Testimonial from Christine Remy, the US alumna of Waseda Business School (WBS), who became a highly reliable consultant in Tokyo despite having no experience of Japan prior to her MBA at Waseda.
As the world’s outlook becomes increasingly uncertain, today’s business schools play a greater role to offer opportunities for people who are yearning to acquire knowledge and skills that help them grow in their careers. WBS was “my top and only choice,” says Christine Remy, who was named the Valedictorian of the International MBA Class of September 2018.
Incomparable strengths of WBS
Born and raised in the US, Remy obtained a Bachelor’s Degree from Connecticut College and worked as a Sales Director at a resort-style health club for five years in Florida. But when her husband’s company offered him the opportunity to work in Japan, they “jumped at the chance,” says Remy. “We really wanted to live [in Japan], and it was perfect timing for me to go back to school,” she says. “An MBA was definitely what I wanted to pursue. I wanted to learn business and management strategies from holistic perspectives to become a better business leader.”
WBS is the second-best business school in Japan and the 19th best in Asia, according to the QS Global MBA Rankings 2021. Located in the centre of Tokyo, WBS is renowned for its high-quality teaching and international environment, as some of its flagship courses such as the International MBA and the MSc in Finance are taught fully in English. In addition, WBS has recently raised its global presence by obtaining internationally prestigious accreditations called EQUIS and AACSB.In 2016, Remy started the International MBA program at WBS. “The program is great because students from all over the world can study for an MBA in Japan, in English,” Remy says. “Another thing that appealed to me was the strength of the faculty at WBS. WBS offers a well-balanced education, both from the theoretical, academic side and the practical side. The faculty members are all recognized as leading experts in their fields.”
Amazing zemi program
WBS is unique in that it offers a wide range of courses designed to foster “insightful leader with global perspectives,” one of WBS’s three main missions, as well as courses dedicated to learning Japanese business practices, which Remy says are highly useful for those who want to work in Japan or work with Japanese companies. “Before coming to Japan, I lived and worked my entire life in the US, so it was very eye-opening,” she says.
The highlight of her experience at WBS was the “zemi,” a Japanese-style seminar where a small group of students work together to deepen their knowledge of specific topics and conduct research activities under the supervision of a professor. Zemi represents WBS’s other missions to promote “actionable management knowledge,” a practice to translate knowledge into action, and a “dynamic learning community.” Among a variety of zemi programs that meet each student’s interest, Remy was selected to join the zemi of Professor Hiroshi Kanno, former Partner and Managing Director at Boston Consulting Group.
“The zemi program was amazing,” Remy recalls. Focused on “Strategy in Practice,” Kanno valued student-led learning and designed the program based on their suggestions, she says. “Through the program, we met with CEOs of major global organizations, and leaders of excellent small companies we would otherwise never have known about. We also had practical experience to participate in a consulting project for a major global medical device manufacturer.” Remy and her classmates also relished the zemi’s merit to interact with Japanese students from Kanno’s Japanese program for executive MBA.
Remy insists the greatest lessons she learned were from her classmates. While gaining knowledge about business practices such as organizational strategy, management of people and organizations and leadership in business settings, group work with classmates allowed students to practice patience, work together and learn from each other. “I also learned the importance of listening to others more than I spoke. Usually, the best ideas came from collaborating, rather than one person just taking the lead,” she says. She adds some of her closest friends in the MBA program were from all over the world such as Mexico, the Philippines and Thailand – a lifelong asset she couldn’t get anywhere else.
Continue to grow as a professional
Remy says what she learned at WBS, especially the importance of company culture and the vision a company’s leadership has for its people and operations, contributed to her decision to join Specialized Group, an executive search firm in Tokyo. “I was confident the leadership had a strong vision and commitment to its consultants, as well as an amazing culture, and some of the most competitive benefits in the industry,” she says. As a senior consultant, she helps multinational companies find the best bilingual talents.
Remy found her current position through LinkedIn, and is thankful that, early in the MBA program, WBS arranged a seminar with LinkedIn for MBA Students, wherein the LinkedIn Team encouraged them to maintain an active profile. “Job-hunting wasn’t easy, neither was studying for an MBA,” she recalls. “But I was really determined to work in Tokyo upon graduation. My husband and I love Japan and we enjoy working here.”
For future students, she recommends working for a few years before joining the MBA program. “In that way, you can contribute your own unique, professional perspectives to the conversations in class/group settings and develop a frame of reference by which to compare experiences with colleagues and classmates from around the world. It was so interesting to learn about different classmates’ experiences across industries and functions, and to find common ground or celebrate our differences.”
She also says it is helpful to do some homework of basic Japanese beforehand to make a smoother start of their MBA programs, although WBS provides a well-designed Japanese language course for overseas students.
Now Remy believes she has taken full advantage of her experience at WBS and feels rewarded at work. “My goal is always to progress as a professional, to continue learning and help as many clients and candidates as possible.
I hope I can continue to grow as a consultant at Specialized Group, and hope to always stay curious and learn from my colleagues and peers, as I did at Waseda Business School.”