 |
.gif) |
|
MBA Connect The Special Edition:
From Japan to the Globe
Keiichi Fujito, Full-time Class of 2016, President of Japan Club 2015
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
CUHK MBA Ball, Class of 2016
|
Hello everyone, my name is Keiichi Fujito. I come from Japan. I am MBA candidate of 2016, the President of Japan Club 2015. In this Special Edition of MBA Connect, I would like to introduce myself and review my first year of study at CUHK MBA.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Night Bus Tour in Hong Kong
|
A brief background about myself
I mainly work in three areas – PR, HR and healthcare – in the Japanese security company Secom. I am interested in people and service. My passion is to deliver to people the better quality of life via security service and healthcare service.
I want to be different from the others for my future career, and hence I have chosen Asia to study MBA. My career goal is to spearhead projects and start up a business in Asia. To accomplish it, I only applied for CUHK since
the CUHK business school is the best place for me.
In fact, the presence of Asian countries and companies have been increased for Japanese companies and in the world. Furthermore, CUHK has the longest history among whole Asian business schools and has got certificate about the education like other top schools in US. Moreover, to localize ourselves we need to know local language, and in Asian business schools only CUHK provides the chance of studying Chinese language for 2 months a half. Some people say that they come to CUHK
because the school fee is much more reasonable than US business schools though CUHK is the top 30 MBA in the world. Other say that the career support of CUHK is good.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The New Venture Business Project
|
My life in Hong Kong
The education system of CUHK MBA is great, because teamwork is emphasized here. We are required to form teams with people having different cultural and industrial backgrounds. It is very exciting to work on a mission with a diversified team, because I can learn different perspectives from them. I believe it is very helpful to excel my career in a global setting in the future.
Moreover, the class size at CUHK MBA is small, which is very beneficial to the students here because we can have more accessibility to each professor and classmate. In addition, CUHK also encourages students to learn Chinese language. I am very happy that I got the sponsorship by CUHK to study Mandarin.
Also, Hong Kong is regionally small and is easily accessible to the global companies from the school. This is one of the best factors to enlarge the possibility of learning in Hong Kong
outside campus. Of course, people are very kind here. Moreover, the life here is very easy-going due to many supermarkets, various restaurants and many places to go. I came here with my wife and two children, and they also enjoy the life here.
The greatest influence that MBA has brought to me
Understanding the whole picture of global business is the greatest influence of career progress that MBA has brought to me. I would introduce three examples as below.
First, Taiwan Study trip is well-organized class and still impressive for me. In the lecture, Prof. Wilton introduced us how to set up a business in Asian countries and what we need to do to establish sustainable business. Furthermore, he took us to many entrepreneurs’ places to show us real situation of start-up businesses and listen to real words of CEOs. This kind of experience is very precious. Also, we were required to form a team with four people from India, Thailand,
Canada and Japan. Each of them had different background and sometimes we needed time to settle down argument or different perspectives. However, this global team-work experience is very irreplaceable and very beneficial to my future career.
Second, in the New Venture Business Project class, two professors taught us what kind of financial situation could happen in each stage and how we can handle them. Moreover, we were required to choose one company out of real start-up businesses to
assist them in fundraising. On the final day, almost 30 investors came to the class from all over the world and each team had final presentation to ask for investment. My team was made up by four people: one used to study science; one worked as a sales marketer; and one has lawyer’s certificate. My team chose a bio company located in US as for our agenda, because we thought that that company is the most challenging one out of all the projects. We sometimes got sharp feedbacks from the
professors, and we recreated our logic sometimes. But, we enjoyed each process and often stayed at school till midnight to think about possible marketing and finance activities for the company. Finally, at the presentation, we got the first rank in the class voted by real investors.
