コース開始から約一ヶ月がたちやっとクラスメートとのコミュニケーションに支障がなくなってきました。クラスは月曜日から金曜日、朝９時から夕方５時または６時までで、その後にグループワークやアサインメントの準備をしています。全ての授業にでて課題をこなすのは私の英語のスピードでは不可能なので比較的簡単に感じる授業をスキップして課題の時間に充て何とか凌いでいます。
個人的にランカスターMBAは学部を英語圏で履修した経験があり、社会人経験が３～５年の人に適していると思います。理由はいくつかあり、一つはネイティブ並みの英語力がないとコースに貢献することもできなし、理解できない課目も出てくると思います。また様々な英語のアクセントに慣れていないとリスニングに苦労します。あと社会人経験が長いとコースは比較的基本的な内容で余り実践的ではないので退屈に感じると思います。
これから約一ヶ月半は課題が目白押しで、今は無事にクリスマスを迎えられる事を祈っています。
今回もMindful Manager課題のブログを作成したので、こちらにも貼付けておきます。
Roche Diagnostic Systems Case
We are doing a case study of Roche Diagnostic Systems as our Marketing group assignment this week. Our six team members consist of three people from India, one from China, one from the U.K. and one from Japan. We need to crystallise the crucial factors and issues and eventual success of Roche Diagnostic businesses mainly from 1990 to 1995. I feel this case is slightly out of date and most companies doing business in Japan have already internalized the idea of “customer satisfaction is business” as a core corporate strategy. Japanese organisations have been trying to build and maintain a strong business reputation for customer satisfaction for approximately two decades.
However, I learned another aspect of culture gap from the team members, especially the students from India through the case study group work. It is brainstorming which is useful for solving a problem or to create great ideas. In my past business experience in Japan, people tend to ask the boss’s opinion and follow his or her lead, or discuss and solve problems with a few limited members (the inner circle of decision makers) instead of discussing problems with all team members in order to find a solution quickly. Perhaps, we did not have enough time to do brainstorming or did not have enough members due to a reduction in workforce. In contrast, during case studies at Lancaster MBA, we argued about the Roche cases from different angles and various kinds of practice for a long time. Brainstorming can be very stressful and time-consuming, because in Japan we are used being familiar with a homogeneous society and focused on time efficiency.
In short, a case study of Roche Systems is not a new topic, unfortunately. I wanted to research the current market situation and develop new marketing strategies rather than arguing about the situation in the 1990s. However, I recognized one important aspect of business, brainstorming, which is a time-consuming but good way to find new ideas and introduce new elements to a homogeneous mindset.
写真は全てLancaster University Management School (LUMS) です。
