2024.09.19

UTD’s Naveen Jindal School of Management supports a Japanese venture’s expansion into the U.S. market for its Japanese language education app through an industry-academia program.

　SUN conducted an industry-academia collaboration program with the Naveen Jindal School of Management at the University of Texas at Dallas, U.S.A. This program supported SUN’s plan to expand into the U.S. market with “KURASHI STUDY”, a Japanese language learning application developed and marketed by SUN.

■SUN Aims to Expand Japanese Language Education Apps into the U.S. Market
SUN has developed the Japanese language education application ” KURASHI STUDY”, which is sold in 19 countries worldwide. SUN is also promoting the digitalisation of Japanese language education by developing “HANASU PLUS”, an online Japanese language learning service for companies, and an online lesson teaching platform. Because of these efforts, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government has chosen SUN for its “Global Challenge Program for Small and Medium Enterprises in Tokyo”. With the support of this program, SUN has begun preparations to enter the U.S. market in 2023.

■What about The Global Development Initiative program
The Global Development Initiative (GDI) program is a practicum, a major component of a required semester-long undergraduate class, IMS4350 Global Market Entry Strategies at the Jindal School of Management at the University of Texas at Dallas, that is led by Professor Hubert Zydorek, Director, Center for Global Business, Naveen Jindal School of Management. The program involves developing defined market research and other market entry strategies for companies outside the USA that aim to enter the US market. It also equips students with the necessary skills to succeed and navigate the complex global business environment.

Lawrence P. Howorth, president of Howorth International, LLC, a company that provides international market entry consulting services in the U.S., serves as a program leader, and a team of experienced business expert mentors and students work together to support foreign companies in their entry into the U.S. market. SUN participated in the GDI from January to April 2024 and received the final report/presentation of the market study by project members on Thursday, May 2, 2024.

■Final Proposal
The students have been researching and analysing for three months to formulate a strategy for SUN’s entry into the U.S. market. The final presentation included reports on company analysis, market analysis (industry statistics, market segmentation, and competition), SWOT analysis, and geographic attractiveness. Full-scale, high-quality consulting reports were presented, including an understanding of the market size, analysis of market needs, and recommendations for target markets to enter the U.S. market. Students also interviewed industry professionals through an extensive network at the University of Texas. Feedback on SUN’s services was received from an assistant professor involved in Japanese language education and a personnel manager at a major Japanese company, including specific suggestions for localising services for entry into the US market.

■Program members(partial)
Lawrence P. Howorth
Program Lead for the GDI / President and Founder of HOWORTH International, LLC
Over the past seven years, the GDI Program has engaged with 42 international companies in over 15 countries. The Companies benefit from USA market research and market entry advice provided by our GDI teams, mentors, and program participants, and the students benefit from the learning experience of working in the “real world” international business environment.

Shumpei Nakasone
CEO of SUN Co., Ltd
First, I sincerely thank the students and the other members who supported them. They were serious about a small company in a country with a 15-hour time difference and spent a lot of time researching and developing a strategy to enter the U.S. market. In October 2023, the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) and the US Department of State agreed to strengthen comprehensive cooperation in education, including enhancing Japanese language education in the US. This will be a great business opportunity for us as a Japanese language education service provider. We will certainly use the valuable information gained from this project in our future business development and service improvement and contribute to the education industry in Japan and the United States.

Student for the GDI
Nathan Banh (Global Business/Pre-Law)
Nadia Vilaisaeng (B.S. Global Business & Marketing)
Leonardo Castro (B.S. Global Business)
Bifei Xu (B.S. Global Business)
Hilary Nguyen (B.S Global Business & Marketing)

■Related Press Release
https://www.sun21.co.jp/en/news/global-challenge-program-us/

 ■About SUN Co., Ltd
We are an IT company that operates a system integration, Web design, and foreign resident support business under the corporate philosophy “To become a globally renowned company based on our mission ‘connect people with people’.” We will actively hire globally, and by connecting people, we will create new value and deliver innovation to the world.
https://www.sun21.co.jp/

■About the “Global Development Initiative (GDI)” at the Naveen Jindal School of Management, University of Texas at Dallas
The “Global Development Initiative (GDI)” program, offered by the Naveen Jindal School of Management, University of Texas at Dallas, aims to provide high-value support to foreign companies aspiring to expand their business into the U.S. market. Conducted each spring and fall semester, the program pairs university students with business mentors and foreign companies looking to grow in the U.S. market. The teams collaborate on market analysis, application of global knowledge, and the development of strategies for entering the U.S. market. The program’s primary focus is to equip university students with the skills required for developing market entry strategies for international companies and succeeding in the complex global business environment. https://jindal.utdallas.edu/centers-of-excellence/cgb/global-development-initiative/