Third, Elite Mentorship Program of CUHK is great system - career center has provided many useful supports to students, and one of them is the Elite Mentorship Program that one alumnus of CUHK MBA takes care
of one student on their career or their personal lives. In my case, the HR director in one of the biggest companies in Hong Kong became my mentor. Every time when I meet him, he gives me lots of perspectives about my career planning. As we learn and grow, we sometimes need objective advice from other people with broader vision. CUHK business school has the longest history in Asia and has the hugest alumni network. Therefore, each FT student is able to meet the most suitable mentor based on our
background. My mentor and I went for lunch and dinner, and for watching fireflies. He is not only thought-provoking but also very caring. He is my life mentor.
Besides the above-mentioned, I would like to write about my classmates. Just after I came to Hong Kong, my life was very challenging especially due to my poor English and insufficient knowledge in finance related areas. Whenever I got assignments in short term, I felt that I have to go back to Japan immediately because I did not
even understand the lectures. However, most of the classes are designed at team-work basis and I have chances to be close to many classmates through Japan Club. Therefore, some of my classmates kindly understood my situation and kindly assisted me by telling what the professors exactly said or giving me some hints. Without them, I cannot be here now. They are my savor and very good friends. In return, I really want to assist them in the future when they need my help.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Field Trip to Taiwan
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Elite Mentorship Program
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Promotion Day of Japan Club 2015
|
My experience as the President of Japan Club
I think that the experience as the president of Japan Club maximized the possibility of my MBA study in Hong Kong.
First, I was able to learn Japanese economy and Japanese companies’ global activities from the top organizations. For example, we invited the chairman of Bank of Japan Hong Kong office and we visited the CEO of Nomura and Nissin. These were very precious opportunities. Second, I understand Japanese culture in a new perspective and know how to
express them in English. For example, we held Sushi-making party and Japanese language session. These events help me understand my own culture better. Third, we can deepen the ties of each activity’ participants or classmates. We held kick-off gatherings, Christmas party and farewell party. Most of my classmates joined those events with their family members. We all enjoyed the events very much.
What I would like to highlight here is Sustainability - keeping the club society and
continuing events - which is the biggest challenge for me. When I founded the club at the beginning, I comparatively easily said that Japan Club would offer various activities based on members’ interests. However, as time goes by, the MBA life becomes deadly busy. Also, due to my insufficient leadership style and each member’s different schedule, it became very difficult to run each event under team-work. Also, controlling sudden cancellation from participants, losing reputation from the
visiting companies due to sudden cancellation and handling cancellation fee are very challenging factors for me as well.
Interestingly, strong friendships and acceptance of different cultural backgrounds is what I get through Japan Club. For example, CUHK MBA holds at the graduation ball in advance to celebrate before we leave Hong Kong. This is because some people graduate within 12 or 16 months in Hong Kong and others join the exchange program or internship abroad. For the graduation
ball, on 31 May 2015, I was asked to do some Japanese performance by Student Association. At the beginning, I almost gave up doing performance, because the core members of Japan Club were deadly busy at that time. However, two Chinese friends knew my situation and suggested me to join them to play music. Also, other friends who knew my situation and finally we were able to enjoy performing Japanese dancing. At that time, I was greatly moved and I cannot forget their friendship.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The performance at Graduation Ball
|
My plan about the next phase of my life
As an exchange student from CUHK, I will go to Emory University for exchange programs from August 2015 to January 2016. I am excited now, because this experience must help me get various perspectives and expand my network.
After exchange program, I will go back to Japan to work for my original company because I get full company’s sponsorship for my MBA. However, in the future, I definitely want to come back to Asian countries to deliver the better quality of
life to people via service. I am looking forward to my further career and possibility.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Company Visit to Nomura Holdings
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Company Visit to Nissin
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Contact me if you have questions!
|
Just send me emails if you have questions regarding my study here. I hope I can share more of my insights and real experiences with you if you are considering an MBA in Asia!
keiichi.fujito@gmail.com
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
MBA Programs, CUHK Business School
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
14/F, Cheng Yu Tung Building, 12 Chak Cheung St., Shatin, Hong Kong
Tel: (852) 3943 7782 | Fax: (852) 2603 6289
Email:cumba@cuhk.edu.hk | www.cuhk.edu.hk/mba
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
