Open lecture by Professor Kenji Yokoyama, Vice Dean of the Business School of the Nagoya University of Commerce and Business (Japan)

On December 15, 2022, the first open lecture from the series "Business and Management in Asia" of the Master's programme "International Management" on the topic "Climate of Japanese Family Business" took place.

Professor Kenji Yokoyama, Vice Dean of the Business School of the Nagoya University of Commerce and Business (Japan), held an open lecture for undergraduate students of the International Business programme and graduate students of the International Management programme on the significance and specifics of family business in the Japanese economy. Family business is the backbone of Japan's economy, this island country is home to a large number of the oldest family businesses. Most businesses that have existed for more than 100 years are owned and run by families: they possess the secrets and knowledge in the field of management acquired over the long history of the companies. Understanding these secrets is especially important for those who are thinking about starting their own business, interested in management and business in Asian countries, planning to do business in the Japanese market or implementing joint business with Japanese partners. Students had a unique chance to get acquainted with numorous examples of family companies in Japan, to learn their history and peculiarities of management in modern conditions. At the end of the open lecture the students asked Professor Yokoyama a lot of questions on the topic of the speech and on the specifics of modern Japanese management.

Yuliya Goncharova, bachelor's progamme "International Business"
The lecture by Japanese Professor Kenji Yokoyama was quite interesting experience for me. The professor's explanations and presentation were clear and very visual. It was interesting to find out that family business is the basis of the Japanese economy, because many of these businesses are known all over the world. I think I would advise other students to participate in similar events, as most likely they will be able to learn new very useful information.