areas such as Afghanistan and the Philippines. Numerous factors can come into play, like trade barriers or competition for natural resources. Businesses can offset these issues by investing in manufacturing services or agriculture, creating jobs and stimulating local economies, suggests Kimura.

“I believe the role of the private sector should be to address those root causes of conflict, to avoid them, to mitigate them, rather than directly working on the conflicts for peace building,” Kimura added.

Investing Carefully in the Future  

On investing, AllianceBernstein’s head of ESG Strategies - Japan, Haruna Usui ’07 MBA, highlighted her work in research-driven investments.

“Our mission is to maximize long-term investment returns, and to do so, it is important to consider financially material ESG factors that could affect corporate’s future earnings," she said. Usui accomplishes this with client communications, policy advocacy and thought leadership, and works closely with the firm’s investment teams, who are at the heart of ESG integration.

One example Usui mentioned was the increased risk of flooding and hurricanes that can disrupt the operations and facilities of companies they invest in. “We have to understand such risk with more granularity, and that is why we leverage various data sets and develop proprietary tools,” Usui explains. They’ve also found that providing a safer workplace, better corporate governance and countless other ESG implications could lead to healthier cash flow and corporate value creation eventually. 

Planning for Peace 

As the session rounded out, Wang asked the alumni panelists to share one measurable action they can take for peace-building. Kimura suggested recognizing climate stability as a global public good. And Usui offered “breaking the silence around you...even when the person in front of you has a different opinion” as her takeaway.  

Learn more from the panel by watching their session online courtesy of the 2025 Hiroshima Business Forum for Global Peace on YouTube. 

Some photos from the 2025 Hiroshima Business Forum for Global Peace