STUDENT REPORT
Student Report
Name of the University: Nagoya University of Commerce and Business
Exchange semester: Fall, 2013
I. PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Before leaving Norway
The University was regularly sending all the information via email since the
application process was finished. Their organization was perfect and I was always
updated about what needs to be done. I have no difficulties whatsoever.
Applying for a visa (if applicable)
After applying and sending all the documents the school obtained a certificate of
eligibility, which was sent to me. I had to take this certificate to my home
embassy and obtained a visa. The process was smooth and the visa was free of
charge.
Travel
I travelled with Quatar airlines from Budapest through Doha to Tokyo and then
took a bus to Nagoya.
Housing
The university has two dormitories – Chiyoda and Higashiyama, with most of the
graduate exchange students staying in the latter one. The dormitory is
automatically assigned and there is no need to go through any application process.
Costs
- Approximately how much per month did you spend on rent, books, food,
transportation, and other personal expenses?
Rent
Books
Food
Transport
Other
4495 NOK (scholarship cuts it down to ~2700
NOK or ~2100 NOK depending on your grades
from BI)
I payed ~480 NOK. For my classes I didn’t need
to buy any books. You pay for the cases which are
purchased by school and the final cost depends on
how many cases are used in the courses you are
taking.
1200 – 1800 NOK per month
340 NOK per month
1000-1500 NOK per month
Culture and language
There were no problem communicating with the students in the English program
as everyone was speaking English. However, some older Japanese professors had
minor issues when expressing themselves in English.
Cultural experience in Japan is happening just by walking down the streets of the
cities, can’t really explain that in words but you will surely understand after going
there yourself (if you’ve never been there). The best way to experience Japan is to
travel around. I personally recommend Kyoto – beautiful city with a lot to see +
STUDENT REPORT
you just can’t miss visiting Tokyo while here. It’s also nice to find Japanese
friends as they can enhance your cultural understanding of Japan to a greater
extent. However, that’s a bit more complicated as you will mostly spend time with
international students as not many Japanese take English program at NUCB.
II. ABOUT THE SCHOOL
Please describe:
The graduate campus is located in the centre of Nagoya and is much smaller than
BI NUCB has a large undergraduate campus outside of the city but you will not
really visit it.
Semester begins in the 2nd week of September and is split into two terms with
final exams at the end of each term. First term ends on 1st November and second
on 21st December and there is one week break between them.
On graduate level the university offers MBA, Executive MBA and MSc. (Global
Leader Program). You will have the opportunity to take the courses from MBA
and MSc. program.
Course registration
Course registration happened during the orientation day on 5th September.
Add/drop period officially ends in the first week of September but there can be
some changes made even after.
Academic calendar
Arrival date:
First day of the semester:
Last day of classes:
Examination period:
Any special events/holidays:
Other:
31st August
9th September
21st December
1st term: 28th October
– 1st November
2nd term: 16th – 21st
December
Break: 1st November –
8th November
-
Arrival
The orientation week consisted of orientation day where we received all the
relevant information, registered for the courses and have a lunch together with all
the international exchange students.
The International Office
All the information were very good, informative and provided in timely manner.
Promoting BI and Norway
There was no such thing as some official day designed for promoting our schools.
Therefore the promotion happened only when talking to people about our home
institutions.
Social activities
STUDENT REPORT
As mentioned before, there was not much interaction with native students, at there
were only two of them in my classes. The relationship with all the schoolmates
was really good, especially with those living in my dormitory as the environment
here is quite social – common room, theatre room where you can watch movies
together or breakfast 5 times a week where you all meet together.
We mostly organized our activities alone but the international office organized a
trip to Kyoto, visits to some museum etc. There was no student organization.
III. ACADEMICS
In the classroom
Most of the teachers use the case method – you read case at home, you discuss it
in class and you have a group in-class assignment after the discussion; therefore
it’s mostly practical information you work with (designing the strategies for
companies to move forward, turnaround strategies,…).
Formality varies depending on teacher but it was mostly somewhere in between
formal and informal. However when the professors talk to students, they treat
them as equal and after the last class of the course some of them took us for
Nomikai, which is just a Japanese name for after-school/-work drinking.
I would say that the level and workload is about the same as at BI.
Course materials
Harvard business cases, Powerpoint slides and for one class there were few
research articles. The level of the materials fits well with the MBA/MSc. level.
Exams
Exam was based on both course materials and the lectures.
o Final exam
 Term papers
 Written exams for subjects like Financial accounting or Financial
Investment and Decision making (include form: written, oral,
home assignment, presentation, etc.)
o Mid-term exam
 Written exam in Financial Accounting and Behavioral Economics
o Small assignments and/or papers
 Assignments based on the case you read
o Presentations
 Group presentations almost every class
 Individual presentations
o Group work
o Class attendance
o Class participation/debates
Library and technology
There is no library in the graduate campus. NUCBs library is located in the
undergraduate campus and if you want to borrow a book, you order it and it is
sent.
STUDENT REPORT
Technological level of classroom was high, I really appreciated the presenter’s
display – you don’t need to turn back to see the slides if something slips your
mind.
Description of courses
Course code &
name
GLP306_G13G
Master/ Bachelor
Exam form
Prerequisit
es
Some
financial
course is
appreciated
Appro
ved as
Major
Comments
Behavioral
Economics and
Finance
GLP310_G13G
Enterprise
Turnaround Strategy
Two hour written
exam, final
project,
presentation and
class
participation
Final paper, class
participation
None
Major
Midterm exam,
final exam, class
participation
None
Major
Persuasive
Presentation /
Discussion
Individual
presentations,
group
presentations,
reports
None
Major
Intensive course – 4
days in a row, 6 hours
at school. Pretty good
course though.
If you had accounting
before, don’t take it.
Maybe they will make
some changes but this
course was too basic
(mainly because some
students don’t have
any accounting
experience)
The class was useful
but it was too big for
an effective
presentation course
(40). They plan to
split it in groups in the
future.
GLP303_G13G
Financial Accounting
GLP301_G13G
GLP402_G13G
Strategic Management
None
Major
GLP405_G13G
International
Entrepreneurship
Participation,
final paper
Class
participation,
final paper
None
Major
Really enjoyed this
class, good cases and
the professor knew
how to stimulate the
discussion well.
GLP404_G13G
Financial Investment
and Decision Making
Presentations
about financial
portfolio you
construct, final
None
Major
Didn’t like this class
at all, don’t take it if
you are not superinterested in Finance,
The best course I have
had here, highly
recommended
STUDENT REPORT
exam
GLP506_G13G
Doing Business in
Japan
Final poster
presentation,
class
participation
None
Major
GLP510_G13G
Elementary Japanese
II
Smaller exams
throughout the
semester,
midterm exam,
final exam,
presentation
None
Major
but you won’t learn
that much. Professor
knows the stuff really
well but he fails to
deliver it to students.
Interesting class,
intensive form, four
different professors +
speakers from the
companies. Toyota
factory visit.
Japanese for those
who already have
some knowledge,
pretty good course.
On a final note, how will you sum up the exchange experience?
My exchange experience in Japan was simply amazing – country, people, culture,… I
have to say it was one of the greatest experiences in my life. Living in a country that is so
different to what we are used to in Europe is in my opinion very valuable. I believe that
learning about Japanese culture, values and norms they follow might help me get a job in
some companies that deal with Japanese businessmen, as there are many
misunderstandings that might arise from the lack of cultural awareness.