『経済研究』（明治学院大学）第 145 号

2012 年

ENHANCING GLOBAL CAPABILITIES VIASTUDY TOURS: A JAPANESE PERSPECTIVE

Yuka Sakurai

School of Global Management, Faculty of Economics, Meiji Gakuin University

Abstract
This discussion paper considers the development and implementation of short-term overseas
study tours for undergraduate students in business and business-related majors at Meiji Gakuin
University（MGU）, Tokyo. Previous studies demonstrate that students stimulate and expand theirintellectual growth by participating in overseas study tours. As a result, study tours have beenused by business faculties and schools around the world to provide students with international experience and as a means of broadening their cultural understanding. Even though Japanese universities and other educational institutions have been at the forefront of developing and participating in study tours, the available literature is predominantly North American centric. By contrast,
Japanese academics and institutions have focused predominantly on the linguistic beneﬁts of study
tours producing a gap in the literature. This paper aims to address this gap and provide a Japanese perspective on designing and planning study tours as an eﬀective learning tool for students
in business and business-related majors.
Key words: short-term study tours, experiential learning, Japanese perspective
Acknowledgement: I would like to express my gratitude to Dr. Rumintha Wickramasekera, Schoolof AMPRA, QUT Business School Queensland University of Technology for his contribution.

INTRODUCTION
The global environment is becoming increasingly complex and interdependent. Given this interdependence it is imperative that to maintain harmonious international relations, economic prosperity and tolerance around the world that cultural understanding be promoted. One of the most eﬀec131

『経済研究』（明治学院大学）第 145 号

tive methods of promoting cultural understanding and awareness and an appreciation of the role ofbusiness in diverse cultural settings is to provide avenues to experience another culture ﬁrst handby engaging in ʻstudy toursʼ and working with others from diverse cultural backgrounds（Ellington
and Rice 1992, Wake 2011）.

Study tours have been used by business faculties and schools to provide students with international experience and to broaden their cultural understanding. Japanese universities and other educational institutions have been at the forefront of developing and participating in study tours tovarious destinations. However, the available literature tends to be the North American centric（Howard, Keller and MacEwan 2010）or Japanese institutions tend to focus predominantly on the linguistic
beneﬁts of study tours. This paper overcomes the limitation within the literature by providing an insight into the Japanese approach to designing and planning study tours as an eﬀective learning tool
for students in business and business-related majors. Speciﬁcally this discussion paper considers thedevelopment and implementation of short-term overseas study tours for undergraduate students inbusiness and business-related majors at Meiji Gakuin University（MGU）,Tokyo, Japan.

WHAT IS STUDY TOUR?
What is a study tour? Within the literature there are several deﬁnitions, however the following proposed by Miao, captures the important facets of what constitutes a study tour: “…an activityof learning and researching through personal visits to one or more unfamiliar sites, where those sites（the human participants, their interaction, lifestyles, cultures）are the subject of study”（Miao 2006,
p.219）. Study tours have been used by educational institutions around the world to provide students
with international experience and as a means of fostering their personal and academic capabilities.
Previous studies have shown that participants on overseas study tours gain a number of beneﬁts including improving perceived cross-cultural connectivity and professional development（Harrison2006）. Other beneﬁts include; attaining global-mindedness, stimulating intellectual growth, and improving personal development such as maturation, self-awareness and independence（Hadis 2005）.
Whereas short-term study tours can be criticized as ʻacademic tourismʼ, the Global Engagement Survey conducted by Page et al.（2010）demonstrated that study abroad experiences provided a longterm impact on studentsʼ lives regardless of the duration of the programs they participated in. The
impacts include ʻglobal engagementʼ（i.e. civic engagement, knowledge production, philanthropy, social entrepreneurship, and voluntary simplicity）as well as subsequent educational and career choices（Page et al. 2010）. Thus, the beneﬁts of short-term study tours could go far beyond academic tourism if study tours are carefully designed.
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ENHANCING GLOBAL CAPABILITIES VIA STUDY TOURS: A JAPANESE PERSPECTIVE

