From 12 to 16 March 2018, Yitang organised the Renmin University of China Business School 2018 MBA study tour of Japan's benchmark companies.
Led in person by Professor Wang Baolin of RUC Business School, the group of more than 30 brought together MBA students from the 2016 and 2017 cohorts and RUC MBA alumni who had graduated within the past five years.
Under the theme of lean production, new retail, artificial intelligence and craftsmanship, Yitang arranged sessions with the founders and executives of five leading companies and a special lecture at Waseda University, plus a networking dinner with Chinese professionals living in Japan and Japanese guests to open up international business connections.
Kyocera
Executive session: The Amoeba Management System
Kyocera was founded by Kazuo Inamori (稲盛和夫), revered as the god of Japanese management. The world's largest maker of fine ceramics, it is regarded as the benchmark for Japanese manufacturing.
Powered by its original Amoeba Management model, Kyocera has ranked among the Fortune Global 500 for many years running.
ExaWizards, AI technology company
CEO session: Japan's AI Industry Today and Tomorrow
ExaWizards is a Japanese AI unicorn focused on developing and applying AI. Using deep learning, image analysis and data analytics, it creates new concepts and experiences in healthcare, education, sales and more.
Waseda University
Session by a leading Waseda Business School professor: Imitating and Innovating Business Models
Founded in 1882, Waseda University is the intellectual wellspring of Made in Japan. The founders and presidents of Sony, Casio, Samsung, Toshiba, Rakuten, Nintendo, Panasonic, Sanyo and many other famous companies are Waseda graduates, and Fortune ranks it 20th in the world among universities that have produced Global 500 CEOs.
Kumazawa Brewing
Session by the sixth-generation owner: Succession and Innovation in a Century-Old Family Business
Kumazawa Brewing is a family-run brewery with 160 years of history that has grown from a five-person workshop into a company of more than 200 people with annual revenue of nearly 1.4 billion yen (about RMB 100 million).
It was the first time the sixth-generation head of the family had received a visiting group, and he spoke candidly about the crises and challenges a century-old company faces.
Rigna (furniture)
CEO session: Rigna's New Retail Strategy
Founded in 2004, Rigna broke the conventions of Japanese furniture retail. Starting as a pure e-commerce player, it grew into a multi-channel business that fuses online and offline into a virtuous loop, and is now Japan's best-known furniture retailer.
In central Tokyo the company converted a stand-alone building into Rigna Terrace Tokyo, a three-floor lifestyle complex designed around the idea of free play while shopping.
Beyond furniture, Rigna pioneered the experiential jewellery store. Its boxcharmindustry shops gather pendants and vintage pieces from around the world, and customers pick and combine them to make jewellery that is entirely their own.
Networking dinner with Chinese professionals in Japan and Japanese guests
Guests included Tomoyoshi Isogawa (五十川倫義), chief editor of the Asahi Shimbun Chinese desk and former Asahi Shimbun China bureau chief; Lou Fei, executive director of Metaps and angel investor; Yan Jialun, head of land acquisition at Mitsubishi Estate; Wu Xiaopu, head of overseas energy project finance at MUFG Bank; and Sun Ximeng, head of internet operations at Adot Asia. They shared their experience and talked at length with the participants.
