Establishing a new foundation for overseas business expansion and
gaining cross-cultural management experience through collaboration with interns

Q.Why did your company decide to take on interns? What did you aim to achieve?

Established in March 2023, our company is a startup, and we engage in promoting Japan’s excellent disaster prevention & mitigation technologies/systems abroad. Our business is dedicated to facilitating matching between foreign governments and companies.

We have long held the ambition to expand our business overseas in the future, but we faced the challenge of how to collect information from abroad in a timely manner. However, we realized there were limitations to gathering information solely by our own efforts, and for a startup like ours, hiring foreigners right away posed a considerable challenge. Since we had no prior experience collaborating with foreigners, we saw the potential value in an online internship that could provide us with timely, on-the-ground information from abroad. Consequently, we decided to apply for this program.

In our activities, we first developed a plan to conduct market research on Malaysia and Indonesia, which are potential future markets. The two countries are far from Japan and possess different cultures and business environments. Through this program, we aimed to build a foundation in preparation for expanding our business overseas to both countries.

Encountering a space where Malaysian and Indonesian interns could deepen their learning through each other’s reports

Q.What kind of internship did you run? What difficulties did you face and how did you resolve them?

Leveraging the interns’ advantage of residing locally, we requested a more-detailed survey analysis of the disaster prevention market. We believed that, rather than conducting desk research from Japan, it would be more beneficial to obtain substantive and specific analysis results that could be useful in the formulation of our company’s strategies. We were previously aware that Asia is one of the world's major disaster-prone regions and that, Indonesia, in particular, is a country heavily affected by disasters. However, through the reports from our interns, we were newly informed that Malaysia also experiences a considerable number of disasters and that the government there is feeling a significant sense of crisis.

Utilizing the latest apps, the survey results on disaster situations created by the interns turned out to be sophisticated reports beyond our expectations. It was an extremely fruitful outcome. Additionally, by asking questions about each other's presentations, added value was brought to the research content. Having two interns of different nationalities engage in friendly competition and collaborate in their activities was also a great source of inspiration for us.
To provide an example, Ms. Anis from Malaysia is an expert in resources and Earth sciences, but she is also knowledgeable about academia in Indonesia. When she suggested that there could be a prominent professor in Indonesia that is familiar with this issue, Mr. Budi, an engineering student from Indonesia, swiftly arranged a meeting with the professor and conducted an interview.

Through this internship program, we have found that the ability to communicate beyond national borders has led to unexpected results.

Interns’ innovative ideas and approaches: Leading to the creation of new business opportunities and the expansion of concepts

Q.Comparing before and after the internship, what effects did it have on you, your employees, or your organization?

The results exceeded our initial expectations. The reports from the interns were not merely surveys. They also included information about business opportunities between the two countries, contacts for market entry, and more. We feel that these have added concreteness to our company’s international strategy.

Additionally, compared to before the internship program, our impression of Indonesia and Malaysia has become very positive. We were impressed, in a good way, by the unexpected accumulation of knowledge, as well as the proficiency with which they utilized the latest technologies. The interns’ innovative ideas and approaches led to the creation of new business opportunities and the expansion of concepts. In concrete terms, not only has our market resolution in Malaysia and Indonesia improved, but we are now also able to envision the nature of business across the entire Southeast Asian region.

Furthermore, through communication with the interns, I found that my own English language skills have improved, and my understanding of inclusive culture and diversity has significantly deepened. As a company, we intend to maintain communication with the interns even after the end of the internship program, and we are certainly keen on developing a long-term partnership with them. Both individuals are extremely capable, and it's clear that they can carve out various futures for themselves. However, I would be delighted if this experience has contributed in some way to shaping their careers.