WHY DO WE IMPLEMENT SHORT-TERM STUDY TOURS?
While Japanese ﬁrms are increasingly looking for personnel with prior international experiences and a good command of English（Wake 2011）, there has been a growing concern that young people are becoming inward-looking and hence Japan is facing a critical skills deﬁciency. Speciﬁcally “Japan lacks globally literate people capable of negotiating the challenges of international business”（Austrade 2011, p5.）. Not only has the number of young Japanese going to foreign universities fallen by a ﬁfth since 2004, but also young employees are becoming more reluctant to apply for overseas
training programs and accept overseas postings（Yamamoto & Iwaki 2011 ）. In responding to thisproblem, the School of Global Management, the Faculty of Economics at MGU designs itʼs curriculum
to equip business-major students with ʻglobal capabilitiesʼ and/or ʼglobal literacyʼ that are relevant toa contemporary global and sustainable business environment. Speciﬁcally, the School aims at fostering students with:・knowledge and understanding of on-going change in a business environment,
・a global perspective in approaching and analysing current business issues,
・cultural understanding and awareness, and・global experiences.
Short-term study tours are incorporated into the formal curriculum to complement disciplinary knowledge gained through class room learning. In study tours, it tends to promote cultural understanding and awareness, and to develop communication skills that are imperative to an increasingly globalised world（see Figure 1）.

Figure 1: Curriculum Design
Disciplinary knowledge
Management & Strategy
Accounting & Finance+Trade & Industry
Learning
abliliteis
ablilieis

Short-term
study tours

Globalcapabilities

Globalcommunication
skills133

Globalexperiences

『経済研究』（明治学院大学）第 145 号

WHO ARE THE PARTICIPANTS?
The School of Global Management in the Faculty of Economics run study tours during thesummer and spring breaks for two weeks so as not to conﬂict with the general curriculum. Partner
institutions are often selected based on the faculty memberʼs personal networks as well as the reputation of the university. The costs are all born by participants, but the Faculty partially subsidies the
program fees. Students will receive course credit upon the completion of the two weeks program.

Twelve short-term overseas study tours to the three English speaking countries（Australia,
the UK and the US）have been undertaken between the academic year 2006 and 2010 with a total of
152 student participants. Of whom, 114 were females and 38 were males. Females tend to show
greater interests in overseas study tours than male students. This tendency is not unique to our institution as a similar result was found in other Japanese institutions（Greer 2008）.Nearly 70% of participants（n=106）were ﬁrst year students, followed by second year（n=39）, third year（n=7）andthe ﬁnal year（n=1）. Due to the social pressure placed upon students to start job hunting as early
during their third year, senior students are reluctant to participate in study tours. In addition, theSchool believes that providing students with the exposure to diverse cultures at an early stage of
their college life will be eﬀective.

Participantsʼ levels of English vary. In the past two years, students who have had substantial
overseas experiences（i.e. attended primary and/or secondary education in international schools
abroad）are gradually coming into the study tours. However, a number of students with no prior international experiences continue to come into the program.

Students most typically expressed their reasons for undertaking a short-term study tour being:・improving communication skills in English,・general interest in host countries, namely, CULTURE, PEOPLE and LIFE STYLE, and・broaden their perspectives to work in global settings.

HOW DO WE DESIGN STUDY TOURS FOR JAPANESE STUDENTS?
Four major components constitute our overseas study programs: these are: Academic components（e.g. lectures and student presentation）, Corporate components（e.g. visits to company and134

ENHANCING GLOBAL CAPABILITIES VIA STUDY TOURS: A JAPANESE PERSPECTIVE

government organisations, corporate guest speakers）, Cultural components（e.g. afternoon tea in theUK）,and Business English components. Byosiere & Luethge（2010）argues that student involvement
through a variety of exercises and experiences undertaken in a study tour is a key element to enhance student learning experiences. Moreover, the curriculum should cater for the appropriate levels
and expectations of the participants. The following issues are taken into account in designing thecurriculum:
・Given that Japan is known to be a high context culture where students do not explicitly expressing feelings and thoughts（Hall 1990）, their reactions tend to be reserved even in a familiar environment,
・As Japan is known to be a group-oriented society（Hofstede 1997, Gudykunst 1991, Odaka
1986）, students are reluctant express their own opinion and seek consensus before taking
actions,
・Participantsʼ English level varies. No screening process is employed using TOEFL or TOEIC scores given that it may deny opportunities for students who have no international experiences, but have growth potential, and・Participantsʼ are predominantly junior year students who have limited disciplinary knowledge and have little international exposure.

Based upon previous experiences, “good preparation” “group work” and “compare and contrast” approaches are found to encourage Japanese studentsʼ involvement and overcome diverse
English level. Furthermore, as Howard and Keller（2010）indicated, good communication with host
contacts are essential in planning sessions, speciﬁcally in the case of MGU, between the coordinatorsof the host institution and the home institution and between coordinators of the host institution andindividual lecturers. The later is particularly important in order to ensure that the contents of thelectures and courses catered for our studentsʼ needs and levels. Partner institutions have substantial
involvement in designing and planning programs in accordance with requirements of the home institution coordinator. Some of the activities and exercises that are employed in our study tours to encourage students to go out of their comfort zone and to maximize their learning experiences will bepresented below.

