Greeting from the Dean

Since its foundation in 2005, Management of Technology (MOT) Major has widely accepted university graduates, people working at local companies as well as foreign students to nurture human resources who will lead value creation in the society and industries from a global viewpoint by means of technology management. We have produced about 160 master’s and doctoral degree holders so far and they are playing active roles in a global society. In collaboration with local companies, financial institutions and governments, we have carried out various human development activities with the aim of energizing local industries.

In the face of policy changes in the aftermath of presidential elections in the US and Brexit, the recent international and economic situations have become more uncertain and volatile. Social structure is in the mist of transformation triggered by the advent of big data and AI. These changes also mean big chances for local communities and industries to create new values.

We welcomed two professionals from industrial and academic field to MOT Major. Besides the amassed experiences and knowledge, we use big data. We also actively improve the value of local resources and add diversity and expertise obtained from our global academic network into educational research. Through these efforts, we will promote education research that proves itself worthy to the world.
Thank you for your continued support.

Dean, Management of Technology, Dr. Kensuke Nakajima

MOT’s mission

With the advance of globalization and the changes in the economic and social environment at home and abroad, not a few companies are facing hard time. On the other hand, globalization has expanded business opportunities and sales routes around the world. What is needed now is “innovation”: innovation to reap profits. Flexible and rapid response to the changes in the market, policies, customer preference and industrial structure, and converting the existing values in technology and local resources to customer-oriented ones will bring about innovations.

In order to gain high profits in the global business scene, we have to embed a system and culture capable of constantly generating innovations in the organizations. To help them go global, it is essential to make employers and employees acquire global business perspectives and to improve infrastructure in line with global standards.

The mission of MOT Major is to support the growth of Japanese businesses and to contribute to the revitalization and prosperity of the local economy and society.

MOT’s vision

With focus on understanding logics that lie behind research objectives and putting them into practical use, MOT Major provides students with opportunities to independently think, take actions and learn from them. Hence, students will be able to develop a plan full of insight and deep analysis, renew values through commercialization and launching initiatives, thus put innovations to market.

MOT doctoral program aims to foster human resources capable of taking a leadership role, teaching next generations and enhancing their academic research globally based on the knowledge and abilities they have acquired. The main principles are:

①Practical education programs of MOT based on the industry-government-academia-financial institutions collaborative activities that Yamagata University has cultivated.
②Management strategies and marketing approaches based on the best practices of local companies successful in making inroads into the world market.
③New studies of production control and efficiency free from preconceived ideas.
④Value-creation and management strategy logics made by faculties with business background.
⑤Ideal environment for working people.
⑥Global business perspectives cultivated through mixed class of Japanese and foreign students.

Mission of the Institute for Regional Value Creation

Research Institute of Regional Value Creation Management was founded to transform local industrial structures through collaborative research in which many local entities get involved. Its collaborative research is three-fold.

①　Local Community Collaboration（Contact:Associate Professor Matsuda、Associate Professor Noda、Assistant professor Takazawa）
②　Finance Collaboration（Contact:Professor Ono、Associate Professor Hiiragi）
③　ICT industry collaboration（Contact:Professor Tanaka、Professor Kodama）

In each collaborative research, we make good use of local resources based on value-creation logics, conduct management study for companies to generate values and undertake practical research using ICT and data science. MOT Major serves as a driving force of education and so does this institute in the field of regional innovation.

Vision of the Institute for Regional Value Creation

The third mid-term plan advocates to use research outcomes in the society, offer various educational opportunities and develop human resources. Many local companies, however, are still contractors, hindering them from generating new values by themselves. Science engineering and business management studies over a process of changing local companies to be innovative remain few.

Leveraging IoT and data science, Yamagata University launched an institute for implementing activities and research in an attempt to spur regional innovation from a scientific viewpoint.
Working with local industries and governments, our faculty members make a team to form logics of management process while carrying out new projects for value-creation.