LEARNING

FOUR KEY AREAS OF BUSINESS EDUCATION

Hitotsubashi University Faculty of Commerce and Management has four areas: (1) business administration, (2) accounting, (3) marketing, and (4) finance.

Through these core disciplines, students learn to analyze the real world of business: business administration deals with the type of business strategies a company might develop, while marketing is concerned with the range of products a company manufactures and sells. Financial theory offers insights into how a company procures and manages the funds needed to operate, while accounting reveals the relationship between corporate sales and profits and corporate management efforts. Note that these specialized disciplines are interconnected, and all are indispensable in forming a solid intellectual foundation for business and corporate management. The school’s curriculum is organized so that the courses in each area are organically linked and offered in a natural progression from one year to the next.

LECTURE & SEMINAR CURRICULUM

The Faculty of Commerce and Management undergraduate program has been systematically designed to give students a comprehensive education over their four years from admission to graduation. Essentially, the student's four-year tenure is split into two parts. During the first two years, students learn foundational knowledge and basic learning skills. During the second two years, students focus on practical applied knowledge and sharpening their critical capabilities.

The program has been designed to facilitate student development over four years through a mutually supportive balance of lectures and seminars. Lectures are broken down into three phases-introductory, intermediate, and advanced lectures-which constitute learning steps throughout a student's four-year tenure in the school.

The seminar system is a long-standing tradition at Hitotsubashi University and holds a special place in the Faculty of Commerce and Management, where the seminar is a required course through all four years of undergraduate study. The seminar brings together a small group of students, usually about ten, together with a seminar leader or instructor in a small classroom, where they discuss assigned readings, raise questions, and hold discussions and debates. This approach to education helps the school’s students to go beyond superficial understanding of business concepts and to delve deeply into the nature of the economy or society at large. Four years of seminar education is the ideal vehicle for mastering the practical-oriented capabilities needed to jump-start careers after graduation.

As a result of the school’s mission to train internationally-minded graduates as active captains of industry in the global environment, the Faculty of Commerce and Management set up a Global Leaders Program (GLP), which offers undergraduate GLP lectures and courses in English, and special certification opportunities through the Shibusawa Scholarship Program (SSP).

The objectives of the lecture and seminar curriculum are to produce graduates who have mastered basic scholastic skills (thinking, knowledge, and methodology), formed a firm intellectual foundation for a wide range of areas covering corporate management, cultivated outstanding professional capabilities, and who will serve the community as dynamic internationally-minded captains of industry in the global environment.

CURRICULUM TO CULTIVATE INTERNATIONALLY-MINDED GRADUATES

PACE (FIRST-YEAR STUDENTS) AND EDGE (SECOND-YEAR STUDENTS AND BEYOND)

PACE (FIRST-YEAR STUDENTS)

Hitotsubashi Faculty of Commerce and Management rolled out its own Practical Applications for Communicative English (PACE) program in 2012, and, as a result, students in the school have been making great strides to improve their English communication skills. The program has now been extended to the entire university, so all first-year students at Hitotsubashi University take PACE. Building on the basic English capabilities learned in high school, PACE classes boost the student’s practical communication skills including speaking, listening, reading, and writing.

EDGE (SECOND-YEAR STUDENTS AND BEYOND)

The Faculty of Commerce and Management has also developed its own course for teaching more advanced English communication skills to second-year students and beyond. The program is called English Discourse for Global Elites, or EDGE. EDGE is tailored mainly for students who plan to become actively involved in the business or academic worlds, and the program is supported by creative teaching materials, a committed teaching staff, and intensive lessons. EDGE will bolster the students' command of English and prevent any backsliding or loss of proficiency from the first year. In addition, EDGE offers a range of specialized and practical business skills like writing business email in English or developing discussion skills for business meetings. EDGE also provides specialist courses for those who will need English for academic pursuits. By enabling students to retain and improve English all through their college careers, EDGE classes ensure that English actually becomes part of the student's identity.

In order to extend their first-year English proficiency gains and tailor their communication skills for their future careers, many students continue with the EDGE program in the second year and beyond.

SHIBUSAWA SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM

In 2013, Hitotsubashi Faculty of Commerce and Management rolled out a new educational initiative for the cultivation of 21st-century global leaders called the Shibusawa Scholarship Program, or SSP, with the idea that these leaders would contribute to the growth and development of the global economy and society through business activity. 15 candidates are selected for this program at the end of their freshman year for special English language seminars and prolonged study abroad. These experiences are designed to sharpen the logical thinking and analytical skills needed for international business situations. Those who complete the program are awarded a Shibusawa Scholarship Program Certificate.

GRADUATE SCHOOL AND THE FIVE-YEAR INTEGRATED
B.A. AND M.A. PROGRAM

After earning a bachelor's degree in the Faculty of Commerce and Management, some students may be interested in taking an entrance exam and enrolling in the graduate school to pursue their academic interests in greater depth. Hitotsubashi University's Graduate School of Business Administration offers two graduate level degree programs: (1) the Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Management Analysis Program and (2) the Researcher Training Program.

Typically, one enrolls in graduate school after completing a four-year undergraduate degree, so it would normally takes six years to obtain a master's degree: four years to earn a bachelor's degree plus two additional years to complete a master's degree.

However, the Faculty of Commerce and Management and the Graduate Business Administration Program offer a way for students with a high GPA to obtain a bachelor's degree at the end of their fourth year and a master's degree at the end of their fifth year. This is called the Five-Year Integrated B.A. and M.A. Program. The program is made possible by students completing graduate level courses during the fourth year of undergraduate study, enabling the completion of a master's degree in just one additional year.

Undergraduate students can make a seamless transition to the Management Analysis MBA Program or the Researcher Training Program by enrolling in the Five-Year Integrated B.A. and M.A. Program.

For an overview of other Hitotsubashi University Graduate School programs, see the Hitotsubashi University Business School (HUB) website. For details about admissions to the Hitotsubashi University Business Administration Programs, please refer to Enrollment in Master of Business Administration (MBA) Program and Researcher Training Program.