In early March 2026, Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA) students Kimberly Hinton, Adrian Morales Rodarte and Rachel Sosalski were in the classroom learning about high-level international business topics like global strategy and relations, the market economy and tariffs.
Just a little over a month later, they found themselves alongside their classmates discussing the same concepts with business leaders halfway across the globe.
The Temple University Fox School of Business’ EMBA student cohort traveled to Japan for an impactful and educational week-long global immersion experience in Tokyo and Kyoto from April 18-25.
An integral aspect of the EMBA program’s “Global Enterprise Management” course, the immersion transformed students’ classroom experiences into real-life educational opportunities on global business practices and innovative approaches to the worldwide marketplace. The Fox School’s EMBA experience is a 16-month program designed to provide leaders with unparalleled business education, industry acumen and professional development.
“The Japan immersion grants our EMBA colleagues a first-hand, international perspective on the subjects we are learning about in the classroom at the Fox School,” said Roger Kashlak, MBA ‘85, PhD ’95, a professor of instruction at Fox who oversees the Global Enterprise Management course and subsequent immersion.
“Our classroom work heavily focuses on geopolitics, global economics, tariffs and trade and industry responses—it’s a unique and impactful occurrence for our colleagues to focus on these topics in the classroom and then find themselves examining the subjects with leaders and experts within a critical international setting.”
Kashlak also explained that a lot of work behind the scenes ensures that the trip is successful.
“The EMBA immersion experience that Fox provides is simply unparalleled. The tireless efforts of the entire global immersion team led by Phyllis Tutora (Fox senior director of international and executive programs), who co-led our immersion, ensured the time abroad was both memorable and educational.”
Beginning in Tokyo, the initial days of the trip saw students traveling to firms and businesses that represented a wide array of industries. In addition to the Yuri Group, a Tokyo-based consulting firm, they participated in location visits to the Japan Sake + Shochu Makers Association, a non-profit organization that represents sake and shochu beverage producers throughout Japan, Robert Half, an international human resource consulting firm and Agile Energy X, a renewable energy supplier.
For a student like Hinton, whose professional role outside of the classroom is vice president of human resources at Trumark Credit Union, these on-site company visits stood out.
“The visit to Robert Half was very impactful because it aligned closely with what I do professionally,” Hinton explained.
“The on-site visits challenged me to think beyond a US-centered lens and examine how organizations compete in environments shaped by different cultural norms and structural pressures—that perspective gave all of us insights into how company’s work to stay globally relevant.”
Halfway through the immersion, the cohort traveled to Kyoto via bullet train. Once there, their string of visits continued through meeting with the Parkdale Group, a Kyoto-based consulting firm that specializes in assisting medical and healthcare technology companies with market entry and business development into Japan, and Mandaracha, a tea house, shop and general culture venue.
Morales Rodarte found these meetings to be highly influential.
“Meeting with these international companies’ direct leadership team, sometimes their founder or chief executive officers, provided a unique experience that brought our classroom lessons to life,” Morales Rodarte said.
“The insight and perspective they were able to provide to us was deep, and very beyond surface level. Hearing these leaders discuss their own challenges and long-term strategy for their business gave the whole cohort an executive perspective in a global context.”
Also there, the cohort made a stop at Temple’s campus in Kyoto. On top of meeting with campus leadership, the group was pleasantly surprised to be visited by university President John Fry, who was at the campus at the same time.
“President Fry’s visit was a meaningful highlight of the Japan immersion,” said Crystal Harold, Fox’s associate dean for masters’ programs.
“For our Executive MBA students to meet with Temple’s president while visiting Temple’s campus in Kyoto reinforced the strength and reach of the University’s global community and made an already memorable experience even more special.”
Sosalski confirmed Harold’s sentiments.
“Between our time in both cities, what stood out to me was our visit to Temple’s campus in Kyoto,” Sosalski said.
“We were fortunate to coincidentally be onsite at the same time as President Fry. Seeing his commitment to international studies and the Japan campuses was inspiring and made me even prouder to be a part of Temple.”
Throughout both Kyoto and Tokyo, there were plenty of extracurricular opportunities for the cohort to experience beyond their educational sessions, too. In addition to a group sushi-making class, the cohort visited various places of cultural importance, and students were encouraged to explore the local areas independently on select evenings.
Overall, the students cite the trip as highly memorable, both personally and professionally, and a standout from their entire EMBA journey.
“This immersion allowed all of us to move our ideas of international business from observation to experience,” Morales Rodarte said.
“The education gained during this immersion will stay throughout my career. The emphasis on cultural sensitivity, long term decision making and global collaboration have reshaped how I view leadership and strategy.”
Hinton agreed, feeling the immersion encapsulated her whole EMBA experience.
“This whole program pushes you to connect strategy, leadership, finance, economics, ethics and global relations in a way that reflects real executive decision-making—and this trip brought all those elements together for us into a week-long experience,” Hinton said.
“The Japan immersion allowed me to turn classroom concepts into a global business experience, and that is something I will always carry with me.”
And Sosalski felt empowered through the time abroad.
“This global immersion experience in Japan was truly life-changing,” Sosalski said.
“The immersion offering is one of the main reasons why I chose to pursue my EMBA from Temple. Regardless of where we traveled to, anytime you can engage with stakeholders who are on the ground, and can contribute real-world experiences to classroom concepts, you gain an invaluable perspective.”
Learn more about the EMBA program at Temple University’s Fox School of Business here.