Results for Certified Evaluation and Accreditation
for Professional Graduate Business School

Graduate School of Business Administration,
the University of Kitakyushu

Basic Information of the Institution
Ownership: PublicLocation: Fukuoka, Japan

Accreditation Status
Year of the Review: 2020
Accreditation Status: accredited （Accreditation Period: April.1.2021 – March.31.2026）

Graduate School of Business Administration, the University of Kitakyushu

Certified Evaluation and Accreditation Results
for the University of Kitakyushu Graduate School of Business
Administration

To achieve the established goal of “developing highly ethical and globally-minded
specialists who can lead their field with problem-solving skills and a wide range of
specialized knowledge to promote innovative business structures and organizational
reforms in both for-profit and non-profit organizations”, the Management Program of
the University of Kitakyushu Graduate School of Business Administration works totrain leaders skilled in their three educational objectives of autonomous behavior basedon advanced morality, specialized knowledge and techniques, and advanced problemsolving skills and self-expression.
This program takes advantage of the unique business characteristics of theKitakyushu region, resolves local issues, and undertakes various initiatives aimed atdeveloping leaders that possess advanced management skills. Specifically, thecurriculum offers newly established courses such as Skills to Improve Manufacturing
Competitiveness and Family Businesses aimed at strengthening management skills forSMEs, etc. alongside social business courses and courses on Public Management, etc.
to foster and improve management skills for non-profits involved in medicine and socialprograms. The educational method has been devised to incorporate actual regional
businesses into the curriculum through intensive study of local businesses andorganizations, case study work during classes based on business that incorporate alumni,and more. As a method for addressing the needs of students and the region, the programprovides a variety of opportunities for dialogue, such as offsite meetings where students
and full-time faculty can discuss topics as well as lunch meetings where student
representatives and full-time faculty can exchange opinions in order to genuinely
improve classes and maintain facilities based on those opinions.
The program also supports lifelong learning for alumni by promoting
collaboration with alumni, inviting them into classes as guest speakers, asking them toprovide material for study, and holding Practical Management Seminars, discussion
groups using examples from local businesses and organizations in collaboration withthe alumni association. In addition to those efforts, the joint establishment of Socio Fund
Kitakyushu, a collaboration between alumni and full-time faculty aimed at developing
and supporting the growth of social ventures in Kitakyushu, is a distinctive feature in
the development of human resources that promote regional businesses.
1Graduate School of Business Administration, the University of Kitakyushu

In this way, the program provides aggressive and multi-faceted initiatives
aimed at developing leaders that can provide quality management to both the public andprivate sectors. However, the following issues should be addressed.
First, outside of regional collaborations and the program’s curriculum andeducation method mentioned above, a wide range of established initiatives such as
international collaborations focused on the Center for Chinese Business Studies andbusiness forums for human resource development in collaboration with governmentalagencies and each organization, etc. are being expanded and strengthened, but thedirection and mid- and long-term strategies for the goal of this program are not always
clear. The relationship between the University’s mid-term plan and the annual planshould be clarified and strategies to realize the vision and the mid- and long-term visionof the program should be organized.
Next, the University is developing new courses and initiatives to respond to theneeds of students and the region, but these inevitably increase the burden placed on
faculty. The curriculum offers a plethora of courses, but available courses should bebetter organized and regulated to improve course results. Because each full-time faculty
member is responsible for teaching a course, some courses like Group Project, where
freshmen acquire the core knowledge required for case studies, only had 1 or 2 students
enrolled. We also expect the program to bolster the administrative bureau and operate
effectively and efficiently in order to proactively develop support for online learning
and PR activities that use IT.
As a business school rooted in the region, this program must respond rapidly
to the needs of the area and understand its unique characteristics, such as thecomplicated budget processes that result from the University’s establishment as a public
professional graduate school of management. On the other hand, because all faculty pastand present are implementing diverse and strategic initiatives that proactively draw upon
their experience and professional network, we expect that the University will tackle theabove challenges and further develop human resources that can take the lead inmanagement of the region.

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