BGA | BUSINESS IMPACT
preparation course for first-year MBA students to help familiarise them with case method learning, and a class format in which active participation is crucial, before their programme starts. Ironically, the training and expertise in online teaching was extremely fortuitous since NUCB Business School was the first and only Japanese university to move all of its courses to an online format in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, which forced higher education in Japan to postpone terms and close campuses. The School made headlines across Japan when it announced that it would proceed with its spring 2020 term as scheduled – online. What does NUCB Business School gain from partnerships, such as the Innovation Programme offered in collaboration with Aichi Prefecture and INSEAD? NUCB Business School was honoured to collaborate with INSEAD and aims to learn more effective ways to realise ‘company renaissance’ which is the main focus of its Center for Entrepreneurs. ‘Company renaissance’ is a term for companies to develop products, services, and markets by using new methods that are different from their main businesses in the process of adapting to (or anticipating) changes in its business environment. The inclusion of Aichi prefecture was also crucial in this partnership due to the fact that the prefecture is a manufacturing centre for aerospace, ceramics, motor vehicles, and so on. Thus, this partnership will create more opportunities to impact and support regional businesses, especially SMEs, which are indispensable to the success of large manufacturing companies that have been facing business succession issues. How is the School working to boost the employment prospects of its graduates? (E.g. through the use of internship schemes or industry initiatives) In line with the characteristics of the domestic market, management education provided is not specifically focused on helping students change their employer due to the unfortunate fact that Business School management education has still not yet been widely recognised in Japan’s business community. Thus, a large proportion of students do not change their occupation after graduation and continue to work in the same company, though often at a higher level. It’s anticipated that this trend will continue until Japan’s business community becomes more aware of, and receptive to, the value that Business School graduate degree holders can bring to their organisations. For those that do endeavour to change their careers, there are various support services they can receive from the Career Placement Center. The Center offers students support in the form of workshops and presentations on career planning and development, interview preparation, and effective CV writing. What does ‘responsible management’ mean to your School and how is this concept introduced to, and instilled into, your students? Since its establishment, the School has followed a traditional business philosophy which has existed in Japan for over four centuries. This is called ‘ Sanpou Yoshi ’, meaning, ‘all three sides are good’. The ‘three sides’ allude to the idea that every business transaction has to be to
Tim Desmond Tim Desmond serves as the Senior Advisor to the Chancellor of NUCB
Business School. After earning his master’s at the University of Illinois, he joined the NUCB admissions team. Tim has since coordinated the School’s AACSB and AMBA accreditations, the acquisition of Case Center Japan, entry into the Global Business School
Network (GBSN) and other initiatives.
Ken Ozawa Ken Ozawa is Accreditation and Institutional Research Manager at NUCB Business School, where he oversees international accreditation projects. Ken holds a degree in marketing from Marriott School of Management [now, Marriott School of Business) at Brigham Young University (BYU) and has worked in the US
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and Singapore.
the satisfaction of the seller, the buyer and to wider society – if a business is to have long-term prospects. In line with this philosophy, therefore, we recognise that it is important for the School to commit to act in all it does with ethical integrity, social responsibility and environmental sustainability in order to better develop future business leaders. What plans does your School have for the next three years and what developments would you like to see in the business education sector as a whole? Two major initiatives have been planned for the next three years. First, the School is going to expand the activities of the Case Center Japan. The CCJ is in the process of increasing the number of Asian business cases which are hyper-relevant and which have real-time scenarios, and is promoting these cases to other Business Schools. The Center is also planning to organise more Joint Case Workshops with Harvard Business School Publishing in order to improve the teaching quality among Business Schools in Asia. The second initiative is to start the development of a DBA programme. A study group, set up in 2019, will identify the best ways of organising the programme in upcoming years. With regards to the future development of business education, we would like to see more effective ways to develop ethical leaders, to train on the competencies that will define the next century, and to teach how to make a difference in the world, even in the pandemic situation.
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