The week-long trip to Tokyo and Nagoya highlights the challenges and opportunities that international business and globalization present for aerospace and defense organization. The experience is the fourth of six, week-long residence periods required in UT’s one-of-a-kind Executive MBA program. The 29 students participating in the trip will complete the accelerated, 12-month program in December.
Like the rest of the program’s curriculum, learning activities in Japan are custom-designed for professionals in the aerospace and defense industry. Students and participating faculty will visit Japanese cultural and historical sites and visit numerous government and business activities, including:
· The U.S. Embassy, Japan
· The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s, Tsukuba Space Center
· The U.S. Navy’s, Ship Repair Facility and Japan Regional Maintenance Center in Yokosuka, Japan
· Japan Air Lines
· Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
· Hiroshima Memorial and Peace Park
· Industry leaders in Japan representing Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Pratt & Whitney
Michael Denton, President of Boeing – Japan, served as the kickoff speaker for the program’s studies on Saturday. Students and faculty toured Tokyo historical and cultural sites on Sunday.
Monday students visited the U.S. Embassy to learn about bi-lateral trade relations and the strategic security alliance between America and Japan. They also visited the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s, Tsukuba Space Center. The team also met with Yasuhiro Kawada, Tsukuba Space Center Director. Among other responsibilities, the Center manages the Kibo program. Kibo is the Japanese Experiment Module, Japan’s hardware contribution to the International Space Station.
Participants in UT’s one-of-a-kind MBA program are documenting some of their experiences and reactions in a blog on the program’s Web-site at http://ADMBA.utk.edu.
