Course Syllabus - YGU · Week7 Employment Status and Disparity In the current work place, we see a lot of people do almost the same work together but are treated differently because

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Course Syllabus

Course Name: Career Design 2 First Year Available: 2nd Year Course Code: FNDN490 Course Requirements: Elective Subject Subject Area: Foundation Courses Class Style: Seminar Number of Credits: 1 Term(s) Offered: Spring and Fall semesters Language: Japanese Prerequisites: FNDN290, Japanese Language Skill - Native or higher than

N2 (*) level Instructor: Fukumi GENJIMA (*)Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT)

Course Description This course is organized based on the assumption that students are highly interested in working for the Japanese companies or any other organization in Japan and take part in the job hunting activities before graduating from iCLA. Students will learn what they should know about the Japanese society and the competencies that are required for the people wishing to work with others in the work place. It consists of lectures, discussion, group work, presentation and career counseling. Learning will focus on the main theme such as changes of society, hiring schedule and method for the graduating students and the meaning of job offer and labor contract in terms of labor laws, corporate culture and the human resource management system in Japan.

Course Objectives At the end of this course, students should become able to possess critical, creative, independent and global thinking skills and inter-cultural understanding and be open-minded towards other cultures through learning about : (i) why career education became important in 2000’s in Japan (ii)what is an appropriate job selection criteria, (iii) what are the

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negative impacts of unemployment and non-regular employment towards one’s life and career development (iv) what kind of competency graduating students should obtain to be successful in the global society (v) what are the specific features of corporate cultures in Japan (vi) how to make the most of inter-cultural experiences for the job hunting activities.

Assessment Criteria There will be no middle and final in-class examination. Grading is decided by the following criteria: (1)Class Participation & Learning Attitude (10%) (2)Report Writing (70%) (3)Presentation (10%) (4)Career Counseling (10%) Organization Classes will consist of lecture, report writing, discussions and counseling. All the programs will be provided through on-line. We also plan to invite some OG/OB as a guest speaker so that we can hear and learn how to proceed with job hunting procedures from the predecessors. Based on the previous students’ advice, we ask you not to get together in front of the same P/C to safely take part in the on line class.

Plagiarism Policy Plagiarism is the dishonest presentation of the work of others as if it were one’s own. Duplicate submission is also treated as plagiarism. Depending on nature of plagiarism you may fail the assignment or the course. Repeated act of plagiarism will be reported to the University which may apply additional penalties. Required pre-study and time needed for each class All students in this course should preview and review the materials designated by the instructor thoroughly and spend roughly about 2 hours to do so.

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Reference Books and Materials 1. 小田切宏之「日本の企業戦略と組織」、東洋経済新報社

Odagiri Hiroyuki, Nihon no kigyou-senryaku to soshiki, Toyo Keizai Shinpousha

2. 亀田尚己「国際ビジネスコミュニケーションの研究」文真堂, NaokiKameda, Kokusai business communication no kenkyu, Bunshindo

3.Myron W.Lustig, Jolene Koester, Intercultural Competence Interpersonal communication across cultures, Allyn and Bacon, Chapter 5 & 6 4.浜口圭一郎：「日本の雇用と労働法」、日本経済新聞出版社Hamaguchi Keiichiro, Nihon no koyo to rodoho 5.2019 就職白書 Shyushoku Hakusyo ( 2019 White Paper of Job Hunting) LECTURES AND READINGS PLAN

Week 1 Orientation Overview on the whole contents of this course will be given according to the syllabus. Students should know why career education became highly emphasized in 2000’s and how important it is to understand the meaning and significance of career development and to prepare for job hunting in an appropriate manner to get a job offer when they graduate from iCLA. Also brief self-introduction is expected from students. WEEK 2 Understanding about the Situation of the Small and Medium Sized Japanese Company The job market is poorly understood among students because of false assumptions, lack of experience, confidence, and skills in how to find suitable work. Many students limit their opportunities by seeking work only through conventional means where competition is stiff and attractive jobs are few. We will look at why there are always more vacancies than advertised, how to penetrate the barriers, find real opportunities, and make good decisions that fit your future goals.

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Readings: 2019 White Paper on Small and Medium Sized Enterprises in

Japan by METI(Ministry of Economy, Technology and Industry経済産

業省) https://www.chusho.meti.go.jp Week 3 History of Career Education and Job Hunting in Japan Career education at college and university has commenced on a full scale since the beginning of 21st century in Japan. Now almost all colleges and universities have installed curriculum into their educational system. Why did that become so important and popular and what kind of career education is provided with students in Japan? Reading: 1. 就職白書 2019 White Paper of Job Hunting 2019 Shyushoku Hakusyo Report Writing Assignment 1: State about the specific features of job hunting in Japan and its relation with requirements such as abilities and skills WEEK 4 Development of Modern Human Resources Management Theory We will learn how career development theory has evolved overtime since Taylor’s scientific management. Especially we focus on learning about Hawthorne experiment and its influence on the development of modern career theories and approaches. Previews:「 Hawthorne Experiment」 https:boxil.jp/beyond/a4649 Week 5 Occurrence and Burst of Bubble Economy and Its Influence on the Labor Market Japan has experienced a burst of economic bubble in 1990’s and had suffered a huge loss and damage in economy for a long time after that. It is said that it took almost 20 years or more for Japan to recover from the economic stagnation caused by the bubble burst. We will study how it happened and affected Japanese company’s business management, growth strategy and labor market practice.

