[12 November 2010]
SMU inks 5-year service excellence collaboration with Kyoto University
The Institute of Service Excellence at SMU will partner Kyoto University's Graduate School of Management in this pioneering collaboration
Singapore, 12 Nov 2010 – The Institute of Service Excellence at the Singapore Management University (ISES) (???????) has signed today a Memorandum of Understanding in Kyoto, Japan with The Graduate School of Management at Kyoto University (GSM) (???? ??????). This is the first collaboration by the GSM with a Singapore university, as well as the first collaboration for Kyoto University in the area of service excellence.
Under this partnership, ISES and GSM will collaborate in service-related research, jointly develop service-focused executive education programmes, lectures, seminars, conferences and courses at SMU and Kyoto University, and provide opportunities for student exchanges at the postgraduate level. The initial partnership will be for a period of five years.
ISES Director Ms Caroline Lim says, “This idea of collaboration was born out of a realisation that both the GSM and ISES share a deep interest in service innovation and its applications at large. Therefore we are excited with this partnership and its potential outputs in terms of research and executive programmes. One of GSM's strengths is its practitioner focus in management education and research that are constantly evolving with the changing environment. This partnership will enable us to tap on each of our strengths to advance research and the application of innovative service strategies that are relevant particularly to businesses in Asia.”
ISES was established at SMU in 2007 with a goal to raise Singapore's service standards and promote a culture of service excellence. Working in close collaboration with government agencies and business leaders, ISES champions service excellence through an integrated approach that encompasses benchmarking and analysis, research and thought leadership, and industry engagement. It produces and updates the landmark measure of customer satisfaction across sectors and sub-sectors in the services industry of Singapore known as the Customer Satisfaction Index of Singapore (CSISG).
Dean of GSM Professor Kiyoshi Kobayashi says, “We very much appreciate this opportunity to collaborate with ISES, which is a world-class research institute in the service field. I believe this will be a memorable event for both of us, to start joint development of executive education program, joint research, etc., in the service field and others.”
GSM was established at Kyoto University in 2006 and offers courses and workshops in business and management at highly practical and intellectually challenging levels. GSM provides the latest international knowledge in various topics relating to business and management. In addition, in 2007 it launched the "Service Innovation" programme, to develop talents committed to bring about innovations in the service industry. The programme focuses on two approaches; to establish an educational programme to train leaders who can appreciate the role of psychology in service, and apply ICT (information and communication technology), and to bring business leaders into highly diversified service industries.
To kickoff the collaboration, ISES Director Caroline Lim will present an overview of ISES and its landmark Customer Satisfaction Index of Singapore as well as represent ISES in a panel discussion at Kyoto University's Service Globalisation Symposium on 13 November 2010.
About Kyoto University
Kyoto University was founded in 1897, the second (following The University of Tokyo) of seven imperial universities established in Japan. The first faculty to be established was the College of Science and Engineering, which was followed by other colleges, such as the Colleges of Law, Medicine and Letters as the university developed into an increasingly comprehensive institution with a characteristic emphasis on fundamental and applied research.
Since its foundation, Kyoto University's academic style has been characterised by academic freedom, self-reliance and dialogue. For over a century, the university has consistently produced world-class researchers in a wide spectrum of fields, including seven Nobel Prize laureates. In recent years the university has been making efforts to integrate the academic fields which are most vital for the future of the human race.
At present, Kyoto University has 17 graduate schools, 10 faculties, 13 research institutes and 29 education and research centers and facilities. As of May of 2009, we have approximately 9,300 graduate and 13,400 undergraduate students, 2,900 faculty members and 2,500 administrative staff members. http://www.kyoto-u.ac.jp/en