Business anthropology is the application of theoretical frameworks and research methods from anthropology to understand and solve management challenges. Business anthropology can help managers design and market products in home or overseas markets; adapt to new organizational cultures; communicate effectively across with stakeholders from different cultural backgrounds; and predict and manage conflict in global business situations.
This course will introduce ways of thinking about and researching culture and cultural differences from the anthropology. After an introductory session covering the fundamentals of business anthropology, we will
focus on thinking about how business anthropology can contribute to solving three specific management challenges: product design and marketing; organizational culture; and cultural conflict in global business
projects.
The course is aimed at students who are not familiar with anthropology or qualitative research in the social sciences.
This course explores emerging and practice-relevant topics in Organizational Behavior (OB), focusing on how individuals and organizations respond to the evolving demands of both the global and Japanese business environments. Moving beyond foundational OB concepts, it examines contemporary challenges such as psychological safety, hybrid work, knowledge behaviors, and employer branding through an international lens. Through real-world examples, discussion, and applied analysis, students will develop the ability to diagnose behavioral challenges and design effective solutions.
The MBA-IB Corporate Management Course aims to provide students with the opportunity to learn practical and real world issues, and challenges as well as strategies from the macro managerial point of view. Students will learn theories and frameworks, and practice how to apply them to real cases.
Japanese companies, particularly organizations with long histories, are known for having distinct and well-established corporate philosophies. As Japanese firms pursue global business expansion, what role should corporate philosophy play and how can firms communicate their corporate philosophies effectively to diverse internal and external stakeholders outside of Japan? This course will cover the following topics, from both an academic and practitioner’s perspective: 1) What is corporate philosophy? 2) What is the role of corporate philosophy in global business management? 3) How can Japanese firms effectively communicate their corporate philosophies to diverse stakeholders? The course draws on insights from the fields of intercultural management, corporate communications, organizational development, and corporate governance and is recommended for students who wish to deepen their knowledge of the relationship between corporate philosophy and global business expansion.
Using cognitive-behavior psychology and other techniques, the course aims to familiarize the students with both actual coaching skills and intellectual understanding of these skills. The course will deal with both what personal growth means as well as how one can facilitate it. The course includes not only other-coaching but also self-coaching as self-development is essential for promoting growths in others.
This class will strongly focus on differences between HRM in Japan and other countries, discuss and understanding strength and weakness of Japanese unique HRM.
The course is designed for students to acquire theoretical and practical understanding of stress management skills in the workplace. Using cognitive-behavior psychology, tension releasing exercises, hypnotic relaxation and other techniques, the course aims to familiarize students with actual stress reduction skills and the theories behind them.
In today’s global environment characterized by accelerated, change, innovation and interconnections, corporations, businesses and professionals must constantly evolve by gaining and develop new knowledge for continued success. This course will develop your knowledge and understanding of contemporary theories and practices of knowledge management, and how knowledge is acquired, applied, created, shared and disseminated in organizations. In other words, the course will address how knowledge or intellectual capital is created and managed to offer new value to all stakeholders. Specifically, course content tackles the individual, group/team, and organizational/interorganizational dimensions of managing both explicit and tacit knowledge. Classes will be a mixture of lectures, discussions and case studies.
The ability to build and maintain strong relationships based on trust and mutual respect is one of the critical success factors to be an effective leader in today’s complex multinational organizations. At the same time, a leader must drive action and overcome resistance to deliver on expected outcomes. In this course students will learn about leadership based on group exercises, reading materials, and lectures based on the instructor’s experience at top global corporations in the aerospace and mass media industries, and the writings of professors and instructors at leading U.S. universities.
This course explores modern approaches to Human Resource Management (HRM) in response to changing organizational, technological, and global environments. It also revisits traditional practices such as Japanese HRM to examine how they are adapting or being redefined. Through real-world examples, discussion, and practical analysis, students will gain insights into how HRM contributes to building flexible, inclusive, and future-oriented organizations.
The success of business depends to a large extent on people. This course is designed to provide students with fundamental knowledge about how individuals behave at the workplace, how they are motivated and how they interact with each other. Specifically, course contents are composed of three dimensions, namely, individual, group and organization. For each dimension, integration between theory and implication will be considered. Classes will be a mixture of lectures, discussions and case studies and role plays.
The MBA-IB Organizational Management II: Professional Manager Course aims to provide students with the opportunity to learn practical and real world issues, and challenges as well as strategies from the micro managerial point of view. Students will learn theories and frameworks, and practice how to apply them to real cases.
This class gives discussion on Human Resources Management in Japan, focusing on differences between HRM in Japan and other countries in general. It gives discussion on strength and weakness of Japanese HRM as well. It also includes history of Japanese HRM how it is developed, current status and issues, and discussion about the future HRM.