RISING FROM THE NEED TO  CONTAIN RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT COSTS AND  TO REDUCE CAPITAL INVESTMENTS DURING THEIR RECESSION,  JAPANESE STRATEGISTS ARE RE-ANALYZING WAYS TO POSITION JAPAN FOR THE NEXT WAVE OF SUCCESS. THEY ARE TAKING A CLOSER LOOK NOT ONLY AT AMERICAN COMPANIES FOR BUSINESS ALLIANCES, BUT AT MIMICKING THE COMPLEX INTERACTIONS WHICH EXIST BETWEEN  OUR EDUCATION SYSTEMS AND INDUSTRY,  A RELATIONSHIP THAT IS BEING HERALDED AS AMERICA’S NEW STRENGTH.

WHAT JAPAN IS MISSING, SAID ROBERT HAWKINS, DEAN OF THE IVAN ALLEN COLLEGE OF MANAGEMENT, POLICY AND INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS AT THE GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (GA. TECH) IS THE FREE FLOW OF EXCHANGE AS IN THE MANUFACTURING CENTER AT GA. TECH, WHERE INDUSTRY DONATES MACHINERY WHICH IS THEN TESTED AND REDESIGNED FOR IMPROVED BUSINESS APPLICATIONS.

INFLUENTIAL EDUCATORS AND SCIENTISTS IN JAPAN ARE SEEKING THE ASSISTANCE OF DEAN HAWKINS AND HIS STAFF TO GAIN THE UPPER HAND OVER SOME OF JAPAN’S CURRENT ECONOMIC PROBLEMS. TAKESHI HIROMATSU  AND KAZUAKI MARUMO ARE ENVIOUS OF GA. TECH’S SYSTEMS OF INTERACTING WITH LOCAL BUSINESS,  AND SPECIFICALLY PRAISED THE SORT OF SUPPORT THAT BUSINESS GIVES THE MANUFACTURING CENTER.

MR. HIROMATSU  IS A MEMBER OF JAPAN’S MINISTRY OF POST AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS (MPT), A PROFESSOR AT JAPAN’S RESEARCH CENTER FOR ADVANCED SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (RCAST),  AND BOTH MEN ARE MEMBERS OF THE JAPAN TECHNO-ECONOMIC SOCIETY (JATES), A THINK TANK COMPOSED OF BUSINESSMEN, ENGINEERS AND SCIENTISTS. IN ADDITION TO BEING THE RESEARCH DIRECTOR OF JATES, MR. MARUMO IS A PROFESSOR AT TOYO- GAKUEN UNIVERSITY IN CHIBA, JAPAN.

FOLLOWING RECENT TALKS WITH DEAN HAWKINS ABOUT THE ECONOMIC ADVANTAGES OF SUCH UNIVERSITY PROGRAMS, THE TWO JAPANESE EDUCATORS TOLD GLOBALFAX OF THEIR INCREASING RESPECT FOR THE UNIVERSITY.  GA. TECH IS FAMOUS IN OUR COUNTRY FOR STRATEGIC STUDIES,  SAID MR. HIROMATSU.  HE WAS PLEASED TO BE ABLE TO  DISCUSS ISSUES OF FUND RAISING FOR UNIVERSITIES AND   PROGRAMS TO  IMPROVE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN  JAPANESE INDUSTRY AND JAPAN’S UNIVERSITIES.

AT PRESENT, SAID MR. MARUMO,  JAPANESE INDUSTRY  POURS 20 TO 30 TIMES THE INVESTMENTS INTO AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES RATHER THAN INTO JAPAN’S EDUCATION CENTERS,  BECAUSE JAPANESE INDUSTRY IS FORBIDDEN FROM DOING SO AT HOME UNDER STRICT POLICIES OF THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION.

HOWEVER,  HE ADDED,  IF THE GA. TECH SYSTEM WHICH ENCOURAGES INDUSTRIES TO INTERACT WITH BUSINESSES WAS APPLIED IN JAPAN, WE WOULD BE ABLE TO RE-EDUCATE EMPLOYEES AND ENGINEERS.

THE PRESENT SYSTEM OF ‘LIFE TIME EMPLOYMENT’ IS THE MAIN REASON WE ARE NOT ABLE TO EFFECTIVELY RE-TRAIN WORKERS, HE SAID, ADDING THAT AT THE PRESENT TIME THERE ARE MANY UNDER-TRAINED EMPLOYEES BEING CARRIED ON THE PAYROLL, KNOWN AS WINDOW-SIDE PEOPLE.  THIS INEFFICIENT PRACTICE BORN OUT OF TRADITION AND RESPECT FOR THE ELDERLY  PLACES A DRAIN ON COMPANY PROFITS AND IS NOW BEING RE-ANALYZED, ACCORDING TO MR. MARUMO.

OTHER ASPECTS OF AMERICAN CULTURE ARE ALSO ENVIED BY THE JAPANESE. DESPITE THE TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES  IN COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY AND TELEVISION HARDWARE FOR WHICH JAPAN IS RENOWNED, SAID MR. HIROMATSU,  BECAUSE OF THE CONTROLS OVER BROADCASTING  BY THE  MINISTRY OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND INDUSTRY (MITI), JAPANESE CONSUMERS CAN’T ENJOY THE BENEFITS.

WE CAN’T WATCH CNN NEWS 24 HOURS A DAY, BECAUSE IF THE MPT ALLOWED IT, MITI WOULDN’T ALLOW IT FOR REASONS OF ENERGY CONSERVATION. THERE ARE ONLY TWO SATELITE SERVICES, HE ADDED, EIGHT CHANNELS, LIMITED CHOICES, AND ONLY BUSINESSES RECEIVE CNN, NOT RESIDENCES.

BOTH MEN CONCURRED THAT INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGE PROGRAMS BETWEEN UNIVERSITIES AND LEADERS IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY WILL INCREASE A MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING OF EACH CULTURE.  BUT, PERHAPS MORE IMPORTANTLY,  MR. HIROMATSU SAID HE HOPES TO CONTINUE HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH THE ECONOMISTS AT GA. TECH TO SOLVE SOME OF JAPAN’S MORE SENSITIVE ISSUES OF STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT.

GA. TECH’S INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL IS EXPANDING ITS REACH INTO THE GLOBAL NETWORK OF EDUCATIONAL SYSTEMS, PLANNING TO ESTABLISH FORMAL ALLIANCES WITH UNIVERSITIES IN CHINA, JAPAN, KOREA AND OTHER ASIAN COUNTRIES, AS WELL AS IN CANADA AND MEXICO. RELATIONS HAVE ALREADY BEEN ESTABLISHED WITH FUKUOKA UNIVERSITY IN JAPAN, AND DEAN HAWKINS IS PLAYING A CRITICAL ROLE IN CONTINUING TO BUILD BETTER RELATIONS BETWEEN ATLANTA BUSINESSES AND THE UNIVERSITY.

MR. HIROMATSU AND MR.  MARUMO WERE VISITING GA TECH AS PART OF THE  U.S. INFORMATION AGENCY’S PERSONNEL EXCHANGE PROGRAM WHICH IS LOCALLY MANAGED BY THE GEORGIA INTERNATIONAL VISITORS COUNCIL.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE IVAN ALLEN COLLEGE AT GA. TECH, CALL (404) 894-3195.