Certified Evaluation and Accreditation Results forProfessional Graduate Business School

Kagawa University Graduate School of Management

Basic Information of the Institution
Ownership: National

Location: Kagawa, Japan

Accreditation Status
Year of the Review: 2018
Accreditation Status: accredited （Accreditation Period: April.01.2019 – March.31.2024）

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Certified Evaluation and Accreditation Resultsfor Kagawa University Graduate School of Management
Kagawa University Graduate School of Management (hereafter, GSM) sets theeducational purpose of “cultivating, through education and research that contribute toregional revitalization, leaders who possess high ethics, global perspectives, and theability to deal with management and regional policies to support and manage the region
with high aspirations.” Based on this purpose, GSM aims to foster three types ofprofessionals: business leaders, public officials, and regional producers. In terms of equal
focus on nurturing “public officials” and “regional producers” who contribute to regional
governments and revitalization, GSM is distinctive from other professional businessschools in that many set their chief purpose as fostering professionals and specialists inthe area of business management, or in other words, “business leaders.”
In line with its purpose, GSM has taken great strides in establishing an advisoryboard consisting of regional experts in various fields, having staff members regularly visit
regional companies that employ its graduates, offering “Economic Situation of Shikoku”
and other courses sponsored by regional businesses and organizations, and exchanging
information officially and unofficially with the Kagawa Association of Corporate
Executives. It is commendable that through these initiatives GSM understands thedemands and expectations of regional businesses and local communities, and incorporates
them into its curriculum.
GSM’s internal organization, the “Executive Committee of Regional Business
Conceptualization/Support Project,” also created and continues the annual “Kagawa
Business and Public Plan Competition” in cooperation with supporting local businesses.
The fifth competition was held in 2017 and hosted by the Committee. As part of thisaggressive initiative, the Committee invites ideas and plans to revitalize Kagawa, grants
awards to excellent competitors, and supports the implementation of their plans. GSM
students enroll in the “Practical Regional Revitalization Exercise” course to create uniquebusiness plans and cultivate their practical skills in conjunction with coursework. GSM
also organizes the “Business School Symposium at Kagawa University” as an opportunity
for all first-year students to make practical use of what they learned in the first semester
to formulate ideas on how to revitalize the region. The students are responsible forplanning, research, management, and implementation of this event. As represented bythese initiatives, GSM is providing unique education that is rooted in the region.
However, there are several issues that GSM needs to address, despite activelymaking the distinctive efforts described above.
First, there is the issue of formulating an effective strategy for realizing the abovementioned purpose. It is true that GSM has set out its medium- and long-term visions andstrategy for pursuing them. It was also selected as one of the graduate schools ofmanagement receiving support from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Scienceand Technology in 2017 to enhance its capabilities to foster highly specialized
professionals. Accordingly, it created four educational programs: “Education Program forMedia/ Content Developers,” “International Business Training Program,” “ShikokuType Regional Management Case Method Education Program” and “Post MBA Program.”
It also carried out international business training in collaboration with the University ofFlorence. As described above, GSM has actively executed some of the plans included inits strategy. However, the school’s current visions and strategy are simply a mix ofstrategic and tactical issues that needs to be put in order from the perspective of priority
and resource allocation.
Second is the issue of curriculum organization. GSM’s curriculum consists of fivesubject groups, namely the “Basic Analytical Subject Group,” “Basic Regional Subject
Group,” “Basic Subject Group,” “Applied Subject Group and Special Lectures” and“Project Subjects” for which students are required to earn a specific number of credits to3complete the program. Taking into account the issues to be addressed noted in theprevious Certified Evaluation and Accreditation Report for Professional Graduate
Business Schools, GSM has increased the number of credits required for program
completion from thirty-two to forty: from six to ten credits for the “Basic Subject Group”
and from six to eight credits for “Project Subjects,” with an increase in the number ofsubjects from six to nine in “Basic Subject Group.” As a result, the ratio of students taking
some basic business management subjects rose to over 80 percent while declining forother subjects because only “Project Subjects” is compulsory. It is expected that GSM
will make additional efforts to design subject groups and curriculums that give students
an opportunity to obtain the prerequisite knowledge required to take applied subject
courses by studying subject matter that allows them to acquire the specialized knowledge
necessary for the management of businesses and other organizations, which is the basicmission of professional business schools, or the basic subject matter necessary to pursue
their objectives. It may be advisable to make some subjects compulsory for program
completion. In addition, the role of faculty members as academic advisors (AA) is criticalin assisting students with a high degree of freedom in choosing their elective subjects. As
practitioner faculty members are employed on a fixed term basis and highly mobile, it isexpected that GSM will make further efforts to ensure that faculty members as a wholeshare the understanding of their roles as AAs and the instructional content of their classes,
and create a balanced coursework guidance system.
“Project Research” is an educational method unique to GSM, and is currently
the only compulsory subject and positioned as a compilation of all program coursework.
This subject is designed for students to conduct theoretical and practical research to findsolutions for issues faced by local companies and governments, with its strength being
the thorough coursework guidance provided by multiple faculty members. According to
the survey of graduates for “Project Research,” however, nearly 40 percent were notsatisfied with the subject. GSM is urged to investigate the reasons for their dissatisfaction
as soon as possible and seek ways to implement improvements.
In addition, it is expected that GSM will take the initiative to improve thecurriculum to allow all students to acquire broader and deeper knowledge to attain theprogram’s purposes of “cultivating a sense of social responsibility and ethics” and“fostering global perspectives” set out in its diploma award policy. In light of its claim tobe a global educational institution, the school needs to expand the ratio of foreign faculty
members.
In terms of procedures, GSM needs to establish a system to check the syllabi, set
up procedures for filing a petition against the assessment of academic achievement, andprepare the documents necessary to fulfill non-disclosure obligations and confidentiality
requirements.
Given that GSM has spent many years in developing talented persons who
contribute to regional governments and revitalization with a focus on the Shikoku region,
it is expected that the school will respond to these recommendations in an appropriatemanner for further development as a professional business graduate school.