How well is the reputation of Doshisha Business School and is it worth taking up the Global MBA program offered by the university? From whatever information I saw at their website, the tuition fee seems to be fairly inexpensive and scholarships are provided to 90% of the students with a minimum of 30% of tuition fees covered by the university (upto max 100%). How good is the university as compared to Kobe, Ritsumeikan, Keio, Waseda, Hitotsubashi, Temple?

In terms of reputation in Japan it would be

Hitotsubashi
Keio


<big gap here>


Waseda
Dohshisha
Kobe
Temple
Ritsumeikan

A google found this:
http://klogue.net/2012/07/10/japan-mba_ranking/

I would strongly advise against getting an MBA from a Japanese university.

I keep writing a long post but I'm a terrible writer on my phone here. Basically , the reason why I advise against Japanese business schools is because Japanese companies do not value the MBA the way it is valued by the rest of the world....

kitakitsune Wrote:I would strongly advise against getting an MBA from a Japanese university.

I keep writing a long post but I'm a terrible writer on my phone here. Basically , the reason why I advise against Japanese business schools is because Japanese companies do not value the MBA the way it is valued by the rest of the world....

Please elaborate, I would like to hear your opinion no this..

I can't comment from any background of experience, but Japanese companies still tend to promote people from within the company into a higher management positions than looking outside the company to fill it. As a result, the MBA, which would usually help give you a leg up into higher positions in a company, ends up useless in a country that places seniority and commitment in a company over experience and credentials.

Exec positions seem to defy this though.

The main problem is this:

When a Japanese company or foreign company in Japan wants MBA skills, they typically select a promising employee and then send them to business school paying for the whole thing. After the employee graduates, they return to their companies and continue their jobs.

A secondary problem stems from the original problem:

Companies in Japan know that the vast majority of domestic MBA students are legally bound to return to their sponsoring companies. When they do need to recruit an MBA holder (rare), they do not actively recruit from domestic MBA programs and concentrate their MBA recruiting abroad at top schools.

A lot of schools are desperately trying to internationalize their MBA programs, such as Doshisha or IUJ...but the rest of the Japanese business world is way behind and foreign students who attend their programs have a hard time finding jobs. And if they do find jobs, salary offers are typically 40%-50% the pay US MBA new-grads would expect.

If you still want to work in Japan I would suggest getting your MBA at a US or Singapore school with ties to Japan through exchange programs or internships.

Quote:When a Japanese company or foreign company in Japan wants MBA skills, they typically select a promising employee and then send them to business school paying for the whole thing.

Does this really achieve much? Seems like the general consensus that MBA is just another piece of paper certification to make it easier for HR to eliminate candidates easily, or at least, working in the company will prepare you better for... working in the company.

dizmox Wrote:

Quote:When a Japanese company or foreign company in Japan wants MBA skills, they typically select a promising employee and then send them to business school paying for the whole thing.

Does this really achieve much? Seems like the general consensus that MBA is just another piece of paper certification to make it easier for HR to eliminate candidates easily, or at least, working in the company will prepare you better for... working in the company.

Yes, in principle, but because many management-track Japanese employees are "generalists" they can either get in-house training in things like accounting, negotiation, etc., or they can do an MBA.

To the OP: Don't. A Japanese MBA won't get you a job in Japan or elsewhere. In fact, an MBA is such a time suck and such a common degree nowadays that you either get a top-25 degree (check out the Financial Times or Business Week rankings), or you're better off with a "real" graduate degree in whatever your field might be. Getting a Japanese MBA is definitely not the way to stay in Japan after working a few years as an 英会話 teacher in the hope of finding a real job.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/25/educat...d=all&_r=0

Definitely sucks to hear stuff like that. I remember a few years back I posted on this forum about how I wanted to attend a Japanese university (for a Bachelor's Degree). Some of the very same people that said it here, said it then, which is that it's probably better to just get your degree outside of Japan. One year from graduation I find myself thinking that while it's been a difficult wait to not be in Japan by now, it was the correct choice. Sure this doesn't exactly apply to your situation involving a Master's Degree, but I wanted to point out that there's a lot of good advice here and hopefully it helps you make the right choice.

I'll just point out that there is always study abroad. Its not necessarily impossible to do a study abroad on a grad program in Japan. That's currently an option I'm looking at.

Saying an MBA won't get a job anywhere is a bit strong. It might be most useful as an adjunct to a technical degree, but some management and similar jobs in the computer industry tend to go to people who have an MBA. I know more than one person who's gone part-time to get an MBA in order to get a job. For new graduates, it might not be very useful, though.

I can't comment on Japanese vs American business schools at all.

@TheVinster What was the problem with getting the bachelor's in Japan?

Thank you all for your feedback! I have been lurking in this forum for quite a long time and really like this place because the suggestions and advice are always positive and encouraging.

To clarify a few things,

I am currently working as an Interpreter and Translator in a Japanese Company in India. My current skill set is only Japanese and the fact that I have JLPT N1 and speak the language at reasonable fluency. Therefore I am looking to change my field of work and my job. So I don't really want a managerial position in a Japanese company after I graduate from a Business School.

To be honest, I don't have the kind of money to do an MBA in the US (although I would like to). I have been saving up money for the past 4 years but I have only enough money to do an MBA in Singapore if get at least 50% scholarship. Also the scholarship options at Doshisha for the Global MBA program look very enticing (upto 100% offered for 30% of the students)

Very few US Business schools offer scholarships from what I have looked up so far on the web. The only way I can think of doing an MBA in the US is if I take a loan from a bank and unless I land up a job in the US or maybe Japan right after I graduate with a reasonable pay, repaying the loan will be tough.

