FAQ-JACK WELCH Institute of Management

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〈Jack Welch Institute of Management〉 Japanese Page

About Business Breakthrough

About the AirCampus

About the program

Q1.
What is Business Breakthrough Inc?

A1.
Business Breakthrough was established in 1997 to educate business people to be internationally competitive. The founder and President, Dr. Kenichi Ohmae, who is among the world’s top-class management consultants.
For more information about the company, please visit:
http://www.bbt757.com/eng/
For more information about the company’s founder and President, Dr. Kenichi Ohmae, please visit:
http://www.bbt757.com/eng/company/about_ohmae/index.htm

Q2.
Why is Business Breakthrough presenting Jack Welch’s program?

A2.
This project originated from a conversation between Jack and Kenichi, who have known each other well for years. During a conference held by HSM Americas, Inc. in Frankfurt in 2005, in which both of them were speakers, they talked about having Jack as a professor at the Kenichi Ohmae Graduate School of Business.
Jack was holding occasional intensive seminars for a small number of CEOs and executives. His presentations and the ensuing discussions at the seminars were extremely helpful to the participants. Jack and Kenichi thought it was unfortunate that so many people around the world could not attend. AirCampus gives the opportunity for others to share in this experience.

Q1.
What is “AirCampus”?

A1.
AirCampus is the cyber campus platform of Business Breakthrough University. With only a connection to the Internet and the AirCampus application installed on your computer, you can attend classes and participate in discussions with classmates wherever you are, and whenever you like.
For more information, please refer to the Computer requirements page.
You can also visit our Cyber Classroom Tour.

Q2.
What is special about AirCampus?

A2.
Other distance learning systems offer lectures using television or telephone, but none of them offer a "true" campus, with interactivity, opportunities to communicate with faculty and other classmates, and a solution to the problem of differing time zones.
AirCampus achieves this through use of the Internet.
At the campus, you can attend lectures, discuss issues with other classmates, and have convenient access to course syllabi and other information posted by the administration office.
For more information, please refer to Cyber Classroom Tour page.

Q1.
How does the Jack Welch Institute fit into the Kenichi Ohmae Graduate School of Business?

A1.
The Kenichi Ohmae Graduate School of Business (KOGSB) offers a two-year graduate program approved by the Japanese government. Twice a year, 130 new students are enrolled, and graduates receive an MBA degree. The subjects and basis for completion of the course are comparable in difficulty to other MBA courses, but the most significant difference is that the campus is on the Internet.
The Jack Welch Institute has been established within KOGSB, aiming to gather and nurture students in a more open way. To this end, some original new graduation requirements have been established.
Note that courses completed at the Jack Welch Institute do not count as KOGSB credits.

Q2.
What sorts of people attend this course?

A2.
Although there are no particular admission requirements, this program should suit business people who have their own challenges and are eager to improve their business knowledge and skills.

Q3.
About how long will it take to complete this course?

A3.
The course is given over a period of six months. The first offering of the course will begin April 14th, 2006.

Q4.
How will study for each week typically be done?

A4.
The typical weekly routine for students will include watching lecture videos, reading from the book, "WINNING", doing exercise from the workbook, and participating in discussions with classmates. Each week is given a theme such as, ”Mission and Value”, "Candor", or "Budgeting".

Q5.
What are the requirements for successfully completing the course?

A5.
A Final Report must be submitted by the specified deadline according to the theme and schedule which will be posted on AirCampus during the course.
Participation in weekly discussions and contribution during workshops are also very important.
For further detail, please refer to the Curriculum page.

Q6.
What will students receive upon completion of the course?

A6.
Once a student successfully completes his/her duties, including the final report, he/she will receive a diploma issued by Dr. Welch and Business Breakthrough. Note that it will not be an academic degree such as MBA or MS, however.

Q7.
Is it possible to take a break from these studies?

A7.
One of the advantages of AirCampus is that you can adjust your schedule to study when and where you like. However, the program does proceed from week-to-week, so if you do not access AirCampus at least once a week, you will not be able to participate in that week’s class discussion.
Also, please keep in mind that it will be very difficult to successfully complete the program if you take longer breaks from study.

Q8.
How many hours will I need to spend studying per week?

A8.
You should expect to spend about 2 to 3 hours studying per week, although it will depends on the individual. Watching lecture videos will require about 30 to 60 minutes per week. From our experience with KOGSB, many students also spend quite a bit of time with exercises and discussions.

Q9.
I’m considering taking an MBA. Is this program considered to be equivalent to an MBA?

A9.
This program is an intensive study demonstrating leadership and helping students gain the management skills to guide businesses to success.
It is not a program which results in an academic degree.
We would recommend student who wish to learn finance, marketing or other individual techniques to take a different course.

Q10.
Can I talk to Jack Welch on AirCampus?

A10.
Technically, no one “talks” in real- time with each other on AirCampus because of the nature of the cyber platform. You may post your questions to Jack Welch during the course, and he will reply to selected questions during a “Q&A session”. Once you have successfully completed the course, he will also issue a certificate of completion for the program.

Q11.
Does Jack Welch give the lectures live?

A11.
On the AirCampus, all lectures are recorded, so that they can be viewed at different times in different time-zones. If they were on live, this would not be possible.
Jack Welch's lectures for this program were recorded at a seminar in Boston in November, 2005. It was attended by a limited number of CEOs and executives and includes much insightful input from Dr Welch and lively discussion among all participants.