ソーシャルイベントの紹介 -Taste of Ross!!-

皆様、はじめまして。

GMBA class of 2020 のTakaです。前回の更新からだいぶ時間が空いてしまい、楽しみにしていた方にはすいません。今回は、GMBA Class of 2020の近況と、最近私が参加したRoss Schoolのソーシャルイベントの様子を紹介したいと思います。

その前に簡単に自己紹介をしますと、私は、2015年にセキュリティ会社へ中途入社し、法務部にて、契約書面審査をはじめ、行政規制対応、新規プロジェクトにおける法的アドバイス、M&A対応などを担当していました。仕事をする中で、最適なアドバイスをするためにはリーガルだけでなく、ビジネスに対する深い理解が必要だと感じ、MBAを志望しました。

近況
さて、GMBA class of 2020は、アナーバセッションを終え、現在、Full Time, Part timeと一緒に選択科目を受けています。これまで、アジア出身のクラスメイトが中心であったクラスの雰囲気が、選択科目ではよりグローバルな雰囲気に代わり、（個人的には）最初は若干戸惑いつつも、勉強にクラブ活動にと忙しく日々を送っています。また、Ross Schoolでは多種多様な選択科目が用意されており、コア科目での学びをもとに各々が深めたい分野に注力して勉強しています（ちなみに、私は、データ分析系の授業を中心に履修しています）。

ソーシャルイベント
Ross school では毎日といっても過言ではないほど、多くのイベントが開催されています。これはRoss schoolには数多くのクラブや研究機関があり各々が何かしらのイベントを開催しているためです。その中でも、今回は、先日、私が所属するJapan Business Association(JBA)が参加したクラブイベントTaste of Rossの様子を紹介したいと思います。Taste of Rossは、Rossのクラブの一つであるMichigan Business Student Association が主催するソーシャルイベントです。Ross School 内にあるインターナショナルクラブ（JBAもそのうちの一つです）が各国の料理を参加者（多くがFull Timeの学生だと思います）に提供して、料理を楽しみつつ、参加者とのネットワークを広げることができます。JBAもおでんとラーメンを提供しました。両料理ともに人気があり、なんと終了時間が来る前に完売してしまいました（特にラーメンの人気はすごかったです）！

完売後にJBAメンバーで集合写真

当日、私は、店先でラーメンを販売していたのですが、料理をきっかけに、交流がなかったFull Timeの学生とネットワーキングをすることができ、参加してよかったと感じています。

GMBAはプログラムの特性上（Full Time class of 2020の2年目と合流するため）、Full Timeや Part Timeの知り合いがいないところからスタートすることになります。しかし、Ross SchoolではTaste of Rossを始めとして様々なイベントが開催されているので、このような機会を積極的に活用することで、幅広いネットワークを構築することもできると思います。

それでは、今回はこのあたりで終えたいと思います。

People at Ross -Jireh, Class of 2019-

「Jirehはなんであんないい奴なんだろう？」

同じSectionにいるNaotoとセクションメートの話をする時、よく話題にあがるのがセクションメートであるJirehです。

誰にでもフレンドリーで、いつも明るく、まさしくセクションのムードメーカー的な存在です。Naotoが彼に「なんで君はそんないい奴なんだ？」と聞いたぐらいなナイスガイです(笑)ちなみに、Naotoがその質問をした時、彼が信仰している宗教であるキリスト教がそこに大きく関わってる事が分かりました。

日本ではあまり馴染みがない宗教も、アメリカでは多くの人々の生活に根付いたものとなっています。アメリカ人にとって宗教とはどういったものなんだろう？という事を知りたくて、彼を今回のインタビューに選びました。

また、彼は夏に自分でインターンを作った、という珍しい経験をしているので、その点も話を伺ってます。

今回もClass of 2019 のShoがお届けします。

1.Profile of the interviewee

Name

Jireh

Hometown

Chicago, Illinois

Undergrad

Indiana University, Bachelor of Science, Business; Finance and Economic Consulting

Work experience

Senior Planning Analyst at Target (3yrs), Senior Financial Analyst at Valspar(2yrs),

After Ross

EY

To know more about Jireh, check the video below.