Also, I might get married to my Japanese GF sometime before I start my MBA and her home town is in Kansai, so I thought that I might as well do an MBA in Japan while living with her. She is currently working in India but wants to quit her job as soon as possible and return to Japan.

What field do you want to go into and in what country? You said you don't want to be a manager at a Japanese company, does that mean you don't want to work in Japan?

What's the point of a Japanese MBA then? You want to start your own business or something?

kitakitsune Wrote:What field do you want to go into and in what country? You said you don't want to be a manager at a Japanese company, does that mean you don't want to work in Japan?

What's the point of a Japanese MBA then? You want to start your own business or something?

I would like to work in Japan, preferably a Japanese company but not necessarily a Manager right away. A job where I can use the Japanese I know rather than just translation and interpretation (which is the work I am doing currently). Right now, the only degree I have is a Bachelor's degree in Design and I am working in a totally unrelated field of Translation and Interpretation. After working as a translator and interpreter for 4 years now, I got tired of it and don't really see myself doing this kind of work till I get really old. I am totally out of touch with design and not planning to get back into that line of work either. Since my bachelors degree is from the arts field, I cant really do a masters in any science related field. I am 28 and too old to purse another bachelor's degree all over again. So I thought maybe I can decide on the field while studying MBA itself and MBA seems to be the only viable Masters degree I can pursue given my current qualifications and work experience (unless there are other options which I am not aware of). I don't need an MBA to start my own business and I am not planning to start one anytime soon...

My advice to you is to think hard about what field you want to go into and have a career plan ready before you apply for business school in Japan.

It's really difficult to use Japanese business schools to pull off the career change move you want to do. It's relatively easy to do it outside of Japan because there is an extensive business practice of recruiting MBA graduates. This practice is very rare in Japan. Keep that in mind.

atreya Wrote:I would like to work in Japan, preferably a Japanese company but not necessarily a Manager right away. A job where I can use the Japanese I know rather than just translation and interpretation (which is the work I am doing currently). Right now, the only degree I have is a Bachelor's degree in Design and I am working in a totally unrelated field of Translation and Interpretation. After working as a translator and interpreter for 4 years now, I got tired of it and don't really see myself doing this kind of work till I get really old. I am totally out of touch with design and not planning to get back into that line of work either. Since my bachelors degree is from the arts field, I cant really do a masters in any science related field. I am 28 and too old to purse another bachelor's degree all over again. So I thought maybe I can decide on the field while studying MBA itself and MBA seems to be the only viable Masters degree I can pursue given my current qualifications and work experience (unless there are other options which I am not aware of). I don't need an MBA to start my own business and I am not planning to start one anytime soon...

I'm 27 and looking to career hop myself through a masters. Even if you were younger, it makes no sense to get a second BA. Try googling it and reading about it yourself, "masters vs second bachelor" Almost everyone says the MS is a better degree.

The only thing that will prevent you from getting a MS in science field is your self. Most programs will accept a promising student if they seem very intent on the change. I'm going from a BS in Psych. to a MS in Comp Sci. I've talked to the grad program director at my alumni about the process and many students do it. Some of the best students are people that have no background. He said one of their best grad students was a girl that got her BA in Art and now she's finished up a Ph.D in comp sci. So don't rule out sciences just because you didn't graduate with a science degree.

About the only thing that would hurt you in a move to a MS STEM degree would be if your GPA wasn't strong at graduation. In that case you'd have to have good GRE scores and maybe have to sit down and talk with the admission board.

The biggest thing is to just know what you want to do.

@kitakitsune, vix86

Thanks for the advice...
I guess I have to start working out on the career plan first before I apply for MBA

Your welcome. Best of luck to you.

I can only underscore what vix86 has said. Many places are open to field switchers if there is evidence that you can handle the demands of the program. So e.g. a good undergraduate degree in design and a really good GRE--either quant or verbal or both, depending on the program--can get you into many good places for an MSc/MA. I have a colleague with a fine arts undergraduate degree who now does research in applied game theory.

An MBA is surprisingly useless if you want to switch fields. Many people in that boat have difficulties finding decent jobs, even though MBA recruitment is well-established in the US and Canada. I see it a lot here where I'm working and at my previous university. Both had top-40ish MBA programs in global rankings.

In the end, I guess it boils down to what kind of job I want to change to...

atreya Wrote:In the end, I guess it boils down to what kind of job I want to change to...

Yes, definitely.

Not to derail the discussion, but I would like to know what the general consensus is on getting a masters in English in order to obtain a job as a professor at a Japanese college. Can you get a job as an English professor with a masters in a science related field?

Saiga Wrote:Not to derail the discussion, but I would like to know what the general consensus is on getting a masters in English in order to obtain a job as a professor at a Japanese college. Can you get a job as an English professor with a masters in a science related field?

It will vary by job, some will want a matters and some will want a doctorate. If you want to teach English at uni level then that is fine. But be aware that University level jobs still face the same kind of problems that other jobs with English do in Japan--they aren't careers. It depends on the school but many places hire their English teaching staff on contract, making you're always having to worry about being let go at the end of contract. Tenure isn't even an option in many places.