For business major students, corporate components are the most important parts of study
tours because this is how they learn about diﬀerent approaches to business practices. Site visits arecarefully designed to incorporate both corporate and academic components to increase the beneﬁts
of experiential learning. As for the Australian program, one of the site visits incorporates class room
learning into experiential learning using an audio-visual case study. Speciﬁcally, a brief lecture con135

『経済研究』（明治学院大学）第 145 号

cerning international expansion strategies（involving market entry into the Japanese market）undertaken by an Australian winery is provided by the host institution faculty using an audio-visual caseof the winery prior to the site-visit. Transcript notes are given to students to assist them in reviewing the lecture material and to overcome the participantsʼ varied English level. While on-site, students learn about the production side of the business, followed by a presentation from corporate executives of the winery. Upon the completion of the site-visit, students are required to work in teams
to answer a set of questions provided by the instructor regarding the marketing & management
strategies of the winery.

Visits to government trade organisations such as JETRO（Japan External Trade Organisation）and Austrade（Australian Trade Commission）provide students with an overview of the hostcountry by comparing and contrasting it to Japan. This includes the economic and investment relationships between Japan and the host country. If possible, the visit to these organisations should be
used as a starting point for study tours given that students found it useful to learn from practitioners
who have the sound knowledge of government and industry practices of the two countries. Moreover, given that the presenters in these organisations are often Japanese-English bilingual speakers,
students with limited English language skills are likely to get courage to be involved in discussion.

Final presentation is a way to encourage students to become proactive learners and to gain
conﬁdence in presenting in English. Participants are required to give group presentations upon thecompletion of the study tour in front of academic members of a host institution. They are given an
opportunity to prepare and practice their presentations prior to study tours. The instructor encourages students to choose a topic that highlights diﬀerences and similarities between a host country
and Japan in the context of business（e, g, marketing, business practices, management strategies）.In
addition, students are encouraged to conduct a survey and/or interviews in the home country（pretour work）and then in the host country to contrast their views（on-site work）. In this way, students
are required to go out and interact with locals. The data they gather should be incorporated into
their presentations. This exercise is beneﬁcial in achieving learning outcomes such as improvements
in language skills, broadening cultural understanding and most importantly gaining self-conﬁdence.

LESSONS LEARNT FROM THE INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON STUDY TOURSThe Faculty of Economics, MGU co-hosted an international symposium with Queensland University of Technology（QUT）titled “Enhancing cultural understanding via international study tours:
Learning from the Japanese experiences” as a part of itʼs 60th anniversary in 1 July 2011. The pur136

ENHANCING GLOBAL CAPABILITIES VIA STUDY TOURS: A JAPANESE PERSPECTIVE

pose of the symposium was to provide a forum for academics and students to come together to:・identify, discuss, and learn from the experience of MGU colleagues and students on what
constitutes a successful study tour in broadening international and cultural understanding,and・discuss and highlight the experience of international participants from Purdue University（USA）and QUT（Australia）in hosting and facilitating study tours.
In the following sections, some of the main issues raised in the symposium are reviewed, andthen an assessment task to increase their learning will be proposed.

Prof. Greg Hundley, the Director of Centers for International Business Education and Research（CIBERS）, Purdue University said in his key note speech that short-term overseas study tours canbe seen as “the beginning of journey of cultural learning to students” and even as “transformative
experience”. One student presenter said that by participating in a short-term study tour, she haslearnt “the diﬃculties associated with living in other countries” as well as “the importance of people
with diverse backgrounds learning how to cooperate together”. Further, this experience motivated
her to apply for a long-term exchange program to enhance her learning and ultimately “to contributeto the society” and “to be made use of globally”.

