The Role of Program Officers and Project / Program Management in Enhancing the Capability of“Gemba”(“workplace”in Japanese)

A New Introduction to Private Enterprises

Abstract

The role of program managers in private enterprises is to extract all problems requiring an appropriate solution and provide leadership toward their resolution. To accomplish this, varied methods that are suited to each workplace (“Gemba”) must be employed, with direction provided to ensure the full utilization of the capabilities of each specific Gemba. In addition to program managers, program officers who support Gemba also play a vital role in realizing these aims. This report focuses on two kinds of program officers: the program officer in research and development programs for solving social problems [1], and the program officer in collaborative industry-academia research programs like “W-BRIDGE” [2]. Additionally, there is further discussion in the form of actual case studies to clarify the roles of program officers in private enterprises, who coordinate complicated projects on the basis of systems thinking.