MBA education in Japan: The experience of management education at the Graduate School of Business Administration, Keio University, Japan

Keio University has been in the vanguard of adult business education since 1956 when it introduced American management techniques into Japan by initiating the annual one‐week “Keio‐Harvard advanced management programme” for top businessmen in Japan. But it was not until 1978 that Keio Business School (KBS) began to offer the MBA programme, a two year full‐time course heavily influenced by the style of business education at Harvard. It remained the only educational institution in Japan to offer an accredited postgraduate business education qualification until the late 1980s. With a recent government reform in postgraduate education, however, it faces competition from both emerging part‐time and one‐year full‐time MBA courses at other universities in Japan, as well as from overseas MBA programmes. Reports on the results of two surveys carried out among its alumni which show that, while the graduates’ support for the existing programme is overwhelming, they also point out the danger of complacency and rigidity which the School needs to overcome in adapting to the changing needs of the business community.