ESHCC welcomes visiting professor Pierre-Yves Donzé

Born in Switzerland, Pierre-Yves Donzé started his academic career at the University of Neuchâtel, where he received his PhD (letters and humanities) in 2005. In his dissertation he focused on the business history of Swiss Hospitals, (1840-1960). From this point on, he made several stints in Japan and the United States and was appointed associate professor and hakubi scholar at Kyoto University in 2012. Three years later, Pierre-Yves moved to the Graduate School of Economics, Osaka University, where he has the chair of global Business History.

As visiting professor, he has previously been in EPFL (Switzerland), CUNEF Madrid and Harvard Business School. This global perspective is similarly present in his strong engagement with the international community of business historians. Currently, Pierre-Yves is secretary of the European Business History Association (EBHA), co-editor of the journal Business History, and president of the international committee of the Business History Society of Japan.

A broadened horizon 

Whilst being trained as a historian in Switzerland, Pierre-Yves learned to collaborate with scholars from management, economics and other social sciences in Japan, where business history is a part of management studies. These experiences, as he explains; “helped me broaden my horizon and enrich my approaches.”. 

Since about 15 years Pierre-Yves has been researching the global dynamics of the watch industry, making the business history of creative industries one of his three main research areas. In the 1980s the Swiss watch industry was transformed into a luxury business, leading him to carry out joint research with scholars working on fashion and luxury. He looks at these sectors with a focus on companies and their strategic development. With his research he has established an international leadership on the subject, with numerous books, academic articles, and contributions for the general public. 

To this day, the history of healthcare and medicine also remains one of Pierre-Yves’ research areas. He remained active in this this direction with a more global perspective, adding sources and research on Japan, China and the US. Currently, he is also preparing a book on the global history of the healthcare business. 

A third research area that he has worked on is multinational enterprises and their reaction towards political risk. Especially, understanding how Nestlé had been able to maintain a global organization throughout the twentieth century despite major political disturbances, particularly in the post-colonial world.

Continuing a long-standing collaboration at ESHCC

During his current stay at ESHCC (until the end of February), Pierre-Yves will continue his years-long collaboration with Prof. Ben Wubs, chair of international business history, by advancing their research in the business history of fashion. Together, they will continue their research on this subject by working on their joint manuscript that will be published by Bloomsbury. 

On the Erasmus University campus, they will as well host an international seminar on the future of business history research on fashion with the most active European and Asian scholars in this field. Looking at the future, they will plan the continuation of their collaboration and discuss possibilities to develop exchanges between their universities. 

Noting the original organization that ESHCC is, where scholars from various disciplines are gathered, he hopes to add to the current research through showing concrete ways to merge different academic approaches and how disciplines can benefit from one another. As Pierre-Yves notes: “My cross-cultural and global perspective, between Europe and Asia, is another invitation to go beyond our reference points and comfort zones.”