TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN
RE: LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION FOR KOHEI ZUKAWA
It gives me great pleasure to write this letter of recommendation for Mr. Zukawa for the MBA program. I had worked side- by -side with Zukawa for nearly four years in the polymer trading business at Mitsubishi Corporation, where Mr.Zukawa was my business partner when I was in charge. We engaged in a project together for those years, which promoted synthetic resins made by Hanwha to domestic and overseas customers. In the project, Mr. Zukawa’s primary role was to identify each customer’s needs or supply new products by cooperating with technical staff in Hanwha’s factory. Also, Zukawa took advantage of his networking when demand was sharply triggered by other suppliers’ disaster and plant troubles. He realized regent supplies, which helps many manufacturers—hence allowed our Mitsubishi Automobile to continue with their production due to supply by Hanwha’s.
Zukawa poses leadership skills based on listening and summarizing to capture customer needs and problems accurately. Zukawa would approach the top-down leadership style, which was familiar with the bottom-up style. He would visit the customer where it urgently needed the material, but their top management would not accept the significant price increase as Hanwha total proposed. Zukawa settled the difference in gaining the profit at one time. Still, he made it continuously by having a long term contract, and this brought the chance to develop new business with these customers as Hanwha Total aspires. Eventually, we had a long-term contract with home appliances and Hanwha Total with collaborative research opportunities to build the resin. Hence shows his ability to grasp customer needs and lead the business; it’s also helpful when some conflicts occur while in discussions.
Mr. Zukawa loved his business and always set high standards; however, sometimes, this made him difficult to balance between works with his personal life. He would work even on the weekend when Mitsubishi and Hanwha promoted new business; this created some pressure on other members. I advised him of the importance of work-life balance, and he modified and changed with his incredible flexibility. Hence will promote his time management skills between studying and private.
Mr. Zukawa has a great personality described as” aspiring,” “high energy,” with positive thinking. He was always enthusiastic about sales activities and ever tried to gain new knowledge and experience. He would go to a café every morning to gain expertise or study a foreign language before going to his office. I hope his brilliant habit and aspiration for business will motivate other students.
Mr. Zukawa has flawless English communication. He used to accompany me to business trips when quality could occur, and Mr. Zukawa used fluent English and would explain the causes of a defect and show his feeling of apology. As a result, customers were satisfied with the solution that he proposed. It leads to an increment in sales by more than double. Mr. Zukawa would accompany Hanwha general manager in our office and work as an interpreter due to his high Korean skill.
While I certainly miss the working relationship I had with Zukawa through the years. I’m confident he will portray his skills and positive impacts on his MBA. I highly recommend him for the MBA program. If you have any questions about Zukawa capabilities and skills, don’t hesitate to contact me.
Sincerely;
Signature.