Conference Programme

Dates Venue Format Registration
10–12 December 2026 Doshisha University, Kyoto In person ¥50,000 · student rate available

Day 1 - Thursday, December 10th
Ryoshinkan 107 · Doshisha University

Day 1 is the Creating Value Alliance's annual event, open to industry, entrepreneurs, policymakers and academics. The focus is on value creation across sectors, with paper sessions for scholarly contributions.
This year's edition adds a spotlight on Australia–Japan innovation, marking 50 years of bilateral partnership.

[08:30-09:00]

[09:00–09:10]

[09:10–10:10]

[10:20–11:20]

[11:30–12:30]

[12:30–13:30]

[13:30–14:30]

[14:30–14:45]

[14:45–15:45]

[15:45–16:00]

[16:00–17:00]

[17:00–17:15]

Registration Opens & Welcome Coffee

Lunch & Networking

Coffee Break

Keynotes & Opening Plenary
The Global State of Value Creation — Making Value Visible

Keynote Speakers:
Swee Mak, RMIT University - Innovation, Research Translation & Value Creation
_______________________________________

Susan Watson, University of Auckland Business School & Juncture Research Institute - Title TBD
_

Yoshie Sugai, Chiseikan Dojo - First Principles of Value Creation from Japan’s Martial Arts
_______________________________________

Theme A · Panel Presentation
Launch of the Valuism Manifesto & State of the Framework

The panel style session focuses on the launch of the Valuism manifesto, the current state of the framework, and the sabbatical takeaways from Philip Sugai.

Panelists:
Philip Sugai, Value Research Center
_______________________________________

Arnaud Blandin, INSEAD/CEDEP
_

Drew Franklin, University of Auckland
_

Maria Weir, AREOPA & ARICC
_______________________________________

Theme B · Panel Presentation
Australia–Japan Collaborative Innovation & Value Creation

Australia and Japan need each other’s strengths to create increasing levels of value. This panel brings researchers, venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, and policymakers from both countries together. The conversation is practical: what specific mechanisms — co-investment structures, joint programmes, shared metrics — can unlock that potential?

Panelists:
Swee Mak, RMIT University
_

Anne-Laure Mention, RMIT University
_

Austrade and Japan-side panellists announced shortly.

Theme C · Practitioner’s Panel
What today’s organizations are saying, seeing and doing about Value

Practitioners reporting from the field. What happens when organisations try to implement stakeholder-focused value creation? Case studies from heritage businesses, high-growth startups, public works and SMEs across sectors and geographies.

Chairs:
Marco Koeder, Valuufy
_______________________________________

Yuko Nakahata, Sustainaseed
_

Panelists:
Andreas Grünbichler, University of St. Gallen
_

Lance Spice, Australia Public Works
_______________________________________

Theme D · Panel Presentation
Indigenous Value Systems & The Economy of Mana

Long before Western economics formalised stakeholder theory, Māori society operated an economic system grounded in wealth distribution, reciprocity and kinship. This panel explores the Economy of Mana and asks what a genuine exchange between Māori, Japanese and Western value traditions might produce for the Valuism framework.

Co-chairs:
Drew Franklin, University of Auckland
_______________________________________

Billie Lythberg, University of Auckland
_

Panelists:
Daniel Hikuroa, University of Auckland
_______________________________________

Opening & Welcome Address

Speakers:
Gautam Mahajan, Creating Value Alliance
_

Prof. Philip Sugai, Value Research Center, Doshisha University
_

With representatives from the host institution and academic partners

Paper Session 1
Value Creation & Valuism

A one-hour session for scholarly papers on any dimension of value, value creation or Valuism. Open call for submissions.

Chair:
Fatiha Boukouyou, IUT du Limousin - Université de Limoges
_____________________________________________________________________________

Day 1 Closing Reflection

A quick synthesis, preview of Day 2, and the questions we're carrying forward.

Day 0 - Wednesday, December 9th
Ryoshinkan 431 · Doshisha University

The day brings together scholars, PhD candidates, and postdoctoral researchers to strengthen value-related research and support academic publishing. Participants registered for the Professional Development Workshop (PDW) will receive guidance on developing their research for potential publication in the Journal of Innovation Management Special Issue on Valuism. A doctoral colloquium for researchers based in Kansai and across Japan will also provide an opportunity to develop their ideas, exchange perspectives, and connect with fellow scholars working in the field of value research.

[10:00-13:00]

[10:00–12:00]

[12:00–13:00]

[13:00–14:00]

[14:30–16:00]

[16:00–16:15]

[16:15–17:15]

[17:15–18:30]

Registration Opens & Welcome Coffee

Lunch Break

Coffee Break

Juncture Workshop
University of Auckland team - Title TBD

TBA Description

Workshop Leads:
Drew Franklin, University of Auckland
_

Billie Lythberg, University of Auckland
_

Conference Workshop
The Transition to SSBJ

For working executives in Japan understanding the impending effects of SSBJ and how to adapt to these changes strategically.

