The rapid, global economic growth in the late 1990s led Matsuda to want to sharpen his economic expertise. He knew he needed a strong analytical base and sought a school that was equally high-caliber in economics and public policy.
Yosuke Matsuda
First job out of Ford School: Deputy Director of Mekong Countries - JBIC
A partner at McKinsey & Company in Japan, Yosuke Matsuda (MPP '03) helps industrial clients with strategy, organizational efficiency, productivity improvement, and company-wide transformation.
Prior to coming to the Ford School, Matsuda worked at the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), a governmental organization of Japan that extends loans to support trades and infrastructures projects overseas. His interests shifted to “developing strategies for the somewhat-functioning market” as he witnessed rapid economic growth in the late 1990s. Matsuda was determined to sharpen his economic expertise to improve his role in the workplace. “I was keen to understand how the former communist countries adapt to the market based economy. I chose positions to support those economies such as Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia,” he said.
But he knew he needed a better analytical base and sought a school that was equally high-caliber in economics and public policy. “I prioritized policy schools that are well connected to the economics departments because public policy has multifaceted aspects,” said Matsuda, which led him to the University of Michigan. Matsuda went on the International Economic Development Program (IEDP) trip to Morocco and completed his summer internship at the World Bank in Vietnam where he observed how public policy works within privatization process in emerging economies.
Post-graduation, Matsuda returned to JBIC with his enhanced skillset, but found he craved a new challenge. He leaned into the analytical and financial skills gained at the Ford School and made a pivot from government-led banking to the private sector consulting.
Matsuda is a management consultant that helps a large, industrial client become sustainably profitable through its position in the value chain. “Running this company-wide transformation program requires a series of strategic and operational decisions which affect multi-thousand employees,” said Matsuda, “It is tough, but exciting, to help navigate under such an unknown environment by teaming up with global colleagues.”
Whether working in the public or private sector, Matsuda remains focused on making sense of ever-changing market economies. “My fundamental question has been unchanged: ‘How should we— society, government, private companies or individuals— get along with the imperfections of the market?’,” he explained.