1 Was “Englishnization” a good idea for Rakuten? What are the costs/benefits of such a policy?
Rakuten’s decision for “englishnization” of the company is 100% in line with the trend that “English is now the global Language of Business” Englishnization of global corporations: Strategy is Needed by Sebastian Reiche blog.iese.edu
It still doesn’t mean an easy transition. People naturally oppose any changes and that can lead to higher costs especially in the beginning stages.
The way Mikitani announced the “Englishnization” policy, without consulting with his management team did not prepare any employees for this change. The employers were immediately put under a lot of stress and experience a lot of pressure. Also linking the…show more content… This might be one of the undermining reasons for the frustration and fear from the workers. This might also be the reason why the Native Japanese speakers feel they are not capable of successfully performing their duties in English and why only 39% want English to be the business language of Rakuten. Changes are always hard and need to be carefully monitored and encouraged by all areas of management.
Also noteworthy is the fact that the Native Japanese speakers are the more attentive and interested in the Englishnization strategy. Saying this, it is clear that with necessary support and enthusiasm from managers and co-workers they may lower their frustrations and fear.
4 What determines whether employees embrace or reject the language stipulation?
When you decide to implement a single corporate language for your Company it is very important to make sure that each and every one feels that they were known in the decision-making. Make workers on all levels part of this transition
• All the employees must understand the reasons for this important decision. It is important to inform the employees of all the support the company will offer them as well as the personal benefits they will gain from learning the new Corporate Language. Being English efficient open doors for all employers into global markets. Also emphasis the specific goals the company that they are part of will be able to reach if they implement this
