Prof. Takamasa Fujioka, Professor of Meiji University Business School (Graduate School of Global Business, hereafter MBS) organized the Bangkok Field Study Tour in collaboration with Sasin School of Management, an official partner business school in Thailand. This tour is a part of the Global Business Studies of the MBS, which is designed for the students to gain an insight of doing a business in Thailand and cultivate an international mindset of the participants. All participants are 32 people including Prof. Fujioka’s seminar students.
Through this tour, the participants had an opportunity to interact with internationally active Thai bureaucrats and businesspeople, and learned about a real Thai business and the current state of global human resources management and career developments, which the participants cannot learn from textbooks. They were also able to learn about the recent topic related to the investment status of Chinese companies expanding into Thailand.
In 2019, MBS signed a partnership agreement with Sasin School of Management. The agreement includes student and faculty exchanges, research and data collaboration, and the establishment of liaison offices at both institutions.
＜Bangkok Field Study Tour＞
December 12 -15, 2023
A total of 32 students of MBS were dispatched to the field study tour in Thailand.
[DAY１] Field Trip
On the morning of the first day, they visited the headquarters of the Bank of Ayudhya Public Company Limited, one of the five largest Thai banks in Thailand and a group company of the MUFG Bank.
After a welcome remarks from Mr. Bunsei Okubo, Vice President (Head of JPC/MNC Banking), Mr. Kentaro Mori (Senior Director, Co-Head of Division Business Solution Division) initiated a lecture session on the bank's business and future business strategies. The bank has 14 vice presidents under the Japanese CEO, but only one is Japanese, and the rest are delegated to competent Thai managers. Localization of human resources is progressing smoothly.
In the afternoon, MBS students visited Rojana Industrial Park Public Co., Ltd., a major industrial park developer in Thailand.
The company started in 1988 as a joint venture between the Vinichbutr family and the Nippon Steel Trading Company (formerly known as Sumikin Bussan). It is well known as Thailand's third largest industrial park developer with a development area of 39 million square meters. Mr. Kuniaki Hayashi (Director of the company) introduced the company's business and explained the recent investment trends of Chinese companies in Thailand. The investment of Chinese companies into Thailand that is centered EVs at the forefront is remarkable and the amount of investment has already surpassed that of Japanese companies.
[DAY２] Lectures at Sasin School of Management
The morning session began with a welcome remark from Deputy Director Associate Professor Dr. Piyachart Piromswad and Associate Professor Dr. Chaipong Pompanich (Chief Executive of Sasin Management Consulting), after a presentation introducing MBS (in English) by representatives of the Meiji MBA delegation. Afterwards, Mr. Lars Svensson (Chief Executive, Sasin Sustainability & Entrepreneurship Center) and Mr. Koichi Kanaboshi (Program Manager of SEC) introduced SEC business which includes entrepreneur training and various development programs on a world-class level. This was followed by an introduction to the company's business by Mr. Thana Siriwallop, Program Director from Sasin Management Consulting (SMC), Thailand's largest consulting firm.
In the afternoon, Mr. Shigeru Kiuchi, Representative of the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) Asian Representative Office in Bangkok, gave a talk about Japan's renewable energy strategy in Southeast Asia.
Mr. Shintaro Suzuki, CEO of Zeroboard (Thailand) which collects, visualizes, and calculates ESG data and is rapidly growing in Japan, and Ms. Kaho Kobayashi from the JTB's Global Business Solutions Department talked about not only their initiatives in Thailand but also their Southeast Asian business and its global career development.
Finally, Mr. Shunji Sakane, General Manager of RGF HR Agent Thailand which is a Thai subsidiary of Recruit Group and works on human resource introduction and human resources development, spoke about the company's initiatives and the views of Thai people on employment in Japanese companies.
[DAY３] Understanding Thai Tourism
The morning session began with an information session on the Thai economy organized by the Sasin Japan Center, and in the afternoon, MBS participants attended a seminar on incentive travel for Thai companies to Japan, co-sponsored by the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) and the Sasin Japan Center. Japan Center. They received an overview of Thailand's incentive travel market and heard direct feedback from Thailand's travel experts.
The seminar began with an opening speech by Professor Ian Fenwick Director of Sasin, followed by an opening speech by JNTO’s Executive Director Ms. Kei Doi, and a keynote speech by Prof. Takamasa Fujioka.
In the first half of the seminar, the results of a questionnaire survey on Thailand's incentive travel market conducted by Sasin Japan Center in October were shared, and in the second half, several recommendations for Thai travel agencies were made (such as shifting from commission business to consulting business).
After the coffee break, in the practical section, a panel discussion was held with Professor Takamasa Fujioka and representatives from the Government Savings Bank of Thailand (GSB) and the Shinkin Central Bank and the SBTI (a group company of Shinki Bus, a list company in Japan). The seminar ended with lively Q&A sessions with the audience. All participants actively interacted with one another by exchanging business cards.
[DAY４] Understanding Thai HRM
The morning session began with a briefing on a state of the Japanese investment in Thailand by Sasin Japan Center (SJC) and in the afternoon MBS students participated in the "Thai HR Market Overview Seminar” co-hosted by the SJC and the Japan Academy for Asian Market Economies to discuss about hiring capable Thai human resources.
Not only in Thailand but around the world, Japanese companies face a difficulty to attract talented local human resources. MBS students had an opportunity to learn about efforts to improve this through examples of successful Thai companies.
Following Deputy Director Assoc. Professor Piyachart's opening speech, Professor Fujioka gave a keynote speech. Next, there was a presentation by WorkVenture, a Thai startup run by a Finnish entrepreneur, based on survey data about the employment outlook of young Thai human resources.
Next, there was a presentation by WorkVenture, a Thai startup run by a Finnish entrepreneur, based on survey data about the employment outlook of young Thai human resources.
MBS will continue to experience firsthand the forefront of emerging Asian business in the next academic year and beyond, and aims to take internationalization to a higher level while strengthening ties with leading business schools in Thailand.
(FYI) Sasin website:
https://www.sasin.edu/content/news/sasin-extends-a-warm-welcome-to-meiji-business-school
