Graduate School of Management, Kyoto University
External Evaluation by External Advisory Board Member
October 31 (Tuesday), 15:30-17:00
Location: Kyoto UniversityAgenda

1. Greetings from Dean Sawabe
2. Introductions
3. Explanation of the Graduate School of Management, Kyoto University’s current
situation, challenges and opportunities
4. Matters for Discussion
・Research Activities (Presented by Professor Wakabayashi)
・Educational Activities (Presented by Professor Yamada)・Learning Environment (Information and Documentation Facilities) (Presentedby Professor Matsui)
・Promoting Internationalization (Presented by Professor Colpan)
5. Submission of written feedback from Professor Tan
submission deadline: 17th November, 2023
Feedback to be submitted as a single A4 word file and emailed to:International Accreditation and Communications Office Representative(Aoi Nomoto) nomoto.aoi.3u@kyoto-u.ac.jp

Graduate School of Management, Kyoto University
External Evaluation Participant List

[External Advisory Board Member (Attending member)]Professor Barış Tan
Koc University[Kyoto University Members]Professor Norio SawabeDean, Graduate School of Management, Kyoto University
Professor Tadashi Yamada
Vice-Dean, Graduate School of Management, Kyoto University
Professor Naoki Wakabayashi
Director of the Center for Research in Business Administration
Professor Hiroyuki Matsui
Chair of the General Affairs Committee
Professor Asli M. Colpan
Chair of the International Relations Committee[Administrative Staff]
Ms. Miyako Furuta
Secretary for Dean’s Office of the Graduate School of Management, Kyoto University
Ms. Aoi Nomoto
International Accreditation and Communications Office Representative

Feedback Report for the External Advisory Board Mee;ngProf. Dr. Barış Tan, Koç University

November 3, 2023
I visited Kyoto University Graduate School of Management, during October 30 - November 2, 2023, as an ExternalAdvisory Board member. During this period, in addiNon to the External Advisory Board meeNng, I also aOended twomeeNng to discuss the structure and the plans regarding the iGSM program and the status of EQUIS accreditaNon
midterm progress report in detail. This short feedback note summarizes my main observaNons and suggesNons drawn
from these meeNngs and the informaNon I acquired in my previous meeNngs with the school’s leadership and faculty.
The main issues we discussed at these meeNngs are related to structuring the Kyoto GSM’s program porVolio, monitoring
research acNviNes in diﬀerent areas, faculty-related issues, physical space requirements, internaNonalizaNon, quality
assurance and the progress regarding the developmental areas idenNﬁed by EQUIS.
•••••••

Program Por(olio: My main suggesNon is combining all the English and Japanese programs under a single programthat may be referred as Kyoto MBA. In this structure, the current programs can be oﬀered as diﬀerent tracks forthe students. All the English and Japanese courses should be open to all students. Making this change requires
unifying the admission processes and requirements (excluding the language requirement for the English programs.)
Research: Increasing research impact is one of the EQUIS developmental goals. The research at Kyoto GSM ismulNdisciplinary and covers areas, such as environmental studies and waste management, that are not typicallycovered in business schools. It is important to report the research acNviNes and outputs in a way that will convey
the mulNdisciplinary research at Kyoto GSM as an enriching and disNnguishing feature to an internaNonal audience.
Furthermore, the quality and quanNty of research output in diﬀerent outlets should be monitored and reportedwith the relevant breakdown, such as publicaNons in FT40 journals, top internaNonal journals (e.g., top 10% citedor ABS journal 4*), internaNonal journals, Japanese journals, professional magazines, case studies, publicaNons
related to UN SDG categories etc. While secng targets and asking all the faculty members to work towards thesetargets would be a top-down approach that is common in many Western business schools, discussing the progressof these results on a yearly basis with the whole faculty may also lead to a similar posiNve change in Kyoto GSM.
Faculty: Improving faculty suﬃciency is one of the EQUIS developmental goals. The number of female andinternaNonal faculty should be increased. While Kyoto GSM has a very high faculty/student raNo, using many
adjuncts and visiNng faculty creates a confusion. The number of adjunct and visiNng faculty seems to be highconsidering the teaching requirements. The number of elecNve courses to oﬀer each year should be determinedconsidering the target average number of students in each course. This will indicate the adjunct and visiNng facultyrequirements in a considered way. The processes related to appoinNng, evaluaNng, and deciding on the renewal ofadjunct and visiNng faculty should be improved.
Interna7onaliza7on: Developing a detailed strategic plan that includes internaNonalizaNon is one of the EQUIS
developmental goals. InternaNonalizaNon covers all the acNviNes of the school. The acNon plan should include all
the acNons to improve internaNonalizaNon of programs, students, faculty, research, execuNve educaNon, andcorporate connecNons with the relevant key performance indicators.
Quality Assurance: Developing a quality assurance system is one of the EQUIS developmental goals. Acomprehensive process should be developed to idenNfy the intended learning objecNves (ILOs) for all theprograms, ILOs for each course, and review programs regularly. A special aOenNon is required to assure the qualityof the content, delivery, and assessment methods used in the courses oﬀered by the adjunct and visiNng faculty.
Physical Space: One of the main challenges Kyoto GSM faces is the physical space. Kyoto GSM needs a dedicatedlarger space or a new building. If this is not possible, the current space should be improved. Its physical spaceshould deliver the brand message of Kyoto GSM clearly to all the visitors. It would be beOer to have all the bilingualsigns. The status of the physical resources can be an issue for the next reaccreditaNon visit.
EQUIS Progress: The acNviNes related to accreditaNons should be viewed as vehicles to improve the quality of theschool. Accordingly, the acNons to address the issues raised by EQUIS can be decided considering their importanceto the school. All the issues discussed above are related to the EQUIS developmental goals and the quality
dimensions. The progress report should reﬂect the developments in these areas since May 2023, preferably inquanNtaNve terms based on selected KPIs. At the same Nme, the progress report should be wriOen in a way toinform the new members of the next peer review team and reiterate the important issues such as the restricNons
imposed by the government, endowed chair system, boOom-up culture in academia among others to EFMD.
I congratulate the school’s leadership, faculty, and administraNon for the successful results obtained during theprevious year and wish the best for the coming period.