Be Cautious of Wishes: The Hidden Effects of Policies

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Policies aimed at transformation can lead to surprising outcomes, manifesting in distinct profiles of individuals affected. In the context of a language mandate, one group, labeled as 'linguistic expats', consists of Japanese employees who, despite living in Japan, find themselves learning a new language, thereby experiencing a form of expatriation within their own country. Another group, termed 'cultural expats', includes Americans who immerse themselves in Japanese culture at their workplaces in the U.S., adapting to new cultural norms. Additionally, employees from various countries like France, Brazil, Germany, and Taiwan form a third category, suggesting a diverse array of experiences stemming from such policies.

In 2010, Japan’s largest e-commerce platform Rakuten was rapidly expanding into global markets when CEO Hiroshi Mikitani made a surprising announcement: Rakuten’s internal language would be changing to English.

That meant that all meetings, emails, and other communications would have to be conducted in English. The company’s employees had two years to become proficient in the language or be demoted.

In this episode, Harvard Business School professor Tsedal Neeley discusses her case, “Language and Globalization: ‘Englishnization’ at Rakuten,” and explains why Mikitani introduced this new mandate and what results it achieved.

You’ll also learn about the early challenges that accompanied this enormous change, including loss of productivity and employee skepticism, as well as how the shift to English shaped Rakuten’s long-term working culture.

Key episode topics include: strategy, global strategy, globalization, cross-cultural management, language, communication, leadership, transformation, organizational culture.

HBR On Strategy curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock new ways of doing business. New episodes every week.

· Listen to the original HBR Cold Call episode: Language and Globalization: The Mandate to Speak English at Rakuten (2017)

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