I joined Hewlett-Packard Japan, Ltd after graduation and had been engaged in marketing activities for twelve years in the electronic measuring instruments and IT department. But my true interests lay somewhere else. Aside from my day job, I also worked with doctors on a rescue team that responded to car accidents at F1 races. The feeling of fulfillment and satisfaction was a lot greater than that of my regular work. So, I decided to follow my intuition and change my job to work for a Norwegian emergency medical-related company. Although the industry at the time was very conservative and didn't have clear business or marketing strategy, they were looking for a person who had advanced marketing expertise to introduce AED* to the Japan market. I was hired to create the market for it so I wrote a business plan on my own.
*AED: An automated external defibrillator is a portable automatic device used to restore normal heart rhythm to patients in cardiac arrest.
Pre-IMBA Student Interviews
I dove into the field of emergency medical care where my interest was.
——You have a really unique work experience in various companies. Can you tell us how that came to be?
At Globis, I learn things in a practical way.
——You were a marketing expert already. What made you decide to study it further and also learn other management courses?
I knew all about marketing but this was a completely new industry and my first job change. So, I wanted to be sure what I was doing was right. At Globis, to my surprise, I realized I didn't know as much as I should. I had studied marketing and strategy on my own but I felt the need to strengthen my accounting and finance skills as well. I attended student-led study sessions held every other week where students with a financial background helped me deepen my understanding. Then, I forced myself to apply what I learned to make the most of my skills. At Globis, I also encountered team effectiveness. I could spend hours on my own to figure something out but in a team with diverse members, the learning synergy was beyond what I could have achieved on my own. Working in teams really develops your leadership skills and enables you to achieve higher goals than as an individual. The value of the tuition of 122,000 yen per course is truly dependent on the student's learning attitude to make it a 1.2 million yen course or just a 12,000 yen course.
I enjoy challenges & risk-taking.
——You recently moved to a new company. What drives you to take on these challenges?
I'm currently involved in marketing the newest diagnostics technology to prevent cardiac sudden deaths. I would say the entrepreneurial spirit I learned at Globis had a large influence on my decision to take this job opportunity. Before I came to Globis, I thought of a risk as something I should be afraid of. Now, I'm able to analyze situations and understand what and where the uncertainty lies, and the degree of it. I even enjoy thinking how to reduce the uncertainty level and challenge the risk. The job itself is far from what can be called easy but the company has strong strategic thinking and promotes change so I am now here to challenge myself again.
The essentials courses are not the basics; they are the essence extracted from each field.
——You already had in-depth management knowledge after taking many courses in Japanese. What made you decide to take an essentials course in English?
I had always worked for foreign-affiliated companies so my colleagues and bosses were mostly non-Japanese. I didn't feel comfortable speaking in English so I went to a language school but it wasn't business-oriented. What I needed was skills to do business in English, to think and speak in English to lead the team. The English-language MBA courses at Globis are very effective for acquiring those skills. I learned so much in the essential courses. When you have the essence of each field of management, you start to think about its applications and the ideas come flowing to you. Learning the "essence" of management is different from learning the "basics" of management.
Kentaro Kawakami
Diagnostic Cardiology Dept., Marketing Manager
GE Healthcare Japan Corporation
GE Healthcare Japan Corporation
