Certified Evaluation and Accreditation Results forProfessional Graduate Business School

Graduate School of Business Administration, Kobe University

Basic Information of the Institution
Ownership: National

Location: Hyogo, Japan

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

2

Certified Evaluation and Accreditation Results
for Graduate School of Business Administration, Kobe University
The Graduate School of Business Administration, Kobe University (hereafter, GSBA)
specifies the educational purpose of “fostering a core group of businesspeople inJapanese society with advanced expertise in both general business administration andspecific areas of study, who can think logically and apply their expertise in practice, andhave world-class capabilities to think, judge, and communicate.”
Today with many professional graduate business schools in Japan facing theproblem of insufficient enrollment, GSBA steadily fulfills its quota of sixty-ninestudents per year, providing a program that allows students to take classes only on
Saturdays and complete their coursework in one and half years. It is commendable thatthe school systematically offers practical interactive seminars, including “Case Project
Research,” “Theme Project Research,” and “Thesis Supervision Seminar,” in thebusiness-dominated Keihan area. It is also notable that the school is working to achieve
its objective by taking measures that include “Applied Study in Industrial Managementof Japan and UK,” a course promoting international exchange with the UK’s Cranfield
University. In addition, the school has adopted the unique initiative of asking former
graduates, as MBA fellows, to give advice to students in “Theme Project Research”
mentioned above. GSBA has also taken other outstanding actions to create an
educational environment that encourages students’ self-learning and interaction, forexample, by providing a study room students can use freely on the Rokkodai FirstCampus, organizing open seminars and forums on the university’s campuses, andactively publicizing the multiple aspects of GSBA’s educational and research policy tosociety and the business community through the publication of the book “Jinsei woKaeru MBA” (A Life-changing MBA: Leading through Management Theory inPractice).
There are several issues that GSBA needs to address, however. For somesubjects, the methods and standards for assessing academic achievement are not set
forth in the syllabi, a situation that should be rectified as soon as possible. Attendance iscurrently one of the factors for accessing academic achievement for more than a few
subjects; it is expected that GSBA will consider whether this policy is appropriate inlight of its educational purpose and take the necessary actions in line with the featuresof each subject. Furthermore, there is the issue of assigning an “F” grade to students inthe bottom 5 percent a more without exception for core subjects. It is desirable that
GSBA reconsider its efforts to apply more stringent rules to grading. In addition, syllabi
are written in detail for some subjects, but not for others. This problem must also beaddressed.
There are also issues that must be examined from the perspective ofdisseminating information to students and other parties. First, GSBS’s purpose isdescribed differently depending on the medium. Although it is possible to use different
expressions with different mediums to explain the purpose intelligibly, it is expectedthat GSBA will review the consistency of the content once again, with clarificationprovided on its website after making the necessary revisions. Second, it is not clear
which subject category each subject belongs to, whether it is core, specialized (applied),or specialized (practical). The school should indicate this clearly to students through thestudent handbook or curriculum map. Third, it is desirable that GSBA set up minimum
grading guidelines for non-core subjects.
In addition, despite the many unique aspects of its curriculum GSBA does notprovide all students with an opportunity to acquire a high level of professional ethics.
As a high-profile issue for professional business schools in recent years, it is expectedthat GSBA will devise a way to ensure this. It is also desirable that the school review
the maximum number of credits students can register for in one academic year as well

3

as the academic calendar. Finally, GSBA is expected to take this opportunity to begin
discussions on creating a written strategy for better resource allocation, enhancement ofinstitutional abilities, creation of value, increasing the number of foreign faculty
members, and strengthening the administrative bureau.
This is the first time for GSBA to be evaluated and accredited as a professional
business school by the Japan University Accreditation Association. Through theevaluation and accreditation process, its achievements and unique characteristics havebeen clarified. GSBA is expected to leverage the evaluation results for furtherdevelopment.