APU INFORMATION/ENGLISH/Vol.15 Career and Job Hunting

After being selected to receive the Contemporary Good Practice grant, APU, in efforts to promote career education, introduced a regular program of 'Cooperative Career Lectures'. In addition, this Fall semester has seen APU welcome a large number of leading professionals from international corporations to the campus as part of the Top Executive Lecture Series. Through these lectures, which are part of the Career Development Program that has been underway since the opening of the university, students learn about the current trends in different industries and what characteristics businesses look for in their employees.

9th Top Executive Lecture

Guest Speaker:	KOBAYASHI Yotaro Chief Corporate Advisor of Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.
Theme:	"Overcoming the Challenges of a New Era"

To an audience of over 600 people, Mr. Kobayashi spoke of the 20th century as a century of change which saw the adoption of American values, the westernization of Japan and its consequent "de-Asianization"; however, he suggested that we are moving into a new era where Asian countries such as China and India will assume leading roles. Mr. Kobayashi shared his thoughts about future directions for Japan in the face of such a new era. He stressed the indispensability of Asia to Japan's future and stated that in order to play a meaningful role in Asia, it is not just cleverness but sincere relations based on mutual respect with neighboring countries that will be essential. One of the key notions referred to by Mr. Kobayashi was that of "re-Asianization".

APU is a prime environment in terms of equipping individuals to face the challenges of the new era, according to Mr. Kobayashi. He offered some valuable advice to students, encouraging them to learn from each others diverse experiences of culture and democracy and to take into account the big picture when formulating conclusions.

10th Top Executive Lecture

Guest Speaker:	KUROKAWA Hiroaki President of Fujitsu Limited
Theme:	"Turning Dreams Into Reality - Challenging the Frontiers of Innovation"

Mr. Kurokawa gave a detailed corporate overview of Fujitsu and spoke about the company's organizational structure and "DNA". He pointed out that corporations are like human beings with "unique characteristics and traits" and that it's crucial to the success of any company to foster a strong corporate culture.

Mr. Kurokawa also spoke at length about how, since his appointment as President in 2003, Fujitsu had created "Four Key Challenges" as part of the process of re-vitalizing the company in the wake of the difficulties suffered following the collapse of the IT bubble. He also outlined in detail the measures to achieve those goals, and went on to give his thoughts in relation to his own style of management.

Following his presentation, students were given an opportunity to ask the President some questions. A number of international students expressed an interest in working for a Japanese company and asked for Mr. Kurokawa's advice on job-hunting in Japan.

Mr. Kurokawa answered the student's questions frankly and his lecture provided students with wonderful insights into Fujitsu and the business world.

11th Top Executive Lecture

Guest Speaker:	TAKAHASHI Tadao Member of the Board Executive Vice President, Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
Theme:	"Globalization of Nissan - How to live at a time of global business"

For more details on the lecture, please click here.

12th Top Executive Lecture

Guest Speaker:	OHASHI Yoji Chairman of the Board of Directors All Nippon Airways Co., Ltd.
Theme:	"Anshin, Attaka, Akaruku Genki! - ANA, aiming to be No.1 Airline in Asia"

For more details on the lecture, please click here.

Cooperative Career Lectures

This Fall semester saw the start of 'Cooperative Career Lectures', where personnel from different industries are invited to APU to conduct 'External Lectures'.

The first Cooperative Lecture got underway on Wednesday, October 4, with a guidance session held by three guest lecturers from the ANA Strategic Research Institute, who will be teaching a 15 lecture course on "Aviation and Tourism".

After introducing the course to the students, Mr. KUNUGI Yoshio, Chief Researcher from Research and Development, held the first of the 15 lectures, talking about the history and growth of the airline and the role being played by private airlines.

Throughout the course students will be taught about the face of the airline industry today, from the viewpoint of the tourism industry, the current market and the various changes in airline policy. Lectures will adopt a very hands-on approach.

Thanks to a number of private enterprises and institutions, a total of nine lectures like this one on "Aviation and Tourism" were held during the Fall semester.