About SMIPRP

Our Mission

Developing countries face enormous challenges in trying to achieve sustainable development. This is due, in part, to the lack of effective and efficient financial institutions and regulatory regimes. To build such institutions, developing countries need human capital with excellence in management knowledge and skills capable of designing and implementing sound public policies. This is where AGU finds its mission: "to be a school for training and research for future leaders in the policy arena."

The SMIPRP at AGU's Graduate School of Business, in cooperation with WCO, takes a leading role in achieving this mission by offering a master's degree program that nurtures future leaders in customs-related organizations. As a leading research institution in Business and Management, we pursue quality research in such areas as strategic and organizational management and intellectual property rights, offering developmental feedback to future executives in customs-related organizations.

The characteristics of the SMIPRP are threefold:
  • - Management: The SMIPRP places its educational focus on management.
  • - Theory: The SMIPRP aims to incorporate Western theories of business management and research findings with those of Japan as the economic center of Asia.
  • - Practice: The SMIPRP strives to educate students about the management practices of private companies from a practical standpoint, which we believe contributes to nurturing future leaders not only for the organizational development of customs but also for the sustainable development of countries.

Program Overview

The SMIPRP is configured by four pillars, under which several numbers of courses are available for students as follows:

1. Strategic Management
Course Subjects:
Competitive Strategy/ Management/ Organizational Management/ Multinational Financial Management

2. Intellectual Property Rights
Course Subjects:
IPR Enforcement at the Border/ Intellectual Property Rights/ Copyright law

3. Customs and Tariffs
Course Subjects:
Customs Reforms & Modernization/ Practicum in Customs Administration/ Customs Law/ Customs Tariff Law

4. Research
Course Subjects:
Master Thesis/ Academic Writing/ Statistical Analysis

The SMIPRP aims to provide students with management knowledge and skills in three main areas:

- Strategic skills: Our understanding of strategic skills is closely related to the conceptual skills managers must have to effectively manage their organizations. These skills are needed to negotiate abstract and complex situations as managers must be able to see the organization as a whole, understand relationships among various subunits, and grasp how the organization fits into its broader environment both inside and outside the organization.

- Relational skills: The SMIPRP considers relational skills as one of the essential managerial skills for managers to build effective social capital and networks. Human relations and interpersonal communication skills help facilitate effective interaction with personnel. These skills include leadership, communication, decision making, negotiation, counseling, and coaching tips.

- Practical skills: Managers must possess technical expertise in their assigned jobs. Practical skills here refer to the knowledge and proficiencies required for the accomplishment of any specific task related to customs. In the SMIPRP, we prepare various lectures and practicums led by the Japan Customs (JC) teaching staff for the development of technical excellence in practical customs tasks.

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