This JUSE/GET/DHIQC Business Strategic Study Mission is the latest in an ever evolving series of such study missions to world beating Japanese companies, which we have collectively collaborated through JUSE (Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers), the organisers of the world beating Deming Prize. On this particular
study mission, we will participate in the World Quality Conference (ICQ 2025) held in Tokyo followed by visits to strategically important Japanese companies who will demonstrate world class business performance which can be replicated globally.
Our February 2026 Study Mission – For the first time in our history! We will be visiting organisations in the Hiroshima area.
We hope that you liked the video. It prompts some questions:
Here are some examples of our USP!
Good question and one we have given considerable thought to. Both China and India have not simply copied Japan but have for local reasons adapted what they have learned to suit their own needs, so these are mutations. Copy a mutation and you will create yet another mutation. How far do you go to lose sight of the fundamental principles? We think best to work from the original.
Chinese QC Circle members at the ICQCC’19 event in Tokyo
Yes, we are well aware of that but we resist the temptation to ‘pile them high and sell them cheap!’ We work on the assumption that people sign up with us because they are genuinely interested in taking back the best of what you learn for the good of your organisation and its people.
Quality Circles Convention in India.
It is not at all expensive if you consider what you get for your money. Think of the benefit in terms of Return on Investment. Even if you bring your entire Executive team, and you follow what you will learn from us and from the lectures and company visits we are sure that within weeks you will have achieved a positive payback. Check this out:
Because if you do not actually see it feel it and touch it, the probability is that you will never understand it.
Seeing is believing. Remember Japan has been doing this for 65 years now. The business culture they have created is no novelty to them now. For them, ‘It is the way we do things around here.’ The work culture created is now fundamentally different from ours. This was even true in the 1970s and it was an observation by Professor Ishikawa, the father figure of all of these who advised us to attempt to take executives to Japan to see it for themselves or they will not comprehend it.
It makes no difference. We visit a number of organisations in different industries primarily to show that Japanese TQM can be applied in any industry where people work together. The product or service is irrelevant.
This is true in part, but not in the case of the major exporting companies such as Toyota, Panasonic, Daikin, Komatsu, Yasua Batteries and many others. They have continued to dominate the global market and it was during that period that Toyota sailed past General Motors to become the dominant manufacturer in the automobile field. The reason for the setback was the global recession in the 1990s. You can be the most efficient manufacturer in your field, but if nobody has the money to buy your products, there is not much you can do, and this was followed soon afterwards by the Lehman shock which hit the global economic market, but now Japan is on the move again. The top companies continued what they were doing and the difference between how they are managing and it is done in the West is clearly obvious.
This is what we want you to see. The concepts have no passport. They can and are being used across all societies regardless of local culture and you can do it too if the will is there
This picture was taken at the dinner hosted for us by Dr Noriaki Kano a day after we concluded a previous Study Mission – from right are David Hutchins, Yumiko Kawashima (JUSE), Dr Kano and Kola Olutimehin. The two others are participants of the Study Mission and they are Charlie Protzman and John Fraser (first and second left).
On all of our Japan Study Missions, dating back to 1980, participants have agreed that the visits to the award-winning companies have been life changing. A CEO ofUK leading company once said:
Not only will you be able to see so many things for yourself, you will be accompanied both at the conference, company visits, sightseeing tours, and all the group related activities by David Hutchins and his co-Director Kola Olutimehin, to answer any queries, discuss any related topic with the intention that when the participants return
home they will be able to work towards an implementation of what they have seen. We even offer to provide mentoring services in that respect based on our years of experience in implementation.
To steer their organisation in a distinct direction that ensures all stakeholders are carried along
Looking for a more effective way to get and stay ahead of their competition and create organisations to be proud of
Japan went from virtually being annihilated at the end of World War 2 to having 11 out of the worlds top Banks in 1988. What you will see on this Study Mission is how it was achieved and to learn how we can replicate that at Governmental and local Governmental levels if the will is there!
Concerned with knowing and understanding world class business concepts and how to apply them successfully. These include Management Consultants and Coaches who specialise in methodologies such as Lean Six Sigma, Agile, Change Management, Business Process Reengineering etc
Whose VISION is a career of helping others to achieve excellence
Many partners want to share this experience even if they are not in industry themselves. The sightseeing is breathtaking and to be able to have meaningful discussions at home can be educational.
On each of our Study missions we strive to make some enhanced changes. On this visit, for the first time, we will be visiting companies on the Western side of Japan. Here the scenery is dramatic. Rather than travel down this coast by train we will be taking a coach. This will be in week 2 and it includes a cultural surprise night stop where you will experience Japanese culture with no western influence. It is likely to be a topic of conversation for years to come!
You can eat Japanese food in restaurants all over the world but you will never experience it as it is in Japan even when the owners are Japanese themselves. We have entertained many Japanese people outside of Japan and in every case they say it is different. You will experience the ambiance, the ancient culture, entertainment and exquisite food like nothing you have experienced before.
You will be learning from leading thought leaders in Japan who are revered in all the industries who manage using the principles of Japanese TQM. They are also very familiar with the ways of the West and other parts of the North South and East and the stumbling blocks they face. They have worked with them so these are very practical sessions.
We will meet you at the first hotel and everything after that is in our care. You can relax, your luggage will be taken care of, all you have to do between stops is to pack. Some of the food is covered as stated in the itinerary but some is also left to participants who might have different ideas as to what to do in their free time. We will be there for you!
JUSE was formed in 1946 by subscription from all the leading Japanese Companies who wanted a central training organisation to support them. And JUSE has maintained this purpose ever since. Also, JUSE is responsible for the management and award of all the significant National Awards such as ‘The Deming Prize. All of the companies we visit on our Study Missions that sort for the Deming Prize have achieved this coveted award! As a consequence, we as collaborators with JUSE since the late 1970s, are treated with honour at the locations of our host organisations. David Hutchins is known throughout Japan as the following brochure shows. This was a lecture tour that David gave in the mid-1990s when he was described as being the European who understands Japanese business culture better than any European they knew!
The unique experience of David Hutchins and Kola Olutimehin is available to participants, not only during the working and social hours of the programme, but also at more or less any time afterwards. Zoom calls can be arranged and we offer one day face to face free in your own company following the visit, plus of course, travel and subsistence expenses. With the GET specialists and DHIQC alumni, the future association with these two organisations is open ended. We receive calls from such participants often from more than 20 years back. Not only does this give you an association with us, but also with each other. GET is in itself a networking organisation.
[AUGUST 31, 2025 – SEPTEMBER 6, 2025] – £3,995 PER PERSON