Interview with Jireh, Class of 2019 (Digest Version)

2.Interview

(Note: Jireh(J), Sho(S))

How did you manage your time in the busy MBA life?

S: Are you ready for the questions? 

J:  Yes, I am. 

S: I know that you participated in many events, and also hosted a lot. I'm wondering how you managed your time to do them? 

J:  Yeah, I think for me, I had a really bad experience in college, where I tried to do too much. I participated in five clubs and started two new clubs that I was a leader for. And then I was of the leadership team for three other clubs. Every single night I would have something to do, and I was not happy at all. Because of that, I was pretty miserable. Coming to Ross, I did not want to have that bad experience again. 

I was very careful about saying no to many things. I was very interested initially in the Board Fellowship Program, in community consulting, in energy consulting. Was also interested in the leadership team for the Consulting Club, and for the MBA Christian Fellowship.  But all the things I just mentioned were things I said no to. I said no to them because I had to pay close attention to what I really cared about, what I really wanted to get out of the Ross experience, and that is, I really wanted to build community. I really wanted to spend a lot of time building my community. So because I said no to all those things, I think I had a lot more time to say yes to people, a lot more time to plan the events that they were just spontaneous, that we just had an idea for. For example, when I was hanging out with some friends from other sections, we were like, “let's do a wine challenge night” where we would bring together different bottles of wine, and then we pour them into cups without telling people what they are, and then have people guess which one was which. And that was something that if I was too busy, I would not have time to do. But because I had extra time saying no, I was able to do all those things. I think it's really just saying no to a lot of things, and trying to make sure I planned a lot of buffer time between the events. 

What kind of community did you want to build up at Ross?

S: Can you elaborate more on what kind of community you wanted to build up?

J:  Well, first of all, my religion is very important to me. I really wanted to build up the MBA Christian Fellowship. Next, I also really cared about Section four. I really loved the kind of opportunity we have as a section to get closer, and to become really good friends. So I spent a lot of time building that. And I guess thirdly, I really cared about reaching out beyond the section, kind of reminding people that recruiting is not everything. Recruiting and academics, Ross definitely values, and Ross talks about it a lot. But I wanted to reach out to people and remind them that that's not everything. There's a lot more to life than just recruiting and academics. 

 To recap, the Christian Fellowship, Section 4, and there's other people at Ross. With all three of them, I think I find different ways of doing it. First of all, I can do it more formally by planning events, planning bigger events or smaller events, more like events at bars versus more casual events in people's houses. Additionally, I tried to develop mentorship relationships with people, where if there are any ways for me to help out with recruiting for MBA 1s, and also peer support network, is another really good way of doing it. 

What does religion mean to you?

S:  I feel you sincerely want to help people out, and I think that comes from the religion, I guess. When I talk with Naoto(Another Japanese MBA in section four) about the people in our section, you often come up in the conversation because you're really friendly and nice. Naoto told me that he recently asked you why are you so friendly and nice. You said that religion is an important part of your life. As you know, most Japanese including me don’t have a religion so it’s not easy to know what religion really means to people. 

In your definition, can you tell me what religion means to you? How does it impact you?

J:  Yeah, that's a good question. I think religion means a lot of things to different people, and I definitely want to be sensitive to that. I have been a Christian for a while, I believe in Christianity and Christianity is about how we can't do everything by ourselves. I think most of us like to think that we are very strong, very smart, and very capable. This might be true in many ways. But I think Christianity says that, first and foremost, humans are not strong enough on our own. We can try very hard to be good people, but at the end of the day, we make many mistakes. In Christianity it’s called sin, and it's any wrong things that we do. 

The second thing about Christianity, it says that God created everything. There's a God out there who's the beginning of everything. God created us, the earth, the solar system, and the galaxies. Because humans are sinful and are not able to help themselves, he wants to help us. He does that through Jesus. Jesus is basically God that came on earth and offered everyone the opportunity to be transformed,

 Anyone who believes in Jesus or anyone who is saved by Jesus has forgiveness from God. All the things that we've done wrong put us in a really bad position versus God, and all of us realize that we really want to do good things, but oftentimes in our heart, there are many bad things. We can't save ourselves because of that, so only Jesus can do that. 

