Day 3 began with a visit to Tokyo’s Chuo University and a 2 hour lecture seminar with Dr. Kazunori (Icko) Suzuki, Professor of Finance. Dr. Suzuki offered a stimulating talk and discussion of the “Economic Environment and Post-Tsunami Recovery Issues of Japan.”

The session provided the students with a overview of the Japanese economy and a penetrating analysis of the post-Tsunami issues. Dr. Suzuki’s candid assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the Japanese economy, and the policy challenges confronting the citizens, businesses and government prompted a lively and enlightening discussion.

UMaine readers may remember the 2010 visit by Dr. Suzuki to the Orono campus at the invitation of Dr. Richard Borgman. Keiko and I had the pleasure to get to know Icko on a personal level and are deeply appreciative of his friendship. His lecture was one of the highlights of the current MBA trip.

I hope you will enjoy reading the following brief accounts of our journey and trust you have found the blog posts of the students who have far more energy than myself.

By all accounts, the trip has been a rewarding adventure.

The final business visit for day 2 was to the Customer Service and Solution Center for DoCoMo, the leading provider of mobile telephone service in Japan. Students were provided with a presentations and demonstrations of both the current advanced services available in Japan and an insight into DoCoMo’s vision of the futur

A hands-on experience of potential 3D image-based services expected to be delivered over a next generation mobile data network added to the experience.

In addition to the followup discussion of the technology and business models the visit generated, the conversation also included a discussion of the impressive architectural character of the DoCoMo headquarters building.

The next visit was to Avaya-Japan, the Japanese subsidiary of the US-based multinational provider of voice and data business communication hardware and software. (Disclosure: I served as Chief Marketing Officer and senior management executive for the firm from 1999-2002.) The students were briefed by Takeshi Kase, Director of Marketing for Japan and Korea, and Gary Garner, the regional sales leader for Multinational Account Sales. In addition to his regional managerial responsibilities, Gary handles the Asian accounts for GE, Citibank, Wal-Mart and Volkswagen.

Kase and Gary focused their presentation on the critical meaning of “quality” and “customer service” in the demanding and highly competitive Japanese communications market. Students gained valuable insights into the significant differences encountered in Japan relative to other markets and how companies deal with the challenges and opportunities of the marketplace.