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Report Writing Assignment2: State about the beginning and end of the Bubble Economy in Japan and how Bubble crashing affected society and the labor market practice thereafter. Week 6 Unemployment and Its Influence on Career Development After the bubble burst of economy in Japan the number of students graduated from college and university without job offer rapidly increased due to the stagnation of economy and the change of company’s recruitment policy for the graduating students in Japan. This brought a serious impact not only on the graduating students but also on the society as it produced a large number of young jobless people including so called NEET. We will study about this phenomenon and learn that a long time unemployment can bring a critical impact on one’s life and career development. Previews: Make a research of the recent number of NEET and state why they remain in such a situation and what kind of negative impact they might have in life and career development. Week 7 Employment Status and Disparity In the current work place, we see a lot of people do almost the same work together but are treated differently because of their differentiated employment contract. This is so called hi-seiki (non-regular employment) problem and it became a big social problem that concerns many people in Japan. This teaches us that it is very important to understand that an easy choice of hi-seiki employment status without knowing its disadvantage will bring you unfavorable disparity compared with Seiki employment and seriously affect your life and career in the long run. Report Writing Assignment 3: Summarize what is Hi-Seiki Employment

and its influence on the Career Development.

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Week 8 Skills needed in the Work Place What kind of skill is fundamental and indispensable to process any kind of work in the work place and the society? Sometimes there are gaps between students and companies as to which level of competency and what skills are necessary to do jobs properly in the work place. So it is important for students to think and learn about it before they graduate and become a workforce. Previews: http://meti.go.jp/policy/kisoryoku Week 9 Inter-cultural competency It is now a everyday scenery in which we see many foreign people work together in Japan. When people with different culture meet, there is likely a tension, conflict, dispute in the way they think, behave, perceive, value, agree or disagree. Most of these problems might come from their ignorance, misunderstanding and the lack of each indigenous culture and inter-cultural communication skill. We will examine these cultural differences between Japan and other countries to avoid unnecessary problems. Readings: Myron W. Lustig Jolene Koester Intercultural Competence、Fifth Edition, Allyin and bacon Week 10 “Black Company” and how to discern it There are some companies that are notorious as “black company” which will force you to work incredibly harder under unbearable conditions. Let’s see the VIDEO handling these topics and become able to discern it from among a lot of companies. Report Writing Assignment 4: State some characteristic features of the Black Company and how you protect yourself.

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Week 11 Suitable Job and Company Selection Criteria At the job interview most of the companies will ask you why you select that company and what your criteria is for selecting a company that you wish to work for. How can you answer it? Think about now what criteria you are going to value most when you choose a suitable job or a company you wish to work for. Are they compatible with work and life balance that you want to realize in life? Week 12 Presentation1: My Criteria for Selecting a Job/Company You should make a presentation about your criteria for choosing a company you wish to work for. State at least three factors that you think are very important when you choose a company to work for. Prepare slides with PPT(8～10).Submit it by mail to me after finishing your presentation in the class. Week 13 What is a job offer? Labor Contract, Labor Law You might be relieved to get some job offers from the companies after all your efforts in the job hunting. But even if you could get them successfully, it’s not the end of a story because there is a possibility that your job offer might be cancelled for some reasons. Or you yourself might want to cancel some of it after much consideration. Does that not cause any problem? Also there is a possibility that you would be dismissed due to your careless mistakes and negligence of employment contract and labor laws. So let’s learn what you should observe and how you are protected and/or penalized by Labor Law. Previews: 浜口圭一郎：「日本の雇用と労働法」、日本経済新聞出

版社 Hamaguchi Keiichiro, Nihon no koyo to rodoho

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Week 14 Company’s Rules and Regulations Every company has its own rules and regulations based on the Labor Laws. You are expected to work in accordance with it otherwise you might be punished or get sanctions including dismissal in the worst case scenario.

Let’s learn what they are. Previews: Materials to be delivered Week 15 Corporate Mission Statement and Corporate Culture If you look at a company which has a long history after its foundation, most of them have an excellent corporate mission statement to guide their business, business ethics, strategy and practices. Company will ask employees to understand and observe it. When they face a crisis or an unpredictable environmental change they will get back to this original point to consider how to cope with it. Why mission statement and/or creed is necessary and so important for a company? What kind of corporate mission does the company you listed for application have?