And so when I was a kid, and that brings me to the third, and I guess final part of Christianity, which is when we believe in Jesus, which I did when I was 17 years old. When we believe in Jesus, he changes the way that we think and our hearts. Before I was Christian, I was very prideful, very selfish. I had a terrible relationship with my sisters and my parents. And then once I believed in Jesus, God really changed my heart. He gave me more love towards other people, and gave me more empathy, and also I think he gave me a new idea of what love is.  Love is caring for others without expecting to be loved back. Humans are weak, and humans are sinful. There's a God who is perfect, but also really loves us and wants to help us and through Jesus, we can have a new life. I really believe that as a Christian, I can help others in a way that, and I can love other people the way that God loves me.  

How will you leverage the community you built up at Ross in your future career?

S:  Next question is about related to community. From my perspective, I think you've built a really good community, here. How are you planning to leverage or use it to enhance your career and also your life after Ross?

J:  I think I'll try and built a community in any job that I go to in the future. EY, I think I really want to, within consulting I think sometimes people can be very focused on either money, or very focused on their own career. I want people to focus on caring for each other, not just because we want to be promoted, but so that we can actually have a genuine community that is safe, and warm, and genuine in many ways. I really wanna make sure that I carry that community on for my future jobs. 

What’s the Ross difference?

S: Going back to the previous topic, you said that Ross community is really different from other communities. Can you elaborate on what's the Ross difference?

J:  When I went to interview at other MBA programs, I just felt like the first or second question that they ask would always be, they would basically evaluate you based on how much power they think you have. At Ross, I feel like they evaluate you based on and accept you for who you are. It doesn't matter what position you had before Ross, how smart you are, how tall you are, or how strong you are. All that matters is that you are a part of the Ross community. And because of that, they're willing to help you and accept you into a community. I think that really is one of the Ross difference.

Why did you build your own internship?

S: Okay, great. Next question is related to your recruiting. I know during the summer, you built your own internship. Was that your initial plan?If not, how did it change? 

J: I was not very clear what my initial plan was. Since I worked within the finance department at Target, I knew I wanted something different for the summer but wasn’t sure what it would be at first. I knew I was kinda interested in consulting. So I did consulting interviews but I wasn't successful at that. 

And then I don't think I was like other people, I was not interested in technology, I was not interested in marketing, or operations and general management.  Because I felt like, since I worked at Target corporate, within the finance department, I felt like I wanted something different for the summer. I guess I was inspired by the Center of Social Impact and the summer stories that I heard from the MBA 2s who graduated. Those gave me the motivation to go and look for projects of my own. I just reached out to my network, and I also reached out through this website called Angellist.com, that had different startups who are looking for people to help them. So that was really helpful. 

 Another thing that was the biggest driver of my social impact summer internship was, I learned a lot through the MAP project, about how to structure consulting engagements, or consulting projects. I actually used the format of the letter of engagement from MAP to structure, for every single one of the projects I did. I started off each one of my social impact projects with a letter of engagement, and I signed it, my sponsor signed it. I also developed a project plan, and a final presentation in the same way that I did it for MAP. So MAP was really helpful, and it gave me a road map for how to approach it. 

What helped you get the full-time offer at a consulting firm?

S:  You said that you didn’t succeed in getting a consulting internship but you succeeded in getting a full-time offer for consulting. What do you think helped you get a full-time offer in consulting? How did you change compared to when you were recruiting for internships? 

J:  I think what really changed was a lot of my friends who were going to the same company were very supportive of me, and I spent a lot of time asking them for advice. It was a lot of work, too. I guess another thing that changed me was when I went to Columbia for one week with my classmates. For the first time in a very long time, I actually had one week to focus on preparing for recruiting. When I was in Ann Arbor, I was very distracted because there were so many things going on that I could barely find time to prepare for my interview. Overall, I guess that one of the biggest differences is that I really spent a lot of time preparing for that interview, did a lot of research, and I was actually very excited about it. 

What does MBA mean to you?

S:  Got it. This will be my last question. It's a bit ambiguous so answer as you like. I want to make sure this is on. I'm recently asking all the people. My last question is what is the definition of MBA2? In other words, what does MBA mean to you?

