When Nishi’s company sent him on secondment to Melbourne, he decided it was the perfect opportunity to enhance his industry knowledge with a Master of Supply Chain Management.
Nishi had been in the workforce for over a decade, working for logistics companies in Japan and Australia, when he returned to study a Master of Supply Chain Management. Beginning his course as a mature-age student, he had to find a balance between his full-time job and part-time study. He admitted he was concerned about the workload at first. “If you are a full-time worker, you need to study on weekends,” he warned. But the effort was worth it. “Hard work will pay off. Learning something new is always interesting for me, so my curiosity drives me to juggle full-time work and study.”
“I enjoyed studying at Melbourne Business School very much,” he went on. “I studied a lot of new things related to my work and critical thinking. Although my course was mainly online, I also had the opportunity to attend lectures face-to-face. I have learned supply chain management more broadly and deeply in my course, which has broadened my horizons for my work.”
Nishi chose the Master of Supply Chain Management for its relevance to his career and the global perspective it offered. “I am working in the transportation sector. Since my degree is related to my sector, it will advance my career,” he said. “Although I had been working in the domestic transportation industry for a long time in Japan, I was not familiar with the international logistics business. I have learned the basics of supply chain management and industry trends. Also, some foundation subjects like economics and statistics provided fundamentals that allowed me to think deeper.”
He found that the program had the added benefit of helping him refine his English. “I read a lot of reports and wrote a lot of reports. I have felt much improvement in my English,” he said.
As part of his course, Nishi was able to tour both the Melbourne Port and the Officeworks warehouse. These were compelling glimpses behind the scenes. “I was really impressed by their state-of-the-art technology,” he said. “I always feel excited when I see container terminals because they are related to my work.” He also enjoyed having the opportunity to meet up with his classmates and lecturers in person.
In the future, Nishi looks forward to further perfecting his knowledge of supply chain management. “I hope to be an expert on the topic, and would like to study it broadly,” he said.
As for the future of the industry, Nishi reflected on what he had learned in one of his subjects, Managing Sustainability for Strategic Advancement. “The sustainability topic is very important and closely related to supply chain management,” he said. “All over the world, regulation is changing rapidly under the threat of climate change. I think our industry needs proactive measures about it.”
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