Mission and Strengths

Part-time lecturers (25 in FY2022), including experts and practitioners in various fields, are involved in running ABS classes, and many guest speakers provide in-class lectures.

Academia-industry Collaboration through MPP Classes

In the Aoyama Action Learning course Marketing Planning Project (MPP) students work in the field of marketing to collaborate with companies and organizations on themes ahead of their time. Students conduct project-based training in which they formulate and propose thematic marketing strategies to collaborating companies. In FY2021, students collaborated with DeNA Co., Ltd. on a project to identify a blue ocean market adjacent to a red ocean market, develop services to meet the needs of that market, and develop a marketing strategy for those services. Incorporating design thinking methods, students proposed five different plans. In FY2020, based on the theme of health management, students entered into an academia-industry tie-up with Tipness Limited. to develop a health maintenance service for corporate employees and a marketing strategy for the service.

Major collaborators to date: DeNA Co., Ltd., Tipness Limited., Toshin Development Co., Ltd., Pasona Inc.

Collaboration with Saijo City, Ehime Prefecture and Local Companies

Aoyama Gakuin University's Aoyama Campus is located on the site of the former residence of the Matsudaira family of the Iyo Saijo domain during the Edo period, and has historical relations and ties with the city of Saijo and Aoyama Gakuin. ABS has established a satellite research office and is collaborating with the Saijo Industry & Information Center for Support (SICS), a third-sector organization in Saijo City, Ehime Prefecture, to conduct regional research on Saijo City and regional revitalization in collaboration with local businesses and other organizations.
(FY2018-2020: Grant issued for Saijo City Regional Research Project, and research conducted as a research unit of the Aoyama Gakuin Research Institute)

Regional Collaboration in Marketing/Planning for Regional Revitalization Classes, etc.

Major regional partners to date: Nagasaki Prefecture (Department of Culture, Tourism and International Affairs); Shibuya Ward; Kamiyama Town, Tokushima Prefecture; Atami City, Shizuoka Prefecture; Betsukai Town, Hokkaido Prefecture

Collaboration with Organizations

We develop finance-related courses and organize events in collaboration with the Securities Analysts Association of Japan, the CFA Society Japan, and other organizations. In addition, we have an academic sponsorship agreement with the Project Management Institute Japan to encourage students to obtain project management professional certifications and promote the development of those specialist personnel.

Community Based Learning (CBL)

CBL is considered a collaborative learning initiative that goes beyond the traditional volunteer and service learning concepts to include deep community relationships leading to the growth and innovation of the activities. ABS proactively incorporates CBL components in several of our courses. For example, in the Next Generation Agricultural Innovation course endowed by Green Collar Planet, a general incorporated association, students experience actual farm work at a farm in the suburbs of Tokyo to learn how the concept of farm-to-table works and to envision and propose new innovations in agriculture.

ABS is committed to addressing the SDGs through these educational and research activities to help build a sustainable society, and is particularly dedicated to training the future talent who will take the lead in these activities.