japan today > japan > features

Two gung-ho career women connect business with academia at Osaka University

By Yone Sugita

Katy Horiuchi, left, and Harumi Hotta

OSAKA — The former Osaka University of Foreign Studies received an endowment from several corporations to support a unique set of courses in the fields of the humanities and the social sciences. Students can receive academic credit for their coursework.

The first endowment course, Analysis of Current International Events, which includes guest lectures by top journalists, was established in 2004 with funding from the Yomiuri newspaper. This course has been and still is very popular with students. Since 2004 even more corporations have decided to help fund course programs.

When Osaka University of Foreign Studies merged with and became part of Osaka University in October 2007, it was running seven endowment courses supported by five different corporations. In the 2008-2009 school year, three new courses will be added, and the total will be 10 courses endowed by seven corporations.

One unique and interesting course is “Introduction to International Careers,” organized by Mainichi Communications Inc (http://ryugaku.mynavi.jp/) and taught by two energetic and bright women, Katy Horiuchi, director of H&K Global Connections (http://www.hkgc.jp/en) and Harumi Hotta, director of Business-Paradigm (http://www.business-paradigm.com/e_home.html). They work on the front line in business on a daily basis and can bring the hottest information about their most recent experiences to classroom. They serve as a bridge between the business world and the university.    

Yone Sugita: Katy, H&K Global Connections is a new company established in 2006. Please tell us a little bit about your company and the services you offer.

Horiuchi: We are an international marketing agency for small companies who want to expand their business in both Japan and overseas. What is unique about us is that our marketing methodology is based on a business owner’s “Personal-Branding.” Identifying a customer’s Unique Selling Point based on this methodology is one of our key outputs. We also coordinate marketing communication such as websites, literature, and PR, etc, to maximize brand value. Our customers are both Japanese and foreigners and are satisfied with our high quality work and flexibility.

Sugita: “Personal Branding” is a rather special and interesting concept. How did you come up with this idea for your marketing strategy? Is it suitable for “group-oriented” Japanese people? 

Horiuchi: Personal Branding is marketing activity based on yourself, not on your company name or on the community to which you belong. Through Personal Branding, you tell your story about your own “strengths and skills” together with your personal values. The ultimate goal is to let your name to be associated with a “positive image” by your target market. For example, Steve Jobs, Michael Jordan, Ryoko Yawara (an Olympic judo gold medalist) are some examples of successful cases.

Personal Branding is popular in the U.S., but still new in Japan. Personal Branding can be applied to various types of business, but we are focusing on small-to-mid sized companies in the service sector including in design. Students or professionals who are seeking new jobs can also utilize Personal Branding to leverage their value. That is why we decided to share our knowledge with students at Osaka University. We witnessed companies’ turn-around such as restructuring and bankruptcies while we worked for them. We felt that the company life cycle has been getting shorter, and that if the company’s CEO was changed, the company’s strategy and services were also changed.

Since IT is a global phenomenon, good products can be easily copied and it has been getting difficult to “differentiate” only through products and services. Therefore, we concluded that the real differentiator for the new era will be “people” and “Personal Branding.” Individuals have their own unique “strength” and “personality” and they are all different. We believe that if you leverage yourself, you can better and more easily differentiate your product or service.

It is a decidedly suitable concept for Japanese people, because Japanese people tend to avoid standing out and tend not to disclose the CEO’s profile effectively. Now that Asian companies are catching up with Japanese technology, it will be critical to differentiate by leveraging the Personal Brand.

Sugita: Business-Paradigm specializes in European MBA consultation and is managed by two Japanese women. Please tell us a little bit about your company and its services.

Hotta: Business-Paradigm is located in both London and Tokyo. We have an unrivalled reputation for providing Japanese candidates with European Universities – BA, MA, MSc, and MBA-related information and services: school selection, professional career consulting, business-start-ups, management education, corporate programs and incubator services.  

We are a niche consultancy of cross-cultural professionals with MBA, MA and MSc credentials. Since Business-Paradigm’s launch, we have worked to help over 10,000 people achieve their personal career objectives. Our mission is also to create a new, added-value network by linking competitive, talented people with European Business Schools and leading organizations. We aim to establish a network where all members help each other to create “win-win” relationships.

Sugita: Katy, you earned an MBA from the Kellogg Business School, which is famous for marketing. Is your business degree helpful in managing your company? 

