One week that became a cornerstone of forming partnerships that crossed national borders/ 2012 Kankeiren ASEAN Management Seminar (Oct. 1-5, 2012)
We held the 33rd Kankeiren ASEAN Management Seminar scheduled from Oct. 1-5, which was commissioned by the Kansai Economic Federation. Taking part were 19 people from 10 countries, the largest such numbers on record, consisting of eight ASEAN countries plus India and Mongolia. The participants included corporate managers and executives, economic organization executives and public-sector officials. Though short, the one-week program ended after intensive management seminars and exchanges with the financial and corporate sectors of Kansai. Professor Sumimaru Odano of the Faculty of Economics, Shiga University, served as course leader.
An exchange with foreign students in the MBA program of the graduate school of Doshisha University
How do we view sustainable development in Asia and our own corporate management?
The theme for the current fiscal year has been decided to be “sustainable development for Asia and future corporate management.” With respect to “environmental issues” and “globalization of management,” competition is also expected to heat up, even though Asia should expect further growth within the global economy. Given this situation, how can a company manage to prevail? Therefore, we have created a curriculum that centers on learning policies, strategies and corporate philosophy aimed at dynamically promoting “the building of partnerships that cross national borders.”
Seminar participants visit Yamaoka Industrial Corp.
Exchanges with SMEs that practice environmental and globalized rock-solid management
Addressing the environment has been a pressing and inevitable theme for Japanese companies in recent years. The demands and expectations come not just from keeping business running but also from legal compliance, customers and society. While surmounting these issues, the companies need to enhance product quality and realize cost reductions by strengthening the nature of their management. The seminar participants were able to hold discussions with managers and take field trips to factories while visiting SMEs in Kansai that are addressing future globalization and coming up with the appropriate responses in line with their operational strategies.
In addition, the Monodzukuri Business-information Center Osaka (MOBIO) provided the participants with explanations of schemes by administrative agencies that support expansion, mainly in Asia, of enterprises. They also received proposals from companies engaged in environmental projects. This was a significant opportunity, as these exchanges also included discussions on forming concrete partnerships concerning future business development.
The participants visit Sankyo Kinzoku Kogyo and listen to a manager’s explanation.
Visiting Panasonic
As with past years, we paid a courtesy call to the headquarters of Panasonic. After learning in detail about the life of company founder Konosuke Matsushita at the Konosuke Matsushita Museum, company Vice Chairman Masayuki Matsushita gave participants an explanation of Panansonic’s management philosophy and its responses to globalization and the environment. The participants gained a deep understanding of the importance of people’s growth and the management philosophies that were really demanded during those periods when the company faced its uphill struggles. They also visited the Panasonic Center Osaka. They were told of cutting-edge technologies and efforts, including environment innovation, which involve solar-power generation and recycling.
Visiting Panasonic
Exchanges at Shimadzu Seisakusho with foreign students in Doshisha University’s graduate school MBA program
As a new initiative, we tried exchanges between seminar participants and foreign students in Japan. We requested cooperation from Professor Mari Kondo at Doshisha’s graduate school and went to visit Shimadzu Seisakusho, which like the university is in Kyoto, together with the MBA students. There were visits to the factory and showroom and an explanation by company Director Hiroshi Fujino on the company’s corporate philosophy and recent global development. Then the entire group of 50 split into six groups and held discussions on corporate strategies. As can be expected from a gathering of experts drawn from corporate people and students, a compilation emerged that hit directly on the essence and core, despite the tight presentation time of around 1 ½ minutes per group.
Roundtable/summary
On the final day, the roundtable was held as in previous years. Passionate discussions took place through an exchange among participants together with corporate managers and executives of the five participating companies. A seminar participant served as leader and took charge of the proceedings and presentations and led the discussions. We heard praise for the high level of skill behind the progress and the leadership from the manager of a Japanese company that participated.
It’s believed that as global competition intensifies, the expansion of borderless supply chains and technological cooperation and links with production and sales will steadily accelerate. However, these are not simply functional combinations, but rather are driven on the basis of mutual and empathetic understanding. In the future as well, the network of this traditional Kankeiren ASEAN Management Seminar will serve as a forum for exchanges that plays an important role in the formation of partnerships connecting Kansai with the various Asian countries.
Shogo Asanuma, International Department
