This week, Professor Akie Iriyama of Waseda University Business School talks about issues based on management theory. I refer to the teacher’s book “Global Standard Management Theory”. However, this series can be easily read without this book.
Right before the job hunting season. Many students must be wondering, “Which company should I work for?” and “Which industry will grow in the future?” So this time, I asked Mr. Iriyama the following question: If you were 22 years old, what kind of occupation or industry would you choose?
[Click here to listen to the audio version](Playback time: 12 minutes 06 seconds)*Click for audio
Business Insider Japan · “Let’s talk about issues with Akiei Iriyama’s management theory” 54th TEASER
In the future, what industry should you choose to work in?
Hello, I’m Akie Iriyama.
It’s almost time to lift the ban on employment information. Kotaro Yokoyama from the Business Insider Japan editorial department, who is representative of the millennial generation, asked the following question.
BIJ Editorial Department Yokoyama
Professor Iriyama always says, “The future is highly uncertain.” If that is the case, what kind of job should students who are looking for a job in the future choose? If Iriyama-sensei were a 22-year-old student, what profession or industry would she choose?
Interesting question. I’m in my late 40s now, so 22 years old is already a quarter of a century ago. So, this is a very old story, but may I start by telling you about when I was 22 years old?
I graduated from the Faculty of Economics at Keio University in 1996. 1996 was just before the start of the employment ice age. There were still some lingering scents of the bubble economy, and there was an air of “It is natural to get a job at a major company after graduating from Keio” and “Going to graduate school is for those who have had trouble finding a job”.
But I’m crooked, so I’m going to graduate school at Keio. When I was in my third year at university, I attended Professor Fukunari Kimura’s seminar.
However, when I actually proceeded to the master’s course at graduate school, I began to think, “It’s common sense to go to the doctoral course after this, but what about that?”
At that time, I had the opportunity to read a report published by a private think tank called Mitsubishi Research Institute. The title of the person who wrote it was “Researcher,” and I thought, “That’s kind of cool.” As a result, I received a job offer and happily joined the company.
However, at that time, most people did not know about Mitsubishi Research Institute. At a joint party, I was mistaken for a comprehensive security company, and was told, “Isn’t it hard to do security every night?”
After working at Mitsubishi Research Institute for several years, I went to the United States to study at the age of 30. At first, I wanted to study abroad and become a scholar of economics, but I began to have doubts about establishing myself as an “economist” in the first place. Since then, the number of Japanese people has increased significantly.
Basically, I don’t want to go to the same place as everyone else. So instead of studying economics, I decided to switch my major and get a doctorate in business administration, and went abroad to study.
Economics and business administration are actually quite different academic fields. At that time, unlike economics, there were few Japanese who wanted to study abroad and obtain a doctorate in business administration. At that time, there were only one or two Japanese who were in the doctoral course in the United States, including myself. Therefore, I had very little information about how to take the entrance exams and how to survive in the doctoral course.
There were few Japanese people I could rely on, so I had a hard time collecting information on my own. However, as a result, there were few young Japanese business scholars who obtained a doctorate in the United States at the time, and many Japanese universities began to ask if they would like to teach at their institution. I was. I think they appreciated the rarity of it.
As a result, while teaching at Waseda University, I now do a lot of work in the private sector as well as in the media, which is where I am today. I’m really happy because now I’m doing nothing but fun work.
The priceless benefits of making decisions differently
BIJ Editorial Department Tokiwa
Now I understand why Iriyama-sensei called himself a “navel bender” (laughs). Is there any merit in making decisions that are different from others?
The advantage is “overwhelming differentiation”. “World Standard Management Theory” explains using the theory of SCP, but one of the sources of competitive strategy is overwhelming differentiation. For more details, please read my book.The essence of competitive strategy is actually “not to compete”. Because competition is tough, and above all, if the competition is fierce, you can’t make money.
Therefore, companies should avoid competition. What you need to do is to become the “one and only existence” in the competitive environment. To that end, if you thoroughly differentiate your company, there will be no rivals in the first place, so you can create unique value and increase profits without competition.
I think this applies to careers as well. In fact, after I returned to Japan, I was approached by various universities, and now I am being approached by various private companies. There are not many other Japanese management scholars who have
I myself am not that big of a person to begin with. If there were 20 to 30 other people with the same specs as me, they would probably be better than me, so I would have been buried and would not have been caught by chopsticks or sticks.