J:  What does MBA mean to me... I think it’s really about developing new leadership skills and thinking at a higher level. It is like taking a step back and ... It's working on a very unique set of skills that allows you to be in leadership positions were to tackle problems that usually people would be stumped by. Learning how to learn, learning how to approach problems in creative ways and to bring other people along with you. Those are skills that I think are very hard to learn in the classroom, but the MBA program is a very dynamic environment where it is possible to gain those skill sets. I won't say that to everyone, because they're so hard to gain, I don't think everyone finishes. Everyone who has their MBA, I would say maybe 20% or more of them don't actually learn those skills. But the people who do are open to learning at an MBA program, they develop these very soft skills and critical thinking, but also leadership and collaborative skills that will prepare them for executive positions in the future.

S:  Okay, great. Okay. Thank you very much.

J:  Yeah, you're welcome. 

JTrek2019レポート！～日本よいとこ一度はおいで～

（こちらの記事は写真の枚数が多いので、少々画質を下げてお届けします）

皆さんこんにちは！FTMBA Class of 2020の嫁、Midoriです。

だいぶ時間が経ってしまいましたが、5/9(木)から約1週間、FTMBAの日本人学生にとって一大イベントである「JTrek」が開催されました！

JTrekとは、主にFTMBAの日本人1年生が幹事となって、Rossの学生を日本旅行に連れていくイベントです。毎年多くのRoss生に参加頂いており、今年は総勢50名を超える大所帯となりました。

私も一人の参加者としてJTrekを楽しみながら、横目でちらちらと幹事さんの大変さを観察しておりましたので、その様子を写真を交えてご紹介します！

People at Ross -Roman Kapuscinski, TO605 Lecturer, Professor of Technology and Operations-

「コア授業の中で一番ハードだったグループワークは？」

と聞かれたら、私は、

「TO605でやったAlexander&Thurstonのケース」

と、パブロフの犬ごとく即答します。

そんな印象深い授業である TO 605 Manufacturing and Supply Operations(以下、TO 605)を教えてくださったRoman Kapuscinski教授のインタビューを今回お届けします。

TO 605は、Tauber生が受けるコアのオペレーション授業となります。(通常のMBA生が受けるのはTO 552となっています。)TO605は、TO552と比較して、授業期間は倍、学ぶ量も倍、難易度も倍、って感じです。

タフなクラスであるものの、その分学ぶ事も多く、Tauberに入って良かったな、と思えた経験の一つです。

では、早速本題に入りましょう。

1.Profile of the interviewee

Name     : Roman Kapuscinski

Title        : Professor of Technology and Operations

Details   : https://michiganross.umich.edu/faculty-research/faculty/roman-kapuscinski

2.Interview

(Note: Roman(R), Sho(O)) 

Why Ross?

S:  Okay, my first question is, why did you decide to teach at Ross? 

R:  It was a little bit of a surprise decision because I had offers from multiple schools and reputable companies. I liked all of them, so me and my wife decided to visit all of them. After the visits, it became very clear that Ross is the place that was the first choice. It's pretty obvious that operations department is very strong at Ross but it was also strong in other places. 

 The culture and climate was more positive at Ross than in any other place. We did see how students and faculty interact, and we realized that none of the other places has any comparable type of culture. We started to realize that, if we are going to spend another 5, 15 or 25 years, in one place, why don't we spend it in a place where people are supportive, collaborative and they appreciate each other.  Of course, quality of operations management classes and operation research here was also a very important consideration.

S:  Just to confirm but you said the culture and climate at Ross was a fit for you. Did you feel the same towards the faculties too?

R:  Yes, the signals were very strong on every step: during the initial visits, when we met the faculty, whether lunch or other meetings, moving smoothly from from professional topics to private or side topics, and back to professional topics.  The communication, the stories, the warm attitudes, made it obvious that the culture was very supportive.

S:  I see, that makes sense. I was curious to know what brought you to us.

R:  There was one element, that I like to bring up as an explanation of my path to Michigan: I graduated from Carnegie Mellon ...

S:  Yes, that's why I asked. Haha.

