MSU students travel to Japan for business internships

Montana State University accounting students Kapri Malesich and Mike Williams traveled to Japan for summer business internships. (Photos courtesy Jackie Sather)
Bozeman–Two Montana State University College of Business students flew to Tokyo earlier this month for summer internships to study Japanese business practices and culture thanks to a Japanese custom called "Koden."

http://www.montana.edu/commserv/csnews/nwview.php?article=1783

Accounting students Mike Williams, a senior from Great Falls, and Kapri Malesich, a junior from Dillon, are spending four weeks in Japan at the Starzen Company. The group’s principal activity is the manufacture and sale of processed meat.

The College of Business and the Starzen Company initiated a relationship in 1991 when Starzen executive Seiichi Uzurahashi lectured at MSU on "Managing methods in a Japanese company." The Starzen Company owned a ranch in Dillon at the time. When Uzurahashi’s father died, Uzurahashi created a gift endowment following the Japanese custom, Koden, where it is appropriate to offer money as a token of esteem and respect on the occasion of someone’s death. The endowment supports the Starzen internship.

"I was motivated to apply for the Starzen internship in order to learn about the business practices and culture of the Japanese and to better understand how to do business with the Japanese," Williams said.

For Malesich, whose family sold cattle to the former Starzen Ranch near Malesich’s Dillon home, the trip has additional meaning.

"Discovering that Starzen was an agricultural company I already knew something about made me even more curious to learn more and to see the similarities and differences in how they do things in Japan," Malesich said. "I also hope to learn more about how the company runs global agriculture business and compare it to how we do things in the U.S. I believe I will come back a more well-rounded person and that this experience will enhance my understanding of business on a global scale."

Since 1995, two College of Business students have been selected for the program each year.

Contact Jackie Sather 994-6766