As for economists, on the other hand, the current situation is that there are a large number of young and talented Japanese who have obtained doctoral degrees in the United States or Europe. As a result, it is no longer possible to differentiate simply by being an “economist who received a Ph.D. Each and every one of them earnestly wants to study economics and is earning a doctorate abroad, so I think that’s a precious thing.)
So, if I dare to answer Mr. Yokoyama’s question at the beginning (although it may not be an answer), “If I were 22, I would never go to a company that everyone wants to go to.choose a different route if possible”I think that’s what it means.
For example, looking at the current employment rankings, one of the most popular industries among students is a foreign-affiliated consulting company. If I were 22 years old now, I don’t know which company I would work for.I don’t think I’ll ever apply for a foreign-affiliated consultant (laughs)..
“I want to join AKB” is no good
The reason why the popularity of students is concentrated in large companies and in specific occupations is that people tend to behave in similar ways in situations of high uncertainty and anxiety. Because if you follow the illusion of “common sense,” you don’t have to think and make decisions on your own. This can be explained by a theory called “institutional theory,” which appears frequently in this series.
I’m worried about my job hunting because I can’t see the future. That’s why I can’t help but think, ‘If everyone accepts it with common sense, I should try that industry too.’ Of course, there is also a psychological aspect to it.
but,If you always do the same thing as everyone else, you will end up being overwhelmed by the crowd, making it difficult to show your own value.. Therefore, it would be great to be able to do job hunting that is not swayed by the “common sense of the times”.
When AKB48 was gaining explosive popularity, I was very impressed by the following words that the producer, Yasushi Akimoto, said in a certain media.
“Right now, people who want to join AKB are joining AKB because they want to join AKB.
AKB’s popularity is due to the success of early members such as Atsuko Maeda and Yuko Oshima. When those early members entered AKB, of course, no one in the world knew about “AKB”. On the other hand, it’s precisely because AKB is unknown that people gather to say, “Let’s hit it one shot” and “Let’s take on the challenge,” and as a result, AKB can be said to have succeeded.
The early members who supported AKB48’s breakthrough can be said to have an “entrepreneurial spirit.”
However, once AKB becomes famous, all the people who join after that are those who “want to join AKB”. Entering AKB becomes the goal itself.
When I talked with Mr. Takashi Mitachi, who was the head of the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) before, Mr. Mitachi said, “If I’m looking for a job now, I won’t go to BCG.” I remember.
In addition, Mr. Kazuhiko Toyama, a leading consultant in Japan, and Mr. Kazunari Uchida, a respected senior at the Waseda Business School where I work, and who served as the top of BCG like Mr. Mitachi, also said, “Who is BCG? I entered BCG in an era when I didn’t even know.Paradoxically, thisIt is precisely because they are “contrarians” that they became famous consultants who created the times..
In this day and age, many people finally start to see what they want to do when they turn 30. There are probably many people who are 22 years old and have just graduated from university and still cannot decide what to do with their lives.
In the first place, since the times to come will change so rapidly, it is impossible for life to proceed in a straight line as planned.It’s safe to say that there are no such things as “promising industries” or “secure jobs” anymore..
So now, I think you should choose a job that makes you happy and interesting at this moment, and do your best to do it.
There is no need to be bound by common sense such as job rankings and popular companies. If you accumulate such days, you will definitely see the way you should go.
[Click here to listen to the full audio version](Playback time: 23 minutes 49 seconds)*Click for audio
Business Insider Japan · “Let’s talk about issues with Akiei Iriyama’s management theory” 54th
*This article first appeared on April 1, 2021.
Akie Iriyama: Professor, Waseda University Graduate School of Business Administration (Business School). He graduated from Keio University Faculty of Economics and completed the master’s program at Keio University Graduate School of Economics. After working at Mitsubishi Research Institute, he obtained a Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Business in 2008. In the same year, he became an Assistant Professor at the Business School of the State University of New York at Buffalo. Since 2013, he has been an associate professor at Waseda University Graduate School of Business Administration (Business School). Incumbent since 2019. His books include “What are the world’s management scholars thinking now?”
(Composition: Kiyoko Nagayama, photography: Takuma Imamura, serialization logo design: Mio Hoshino, editing/sound editing: Ayuko Tokiwa)
Source: BusinessInsider
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