R:  … which is the second best school in the US in operations management and I was very happy to come to Ross because I do believe it's the best place in the US for operations management.

What is the key message you are delivering in TO 605?

S:  Okay, thank you. Next I'm moving on to questions related toT0605. What is the key message or take away you want to deliver in T0 605?

R: I really want anybody who takes TO 605 is to feel competent in understanding the relationships among the key concepts: first, the factors that drive revenue, factors that drive cost, factors that drive culture, factors that may drive customers satisfaction; second, to to be aware that these relationships and forces are predictable and to be able to analyze them. And third, to be able to identify the relative importance of individual factors for individual companies, plants, jobs.  

The overarching message is simple: yes, you can. That is, students who are smart and interested in operations can dramatically improve what happens in any type of company.  The reality is that overwhelming portion of good and bad changes in companies’ fortunes are due to operation executions. So, for TO 605: yes, you can.  The tools and sufficient volume of examples, will allow students to be effective and confident in implementing changes..

How is TO605 different from TO 552 (the core operations class for non-Tauber students)?

S:  Next question is, how are you trying to differentiate from the core operations class (TO 552)? I'm asking because when I was talking to my classmates I thought all those things that is taught in the core class overlaps with T0 605 but there's somethings that didn't overlap.

R:  There are a few topics, which are different but not many. What differentiates TO605 versus core class T0552, is the tools and depth of discussion. The students who takes TO605 typically come with relevant expertise in portions of operations and tremendous interest in operations. Because of that, the redistribution of class time is dramatic. I spend very little teaching the basic and iIt wouldn't be untypical that I assign homework about something that we haven't even studied yet, as you know.

While basics are very important, they can be covered fast, and exercises make it possible to make sure that the basics are in place. But what really makes difference is not the basics, but the implementation. Which trade-off is the primary and which ones can be ignored. How you get the data and how to interpret the data. How to deal with missing information.  How to implement the operational change. I would say that for any topic in TO 552, you probably spend  60% of time introducing and conceptualizing the problem, 20% practicing this problem, and then maybe 20% being aware of extensions and difficulties but not really digging into them. In TO605 the ratios are likely upside down. You spend 20% introducing the problem, maybe 20% practicing, and then another 60% basically talking about realities of implementations, what works, what doesn't work, why? , what makes the tools and concepts applicable or not applicable?

This is important as it builds confidence: I typically see students talking TO 605 feel comfortable jumping into business situations.  When I was advising my MAP projects, you basically could see that knowledge of terminology was not different but the students who took TO605 would say with confidence, "Yes, of course, it's easy.  We can do it."

Thoughts on the importance of operations -Lessons learned from Walmart and K-mart- 

S:  Is your teaching concept same as when you started teaching?

R:  When I started teaching at Michigan, I underestimated the importance of operations. While working with companies, I see more companies rise or go down because of operation than for any other reason.  Actually, when I started at Michigan, I was collaborating with both Walmart and K-Mart. At that moment of time, they had comparable number of stores and one could argue that their strategies didn't differ too much. Both of them wanted to sell a big range of products at very accessible prices.  But one of them was making money and growing, and the other was losing money and shrinking. What made things even more intriguing is that the core of the operations was the same. They both used a gigantic software package written by IBM and which basically handled nearly all of their operations (what to buy, in what quantities, in what locations, how to transport). You have two companies competing in the same dimensions, using the same underlying IT, and one of them does well and the other does poorly. You could, however, see how well managed Walmart was, where every process was well prescribed, defined, and executed while K-mart didn't have the same level of discipline.

S:  Can you point out the key differences?

R:  One good example would be a list of products with big forecasting errors. Walmart would print would print and high-level managers would daily analyze the items for which the sales were significantly different than the forecast. Why did it happen? Is it something that we should have anticipated? Is it something that we should be doing differently in future? The list was typically not too long. Less than 100 items, and the questions were raised if some products appeared again on the list.

 Kmart actually ran the same report, except that the report was overwhelming long.  Because it was long, it was difficult to act on it. Because it was not acted on, it was long.  

Once more: the same strategy, the same software, the same technology, but one company was very on the path of continuous relentless improvement and the other one did not make it a priority.