Workshop Lead:
Yuriko Nakao, Kansai University
_____________________________________________________________________________

Special Issue Workshop
Journal of Innovation Management

For scholars preparing submissions to the JIM Special Issue on Valuism. Editorial guidance from guest editors, peer feedback, research design support. Additional participation from Kyoto University, Kobe University, and Doshisha University professors.

Workshop Leads:
Anne-Laure Mention, RMIT University
_______________________________________

Marko Torkkeli, LUT University
_

Workshop Speakers:
Philip Sugai, Value Research Center
_

Doina Huso, University of Agder
_______________________________________

Conference Workshop
Horizon2020 Workshop

A workshop for researchers and practitioners exploring value creation frameworks and impact measurement within the European Horizon2020 / Horizon Europe research ecosystem. Connecting European research networks with the Valuism agenda.

Workshop Lead:
Anne-Laure Mention, RMIT University
_____________________________________________________________________________

Poster Session
Conference Poster Session & Networking

For PhD candidates and Post-Docs in Japan and globally working on value research.

Workshop Lead:
Fatiha Boukouyou, IUT du Limousin - Université de Limoges
_____________________________________________________________________________

Day 2 - Friday, December 11th

Ryoshinkan 107 · Doshisha University

Day 2 of the Valuism Conference 2026 explores value measurement and the Valuism framework, examining how intangible and trapped value can be recognized and unlocked. Through discussions on voiceless stakeholders, technology platforms, and diverse approaches to value creation, fostering meaningful dialogue and advancing research on value creation and sharing.

[08:30-09:00]

[09:00–09:30]

[09:30–10:30]

[10:45–11:15]

[11:15–11:45]

[11:45–13:00]

[13:00–14:00]

[14:00–14:15]

[14:15–15:15]

[15:15–15:45]

[15:45–16:45]

[16:45–17:00]

[17:00–18:00]

[18:00–18:15]

[18:30–20:30]

Registration Opens & Welcome Coffee

Lunch & Networking

Coffee Break

Tea Break

Coffee Break

Theme E · Panel Presentation
Financing What Markets Cannot See:
Humanitarian Finance and the Architecture of Value Visibility

Humanitarian finance sits at the frontier of value invisibility. Drawing on the DIFI programme at IMD (5th cohort, 6 continents), this panel examines the financial instruments that make value visibility possible: guarantees, first-loss tranches, outcome-linked instruments, and blended structures.

Chair:
Vanina Farber, IMD Center for Social Innovation
_____________________________________________________________________________

Panelists:
Panelists to be added at a later date

Opening & Welcome Address
State of the Framework & The Multistakeholder Book Series

Speakers:
Prof. Philip Sugai, Value Research Center, Doshisha University
_______________________________________

Cole Short, Graziadio Business School
_

Doina Huso, University of Agder
_______________________________________

Day 2 Closing Remarks

A quick synthesis, preview of Day 2, and the questions we're carrying forward.

Theme F-1 · Core Session
When Does ESG Create Value? Evidence from Japan’s Listed Markets

Japan’s small and mid-cap listed companies have proven to be a remarkable laboratory, under-researched by global institutional capital yet generating returns that reward rigorous ESG analysis. The session draws on the Integrated Value Driver methodology and asks what investors are still missing when they look at sustainable value in listed markets.

Chair:
Sasja Beslik, SDG Impact Japan & NextGen ESG Japan
_____________________________________________________________________________

Panelists:
Panelists to be added at a later date

Theme F-2 · Core Session
Rating Firms on Inclusive Value Creation and extractive Value Transfers

This session presents the comprehensive elite theory of economic development, grounded in a dualist ontology of value appropriation: value is drawn either from one's own first-order productive activity or from second-order transfers from stakeholders, enabled by power. At the macro level, this framework has produced the Elite Quality Index (EQx), which measures the aggregate value creation of an elite system. At the firm level, it has produced the Value Creation Ratings (VCr), which now assess 1,000 listed firms on 123 metrics of their impact on the stakeholders with whom they co-create value. To what extent does this operationalization of value provide a benchmark for strategic transformation in firms and for policymaking by governments.

Chair:
Tomas Casas-Klett, University of St.Gallen
_____________________________________________________________________________

Panelists:
Panelists to be added at a later date

Theme G · Core Session
Trapped Value

Most enterprise value now sits in intangibles — intellectual capital, relationships, brand, culture, knowledge — yet traditional accounting still fails to capture them. What does it take to make intangible and trapped value legible to decision-makers?

