We're already moving away from broadcast but here there was clearly a corporate need. Quisic has so far completed several hundred hours of television filming with USC professors and, under the terms of the agreement, Quisic can now sell on some of this material to other corporate clients or universities. Quisic is also in discussion with Business Breakthrough with a view to selling the material to others in Japan, perhaps corporate clients. There are also clear pedagogical advantages to using the satellite television network. The average student watches each programme three to four times and transcripts of each programme are available online.
Students can complete the programme in two years or up to five years.
So far, Mr Kuwano believes the Business Bridge programme has served him well. The only thing that I think that may matter is my lack of context in the class experience, he says. I may have acquired many pieces of knowledge and fine points of logic through one-way media like TV and asynchronous media like the internet, but that may not be enough to think critically and creatively. The University of Colorado in Boulder has recognised the programme for students applying there and Bond University, in Australia, has agreed to allow MBAs there who have completed the first year of the Business Breakthrough programme to shave some time off its MBA programme. USC is now looking for more business school partners.