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Acknowledgments

It was Johan Galtung, “Johan” as he preferred, who introduced me to conflict theory as a way of applying creative thinking to seemingly impossible problems, and as a way of making work and life more meaningful. Johan recommended me to an MA program in peace and conflict studies in 1996, which I enrolled in the following year. For the next four years, I traveled extensively with him to mediation interventions, lectures and workshops in Okinawa and across Europe. Johan offered me a position in his NGO, Transcend, and advised me on my master’s thesis that explored the Transcend method of conflict transformation. During this time, he also arranged for me to do an internship at the United Nations (UN) in Geneva, which opened for me a rewarding career path at the UN and later in business and academia. Those first years with Johan were some of the most intense, educational and adventurous ones of my life. Each day was filled with hard work, friendship and more humor than two people should ever be allowed to enjoy.

Ian Green was Chief of the United Nations Training Section in Geneva when he hired me as a training coordinator. Ian generously ←xiii | xiv→gave me the space to experiment and discover how to create productive learning environments. Though this proved quite costly for him at times, he always went out of his way to make sure I had everything I needed to grow professionally. I can do the work I do today only because of the opportunities I was given in that first stage of my career.

I want to thank Jane Nelson, both for the encouragement she provided me through her book, The Business of Peace, and especially for the personal guidance she gave me. Jane invited me to her office at Harvard University, where she shared with me inspiring insights into the field of business in areas at risk. Much of what I learned from her writings has illuminated for me how ethical decision-making impacts on firm value.

Kiyoshi Amemiya, the inventor of the now-famous demining equipment that transforms minefields into orchards, gave me a once-in-a-lifetime chance to work with him and his team of engineers on a mine-clearing project in Colombia. He provided me with an insider’s perspective—even letting me test-drive the mine-clearing equipment to better understand some of the operator’s challenges first-hand. The onsite experience helped me appreciate the complexity of working for peace in a way that is also financially sustainable.

In the very volatile days following the Great East Japan Earthquake, it was Ray Bremner OBE, then CEO of Unilever Japan, who offered me a seat at the table where he and other members of the crisis response team would meet to review and plan. This life-changing experience gave me a chance to see some of the leadership behind Unilever’s promise of Doing Well by Doing Good in the extreme conditions of disaster relief. This book is very much an attempt to let the reader sit at that same table and join in the decision-making.

Finally, I owe a particular debt of gratitude to my editor and friend, David Hulme. David was helpfully relentless in getting me to think and write more clearly. Visiting David and Satoko for hikes and in-depth discussions at their home in the mountains on the outskirts of Tokyo provided me with the extra push I needed at critical moments along the way.

DYLAN SCUDDER

Tokyo, August 2019

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