BUSINESS FRONT LINE / Broad worldview seen vital for MBA students

"If you're going to get an MBA, you had better have a global understanding. Otherwise, it's worthless...You've got to have significant knowledge about how the world works," says Clive Grafton, chair of the board of advisers at Anaheim University.

To achieve this end, many Japanese students have chosen to obtain their degrees at prestigious schools in countries such as the United States, the birthplace of the qualification. But for officials at Anaheim University, this line of thinking is a bit odd.

"The reason you're getting your MBA is to improve your career, so why would you take yourself out of the market for two or three years to improve your career? You have to start over, and sometimes the job you quit [to study abroad] is no longer available. It's a big risk," says Anaheim University Vice President Anthony Al-Jamie.

The California-based university offers an online MBA program, making it possible for students to receive the highly sought-after degree in just a year without having to go abroad or even set foot on campus.

"Online education is the fastest growing form of education in the world. It's becoming far more acceptable to traditional education, and it is just growing in leaps and bounds," says Grafton, who received his doctorate in education and master of science degree in management.

The Internet course, he continues, is a good way to achieve a global perspective as it allows students to study business in their own environment--i.e. their own country--while being encouraged to interact with other MBA candidates from around the world in a free exchange of ideas and cultural perspectives through e-mail.

In 1996, the university opened its Japanese campus, Anaheim University Akio Morita Learning Center. At about the same time the school opened, Grafton started to notice a significant change in the Japanese lifestyle. The Internet was becoming a popular communication tool, and every time he has visited Japan over the past decade he became more aware of just how rapidly communication technology was evolving.

Al-Jamie says there are many people who say, "Japanese don't want to study online, they want to study in a classroom."

"But that's changing quickly," he said.

This year, 100 people graduated from the Akio Morita School. Half of them were Japanese, with the remaining graduates mostly hailing from India and other English-speaking countries. Many of the students are already in leadership positions and are preparing to move up to more senior positions, he said.

In addition to benefiting from on-the-job experience, the two executives said, studying for an MBA online makes economic sense and provides an opportunity to acquire a global perspective.

Japanese companies used to send their employees abroad for their MBAs, which they would bring back to their firms, along with their newly acquired managerial skills, according to Al-Jamie.

This meant companies were responsible for paying tuition, living expenses, accommodation and salaries. But with years of recession bringing down the economy, it has become difficult for companies to continue the practice.

Even so, Al-Jamie says, it was not uncommon for new MBA holders to become more ambitious during their time overseas, choosing upon their return to move on to better companies or be headhunted by other firms.

"It actually costs a company out of pocket 25 million yen or 30 million yen to pay for the actual expenses. But when you [a company] get only half back, you have to double your cost. Every time you send 10 [employees]...and if only five come back, that means one person costs you 60 million yen," he said.


===
Learn the global way

The MBA qualification originated in the United States, but, according to Grafton, the knowledge gained through such programs should be applicable in any country in which an MBA candidate would choose to work.

If, for example, students opt to study in the United States, they will likely be assimilated into the American business style because they must set aside their own culture and way of thinking and attempt to learn how Americans do things--a way not always appreciated in other countries.

With Anaheim University's online class, international students can put business strategies learned in class into practice in their own environment and see how effective they are in the country where they do business, Grafton said.

He said he was surprised to see so few American cars in Tokyo.

"Some of the American automobile industries are in trouble because they lost the significant share, and they deserve it, because they did not approach the global market in an understanding way," said Grafton, saying U.S. carmakers were too confident their strategies would be effective outside the United States.

"Some people become arrogant...That is a fault of being too self-assured, of not really measuring what you're trying to accomplish," Grafton said. "A lot of MBAs...took their degree, but they did not have a global outlook."

Grafton says Japan has not being moving forward as quickly as it should have been compared to other Asian countries, such as South Korea or China. But, he says, it still controls a significant part of the market in some countries, although he added a warning that Japan should avoid the same pitfalls into which the United States blundered.
(Jul. 17, 2006)
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/business/20060717TDY08001.htm