IMD Annual Report 2021

105 Regional spotlight

North East Asia

Traditionally, executives and organizations in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan are drawn to IMD’s valuable offering of face-to-face programs, in-person networking and informal social interactions with international peers. COVID-19 travel restrictions, therefore, impacted activity in 2021 as many programs shifted to virtual or online formats.

make up half of the cohort, IMD faculty adjusted the vocabulary and speed of sessions, and shared learning materials in advance. The use of IMD’s bilingual Japanese coaches, in particular, provided a secure base for the participants, enabling deeper reflection and building confidence for interactions with international colleagues. This blend of local relevance and global perspective, offered also to other corporate clients, differentiated IMD’s offering in Japan. Talent assessment and development IMD’s partnership with multinational Japanese tech manufacturer Konica Minolta has grown to incorporate business transformation, thought leadership, and integrated talent assessment and development. Using its new Voyager framework, and now working across an expanding footprint to include Japan, China, other Asian markets, Europe and the United States, IMD provides leadership pipeline advice and an effective combination of organizational development through custom programs and individual development of executives through specific open programs.

IMD seized the opportunity to plant seeds to further support its strategic plans for the region, with promising signs already emerging in 2021. Previous investments in custom programs, talent assessment and development, thought leadership, branding and relationship building bore fruit. Differences between the executive education needs of companies across the region, including the adoption of virtual learning, have created opportunities for segmentation and differentiation. IMD also increased the coordination between its North East and South East Asia operations to unlock further strategic advantage. Differentiated programs As the leader in the Japanese market for global executive education, IMD provides custom programs to more than 10 global companies that are headquartered in Japan, including Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Honda, NTT Group, and AGC. In 2021, IMD continued its collaboration with DENSO, a global leader in automotive technologies, shifting a face-to-face transformation journey to an impactful virtual format. In addition, to ensure the learning impact and participation of Japanese executives, who