S:  That's interesting. You said that Walmart has less than 100 items on the list. How did they narrow them down to that number?

R:  Walmart used the forecasting software designed by IBM. In the process of using, whatever they believe that could be done better, they improved the software. Their accuracy was actually amazing.

S:  That's very interesting. I knew of a Walmart and Kmart but, I didn't know that there was such a difference in operations.

R:  Currently Walmart is overshadowed by Amazon.  Interestingly at the end of 1990s, business analysis and business journals were asking: will Walmart overtake the whole US? Which of course has not happened, but is an interesting fact to remember when looking at Amazon.

What do you think makes your operation class different from those in other schools?

S:  Thank you. So this will be my last question. What do you think makes your operation class different from other operation classes at other schools?

R: At Michigan, we have an incredible benefit of interacting with a broad range of companies. I suspect that actually no business school interacts with so many companies, to the degree we do.  Consequently, the classes I observed in other schools, tended to be much less nuanced. What I mean by this, similar emphasis on the basic principles, but seldom dealing with the exceptions, and detailed drivers behind them. 

Now that I am the chair of technology and operations group at Ross, I visi classes of multiple T&O faculty. I see that it's not me, it's all faculty at Ross, and certainly T&O faculty, pay big attention to the nuances of reality.  It's easy in Ross to ask question why, say HP, or Mazon, is using this strategy, or tactics, or process -- the chances are very good that our faculty either interacted with those companies or, at least, interacted with other faculty who were involved.

S:  Well, this was a really interesting story. Thank you so much for your time today! 

(執筆：Sho(Class of 2019))

GMBA Class of 2020 Core Courseが終了しました！

皆さん、こんにちは。GMBA Class of 2020のInabaです。

この度、韓国セッションから始まった約半年間のCore Courseが無事終了しました！今回はAnn Arborセッションで受講した必修科目についてご紹介します。

その前に簡単に自己紹介ですが、私は2015年に鉄道デベロッパーに入社し、これまでオフィスや住宅、商業施設の開発や運営管理など不動産デベロッパーの仕事を担当してきました。Rossでは、ファイナンスやテクノロジー分野を中心に学んでいく予定です。

それでは早速Ann Arborセッションでの4つの必修授業をご紹介します。

ACC 593 Management Accounting

経営の意思決定ツールである管理会計の基礎として、コストアロケーションや業績管理・評価の手法などを学びました。授業では、まず講義形式で基礎的な知識をインプットした後、ケーススタディやグループワークを通じて、学んだ手法やフレームワークを事業の位置づけやマネジメント体制などに応じてどのように応用するのかを検討していきます。“会計”と聞くと難しく聞こえるかもしれませんが、内容はどれも実践的で実務に役立つ内容でした。

授業終了後に行われたGMBA Class of 2019の送別会

TO593 Operation Management

プロセスフロー分析、在庫管理、トヨタ生産方式、品質管理、プロジェクトマネジメントなど、生産管理はもちろん業務のプロセス管理まで幅広い内容を学びました。授業も、講義のみならずケースやシミュレーション、グループ毎に紙で家を作るHouse Gameなどバラエティーに富んでいました。教授はTechnology and Operationsの学科長Romanでしたが、生徒想いで優しく、質問や勉強方法についても丁寧に答えて頂きました。

MKT591 Marketing Management

Rossのマーケティングはストラテジーと並んで高い評価を受けています。授業はマーケティングの元学科長であるPuneet教授が担当でした。内容は、市場分析（3C）に始まり、マーケティング戦略（STP）、4P戦略などマーケティングの基礎を、講義、ケース、シミュレーションを通じてカバーしていきます。また、Ann Arborに本社を構えるDomino's PizzaのCMOを招いての特別講義もあり、理論と実践の両方を学べた刺激的な授業でした。

授業内で行われたプレゼンテーション

MO593 Leading People and Organizations

特定の企業に対する分析や個々人の振り返りなどに関するグループワーク・個人ワークを踏まえ、授業では「よい組織とは何か」「よいリーダーとは何か」などについてディスカッションを通じて考えていきます。これまでの必修授業は主にビジネスの“手法”を学んできたのに対して、Core Courseの終わりにこのような包括的なマネジメントの考え方を学ぶことで締めくくれたことは大変意義深かったと思います。

