Toshiba International Foundation Chairman Keisuke Omori said during the opening ceremony, “The spread of Covid-19 across Asia in the world has enforced huge constraints in the mobility of people between many countries. But at the same time, on the bright side, it does accelerate a global shift to online communication and education, including the spread of high-level online courses. It does increase the opportunities for broader students to access and appreciate the high-quality lectures conducted by leading scholars from abroad.” He added, “There is an increasing number of academic cooperation between Japan and Malaysia as they share a common agenda of adaptation to the change of the global environment. In other words, Japan and Malaysia highly depend on each other by exchanging and sharing resources, including exchange of talented people.”

Prof Ewe enthused, “Japan and Malaysia have already cultivated positive and amicable partnerships as well as strong bilateral trade and investment linkages for a long time. We are honoured to be collaborating with Toshiba International Foundation who takes a lot of initiative in creating programmes that encourage coming generations of researchers, scholars and specialists working to enhance understanding of Japan. I am glad to note that university students from various economies such as Malaysia, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Taiwan, Russia, Thailand, the United Kingdom and Uzbekistan will also be joining this programme.”

“Under the project, these students will have the opportunity to learn about Japan as a place of business, the main aspects of Japanese management, Japanese social and cultural concepts; develop strategic thinking in the Japanese market context and be exposed to the key concepts and tools used in solving management problems of Japanese multinational corporations. Apart from that, 10 UTAR lecturers will be undergoing the programme as training to develop course content and conduct similar courses in the future. This project also intends to sponsor a PhD student and two researchers to conduct research on the effectiveness of online teaching and learning and publish a journal paper based on the outcome of the project. This research initiative will eventually expand the knowledge that responds to academic and community needs,” added Prof Ewe.

FAM Dean Dr Sia Bee Chuan said, “Although international management theories and practices in the areas of motivation, leadership concepts and the overall management processes are quite standard in the textbooks, it is the cultural differences that provide a different interpretation and adaptation that makes a great difference. Japan has long been known as a dynamic and progressive country where its people are very disciplined and hardworking. There is a lot we can learn from them and a lot we can share in terms of applications, negotiation skills, problem-solving and decision-making skills.” She added, “We are always seeking to explore and collaborate with international partners to enhance the learning experience of our students and to widen their international exposure for impactful learning outcomes.”

Prof Parissa Hagririan will share her weekly lectures on International Business Environment Studies with the students. Some of the topics that will be shared are Japanese business culture, consumer, production, distribution, knowledge management, strategy and negotiation. Aside from UTAR students, students from Far Eastern Federal University, Indonesia International Institute for Life-Sciences, London School of Public Relations, Nanjing Agricultural University, Phuket Rajabhat University, Samarkand State University, Telkom University, Tunghai University, UCSI University, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Universitas Airlangga, Universitas Diponegoro, Universitas Internasional Batam, University of Hyderabad and Woxsen University participated in the programme.