Shall we embody the ability to draw a world map?
Commercial science is an academic discipline that values a point of contact with business. That is why commercial science is called practical learning. In recent years, we have often heard the word “VUCA” in businesses emphasizing practicality. VUCA is an acronym of four words: Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity, which means a situation that is difficult to predict. Because the structure of the social environment surrounding business is becoming VUCA, our work will not always go smoothly, even if we apply conventional methods. Due to commercial science's relationship with business, it must face new challenges.
Meiji University Graduate School of Commerce offers eight courses in economics, commerce, management, accounting, finance & securities, insurance, transportation, and trade, covering commercial science areas. It also incorporates a flexible system that allows students to face new challenges in the course. The Graduate School of Commerce provides curricula that develop the ability to play an active role in the business world as a highly specialized professional and the ability to play an active role in Japan and overseas as an independent professional researcher. These abilities are cultivated through faculty advisors' guidance in research.
Just as medical technique and medical science overlap, a dual structure exists between commerce as a technique and commerce as a discipline. It can also be said that there is a duality between practical commercial techniques and systematized commercial science. However, graduate school is a place for research, so even in commercial techniques, graduate students must develop the ability to draw a world map independently, just like in commercial science. The world map here means the conceptual world we create by recognizing real business with our five senses. However, each person sees and perceives the same thing differently. This causes errors in the world map. Accuracy is essential for the world map, which acts as a compass. The significance of research guidance in the eight Graduate School of Commerce courses lies here. Whether or not they have gained full-scale business experience, students in the Graduate School of Commerce are provided with research guidance to create a systematic and detailed world map according to their awareness of problems. One of the strengths of the Graduate School of Commerce is a small group mentoring system.
Since graduate school is a place for education and research, graduate students must receive research guidance and actively pursue their research themes. Graduate School of Commerce students can take subjects other than those in their courses after consulting with their faculty advisors. If necessary, they can take subjects common among graduate schools and other graduate schools at Meiji University and transfer credits with graduate schools at other universities. The Graduate School also provides economic support. The door is open for appointments to the positions of TA (teaching assistant), RA (research assistant), and research associate so that students can focus on their research. Support is also provided for international students in writing Japanese theses. The Graduate School has an environment where students can reach their conclusions on their issues. I hope many ambitious people will enter the Graduate School of Commerce and complete the world map.
Dean, Graduate School of Commerce
FUJII Hideto
Professor