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Final Day - Virtual Summer Program

The Virtual Summer Program of 2020, Leading Through a Crisis, reaches its ultimatum after 5 days that appeared to fly by in an instant. 10 different sessions were planned, including the orientation and the final group activity, and every single session was very animated with instructors' enthusiasm and participants' deep engagement in discussions and activities. The diversity we had through the 14 different nationalities and a great gender balance brought everyone together to share much about their own experiences based on their cultural backgrounds and related to Japan, leading to a great group cohesion with friendly exchanges.


On this last morning, Prof. Anegawa of NUCB Business School conducted a keynote session on the impact of COVID-19 on the mental health of the youth, with a focus on anxiety, depression and recklessness, based on his researches in health economics. Mental health is often a topic that is not discussed enough, for various reasons depending on the environment, and it only makes the challenge harder. This becomes even more crucial during this pandemic which has brought so many changes all over the world, putting societies in lockdown and drastically changing lifestyles even without lockdowns for sanitary and health purposes.

As such, with Prof. Anegawa leading the way by talking about his own experiences and feelings during these circumstances, this program quickly became a platform for everyone to share their own stories instead of keeping everything bottled up. By doing so, it also brought everyone to reflect on the current society and to rethink their habits for the greater good. Finally, the speaker outlined how we should start thinking about flattening the curve on mental health to assure society's wellbeing, following up on flattening the infection curve.



The afternoon session was the much-awaited case simulation, a group activity for which participants read through a case and article on OYO and its activities in Japan. After being given an initial briefing, they were allocated in groups via breakout rooms to read 2 more articles about recent developments of OYO Japan for a more precise idea. Then everyone collaborated to create a presentation, roleplaying as OYO Japan's management team, on how they plan to reinvigorate OYO Japan's businesses and activities. The panel, made up by Prof. Frendy & Prof. Hakeem M. Mohsin of NUCB Business School and Mr. Kishore Kumar François of NUCB Undergraduate School, took on the role of Softbank's executives who are joining an Oversight Committee for OYO Japan.


The resulting presentations showed great flair of creativity, from very radical new business ideas to more anchored ones focusing on marketing strategies. Concluding the program with all the presentations, everyone seemed to be very satisfied with this week's contents, reading the various learning objectives and having created a new network transcending across borders.

Summer will soon come to an end and the Fall semester will begin in about 2 weeks. And once this Fall semester comes to an end, it will pave way to the NUCB Virtual Winter Program, jointly organized by the NUCB Undergraduate School and the NUCB Business School.