Dr. Hiroo Takahashi who is a professor emeritus at Hakuoh University in Japan held a lecture with the IBSP students on July 13. Titled “Current Japanese Business and Society”, he explained the chronology of Japanese economic history after 1945, characteristics of the Japanese management system, the origin of the Japanese management system, features of traditional employment system such as life-time employment (LTE), and current business strategies and management trends in Japanese companies. He also compared the Japanese model of human resource management (HRM) with the American counterpart.

Since Japan faces many challenges such as the effects of a decline in population including labor shortages, new growth strategies are being formulated by Japanese companies. While Japanese multinational companies retain the life-time employment system, they change it from a seniority-based to meritocratic system based on individual abilities and promote diversity management for capable women executives and equitable foreign employees’ promotion system. He explained that the traditional system such as life-time employment can be sustained only under a high-growth economy and the current economic situation forces Japanese companies to change.

“Dr. Takahashi's lecture was fascinating and helpful for us to understand the Japanese economy and work environment; with his practical experience of studying and teaching in various universities, he was able to help us understand the difference and uniqueness of Japan as a country.”

“The lecture was really interesting and I could learn more in-depth about the systems and working culture of Japanese companies.”

“I thought Dr. Takahashi’s lecture brought such an amazing international experience to the topics on population, management and global market trends. I enjoyed the opening presentation to get to learn about his career and experiences abroad as a professor.”

“This lecture was amazing because it sparked many ideas for me. It was a great learning experience for me.”

“I have already learned some of the concepts on a theoretical level in Dr. Naoki Kuriyama's class, so it was interesting to learn a new perspective and a practical application for these concepts. Comparing how different cultures could use these methods and the challenges to Japan today was exciting to me.”

“I hope to have more opportunities to listen to Takahashi Sensei again, especially on how different country has different workplace management, which could be based on his own perception or sharing after extensively studied. All in all, I like Takahashi Sensei a lot and I hope to learn from him more in the near future if there are more of such opportunities.”