Results for Certified Evaluation and Accreditation
for Professional Graduate Business School

Graduate School of Management, Ritsumeikan University

Basic Information of the Institution
Ownership: Private

Location: Kyoto, Japan

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

Graduate School of Management, Ritsumeikan University

Certified Evaluation and Accreditation Results
for Graduate School of Management, Ritsumeikan University

Management Program, Graduate School of Management, Ritsumeikan University(hereinafter referred to as the “Program”) aims to “Develop capable students who
contribute to the sustainable development of Japan and the world as leaders who createbusinesses.” The Program is engaged in training highly specialized professionals in thebusiness field by establishing six educational objectives, such as the acquisition of vast
knowledge concerning various aspects of corporate management, the thinking,analytical, and judgment skills necessary for corporate management, and the ability totake an interest in global changes and capable of planning innovations. In AY 2015, thecurriculum was significantly reformed, and while switching to the new curriculum
consisting of a Management Program mainly for working students and a careerdevelopment program for graduates and international students without work experience,
the Program relocated to the Osaka Ibaraki Campus in the same year and established asystem to provide education to working students at the Osaka Umeda Campus. The
education and research environment was enhanced on account of this. In 2018, theProgram adopted the “R2030 Academy Vision”, the medium-term vision of theRitsumeikan Academy. The Program’s vision is to produce more capable students whowill create businesses in Japan and overseas while rooted in Kansai. In order toaccomplish this, the information concerning the graduate school is being presented andadvocated for high social approval, so that it can be recognized as an indispensable
member of the Kansai business ecosystem open to the world. During the first half of
the R2030 Plan (2021-2025), the Program also strengthened the academic areas inInternational Management, Service, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship and thesechanges were reflected in the next term’s curriculum. At the same time, their strategy
included making improvements in methods of education and learning outcome
assessments, expanding the network of graduate schools both domestically andinternationally, expanding the enrollment quota for management programs in line withthe school-wide enhancement of lifelong learning, and considering and preparing forinternational certification.
Based on this context, the Program has systematically designed its curriculum
to address the six educational objectives. The inclusion of subjects related to businesscreation, such as “Corporate Analysis” which comprehensively utilizes accounting andstrategy theory, and “Marketing Research” which uses actual corporate issues and data1

Graduate School of Management, Ritsumeikan University

to provide solutions, is distinct. Furthermore, it is commendable that in order toaccommodate students with diverse backgrounds, consideration is given to theconvenience of students, such as making basic courses available for working students
on both weekday nights and weekends on two campuses. Moreover, the Program hasestablished a system that enables continuous use of the facilities such as libraries evenafter graduation, and has also established the “Auditing Student System” to actively
support continuous learning of the graduates. It can be said that the Program’s distinct
features also include the faculty’s effective use of the special contract teacher systemwith a good balance of researchers and practitioners in position, and utilizing theresearch dedication period under the its use of Ritsumeikan Sabbatical for Working on
Research to promote research activities by the faculty members.
While with such distinct features as discussed above, the following issues canbe seen.
First, in terms of educational methods, because students with no work
experience are accepted into the career development programs, there is a need tostrengthen the initiatives further and devise methods to implement them by enhancing
the content of the fieldwork subjects and expanding the field of research, etc., to ensure
education with significant business practicality.
Second, it is necessary to establish a system that can query the questions fromstudents about their assessment of academic achievement in order to ensure strictassessment. In this regard, although the Program has established a “GradeConfirmation System” based on the university-wide system, inquiries such as thosementioned above are not possible with the system. As such, it is hoped that Program’s
own system will be considered.
Thirdly, regarding the ascertainment of learning outcomes, while efforts arebeing made to implement various surveys and to consider the introduction of rubrics,
in addition to achieving educational objectives and satisfaction with the curriculum,
further efforts are necessary to assess the educational outcomes and utilize theaccreditation results according to specific purposes.
Fourth, the Program has continued to underfill its quota. Although
improvement is seen through measures such as obtaining the designation of the“Training and Education Benefits System” from the Ministry of Health, Labor andWelfare, and establishing independent scholarships in addition to the curriculum
reform, improved promotion methods, and promoting its educational value to the local
companies as described above, the quota of the Management Program continues to beunderfilled. The Program must strive to secure working students, and increase capacity2Graduate School of Management, Ritsumeikan University

as specified in the strategy after conducting appropriate quota management.
The Program is aware of some of the above mentioned issues and someactivities for improvement are being carried out. Hereafter, based on its vision andstrategy, with its ongoing understanding of the trends of the business world and theneeds of the students, the Program is expected to continue making improvements andprogress and enhance its distinct features while striving to train “leaders who createbusinesses” and share the results of these endeavors with society.

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