Horiuchi: Yes, it is. For example, the MBA provided an environment to learn about various strategic frameworks from a management point of view, about information analysis, and about communication skills, including presentation. By studying with students from the all over the world, I obtained the skill to think and co-operate with foreign people. Therefore, my marketing service to foreign customers is rated highly. Another asset I gained was a precious global network. The people I met at Kellogg were not only intelligent but also thoughtful and friendly.

Sugita: Harumi, you earned an MSc from the London School of Economics. You also have a breadth of experience in Japan, the United States, and Great Britain. How does your background help you manage your business?

Hotta: Our company creates “global-business” with a primary focus on the Japan-Europe relationship and we provide our service to people whose objective is “global-business.” In consequence, it is important to comprehend and to maintain a cross-cultural awareness in both the business environment and in daily life.

My academic and my career experiences in Japan, the UK and the USA help me to pursue my role as a director of our company. I acquired an MSc in Social Anthropology at LSE. Anthropology is mainly the study of tribes in undeveloped societies; however, my study objective was to observe a variety of theories and to describe my own theories concerning “global-communication” in the 21st century.

Sugita: From next year, you will be adjunct professors at Osaka University teaching an International Careers course, which Mainichi Communications has endowed. Please tell us how you think your business careers and international experience will help your teaching, what you wish to convey to students, and what you expect to get in return from teaching.    

Horiuchi: I have over 10 years working experience as a marketing professional. My career started as a marketing associate with a Japanese manufacturing company. After obtaining my MBA, I worked for several global IT companies including Vodafone, Lucent and Sprint. I always sought ways to become a global professional and to create my own personal brand. I learned this by observing successful global professionals on the job. I would like to share this learning and provide the students with an opportunity to discover their own personal brand. My goal is to produce more students who want to work as global professionals in future.

Hotta: My major objective is to help students to start thinking by themselves – about what a global-career means for them and what their identities are. Providing stories from the range of my experience – if I can say so, I would like them to consider, and start focusing on, their own career vision and their identities, which they will keep them creative throughout their lives. If I can provide a good cue for students' future lives, I will be very happy.

Sugita: Harumi, “international careers” sounds very interesting. In Japan, the concept of “kokusaijin” (an internationally-minded person) is popular without a definition of what the term really means. Could you tell me what “international careers” and “kokusaijin” mean to you and how you wish to share these concepts with your students?

Hotta: This distinction is important to recognize. In fact, I facilitate a discussion about it in my class. International careers have been described as careers or professions in which people work in an international environment. The export & import division in a company, international sales in trading companies, and working in foreign companies are also described as “international careers.” Interpreting and translating are “international careers,” too. Accountants and lawyers who work for international business also fall into this category.

As you see, as more Japanese companies and individuals expand their operations overseas, more people are involved in “international careers.” So, a career – any career can be an “international career” nowadays, if the individual wants to go down that road.  “Kokusaijin” is different from international careers. People who have international careers cannot always be described as “kokusaijin.”I sometimes see non-“kokusaijin” among people who have “international careers”, and also see true “kokusaijin” among people who don’t have international careers. Non-“kokusaijin” also exists even among people who have lived outside Japan for many years.

What I want to say is that true “kokusaijin” can observe both Japan and foreign countries objectively; “kokusaijin” must understand and accept cultural differences without losing their own identities. Otherwise, their international experience would be of less value to society, which would be a shame. 

Horiuchi: I would not consider only those who have experience living or traveling overseas as “kokusaijin.” Unfortunately, many Japanese students or workers overseas still mix only with other Japanese people. There are also some Japanese workers who do not try to work in teams with foreign workers.

To me, an internationally-minded person is one who tries to “think” and “act” with a global attitude. The following are good examples: Japanese workers who never traveled to overseas, but enjoy working with foreign partners via e-mail, business professionals who rise to the challenge of building global partnership or learn from successful experiences overseas, volunteers who try to help poor people around the world, etc. Now that we have the power to virtually “fly” all over the world because of the IT. I would like to tell students that the most important thing in order to become the internationally-minded person is to have a global attitude.

If you are interested in this program for the 2009-2010 school year, please contact Yone Sugita via Japan Today at editor@japantoday.com.

February 4, 2008

Bookmark to:

Login to post your opinion or register now for free.