授業終了後に教授を囲んで

9月からはいよいよ選択科目が始まります。次回以降はこうした選択科目やAnn Arborでの生活についてお伝えできればと思います。

GMBA Silicon Valley Session-2: Strategy及びBenchmarking(SVの企業訪問)授業紹介

皆様初めまして、GMBA Class of 2020のHarryです。

遅くなってしまいましたが、前回のMattの投稿に続いて5,6月に行われたSilicon Valley Sessionの報告として、Strategy及びBenchmarking(SVの企業訪問)の授業についてご紹介させて頂きたいと思います。

その前に簡単に自己紹介させて頂きますが、私は2011年に総合商社に入社し、最初の2年間は経理部に所属、その後の5年間は機械関連ビジネスの事業投資を担当しておりました。営業部での業務の間に1年半の英国事業会社駐在も経験致しました。Rossでは、今後、自身のバックグラウンドであるFinanceに加えて、Data Analyticsを学んでいく予定です。

Strategy 591 Corporate Strategy

Rossの Strategy は故 Prahalad 教授を始め、有名な教授が多数在籍し、米国ト ップ MBA のなかでも高い評価を受けている分野です。今回の授業はStrategyの基礎として、ポーターの業界環境分析フレームワーク（Five Force）を用いて、企業の競争優位性を様々な角度から分析していくという内容でした。MBAのStrategyの授業と聞くと複雑なフレームワークを多数用いて、難解な分析を行っていくイメージでしたが、競争優位性に集中することで議論のしやすい内容となっており、非常にわかりやすかったことが印象的でした。その反面、毎日2つの企業のケーススタディをこなしていましたので、事前のReadingの負荷は高く毎日深夜まで予習を行う厳しい面もありました。

授業の最終課題として、グループで企業を1社選び、その企業の事業環境、競争優位性、今後の方向性について、ポスター及びレポートを作成するという作業を行いました。最後にみんなで作ったポスターと一緒に教授と写真撮影をした様子が以下となります。

Benchmarking Course

Benchmarking CourseはGlobal MBA独自のクラスでして、Silicon ValleyやNew York(本年は10月に訪問予定)の企業を訪問し、その企業のStrategyや現在直面しているChallengeについて、Managementや従業員の方から生の意見を学ぶという内容になっております。今回は、2日間かけて、Hewlett-Packard, Fuji Film, SK Hynix, Airbnb, Uber, Booster Fuelsの6社を訪問しました。Hewlett-Packard, Fuji Film, SK Hynixの3社については、Technologyが急速に発達し様々なビジネスモデルが生まれる中で、旧来の製造業ビジネスからどう脱却するかという問題意識を持っており、それぞれサブスクリプションの導入、SVのスタートアップとの協業等、様々なアプローチを用いて企業の持続的成長を実現しようしていることを学びました。Airbnb, Uberの2社に関しては、SVを代表するTech企業として、事業規模拡大に関する今後の戦略について話をして頂きました。Booster Fuels社は、Series Cのスタートアップ企業でして、CFOやCBOの方にご登壇頂いて、スタートアップ企業経営における様々な観点でのお話を聞くことが出来ました。これら6社の訪問を通じて感じたこととして、SVの企業はいずれも強い企業理念や、ビジネスを通じて解決する社会課題を明確に持っているということが印象的でした。また、その反面として、収益性の向上と企業理念の追求の両立というジレンマを解決する必要があることも強く感じました。

Sil icon Valley Sessionの報告はここまでとさせて頂き、次回からはRossの本拠地、Ann Arborでの生活、授業についてお伝えさせて頂きます。

GMBA Class of 2020 Silicon Valley Session その１

皆様初めまして、Class of 2020のMattです。

少し時間が経ってしまいましたがGMBA Class of 2020は4月のJapan Session終了後に今年度から始まったSilicon Valley(SV) Sessionを行いました。現在はミシガン大学のあるAnn Arborに移動しAnn Arbor Sessionを開始しております。今回はSV Sessionの内容をお届けしたいと思います！

