455 people who learned about Japanese companies in the seminars for Central Asia Attending seminars since 1996
People from the Central Asian region (Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan) have been taking part in the seminars for 19 years, since 1996.
These are countries that became independent from the Soviet Union in 1991 and moved to a market economy. However, the transformation after approximately 70 years of socialist economies has been immense. From the perspective that it will be necessary to nurture human resources so that everyone in the public and private sectors are capable of appreciating market economies for the sake of future economic development, PREX implemented the Marketing Seminar for Understanding the Market Economy,”* the first PREX activities aimed at the Central Asian region.
The seminar is based on the concept of understanding market economies through customer-oriented products and services. (*Commissioned by JICA.) The Japan Centers were established as the 2000s and got underway in Uzbekistan, Kyrgyz and Kazakhstan with Japanese assistance. From 2002, Practical Training Courses, Instructor Training Seminars and other activities started to be implemented for company managers, entrepreneurs and also local instructors who had attended the Business Course at the Japan Center. The Central Asian Regional PREX Alumni Association was set up in 2001. A steadily growing number of former seminar participants joined, and it now has 455 members.
Learning about management from many companies every year
One special feature about the seminars connected to the Japan Center is the participation of people from the private sector, including managers and executives of a variety of companies in various countries and management consultants in leadership positions for companies in local areas.
The core themes for the seminars in Japan include management philosophy, human-resource development, production management and Kaizen, which are the management strengths for Japanese companies. A characteristic is how the programs are constructed, by trips to companies that have distinctive management, on-site inspections, lectures by managers and exchanges of views, so that participants can deepen their understanding through concrete examples. The companies we visited in the last fiscal year alone are listed below.
Zero Seiko Co., Suntory Beverages Co., Ray Creation Co., Yamada Manufacturing Co., Shinseishika Kogyo, Tanaka tec Co., Omron Corp., Omron Kyoto Taiyo Co., Shoyeido Incense Co., Japan Traditional Crafts Aoyama Square, Yamanaka-Shokai Co., Yasuhisa-Koki Co., Eat & Co., Gogyofuku Co., AS Brake Systems Inc., Izumiya Research Institute, Hariki Metal Industry Co., Ooue, Juno Beauty, Perry Red Co., Mo-House, Park Hyatt Tokyo, Kansai Home Service, Takeda Pharmaceutical Co., Otabe (currently called Bijuu Co.), Matsuzaki Matrixtechno Co., Toyota L&F Corp.
(In no particular order)
The seminar participants visit companies in a variety of businesses. They are able to understand the universal characteristics and strengths of Japanese companies, through the trip destinations and interacting with the managers and employees.
In the latest alumni follow-up, we heard from seminar participants who have returned to their home countries.
The methods and devices put into practical use after they returned home had an influence on their impressions and then later altered their own attitudes. But beyond that, the attitudes and ways of thinking of managers, the relations between managers and their employees, and efforts to manage and conduct structural management on a long-term horizon, not just for immediate profit, grasping the business as a social position, etc. are the only things that allow the participants to gain a true sense after actually visiting companies in Japan.
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