By Jenie Lago, Nanyang Waseda Double MBA intake 2012

Into my second trimester as a Nanyang Waseda Double MBA student, and despite my previous I.T. background, I was really looking forward to attending my chosen elective IT Strategy & IT Applications. As it is an intensive course (over 2 weeks), I know that I will have to put in more effort and sacrifice my beauty sleep, anticipating the loads of reading and studies. However, I just knew it’s going to be worth it! And indeed, it was!

The course instructor was Professor Koichi Matsukawa from Waseda University. A business owner, an academic and an author – Professor Matsukawa has vast experience in IT strategy, consulting and system integration which made the class really interactive as we were able to discuss real-life scenarios from the professor’s experience and from the MBA participants’ as well.

The most interesting part of the course  were the visits to one of the world’s largest port operator, Port of Singapore Authority (PSA), Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK) Singapore who is one of the largest shipping companies in the world and lastly to Cisco who is a global leader in the design, manufacturing of networking equipment. The company visits provided firsthand experience on how information technology is utilized and managed by these companies to provide world-class solutions and services.

Cisco Singapore was gracious enough to initiate a call to Cisco Tokyo for the Nanyang MBA applicants to experience Cisco’s TelePresence’s lifelike video!

At NYK Singapore,we learned the company’s real-time ship tracking system and the company’s operation here in Singapore. We even had an open discussion with the top management team to complete the experience.

With seminars and company visits completed,  we were required  to develop a business model and strategic IT application for a chosen company and present it in class. It was a very challenging task given the time constraints – did I say 2 weeks only, right? However,we were able to deliver the required business model and learned a lot from each other’s presentation.

Over all, it was an informative and challenging course. I was so pleased with the course that I look forward to taking my courses in Waseda University on the third term!

Thank You Matsukawa Sensei!