Changes in the Corporate Culture of Rakuten - Case Study Example

?Case Analysis INTRODUCTION This is a case study that touches on making sweeping changes to the corporate culture without engaging in proper communication with the stakeholders. The case is based on Rakuten which is the most successful Japanese online retailer. Its CEO who is also the founder, Hiroshi Mikitani, aspires to grow his company to the level of Amazon Inc. One way he feels this can be achieved is by introducing an English only policy in his firm. He therefore goes ahead to make an abrupt announcement to all 7,100 employees that an ‘Englishnization’ program will be rolled out and all employees must learn and become proficient in English within two years. At the present time, over 90 percent of the workforce cannot run official duties in English. The CEO has set some punitive measures for those who will fail to achieve set scores – they will face demotions. As the program is rolled out, employees struggle to learn English. There are many challenges faced including loss of productivity, insufficient time to conduct studies, and internal resistance from managers. It is very clear employees are disgusted with the new policy and are only learning English to avoid being demoted or losing their jobs. Nine months to the deadline, the employees are growing desperate as they are realizing that it is increasingly becoming clear that they are not going to meet the set scores by the deadline. This has created anxiety and generally disrupted the workplace (Tsedal, 2011). In this paper, this case study is critically analyzed by examining the key communication challenges that are evident in the case study, suggesting alternatives to these challenges and showing why the alternatives will work. The challenges which are likely to be encountered in implementing the alternatives will also be highlighted. CASE ANALYSIS Key communication issues in the case study Radical changes in any organization require good preparation. In the case of this case study, the radical change was the change in the official language of the organization. The biggest communication challenge which can be identified here is insufficient of it. The manner in which the change in policy was communicated was clearly not the best. It was clearly going to draw resistance. Employees were never given time to internalize the new changes which were going to take effect. Everything around them was changed overnight including the menu language at the cafeteria. Hiroshi Mikitani relegated communication in this sense to a very naive position. According to Griffin (2003), communication should not be viewed naively as just a transmission of information. He argued that this notion often breeds “managerialism, discursive closure, and corporate colonization” (Griffin, 2003, p. 495). It is clear that Hiroshi Mikitani did not have the patience to engage his employees and collect their opinions on what they thought of the new policy. This challenge was similarly seen in the managers – the managers were clearly complaining and not on the side of their boss. The implication is that they had no prior information about the change in policy. This is a complete communication breakdown from the side of the CEO and such breakdowns often lead to very slow and reluctant adoption of new policies especially when such policies are radical. Alternatives to the challenges There are many alternatives that Hiroshi Mikitani could have used to ensure that his communication was welcomed. 1. There was a need to involve the employees – 2. Hiroshi Mikitani did not involve his employees in deciding on the new policy Their opinions did not seem to matter to him and therefore by assuming this he was indeed communicating other messages such as they really do not matter to him. According to Tsedal (2012), engaging employees in decision making or in change of policies creates a platform to explain the rationale of creating a new policy. 3. The policy should have been implemented at the managerial level first It could set a great precedence if the policy was implemented at the managerial level first. The CEO should have ensured that the managers agreed to adopt the policy first before moving to the general employees. Even in the case where the adoption of the policy was going to be uniformly implemented, the CEO should have started by convincing the managers of the need to adopt an English language policy as their official workplace language. 4. Open expression Lastly, Hiroshi Mikitani should have allowed some form of an open expression to be carried out whereby employees could have aired their experiences and challenges as they progressed in gaining English language proficiency. Why these alternatives The above three alternatives could have worked so well because they could have effectively solved the communication lapse which was witnessed and which actually caused all the challenges that the company employees had to go through. 1. Involving the employees. Involving the employees could have given Hiroshi Mikitani the platform to explain his views and his vision for Rakuten in regard to its global expansion. He could have used this chance to explain to the employees how the competitive advantage of the company was going to be improved. Through such platforms, he could have addressed any fears that the employees aired. In such a manner, the employees could have adopted the policy with a higher level of acceptance and this could have probably reduced their negative attitude towards the policy. 2. Involving the managers first. The managers closely interact with the employees and therefore ensuring that they agree with new policies is a step ahead in ensuring that the general employees will be persuaded to adopt the policy (Tsedal, 2012). If managers complain against the CEO especially against learning where they ought to be better than the other employees, then that is an indication that the general employees will even complain more. Furthermore, implementing the policy with the managers first could have acted as a pilot project such that implementing the same policy with the general employees becomes easier. 3. Open expression Allowing some form of open forum expression of the experiences of the employees could have helped employees to suggest ways in which they would have been assisted to perform better in learning the language (Nielsen, 2008). Through such forums, they could have requested the company to create some time for their classes or even pay part of their tuition fees for the English classes especially for the young employees who had not worked for long. Obstacles and difficulties of implementing the proposals 1. Time Any effective communication requires time. Discussing such a radical policy change with over 7,000 employees will definitely take a lot of time. It will equally take a lot time to convince the employees that indeed the English language is what the company needs. This will be the case because the company has so far expanded and flourished internationally without the English language as an official language. 2. Resistance Due to the fact that some managers complained alongside the general employees against the new policy shows that even the senior management were opposed to the idea. It is therefore clear that giving prior information to such people who seem to be so much polarized against learning the English language could have led to some form of resistance against the introduction of the policy. Taking into consideration that the policy was a good one, such a resistance is a great threat to the policy. The resistance will also put the employees on a collision course with the CEO’s vision for the firm becoming the top world online retailer. This would consequently lead to the CEO overriding the opposing views of the employees against the policy and at the end of the day, it would have defeated logic why he wanted their views in the first place. 3. Frustration There are possibilities that informing the employees of a change in policy which is such radical can discourage them. This may affect the productivity of the firm if they are informed a long way before the policy is implemented. This may make them anxious and those who might feel inadequate enough may plan to switch workplaces. Generally, such a notice may cause a general disruption in the firm as employees will spend considerable time thinking on how they will adopt or circumnavigate the policy. CONCLUSION In the case study, Hiroshi Mikitani introduced a very radical policy in a very abrupt manner which caught every employee unawares including the managers. The policy of using the English language as the official language at the workplace was going to benefit the company but it was not gladly welcomed. In the struggle to achieve set scores, employees were overwhelmed leading to frustrations and reducing their productivity levels. Hiroshi Mikitani should have considered involving the employees in making the decision by giving them a chance to learn about the new policy which was to take effect. Specifically, he should have allowed them to air their views and give suggestions on what they thought about it. He equally could have used this opportunity to explain why the company needed to switch to an English only policy. It could have been worthwhile had the CEO informed his managers first so that on introducing the policy to the general employees, he could have easily counted on their support. References Griffin, EA. (2003). A first look at communication theory. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. Nielsen, J. (2008). Effective Communication Skills: The Foundations for Change. New York, NY: Prentice Hall. Tsedal, N. (2011). Havard Business School: Language and Globalization: “Englishnization” at Rakuten. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Publishing. Tsedal, N. (2012). Global Business Speaks English: Why You Need a Language Strategy Now. Harvard Business Review 90 (5), 116–124. Read More