Japanese Corporate Culture And Career Women

Japanese Corporate Culture and Career Women
How Wacoal Uses Innovation and Creativity For Global Business Development and Growth

INBS-550 International Business (Study Abroad)
Summer 2007


INTRODUCTION

This past summer, Montclair State University offered a 10-day Study Abroad class to its MBA students.   The class was held in Kyoto, Japan in conjunction with the SGBED’s 10th Annual International Conference.   The format of the course included attending the conference as well as arranged visits to some of Japan’s major corporations in the Kyoto area.   Students enrolled in the course were asked to submit a case analysis on one of the companies visited during the trip in relation to “Creativity & Innovation: Imperatives for Global Business and Development”, which was to topic of the conference.

As an MBA student at MSU, I enrolled in the course.   I love to travel and enjoy learning about other cultures.   This course was perfect for me.   At the time, my logic behind registering for the course was that not only would I earn three credits towards my MBA degree in only 10 days but I would also have the opportunity to visit Japan for the first time; one of the destinations on my ‘countries to visit’ list.

Needless to say, I was more than ecstatic to discover the class schedule not only allotted for plenty of sightseeing time in Kyoto but also included a short visit to Tokyo, Japan’s capital and one of the world’s most crowded cities.   So in preparation for my exciting trip to Japan, I spent countless hours researching the top sites to visit, put together a list of ‘must see’ attractions and armed myself with a travel guidebook, maps and Japanese phrase brook.

Japan turned out to be everything I expected and more.   From its incredibly hospitable people to its astonishing temples and shrines.   But it wasn’t the sightseeing which intrigued me the most during my visit to Japan – it was the culture.   I was particularly impressed by the Japanese’ ability to...