April 4, 2002

Japan Research Office, Harvard Business School

The European Institute of Japanese Studies, Stockholm School of Economics

Graduate School of Economics, University of Tokyo

Mitsubishi Estate Co., Ltd.

 

Research Offices of Academies from around the World

to Locate in Marunouchi Building

 

Mitsubishi Estate Co., Ltd.(MEC) is pleased to announce the decision to establish “Marunouchi Academic Research Center (a tentative name)”, where the research offices of academies from all over the world will be located on the ninth floor of the   renovated Marunouchi Building, scheduled to open on September 6, 2002.  Each office, established independently, will be dedicated to creating and disseminating business knowledge based on research in companies and other organizations in Japan.

As of this date, the building’s facilities will include:

·         The Japan Research Office, Harvard Business School, from USA

·         The European Institute of Japanese Studies, 

Stockholm School of Economics, from Europe

·         Graduate School of Economics, University of Tokyo, from Japan.

Going forward, MEC expects other academic institutions to occupy office space in the building as well.

 

 

1.    Mitsubishi Real Estate Co., Ltd (MEC) establishes ”Marunouchi Academic Research Center (a tentative name)” on the ninth floor of Marunouchi Building.

 

In the 21st century, amid extraordinary changes in the world and in corporate areas of interest such as marketing and technology, the creation of new business knowledge is especially important. In such circumstances，MEC decided to support a process of interaction among world-class academics from Japan and other nations through the development projects in Marunouchi. Promoting the interaction would contribute to the renaissance of this district.  MEC expects that interactive activities will take place among the research offices and the business community in Maruonuchi.

 

2.    Activities of each research office

① Japan Research Office, Harvard Business School

Background and Objectives

The Harvard Business School (HBS) Japan Research Office, which began operating at a temporary location in December 2001, will have its official opening when it moves into the Marunouchi Building next fall. HBS seeks to create and disseminate international intellectual capital as part of its efforts to ensure that it is the preeminent source of new, high-impact insights into management issues of importance to business leaders throughout the world.  To pursue this mission, the School established the Asia-Pacific Research Center in Hong Kong in 1999, the Latin American Research Center in Buenos Aires in 2000, and the European Research Center in Paris in February 2002. 

 

Activities

 

The HBS Japan Research Office will:

 

l         Conduct research and develop cases on companies in Japan

l         Create and disseminate HBS’s intellectual capital (e.g., organize colloquia conducted by HBS professors)

l         Build reciprocal relationships with business leaders and academics in Japan.

 

② European Institute of Japanese Studies, Stockholm School of Economics

Background and Objectives

The mission of The European Institute of Japanese Studies (EIJS) is to serve as a major center for research on the economics and societies of Japan and East Asia, with particular emphasis on issues which impact on Europe. Established in Stockholm in September 1992 through endowment of funds from Swedish and Japanese business and the Swedish government, EIJS operates independently of economic and political interest groups as an autonomous research center within the Stockholm School of Economics. In order to facilitate the vital East- West dialogue, EIJS opened a liaison office in Tokyo in October 1997. Now EIJS Tokyo office moves to “Marunouchi”- business center to strengthen the Euro-Japan relationship.

 

Activities

The EIJS Academy in Tokyo aims to support European industry by providing young people working in European-owned companies in Japan with an orientation into different aspects of Japanese business, economics, culture and social life. The Academy was established in 1998 in collaboration with Young Chamber of Network of the Swedish Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Japan. The EIJS Academy Programme consists of a ten-lecture seminar series in English, with a seminar offered once a month on a topic of general interest for the business community. Our lectures are highly qualified experts from academia, business or government. Each seminar will consist of a lecture by an appropriate expert and ample time for question and answer sessions and discussion. EIJS plans to collaborate with other research offices in Marunouchi Building to offer education programmes to promote international and executive human resources. As for the future activities, in addition to the present activities, EIJS will pursue the joint projects with other research offices in “Marunouchi Business Research Center” for development of human resources working for the various industries.

 

 ③ Graduate School of Economics, University of Tokyo

Background and Objectives

It is strongly expected that Japanese universities should promote industry and academic collaboration in order to realize the rebirth of Japanese economics, and it is also expected to create new-style universities that have vitality and global competitiveness in the field of business researches.

In such circumstance, Graduate School of Economics, University of Tokyo is going to have a satellite office in Marunouchi in front of Tokyo Station for the purpose of producing the places for usual communication with global leading business schools, and furthermore the places for research between industry and academy.  

 

Nonprofit organization (NPO) “Global Business Research Center (GBRC)

GBRC was established by mainly the professors of Graduate School of Economics, the University of Tokyo in order to operate and administrate the satellite office in Marunouchi flexibly and exhibit liaison function with industry.

GBRC aims

1.      To build the networks for the researches of business knowledge

2.      To offer the circumstance on the highest level of education and research about business knowledge for the researchers, especially for young and energetic researchers

3.      To develop the human resources that is available in the international society through global internship and so on

4.      To disseminate and educate the business knowledge, outcome through the activities above, to the public after the mutual researches.

GBRC is going to be operated open to professors, researchers and postgraduate students, workers. GBRC holds symposiums and lectures, develops and supports business model, promotes joint researches and acceptance researches, publishes online journal both in English (quarterly) and in Japanese (monthly) and Newsletter (weekly) and so on in order to disseminate information from the latter of April 2002. The URL of GBRC, that begins main activities from the latter of April 2002, is http://www.gbrc.jp