Dean Ahmadjian holds a PhD in Organizational Behavior and Industrial Relations from the University of California at Berkeley (Berkeley, CA) and an MBA from Stanford University (Stanford, CA). We asked Dean Ahmadjian about the role of her school in Japan and the how the school is coping with the tsunami aftermath.
TACT: How does the Hitotsubashi ICS community react after the unprecedented series of earthquakes, tsunami and nuclear incident?
C. Ahmadjian: Our main priority in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake has been the safety and security of our students, in particular our international students. Things were especially difficult in the first few days of the nuclear crisis, as accurate and reliable information, especially accurate and reliable information in English, was difficult to find.
Many of our international students returned to their home countries due to pressure from their families, who had been reading sensationalist and incorrect reports in the mass media. I am happy to say that 100% of our international students have returned for the start of classes.
As the situation in Tokyo has improved, our students are beginning on what I believe will be a long-term project in understanding the crisis and how we can learn from it to make the world a safer and healthier place, and to support victims of the crisis in rebuilding.
Currently, a group of students is working on writing a case on the terrible response of Tokyo Electric Power to the nuclear disaster. I am hoping that we will be able to use this at ICS, and to make it available to other schools.
Other students are putting together plans to mobilize other MBA students in Japan, to use their skills to put together plans for rebuilding, perhaps through a case contest. We are also trying to identify opportunities for our students to volunteer in the Tohoku region.
TACT: Hitotsubashi ICS recently signed an alliance with Seoul National University and Peking University, what is the vision behind this agreement?
C.Ahmadjian: In January of this year, we signed the BEST Alliance, which is an alliance between Hitotsubashi Graduate School of International Corporate Strategy, Guanghua School of Management at Peking University, and the Graduate School of Business at Seoul National University. BEST refers to our three cities–Beijing, Seoul, and Tokyo.
The agreement is a far-reaching agreement that promotes exchange of students and faculty, as well as close collaboration between the deans and administrative staffs of the three schools. Currently, we have student exchange programs between the three schools, and have initiated joint faculty research projects. We hope that soon we will be able to offer a double degree program with each of these schools. We are also discussing other programs, including study tours to each others’ schools, and an MBA program that would combine study at all three schools.
The vision behind this is to develop a distinctively “Asian” model of leadership and management, and to build a network of future leaders who will be able to be a bridge between these three important economies. Although East Asia plays an increasingly dominant role in the world economy, business education remains very North American. We see the BEST Alliance as an ongoing relationship, through which our three schools can work to provide an alternative to this North American model.
TACT: While the weight and impact of MBA in China is rising, Japanese MBA still remains at a confidential level on the world stage, how do you explain this?
C.Ahmadjian: The main reason is that the demand for MBAs by Japanese corporations is still very low. Unfortunately, many Japanese corporations do not see the need for MBAs, and prefer to train new university graduates in skills and competences specific to their firms. While Japanese firms have for a long time sent employees abroad for MBAs, the numbers have been decreasing, and many corporations see this as a kind of English training and networking opportunity.
We see that this trend has been reversing, and a number of leading Japanese companies, such as Kirin, Tokio Fire and Marine, and Mitsui Corp. send their top employees to ICS every year. They see the value of the education we offer in strategic thinking, financial analysis, and global management skills.
One problem is that many Japanese companies are allergic to the word “MBA” and envision greedy, disloyal people, who make poor employees. When I talk to companies, I try not to use the word MBA, and rather tell them that ICS develops global leaders, and teaches the skills that their firms need the most in today’s business environment. When they learn more about what ICS actually does, they become much more interested in sending their employees and hiring our graduates, but it requires a sales effort and careful explanation.
TACT: You are the first foreigner and also woman to be Dean of one Japanese national university school, how was it perceived in a country where women rarely reach top positions?
C.Ahmadjian: I don’t think anyone has really noticed. Since I’m a foreigner, no one notices that I’m a woman. And I think that people in the Japanese academic and business communities have learned to expect the unusual at ICS. I have been treated with only kindness and support–by our university, by the Ministry of Education, and by ICS’s many corporate partners.
TACT: What is your dream for your school?
C.Ahmadjian: To become a top-ranked global business school, distinguished by our small size, our cutting edge research on Japanese business, our excellent teaching, and our networks with Japanese and Asian business leaders and academics.
This story was originally published on May 24, 2011 by The Asia Career Times, a comprehensive and modern business and education publication located in Tokyo, Shanghai, Kuala Lumpur and Pune.
RECAPTHA :
dc
c2
c8
5b
