Certified Evaluation and Accreditation Results forProfessional Graduate Business School

Graduate School of Business,University of Hyogo

Basic Information of the Institution
Ownership: PublicLocation: Hyogo, JapanAccreditation 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 Results
for the Graduate School of Business, University of Hyogo
The Graduate School of Business (hereafter, GSB), University of Hyogo sets forth thebasic principle of “contributing to regional development by cultivating business
management professionals who can play an active part in bridging local communities
and the world and developing talented people who can generate social innovations.”
This principle corresponds to GSB’s two distinctive features of “cultivating business
management professionals who bridge local communities and the world” and“developing talented people who generate social innovations and contribute to regionaldevelopment.” In accordance with this basic principle, GSB states its mission as
fostering “business leaders endowed with management skills cultivated throughcomprehensive study of practical, theory-based management methods,” “entrepreneurs
capable of executing their own original ideas and concepts,” “key managerial staff insmall and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) who can be active in revitalizing regionaleconomies,” “management consultants for SMEs with sophisticated businessknowledge useful for revitalizing regional economies,” “next-generation administrative
staff with management talents in medical institutions and nursing facilities able to makefull use of the private sector’s prevailing management methods,” “professional
researchers actively involved in research institutes or think-tanks,” and “motivatedpeople active in revitalizing regional economies and contributing to local communities.”
In order to cultivate such management professionals, GSB has established thefour course studies of Business Innovation, Regional Innovation, Healthcare
Management, and Care Management based on the medium-term objectives developed
under the auspices of the governor of Hyogo.
In terms of educational methods for fostering professionals who can contributeto regional development, GSB has developed a curriculum that focuses on real issues inthe field and offers theory classes as well as experience- and field-based studies andconsulting projects where companies and students tackle issues together. Theseexperience-based off-campus studies have achieved outstanding educational outcomes.
For example, one field-based study proposal developed by a student was actually used
as a new approach for expanding the sales channels of a local company where thestudent worked as a trainee. It is also commendable that GSB has introduced a joint
guidance system that allows both practitioner faculty members, including specialappointment and visiting faculty members, and academic faculty members to discussand proceed with effective and efficient operations of field-based studies and consulting
projects. It is highly notable that GSB has set up a faculty development (hereafter, FD)committee to review each and every course, and all faculty members in various
positions can learn from each other’s different ideas, experiences, and teaching
methods. It is also commendable that GSB has taken initiatives to continue theexperience-based studies by, for example, establishing the Industry-AcademiaGovernment Conference for Innovation and Human Resources; concluding
collaboration agreements with local governments, economic organizations, and othereducational institutions to secure educational sites; and creating a mechanism to returnthe benefits of students’ knowledge, ideas and execution skills back to regional
economies.
On the other hand, as pointed out in the last Certified Evaluation andAccreditation for Professional Graduate Business School, GSB, which does not require
work experience for admission and accepts only new college graduates for the Business
Innovation course, needs to review its admission policy from the perspective ofbusiness management education at a professional graduate school and consider whether
the admission policy conforms to the profile of professionals it aims to cultivate. The
admission policy is currently written in relatively general terms, for instance, “students

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who have a certain level of expertise, motivation to learn, and experience of study.”
GSB needs to clarify the admission qualifications as well as the profile of students it
seeks to admit in accordance with its purposes, course designs, and degrees to beconferred. In addition, GSB has not set the degree award and curriculum policies foreach degree. This situation should be addressed.
GSB is expected to conduct continuous self-study and evaluation activities, andimprove and reform its educational practices, leading to further development andenrichments as a professional graduate school contributing to regional development.