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Graziadio's Griffy-Brown to Speak at San Francisco State University

Charla Griffy-Brown, associate professor and discipline lead of information systems at Pepperdine's Graduate School of Business and Management will lead a lunchtime discussion entitled "Women, Technology & Entrepreneurship in Japan" on Thursday, May 14, at the San Francisco State University Downtown Campus.

Hosted by the Japan Society for Northern California, Griffy-Brown will explore the ongoing transformation of social and institutional logic in Japan at the edge of the new digital frontier.

The Denny Endowed Chair at the Graziadio School, Griffy-Brown has done ample research on the phenomenon of women emerging as critical players in business innovation in Japan amidst a serious global economic downturn. The recession of the 1990s was followed by expansive growth in the digital life of Japanese citizens, providing a foundation for businesses and business models arising from new areas within the socio-economic infrastructure of Japan. This has significantly changed Japan’s entrepreneurial environment, fostering the rise of women entrepreneurs. She recently published a book of global case studies entitled, Women, Technology and Entrepreneurship, and is currently part of an international research team examining technology and development issues.

Griffy-Brown graduated from Harvard University, is a former Fulbright Scholar, and holds a Ph.D. in Technology Management from Griffith University in Queensland, Australia. She has worked for NASA at the Kennedy Space Center and has taught innovation and technology management courses in Australia, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Japan. She has also served as a consultant for the United Nation’s Global Environmental Facility and the European Commission.

In 2004, she received a research award from the International Association for the Management of Technology in which she was recognized as one of the most active and prolific researchers in the Technology Management and Innovation field. A former researcher at the Foundation for Advanced Studies on International Development, Tokyo, Griffy-Brown has also served as associate professor at the Tokyo Institute of Technology.

Her list of publications include more than 40 articles as well as books in the areas of technology management, information systems, and techno-economic development. Some of her publications are written in Japanese. She has also conducted information systems research at large enterprises such as American Honda Motor Corporation, as well as in more than 100 Small and Medium sized enterprises in Japan, the U.S., and China.

Griffy-Brown’s research is currently funded by an SAP University Alliance Grant, and she also has funding from the Pepperdine Voyager/Lilly Foundation, and the Rothschild Research Endowment as well as the Graziadio School of Business Funds for Excellence.

For more information on the Graziadio School of Business and Management, visit the GSBM Web site.