簡単に自己紹介ですが、私は日系のIT企業に2009年に入社し、最初の約5年間をシステムエンジニア（テレコム系システム）、後半5年は製造/小売業向けの業務/ITコンサルタントとして従事しました。RossではOperation、Technologyに加えてStrategyなどを中心に勉強する予定です。

Silicon Valley ではFIN 591 Finance ManagemnetとStrategy 591 Corporate Strategyの２つコアクラスの授業＋Benchmark Session（SVの企業訪問）を行いました。私はまずSV Sessionの環境＆Cultural TourとFIN 591の授業について書かせて頂こうと思います。

• SV Sessionの環境＆Cultural Tour

SV SessionはシリコンバレーのBelmontという地区のホテルで実施されました。ホテルのすぐ近くにはデータベースソフトウェアで有名なOracleの本社、車で20分ほどでStanford大学やGoogleの本社があるPalo Alto、また車で50分程でサンフランシスコのダウンタウンがあるような場所になります。

ホテル所在地

Asia Session同様にホテルの会議室を使用して集中的に授業を約4週間で実施しました。

SV Sessionが実施されたホテル

教室の様子

部屋はAsia Sessionの個人部屋とは異なり、ルームメートとの共同生活でした。部屋にはキッチンも完備され、自由に料理を作る事もできます。共同生活と言ってもシェアするのはリビングとキッチンのみで、個別の部屋は用意されているのでご安心ください。

天候については想像していたよりも肌寒く、朝と夜は長ズボン、パーカーなどが必要です。日中は晴れていれば想像していた通りのカラッとしたカリフォルニアの気候で大変気持ちよく過ごせました。晴れた日はホテルのプールでリラックスしたり、バスケットボールを楽しむ事も可能です。

ホテルのバーで授業後に教授とのパーティー

Cultural Tour
各Sessionで用意されているCultural TourはNapa Valleyとサンフランシスコのダウンタウンで実施されました。非常に気持ちの良い気候の中、皆でワインの製造行程を見学したり試飲を楽しみました。これはSV Sessionの地を活かしたTourであると言えます。

ワイン畑での説明

様々な種類のワインの試飲

サンフランシスコのフィッシャーマンズワーフにてディナー

総括すると、勉強に集中にするという意味では素晴らしい環境でした。またSVで働くAlumniとの交流やベンチャー企業との交流が出来たのもこのロケーションのお陰かと思います。特にTechnologyに興味がある私にとっては素晴らしい経験になりました。

あえて難点をいうとすれば、少しスーパーマーケットなどから遠い場所にホテルが位置している事かと思います。しかしこの点については生徒からGMBAオフィスへのフィードバックを元に来年以降の改善を検討中ですのでご心配はいらないかと思います。

その他SV Sessionの環境についてご質問があればお気軽にお問い合わせください！

• FIN 591 FInance Management

SV Session1つ目の授業はFinance Managementの授業です。企業の投資判断をNPV(Net Present Value)などを使って評価する方法や、Annuityの計算などFinanceの基本となる用語・考え方を演習等を通じて学んでいきます。Finance未経験の私にとっては鬼門でしたが、銀行出身の日本人生徒やFinanceバックグラウンドの海外の生徒に助けられながらどうにか乗り越える事が出来ました。GMBAは日本人の生徒の人数が比較的多くそれをマイナスと見られがちですが、今回に限ってはいろいろな業界のクラスメイトのFinanceの視点を議論する事ができ、よりFinanceへの理解が深まるとともに、日本に帰ってからも役立つ知識を習得出来たかと思います。

教授はGlobal MBAのDirectorでもあるE. Han Kim教授が担当しました。Finance初心者でもわかりやすいように説明などに気配りを頂き、私としては大変助かりました。

Global MBA DirectorのE. Han Kim教授

授業の中間ではSVのVenture CapitalとVenture企業を繋ぐ事を目的としたスタートアップのメンバーを招待したSessionも行われました。Silicon Valleyでの投資の実態などを説明頂くと共に、我々の質問にも回答頂き、SVならではの有益な経験となりました。

それではこのあたりで次のメンバーにバトンタッチしたいと思います。次はStrategyの授業、Benchmark Sessionの内容等を記載予定です！

Matt