Poster Presentation

English as Common Business

Language: The Current Situations inJapanese Corporations
Saeko Ozawa Ujiie
Waseda Univerity/Kokushikan University
The study explores the status of English use in businesses in Japan using an inductive
approach to find out how English is being used in corporations in Japan. Many multinational
corporations are using English as their official or common language. Non-Anglophonecompanies in Europe, as well as companies in Japan such as Rakuten, UNIQLO, andNissan, are reported to be using English as their corporate official or common language. To
find out the impacts and implications of the use of English for international communicationin Japan in much broader perspectives, I interviewed Japanese bilingual professionals who
use English for their daily business. Interviews were conducted on nine Japanese bilingual
professionals who use English for their daily business, searching for potential patterns or
characteristics, with the aim of inducing and generating a hypothesis (or hypotheses) in theend. The interviews revealed that English is now required in various types of corporationsin Japan, across many different industries, regardless of sizes of organizations, and countryof origin. The Japanese companies that try to implement English as their official language
policy tend to be unaware of the bilingual aspects of the language policy in practice, overly
emphasizing on improving the proficiency of English.

The language barrier is becoming a major issue in international business. There
have been studies reporting intercultural communication problems between
employees from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds (Harzing & Feely,
2008; Louhiala-Salminen, Charles, & Kankaanranta, 2005) and difficulties intrust building among employees from diverse cultural backgrounds ( Jarvenpaa &Leidner, 1999; Tenzer, Pudelko, & Harzing, 2013). Using English as a common
corporate language is considered to be the best solution for the problem, and235

Ujiiemultinational corporations are mandating English as their official language(Rogerson-Revell, 2007). Non-Anglophone companies such as Philips, Nokia,
SAP in Europe, as well as Rakuten, UNIQLO, Nissan, and Honda in Japan,
are reported to be using English as their corporate official or common language(Neeley, 2012).
Corporations such as Rakuten in Japan have implemented English-only
policy and claim the benefits of implementing an English-official language
policy. The companies argue that after the policy was enacted they can seek
the best talents globally. Also, they say that the language policy has createdsynergy within the whole group with English as a common communication tool,
enabling much faster access to worldwide information, and it helps mitigate theethnocentrism among Japanese employees (Mikitani, 2013; Neeley, 2011). A
Japanese employee of one of the companies that has implemented English as an
official corporate language told me that he feels there have been positive impacts
such as broadening their views.
However, several adverse effects of company-wide language policies have also
been noted recently. Above all, there is an issue of status loss and gain. Studies
such as Neeley (2013) and Śliwa and Johansson (2014) have found a sense of lossof status and competitive advantage among non-native speakers of the dominantlanguage within the company. They may resent the language policy, fearing thatthey will never be as sophisticated, influential, or articulate as they are in theirnative language. On the other hand, the native speakers of a Japanese company
that had mandated English as their official corporate language felt a sense ofunease because the status-gain was unearned (Neeley & Dumas, 2016).
Japanese companies consider the ability to communicate in English is one of
the most valuable skills for their employees to possess. According to the survey
conducted by The Institute for International Business Communication in 2013,
three fourths of 304 Tokyo Stock Exchange-listed Japanese companies that
responded to the survey said they are using English in their work (Table 1). Some
(15.8%) consider the TOEIC scores as the indicators of employees’ English
proficiency and use or plan to use the scores for promotion. Also, increasing
numbers of Japanese companies are setting certain levels of TOEIC scores for236

English as Common Business Language, OnCUE Journal, 11(2), pages 235-244
Table 1English Use in Business (n = 304)
Usage

Percent of companies

There are departments/divisions that use English

45.7%

No specific depts or divisions, but use English for conducting
business

29.3%

Do not use English at all

24.7%

No answer

0.3%

Source: 国際ビジネスコミュニケーション協会 IIBC（The Institute for International BusinessCommunication）2013年 IIBC「上場企業における英語活用実態調査」報告書 2013 IIBC
“Report on Actual State of English Utilization in Listed Companies” Report

recruiting new employees, and the required scores have risen compared to theprevious survey in 2011. The expected TOEIC scores are 565 on average for new
graduates and 710 on average for mid-career hires, rising from 550 points and
600 points, respectively, in the 2011 survey.
The aim of the present study is to explore some of the current situations andissues surrounding the use of English for international business communicationin Japan in a broader perspective.
Research Questions
1. How pervasive is the use of English in the business world in Japan? (How andwhere is English used in the workplaces in Japan?)
2. Are there any disadvantages or negative feelings Japanese employees feel
about being non-native speakers of English?
3. What is the general view on using English among Japanese businessprofessionals?

