Graduate Studies Blog

One Johnson & Johnson Southeast Asia Senior IT director shares her experience in the Nanyang EMBA programme.

Junko Kimura Senior IT Director, Southeast Asia One Johnson & Johnson Nanyang EMBA Class of 2018

 

 

In her past seventeen years at Johnson & Johnson, Ms Junko Kimura hardly considered pursuing further studies, due in part to her Japanese cultural background.

 

“Employees in Japan want to stay with their company for a long time, especially if they are working for domestic companies. Most people feel like they do not need an MBA (Master of Business Administration) because they can learn from more experienced executives in their companies,” said Ms Kimura, who became Johnson & Johnson (J&J) Southeast Asia’s Senior IT Director and Business Technology Leader in June 2016.

 

Things changed for Ms Kimura when she moved from Japan to Singapore for her new role. After three months of focusing on her new role, she decided to pursue further studies while working. She wanted to improve her business management skills, which are especially important in her management work, she said.

 

She therefore signed up for the Nanyang Executive MBA programme, which her colleagues had recommended.

 

The 14-month Nanyang EMBA programme aims to enhance senior executives’ leadership capabilities without interrupting their careers. They can choose from three tracks: General Management, Aviation & Air transport and Hospitality Management.

 

As a student on the General Management track, Ms Kimura has picked up skills which have proved to be useful for her work.

 

She is responsible for overseeing the IT activities for all three business sectors – consumer products, medical devices and pharmaceuticals – at One J&J Southeast Asia. The sectors cater to six main markets: Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam.

 

One difficulty Ms Kimura faces is reconciling IT programmes, which are often technology-intensive, with business strategy, she said. Furthermore, each business sector has its Global IT strategy, and her team needs to tailor these strategies to the unique direction of Southeast Asia markets, she added.

 

The course on cultural intelligence helped her with this, as she learned to manage the expectations of her employees from six different countries.

 

She cited her country, Japan, where employees are often very focused on meeting deadlines. In contrast, workers from other countries might have a lighter sense of urgency. Japanese employees also place a heavier emphasis on punctuality, as compared to their overseas counterparts.

 

“It is therefore critical to have a deep understanding of culture, so that we can achieve our common goal,” she said.

 

“From the course, I learned how to form a team and communicate with them by looking at each person’s strengths and weaknesses, before allocating duties. These management skills are relevant to my current job, as my team consists of people with different cultures.”

 

So far, Ms Kimura has completed several core courses such as Cultural Intelligence, Accounting for Decision-Making & Control, and Corporate Finance for Strategic Decision-Making.

 

She also spent a week at The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where she took a course in Corporate Strategy & Financial Value Creation. She will spend another two weeks at The University of California, Berkeley, studying two modules in Leadership Accelerator and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.

 

“Through these courses, I have gained a better understanding of management principles,” Ms Kimura said. “Before this, my knowledge was mostly based on experiential learning. I wanted to have a stronger academic background to complement my experience and knowledge.”

 

The structure of the Nanyang EMBA also makes it easy for students to juggle school and their busy work schedules, she added.

 

Established in 2007, the programme spans five segments with two to three weeks each. This means that executives can get their EMBA without being absent from work for a long time.

 

Each track has an average of 40 students, who are from Singapore, Europe, the US, Africa and Southeast Asia.

 

The diversity has provided students with good networking and business opportunities, said Ms Kimura.

 

“We are able to meet executives from other companies and share our knowledge. It’s also a great community because the students take care of one another – for example, we help others to express their ideas clearly by building the conversation in the session. I could see a lot of great people-managers in the class”

 

Students also put their knowledge into practice as they work on a Live Industrial Consultancy Project. Under the project, a collaboration between sponsor companies and the Nanyang EMBA programme, participants work in groups and take on an actual consultancy project.

 

Ms Kimura’s team has partnered a global water treatment company, and is working with the company on market research and development for its portable water brand. The project has helped her to experience the market access strategy setting and execution by agile approach in parallel with team-building and communication skill development, which are relevant to her career growth.

 

“The professors are also very helpful, as they are quick to respond to students’ queries. For example, Prof Vijay Sethi has been a patient mentor to our project group,” she said.

 

Looking back, she is glad that she applied for the Nanyang EMBA, as it has honed her management skills.

 

“The Nanyang EMBA offers good opportunities for us to interact with senior level people who are very insightful. The programme has allowed me to have a new perspective on important issues and challenges and most importantly, I am enjoying this learning journey.”

The Nanyang Executive MBA is a part-time 13-months programme that is designed for senior leaders aspiring to innovate and transform the way they lead. The programme aims to embrace the connection between business, technology, and innovation to deliver a relevant curriculum to business leaders to excel in global environments and adapt to each new wave of digital change.

Download the Nanyang Executive MBA brochure

Click here to learn more about the Nanyang Executive MBA programme or contact us at execmba@ntu.edu.sg.