On April 20 UD Trucks and Sophia University signed the renewal of the Volvo Group’s Academic Partner Program (APP). Through this academic partnership, UD Trucks provides hands-on business experience opportunities for students at Sophia University in Japan, with the aim of enhancing the Volvo Group prospective talent pool and strengthening the relationship between the company and the university.
Throughout the past three years, the Volvo Group and UD Trucks have jointly developed lectures with Sophia University on business management strategies covering an array of topics, such as how an organization is structured with some practical business cases as examples. The internship programs lasts from one to three months both in Japan and overseas, and a scholarship system for students in all majors became available. Within the past three years, a semester course provided by UD Trucks was selected as one of the top 4 among 225 lectures at Sophia University. The program has been mutually appreciated by both UD Trucks and Sophia University, which led to the renewal of the agreement for another three years.
Achievements in the past three years (2014-2016)
- No. of Sophia University students attended the jointly-developed lectures: 657
- No. of employees from UD Trucks/Volvo Group who participated in the jointly-developed lectures as instructors (total number): 33
- No. of students who participated in the internship program in Japan: 15
- No. of students who participated in the internship program in US and France: 3
- No. of students who obtained scholarships: 15
Mr. Yoshiaki Terumichi, President of Sophia University, said, “Sophia University takes innovative initiatives to correspond to the global society. We need to provide students opportunities where they learn about economics and business without limiting locations to our campuses so that they will be able to have a wider view of the global society. This industry-academia partnership agreement is what Sophia University has desired to have and UD Trucks/Volvo Group have provided us the environment that encourages students to take on challenges globally for three years. We are very pleased to have this renewal of agreement and we would like to continue our collaboration for developing unique human resources throughout the world.”
Joachim Rosenberg, Chairman UD Trucks, addressed, “At UD Trucks, we believe that developing employees’ competence is one of the highest priorities. We believe in highly competent and engaging talents become an enabler to reach our strategic targets. We have made big investments in our new facilities in Ageo, customer centers throughout Japan, and most importantly in people, which we continue to improve. We believe that this academic agreement between UD Trucks and Sophia University will further support our continuous development ahead of us.”
