Japan

Dean Jain led an MBA Update session to alumni in Tokyo last October. Prof. Philip Kotler also taught a class.

Minako Yago ’96 offers this report for the Kellogg Alumni Club of Japan:

MBA Update in Tokyo stimulated passions and continued to build a solid emotional bond between alumni and the school.

On Oct. 28, MBA Update, the Kellogg School’s initiative to provide alumni with a lifelong learning opportunity, was held in Tokyo. Nearly 200 alumni and business executives attended this seminar, which featured two prominent marketing professors — Philip Kotler and Dipak Jain. Topics were “Marketing in the New Economy” for Professor Kotler and “Market Renewal: A Growth-driven Competitive Paradigm” for Dean Jain. Dean Jain started his lecture by talking about his vision and mission for Kellogg, and how he became the new dean. His speech impressed not only alumni but business executives there, and some got so emotional they began crying.

The event attracted enthusiasm from a wide range of alumni that ranged graduating classes of 1960s to our most recent graduates. Yoshimitsu Kaji ’97, the coordinator of this event with the Kellogg Alumni Club of Japan (KACJ) and the Kellogg School, said: “This MBA Update is a wonderful event for alumni to get exposure to latest management theories from our alma mater. It is also a great opportunity for us to solidify our bond across generations as a part of the Kellogg community.”

After the MBA Update, all alumni got together for the KACJ Annual meeting where Dean Don Jacobs participated.

Besides organizing events like this MBA Update, the Kellogg Alumni Club of Japan has been actively supporting the school’s initiatives to enhance Kellogg’s presence in Japan. Last year, 18 alumni volunteered to translate the Kellogg on Marketing text into Japanese. This translation hit the Top 10 ranks of business books at Amazon.co.jp and other bookstores in the first weeks after publishing. Currently, alumni volunteers are translating textbooks by Prof. David Besanko and Prof. Mohan Sawhney.

The next MBA Update in Tokyo is scheduled for fall 2002.