During site visits, students enjoy meeting with Japanese expatriates working in the host country or host country managers who have work experiences in Japan. Students felt that having suchopportunities helped them to enhance their interests in the academic sphere and prepare for future
careers. They are particularly interested in ﬁnding out what kind of diﬃculties they faced in foreigncountries and how they overcome the problems. Moreover, participants are able to broaden theirperspectives and gain new ideas and thoughts by comparing and contrasting their own attitudes tothose of locals. One student presenter said, “I found a striking diﬀerence between American students
and myself [during the study tour]. Everyone there had an interest for Japanese culture, politics andeconomy. I was surprised by their positive learning attitude, and had to reﬂect upon myself”. Another student presenter also highlighted differences in attitudes to learning between Japanese andAmerican students as the former being “inward looking”, “no self-conﬁdence” and “low self-esteem”
whereas the latter being “outward looking”, “conﬁdent” and “positive”. She went on to say, “the experiences I gained in the study tour broadened my horizon and made me think about my future”. As
demonstrated, short-term study tours can provide an opportunity to heighten self-awareness bybringing a diﬀerent perspective to education, career, and life. In addition, students are able to beginbuilding up a global network of friends and colleagues they have formed during study tours andmaintain it eﬀectively by social media.
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A study tour is also a way to develop self-conﬁdence by taking the challenges of placing themselves in an unfamiliar setting. Mr. Rob OʼDonovan, a former Senior Trade Commissioner in Australia, demonstrated in his presentation that “the journey itself is a learning experience”. One student
said“the best fascination is that we can see the real situation with our own eyes. When I saw that, I
realized that my outlook had been very narrow.” Other presenter noted that by participating in astudy tour, he has learnt the importance of “going into the ﬁeld”（experiencing the real world）and“having curiosity and courage to take on new challenges”.

In a series of discussions, we concluded that in terms of providing real world exposure andlearning short-term study tours are a valuable means of achieving this. Study tours can be eﬀectivein:・developing self-awareness & self-conﬁdence,・broadening own perspectives,・enhancing cultural understanding,・building networks, and・fostering global mildness.

However, currently, few measures are in place to continue studentsʼ learning AFTER study
tours. Thus, the following post-tour assessment is proposed by Dr. Yuka Sakurai, Lecturer, Facultyof Economics, MGU（the Author）and Dr. Rumintha Wickramasekera, Senior Lecturer, QUT Business School.

POST TOUR ASSESSMENT
In designing appropriate assessment tasks, studentsʼ needs and cultural backgrounds need tobe considered in order to maximize learning. Thus, based on previous experience, in 2012 a trial will
be undertaken on international group work between the home institution（MGU）and the host institution（QUT）. It was decided that case study analysis would be the most appropriate assessment
item given the advantage of experimental learning. Two case studies were produced; one based on a
Japanese company, and the other an Australian company.

Students will take on the role of International Business Consultants. Students based at thehost institution in Australia will analyse the Japanese case study and vice versa. In addition, they
will act as consultants to their colleagues in Japan using email, Skype and Elluminate. The analysis
will be based on the Ivey method of Case analysis. This method is undertaken in three stages, name138

ENHANCING GLOBAL CAPABILITIES VIA STUDY TOURS: A JAPANESE PERSPECTIVE
Figure 2: International Group Work Assessment
・Individual preparation

・International group discussion

・Assessment 1 (500 words report)

・Class Discussion ＆ Feedback

・Assessment 2 (500 words report)

ly individual preparation, small group discussion and class discussion. The class discussion will be recorded using a ﬂip camera and a livescribe smart pen（records voice and written notes in a digitized
format）. The discussion, instructorʼs notes and verbal comments will be shared between the twogroups for comment and feedback. This method has the added advantage of facilitating review at
any time, improving feedback to students in a multimedia format.（In addition implementation is notreliant on synchronising the timetabling between the two groups of students）.
Assessment will be based on two 500 word submissions. The ﬁrst will be based on the ﬁrst
reading of the case study by the student without assistance. The second submission will be after theclass discussion and feedback from the international collaborators（see Figure 2 ）. The assessment
can be used prior, on-site and/or post-study tours, but preferably to be used in post-study tours tomaximize student learning outcome.
In addition, the proposed assessment would help to maximize the learning for students fromboth the home and the host institutions to enhance their international knowledge and broaden cultural understanding.

CONCLUSION
In terms of providing real world exposure and learning, study tours are a valuable means ofachieving this. From the experience of our school, it is apparent that maximum beneﬁt is gained bycarefully planning the study tours and ensuring that they are suitable for Japanese students with little international exposure. It is imperative to impart some basic understanding of the country andthe culture the students are visiting prior to departure. While in the country learning and under139

『経済研究』（明治学院大学）第 145 号

standing is maximized by having broad ranged interaction with the ʻlocalsʼ. However this interaction
should be continued after returning from the host country by engaging in activities such as international group work to maximize understanding. On-going collaborative eﬀorts between the host institution and the home institution are required to achieve greater learning outcomes from study tours.

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