Keio Business School Professor Haruo Takagi's MBA Class Live [Leadership Theory]

Keio University Business School is the first business graduate school established in Japan to provide MBA (Master of Business Administration) education, and is modeled after Harvard Business School in the United States. The school's pedagogy is also similar to that of Harvard Business School, and is not a lecture format but a discussion-based format called case method.

The purpose of this book is to reproduce the case method class of Professor Haruo Takagi of Keio University Business School on paper so that readers can experience the class. In reality, readers can only read and think, but the book is devised so that readers can enjoy the atmosphere of the actual lesson and think about it as much as possible.

The case teaching materials (booklets that describe management cases) used in this book are those actually used by Professor Haruo Takagi at Keio University Business School, with the permission of the school. This is a reduced version developed solely for this book. In addition, discussions will include MBA classes (two subjects, Organization Management and Network Leadership) by Professor Haruo Takagi  in 2000 and 2001, and a video conference system. This is a recorded and edited version of the remote seminar class used.

In a real case method lesson, students first read the case, analyze it individually, and form their own opinion. Then, the discussion will be divided into groups of 6 to 8 people. After that, they will start a class-wide discussion.

Approximately 40 students form take part in an MBA class, and approximately 15 participants take part in a distance seminar class. In the meantime, the professor constantly writes and organizes notes on the blackboard to make it easier for students to follow the flow of the discussion.

The average age of MBA class students is 29 to 30 years old, but the age structure ranges from  23 years old to those in their fifties. Therefore, almost all of them have practical experience and are aiming for further career advancement through MBA education.

Distance seminars are centered on the participation of ordinary members of society. This is a case method seminar that uses the latest IT technology to effectively exchange opinions and discuss even if participants are not in the classroom. Classes are held electronically through the Internet, and even if participants are actually remote, there is lively and enthusiastic discussion.

This book is structured to take the same steps as an actual lesson. The reader first reads the case. Next, they analyze the case based on the question, form their own opinion, and write it down on the "your opinion entry form". After that, they read the discussion and compare it with their own opinion.