Eight undergraduate students at Temple University, Japan Campus (TUJ) were invited to visit Tokyo headquarters of Verizon Japan Ltd., a U.S.-based global ICT solutions giant, in Marunouchi on March 25. Greeted by Managing Director, Executive Officer and President, Japan Tomoyuki Hirate, the students were briefed on the company history and global management and had a “Boardroom Chat” with him. It was a valuable opportunity for the students to listen to a top executive.
Participants were selected from the Dean’s List and included International Business Studies (IBS) majors Carly Doi (USA), Jereni Izaguirre (USA), Richard Jay (USA), Jordan Kaneshige (USA), Nicholas Kline (USA) and Steven Locorotondo (Luxembourg) and Economics majors Federico Farani (Brazil) and Emi Sagayama (Japan).
The students experienced a Verizon state-of-the-art Telepresence with the Asia Pacific headquarters in Singapore. Then the students were invited into Verizon’s boardroom for an informal chat with President Hirate. Hirate, a seasoned executive, shared his insights on global business and his role in the Japan region. In the following Q&A, the students asked a variety of questions including “How did you become the country manager?” and “How would you manage and secure high profitability?”
“Students have had a chance to listen to business executives as guest lecturers in the classroom, but it is rare they visit a company and speak directly with business executives,” said Kentaro Sawa, TUJ’s career development manager. “We hope the students can get the sense of professionalism within a real business environment.”
The students heard business updates not only about the U.S. but about the Asia Pacific region presented by the president, and were pleasantly surprised with his down-to-earth personality. See the video clip below.
https://youtu.be/rrKhUQNG59M
After visiting Verizon Japan – comments by Professor William Swinton, IBS program director; Jordan Kaneshige and Carly Doi, IBS seniors.