Methodology and Participants

The present study is based on interviews with 12 Japanese bilingual professionals
who use English for their daily business. The study is based on a framework ofqualitative and inductive approach. The data was collected through interviews,
using semi-structured and open-ended interview questions, asking theparticipants about their unique experience, and their opinion and feeling about
237

Ujiieusing English as common or official language (Appendix A).
Using my business network to search for participants, I selected people whoare bilingual business professionals with experience of working in the businessenvironments where English is used for communication.
E-mails were sent to the prospective participants asking whether theywould be interested in participating in the study. The E-mail exchange included
the explanation of the purpose and nature of the research. Each participant
was contacted, and a convenient location and time were determined for theinterview. The participants chose the language for the interview; English or
Japanese, whichever they felt comfortable to express their feelings or opinions.
Some participants may be sensitive to disclosing their feelings and opinions
about the company language policy, and the disclosure would result in a lossof their credibility and reputation. Therefore, each interview was conductedin an environment where a participant could feel relaxed: some participants
were interviewed outside the office after work, while the majority preferred themeeting rooms of their offices. Each interview took approximately one hour on
average. Prior to the interview, each participant was asked to sign a consent form.
The participants work in various working environments: a global consulting
firm, a subsidiary of a large U.S. company initially founded as a joint venturewith a Japanese company, a major Japanese pharmaceutical company, a Japanese
mid-sized law firm, the venture capital arm of a Japanese technology company,a Japanese real estate investment fund, a national medical research institute, asubsidiary of a Spanish re-insurance firm, and a Japanese e-commerce company.
The levels and degrees of English use vary among the organizations. See
Appendix B for a profile on each person.

Results

English is now required in various types of corporations, across many different
industries, regardless of size of organization and country of origin. A breakdown of
the usage and feelings toward English is shown in Table 2 for the participants in thisstudy. Participant companies were divided into three categories: American companies
in Japan, European and Asian companies in Japan, and Japanese companies.
238

English as Common Business Language, OnCUE Journal, 11(2), pages 235-244
Table 2
Summary of Findings
U.S. Firms in Japan(English as Native Lang.)

Europ. & Asian Firms in Japan(English as Lingua Franca)

Japanese Firms(English as Foreign Lang.)

Native-like fluency desired.

English is not required forday-to-day business

TOEIC requirement

Frustrated in small talks

Mostly remotecommunication via E-mail &Tele-conf.

Non-Japanese board
members require meetings in
EnglishNon-native speakers feel
disadvantage

Being non-native is notdisadvantage

Use English to communicate
with foreign subsidiaries
English required ininternational dept. andfactories because of global
manufacturing network

Examples:Investment management firm
Management Consulting
Pharmaceutical

Examples:Investment fund owned by
ChineseEuropean Insurance company

Examples:Food & Beverage
PharmaceuticalLaw firm

Research question 1 asked how and where English is used in the participants’
workplaces in Japan. The case described by Participant 3 indicates that even theemployees of a Japanese company where English is not used for daily business are
now required to use English to provide services to their Japanese clients who haveclose ties to medical communities overseas. Participant 4, a lawyer who provides
legal services to Japanese corporations, must negotiate and prepare documents in
English using legal expertise he acquired in the law school in the US. Finally, it
was indicated by the interview findings that as an employee progresses in his/hercareer path, English becomes more important. Increasing numbers of Japanesecompanies have begun to appoint non-Japanese board members. Therefore, asa person goes up the career ladder, the need to be proficient in English becomes
greater.
As for research question 2 (disadvantages or negative feelings), some of the
respondents working in the U.S. firms said that they do not feel disadvantages as239

Ujiienon-native speakers of English in their business, except for small talk: not being
able to participate in the high pace of casual conversations. They fear that they
may be missing out on valuable information or opportunities to build a stronger
relationship with the management because they feel excluded from the “small
talking” corporate insider network.
In U.S. companies in Japan, native-like English proficiency is often required,
and the top of the operation of the business is often either a native-speaker ora near-native speaker of English. However, from the perspective of Japaneseemployees, they are not necessarily equipped with high levels of expertiseand knowledge of business expected for the position. There are cases where
dissatisfaction and frustrations were felt in the narratives of the participants who
work in such an environment. They expressed that they are not appreciated bytheir efforts and the business performance they had achieved. They indicatedthe feeling that being non-native speakers of English is disadvantageous for theirpromotion.
Regarding research question 3 (general view on using English), the responses
about English as corporate official language are most relevant. All respondents
think it will be inevitable over the long run. It is not possible now given thegenerally low level of English proficiencies. They all mentioned the need to
improve English education to accomplish this.

