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Harvard MBAs Already Know This
March 12, 2013
Hiroshi MikitaniAnd now I will let you in on a bit of information that many at my alma mater have already received.
In 2011, almost two decades after I graduated from Harvard Business School, I was asked by Professor Tsedal Neeley, to participate in a case study. Would I open Rakuten to a team of interviewers and analysts so that the wider business community could learn from the Rakuten experience?
I did, and the result has already emerged at HBS. The study tracks the process I undertook in my company that I call Englishnization. In March 2010, I stood in front of my employees at our Tokyo headquarters and made a startling announcement: all 7,100 workers would have two years to become proficient in English—the "language of business"—or risk demotion. At the time, only about 10% of our employees were proficient in English. My plan attracted a lot of attention – and a good variety of criticisms. I was called everything from radical to visionary to divisive to stupid. Everyone had an opinion.
The case study detailed what happened after the name-calling. It revealed the impact of the process on our employees and on our business as a whole. It detailed what went right, what went wrong and what we learned. Even I, who was privy to every move made around Englishnization at Rakuten, learned quite a bit.
MBA students were equally engaged. Professor Neeley says the case study ignites passionate debate in her classroom, with some students saying a common language is a must for a global marketplace, while others worry that a focus on English devalues the contributions of those who grew up speaking another language.
I am not surprised by the reaction at the business school. I have long understood that the process we have undertaken at Rakuten is unique and trailblazing for the global business community. I devote the first chapter of my upcoming book to the experience and I’m sure there will be more to say as we move forward. Englishnization is and will continue to be a long range and fluid process.
The MBAs are already discussing this. What do you think?
My book: Marketplace 3.0
Photo: Bloomberg via Getty Images
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