3 Ways Englishnization Helped Us Globalize
I attracted a lot of attention in 2010 when I announced my plan to make English the official language at Rakuten. No Japanese company had ever committed to doing business in a language other than Japanese.
Four years later, here are a few things Englishnization has done for Rakuten:
- English is a talent magnet. As Rakuten globalizes, more than one-third of our new hires are non-Japanese. We do not have to rely solely on Japanese talent or find a great engineer who is willing to learn Japanese. We have evolved from a company that attracts the best Japanese talent to a company that attracts the best talent from around the world.
- English speeds our M&A efforts. No matter where our acquired company may be, post-merger integration is faster when we share English as a common workplace language.
- Our global managers can learn from each other. In the past year, we’ve made acquisitions or expansion in Europe, Asia and North America. Our many offices around the world can communicate and share best practices with speed and ease. We learn from each other and find ways to achieve the best results.
The results speak for themselves. In any language.
Do you think Englishnization can help your business globalize?
VP of Sales, Cable assembly M&A 併購 | High Flex Cable ...
10y“If Japanese companies don’t reform drastically and implement English as their daily business language, the economy will only continue to contract,” Nobel laureate Shuji Nakamura said.
Business Consultant, Mentor, Speaker, Advisor, Servant Leader, Optimist, Strategist, High Growth & Turnaround Specialist, Board Member
10yBold move!
Mobile App Security Evangelist - Protecting the Mobile App Economy from Inside the DevOps Pipeline
10yIt's the right thing to do. Having a common language, a lingua franca, is critical if you want to succeed internationally. English is the current language of international business. Tomorrow another language may take over. But for the moment English is king and adapting it is key if you want to succeed globally.