Attending the conference, there were Assoc.Prof.Dr. Nguyen Anh Thu - Vice Rector of the UEB, Prof. Furuta Motoo - Rector of VNU Vietnam Japan University, Prof. Matsui Yoshiki and Prof. Tanabu Motonari - Yokohama National University, Japan, together with speakers and academics from the National Economics University, representatives of organizations in Japanese and Vietnamese service businesses. The conference was also attended by nearly 100 students, researchers and scholars of universities in Hanoi.
This is the third time VNU University of Economics and Business cooperated with Yokohama National University (Japan) to hold an international conference on Japanese management in Vietnam following success of the two international conferences in 2016 and 2017. This year, the theme of the conference is about introducing Japanese service style (Omotenashi), focusing on the hospitality industry, sharing experiences from Japan and Vietnam.

Assoc.Prof.Dr. Nguyen Anh Thu delivers the opening speech

Opening the conference, Assoc.Prof.Dr. Nguyen Anh Thu emphasized that the conference was an international forum to connect member universities of VNU with international universities and organizations. This comprehensive cooperative relationship will bring great value to the training and research activities of all parties, meanwhile, proposing meaningful recommendations for socio-economic development in Vietnam.

Prof. Furuta Motoo - Rector of VNU Vietnam Japan University

Prof. Furuta Motoo - Rector of the Vietnam Japan University, said that the theme of the conference is one of the research and training focus of Vietnam Japan University. The research and discussion at the conference will bring practical experiences to the development of Vietnam.

At the conference, speakers discussed the unique characteristics of Japanese-style customer service (omotenashi) through the sharing of practical experiences of Japan. The conference is divided into two parts, one introducing the behavioral culture in Japanese style and the second one focusing on quality of service and customer satisfaction in hotel services in Vietnam.

 

The first discussion was delivered by speaker Nguyen Viet Ha - President and CEO of Kennet Japan - who has lived and worked in Japan for 18 years. She analyzes comparative characteristics of service styles between Japan and Vietnam, shows similarities and how to improve the quality of services, especially IT services, telecommunications in Vietnam.

Subsequently, speaker Ichigo Umehara - Chairman of the Future Universal Network of Hospitality Professionals, shared the successes and failures of developing hotel services in Japan in the 1990s. Even though international standard services are not standardized, it is not about copy foreign models, but to create a unique service style in which service is based on customer care. He suggested that Vietnam should build its own style of customer service with Vietnamese identity, while emphasizing the development of service processes in accordance with international standards and training of service personnel.

Speaker Umehara Ichigo

Speaker Ando Noriko, President of Espressivo.com, vividly introduces the modernization and renewal process of the Japanese traditional style of service through a scientific approach, including renovating the value of the service, training employees to have the ability to understand and sympathize with customers. The speaker also pointed out the development trend of Omotenashi in Japan based on knowledge management.

 

In particular, the presentation by Mr Roland G. Svensson - FLC Hotel Manager, drew the attention and discussion of participants. He shared the experiences of FLC in building a service strategy based on the recruitment and development of high quality human resources, empowerment to create autonomy in serving clients.