It includes the latest developments from the Strategic Intangibles Initiative and the IFRS related to the accounting for such impacts, and the understanding of trapped value based on the latest work by Gautam Mahajan.

Chair:
Gautam Mahajan, Creating Value Alliance
_____________________________________________________________________________

Panelists:
Panelists to be added at a later date

Theme H · Core Session
Value Invisibility & Voiceless Stakeholders

Who speaks for the river, the future generation, the contract worker at the bottom of a supply chain? This session takes the Valuism concept of “value invisibility” and asks what structural and systemic changes would bring those voices into the calculation.

Chair:
Will Baber, Kyoto University
_____________________________________________________________________________

Panelists:
Panelists to be added at a later date

Theme I · Core Session
Technology for Value Visibility

Demos-first, slides-second. AI for ESG analysis, distributed ledger systems for accountability, sensing technologies for environmental and social impact, and platform tools for multi-stakeholder value measurement. Honest assessment: what is genuinely working, and what gap remains?

Chair:
Markus Wagner, Monash University
_______________________________________

Arnaud Blandin, Sustainability Compass
_

Panelists:
Bob Weihai He, Veritas Tech
_______________________________________

Conference Reception
Hamac de Paradis (Kanbaikan 1st floor)

For all registered attendees and speakers.

Theme J · Panel Presentation
Education & Value Creation

How do we prepare the next generation of leaders to think and act on a richer conception of value? Concrete recommendations that feed directly into the Day 3 Roadmap working groups.

Chair:
Swee Mak, The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology
_______________________________________

Panelists:
James Barlow, Imperial College London
_

Amrita Das, Institute for Career Studies
_

Arnaud Blandin, INSEAD & CEDEP
_

Anne-Laure Mention, The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology _______________________________________

Day 3 - Saturday, December 12th

Ryoshinkan 107 · Doshisha University

Day 3 of the Valuism Conference 2026 brings participants together for a half-day wrap-up, focusing on audience priorities and collaborative discussions across research, education, industry, and governance. The day will also mark the launch of the Valuism Steering Committee, setting the stage for future collaboration and outlining the next steps in advancing the Valuism framework and its global community.

[08:30-09:00]

[09:00–09:30]

[09:30–10:30]

[10:30–10:45]

[10:45–11:45]

[12:00–13:00]

[13:00–14:30]

[14:00–17:00]

Registration Opens & Welcome Coffee

Coffee Break

Theme J · Interactive Session
Where does Value fit into your thinking? - Audience Priorities

Short session. We ask the room: what’s missing? What should the Steering Committee focus on? What should next year’s conference look like? This feeds directly into the working groups.

Chair:
Conference Chair to be announced at a later date
_____________________________________________________________________________

Panelists:
Participants to be added at a later date

Opening & Welcome Address

Speakers:
Prof. Philip Sugai, Value Research Center, Doshisha University
_____________________________________________________________________________

Conference Closing & Farewell Lunch

Theme K · Working Group Session
Building the Roadmap

Four facilitated working groups, each producing a short set of concrete recommendations:
(1) The Valuism Research Agenda 2027 and beyond.
(2) Education and the next generation of value leaders.
(3) Industry adoption, piloting, and scaling.
(4) Governance, institutional design, and global engagement.

Session Lead:
Paul Beddie, Capgemini

_____________________________________________________________________________

Final Plenary Presentation
Synthesis, Commitments & Next Steps

The conference concludes with reports from the working groups, institutional commitments, the formal launch of the Valuism Steering Committee, and the announcement of Valuism Conference 2027. Closing reflections from Gautam Mahajan and Prof. Philip Sugai will consider how to distinguish meaningful value creation from empty promises, and how perspectives from Japan, the East, and ANZAC can contribute to a global approach to value creation as we look ahead with both caution and hope.

Speakers:
Gautam Mahajan, Creating Value Alliance

_____________________________________________________________________________

Prof. Philip Sugai, Value Research Center, Doshisha University

_____________________________________________________________________________

Post-conference Workshop (Paid Event)
BizDo Workshop

Description TBD

Speakers:
Yoshie Sugai, Chiseikan Dojo
_____________________________________________________________________________

Conference Programme

Dates Venue Format Registration 10–12 December 2026 Doshisha University, Kyoto In person ¥50,000 · student rate available

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Day 1 Closing Reflection A quick synthesis, preview of Day 2, and the questions we're carrying forward.

Dates Venue Format Registration
10–12 December 2026 Doshisha University, Kyoto In person ¥50,000 · student rate available

Day 1 Closing Reflection

A quick synthesis, preview of Day 2, and the questions we're carrying forward.