Participants will receive the benefit of our decades of experience with the objective of working to implement any lessons learned when they return to their own companies. Below are some of the key highlights for the Japanese Study Mission:

• Japanese Quality Revolution: Our participants that attend this unparalleled Ignite Strategy and Excellence with Global Thought Leaders – Japan 2026 would glean the practicality of Japan industry’s global leadership in Quality Management and Continuous Improvement. It features the collective power of the frameworks such as Lean, Six Sigma, Agile, Business Process Reengineering (BPR), etc, and how all of these can be integrated into a total company-wide corporate programme.
• Japanese Industry Links: DHIQC has maintained strong connections with JUSE, the pioneers and guardian of this Business Management Science, and related Japanese industry and business leaders since the 1970s. The collaboration with JUSE has led to many Study Missions from Europe over the ensuing decades, involving access to top companies in varying industries.
• Unprecedented Access: Participants will visit the operations of at least four of the world-leading companies in Japan. This first-hand experience provides the opportunity to witness how excellence is attained in the operations of these organisations and engage with their top management team members.
• Certified Quality Fundamentals Course: Participants are automatically enrolled, as part of their preparation for the Study Mission, in this self-paced course of the David Hutchins International Quality College (DHIQC). The completion of this 5-unit course not only provides an international certification for the participants, it also adequately prepares them for the boot camp.
• National Convention for Quality Control Circles: Participants will get to witness Japan’s National Convention for Quality Control Circles, where the candidates will compete on their presentations at this 1½-day event. This a must-see!
• Educational Insights and Learning Environment: With the learning to be received from some Japanese tutors that have worked industry, together with shared experiences from David Hutchins and Kola Olutimehin, participants gain invaluable insights into how the Japanese style of business management can be successfully applied in their respective domains. David and Kola would inspire participants to reflect on the differences they observe between their own business practices, and those of their Japanese counterparts and share experiences with other attendees that have come from across the globe. On return to their respective companies, we remain on hand for further engagement that includes implementing any programme they witnessed and even help develop own variants. The engagement with David and Kola will enable participants to ask multiple questions and get the chance to clarify key points.
• Strategic Analysis: Participants can critically analyse their organisation’s culture and strategy, enabling them to identify transformative innovations that enhance performance and drive competitive advantage in their markets.
• Japanese Culture Experience: Participants will experience Japan’s culture and be able to debate the relevance of any differences between those of their own societies.
• Debriefing Workshop: One full day of a debriefing workshop by David Hutchins and Kola Olutimehin will focus on transferring the learning from the classroom lectures of the international seminars and industry visits into realisable value for the participants. This workshop provides participants with an extra opportunity to seek clarification on any aspect from the prior seminars and company visits such that the concepts can be applied to their own organisations, regardless of their local culture.

• Universal Concepts of Japanese Business Management Science, which is commonly known as Total Quality Management (TQM)
• TQM, as referred to here, is different from how it is interpreted and operated in the West. The emphasis of TQM, as originated in Japanese business management culture includes, Total Employee Involvement (TEI)
• The Role of Top Management in TQM with the use of Hoshin Kanri
  • Policy Management – development of a vision and mission and how this is cascaded to the respective levels/layers in the organisation
  • Daily Work Management – with the emphasis of:
    • Kaizen, and
    • the activities of Quality Circles and Daily Management
• Relatable Case Studies of TQM Implementation