Abstract
The purpose of this chapter is to clarify how a corporate philosophy is created and how it works in the corporate culture at a company succeeded in globalization. Our research subject is Rakuten, a Japanese e-commerce company. Rakuten is a leading company of Internet services in Japan, and since it adopted English as its official language, it attracted the attention of those interested in corporate globalization.
To describe the process whereby Rakuten created its corporate philosophy, we referred to the books written by Rakuten CEO Hiroshi Mikitani and documents related to Rakuten’s corporate philosophy. We also interviewed several employees who have been working on Rakuten’s system development for more than 10 years and asked them what globalization and Englishnization brought about.
The survey revealed that Rakuten’s corporate philosophy is a system of values, the mission, and practices, which is called “Rakuten Shugi” (Rakuten basic principles). Rakuten has developed its own values created through practices, and it has updated its mission over time, and thus Rakuten Shugi operates as a guide to adapt to the rapidly changing Internet environment.
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- 1.
In this case, the company has officially established its corporate philosophy. In this chapter, we consider the concept of a corporate philosophy as equivalent with the concept of a management philosophy in this book.
- 2.
“Englishnization” is a coined word by Mikitani that refers to changing the company’s official language to English.
- 3.
- 4.
Rakuten, Inc. “2005−2017 Annual Reports” Web page.
- 5.
We interviewed seven people individually. One interview lasted for 4 hours, five lasted for 3 h, and one lasted for 2 h.
- 6.
- 7.
Sōmu shō (Ministry of International Affairs and Communications) (2010: 41).
- 8.
Mikitani (2007: 7).
- 9.
Mikitani (2007: 5−6).
- 10.
Rakuten, Inc. (2007: 52−53).
- 11.
The kernel is that part of the operating system that supports the most basic functions.
- 12.
Rakuten, Inc. (2007: 9).
- 13.
“Five Principles for Success” was developed by Mikitani in 1999 and codified values that Mikitani aimed to realize through the businesses and other activities of the Rakuten group.
- 14.
“Brand Concepts” represent the values that Rakuten aims to realize through its businesses and other activities.
- 15.
Rakuten, Inc. (2008: 1)
- 16.
As we argue later, empowerment is to support “enhancing myself” or “self-managing.”
- 17.
Rakuten, Inc. (2017: 92−93).
- 18.
Rakuten, Inc. (2017: 6−7).
- 19.
Rakuten, Inc. “Our Philosophy” Web page.
- 20.
The system development department employs numerous foreigners in an effort to attract talented engineers. However, even within the system development department, the proportion of foreigners differs from group to group. Some groups include more than 80% of foreigners, while others include only about 20% of foreigners. The proportion of foreigners is higher the closer the group is to providing services in foreign markets, and the proportion of foreigners who are fluent in Japanese tends to be higher the closer to services are to the Japanese market. Another influencing factor is whether managers are positive about hiring foreign employees.
- 21.
“Speed!! Speed!! Speed!!” is one of Rakuten’s Five Principles for Success.
- 22.
Rakuten emphasizes the importance of KPIs because its employees evaluate their daily performance through KPIs and identify what they should do next to achieve their final goals.
- 23.
The New Year Conference and the Rakuten EXPO are events for merchants. More than 2000 merchants participate in it, including a keynote speech by the CEO, lectures on sales promotion, and award ceremonies for excellent stores. And it is an opportunity to interact with other merchants.
- 24.
Nakayama (2014: 90).
- 25.
The literal translation of “jisō” is “self-propelled.” A more practical translation is “enhancing myself” or “self-managing.”
References
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Watanabe, Y., Isomura, K. (2020). The Creation of a Corporate Philosophy in a Japanese E-Commerce Company: A Case Study of Rakuten. In: Mitsui, I. (eds) Cultural Translation of Management Philosophy in Asian Companies. Translational Systems Sciences, vol 21. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-0241-5_3
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