Conclusion and Further Studies

The purpose of this study was to uncover and analyze the ways in which English
is used for business purposes in Japan. However, although the study provides
interesting insights as to how English is used as a common business language, it
is not possible to present conclusions through generalization due to the limited
data collected at this stage. The study is ongoing and has not been completed yet.
Presently more data is being collected through interviews and questionnaires.
Also, to propose better corporate language policies and strategies tomultinational corporation management, further studies will be needed to explore
and analyze the diversification policies of Japanese firms in terms of languages andcultures, since many of them operate outside Japan in the countries where many240

English as Common Business Language, OnCUE Journal, 11(2), pages 235-244

different languages are spoken, and where English is not used as a native language.
Most of the participants in this study are vocal about the English-only
corporate language policy, such as the one reportedly implemented in Rakuten
Co. Although both English and Japanese are used in all of the organizations
they presently work, they did not mention about the bilingualism practiced intheir organization. Since the organizations and companies where they work for
operate globally in different countries where local languages are used along withEnglish as a common business language, bilingualism and/or multilingualism
need more attention. For example, the English-only mandate implemented in
Rakuten meant replacing the Japanese mono-lingualism with another English
mono-lingualism and did not incorporate Japanese language and expertiseor knowledge transferred within the Japanese speaking business culture in
the company into the language policy, as well as other languages used in theirinternational locations.

References

Harzing, A. W., & Feely, A. J. (2008). The language barrier and its implicationsfor HQ– subsidiary relationships. Cross Cultural Management: An
International Journal, 15(1), 49-60. doi: 10.1108/13527600810848827
IIBC-The Institute for International Business Communication. (2013).
Kokusai Business Communication Kyokai IIBC 2013nen “Jojo Kigyo ni
okeru Eigo Katsuyo Jittai Chosa” Hokukosho [Report on Actual State ofEnglish Utilization in Listed Companies]. Retrieved from http://www.
iibc-global.org/library/default/toeic/official_data/lr/katsuyo_2013/pdf/
katsuyo_2013.pdf
Jarvenpaa, S. L., & Leidner, D. E. (1999). Communication and trust in global
virtual teams. Organization Science, 10(6), 791-815.
Louhiala-Salminen, L., Charles, M., & Kankaanranta, A. (2005). English as a
lingua franca in Nordic corporate mergers: Two case companies. English forSpecific Purposes, 24(4), 401-421. doi: 10.1016/j.esp.2005.02.003
Mikitani, H. (2013). Marketplace 3.0: Rewriting the rules of borderless business.
New York, NY: St. Martin’s Press.
241

UjiieNeeley, T. (2011). Language and globalization: ‘Englishnization’ at Rakuten.
Harvard Business School organizational behavior unit case no. 412-002.
Retrieved from http://ssrn.com/abstract=1993062
Neeley, T. (2012). Global business speaks English. Harvard Business Review,90(5), 116-124.
Neeley, T. B. (2013). Language matters: Status loss and achieved status
distinctions in global organizations. Organization Science, 24(2), 476-497.
doi: 10.1287/orsc.1120.0739
Neeley, T. B., & Dumas, T. L. (2016). Unearned status gain: Evidence from a
global language mandate. Academy of Management Journal, 59(1), 14-43.
doi: 10.5465/amj.2014.0535
Rogerson-Revell, P. (2007). Using English for international business: A
European case study. English for Specific Purposes, 26(1), 103-120. doi:
10.1016/j.esp.2005.12.004Śliwa, M., & Johansson, M. (2014). How non-native English-speaking staff
are evaluated in linguistically diverse organizations: A sociolinguistic
perspective. Journal of International Business Studies, 45(9), 1133-1151.
doi: 10.1057/jibs.2014.21
Tenzer, H., Pudelko, M., & Harzing, A. W. (2013). The impact of language
barriers on trust formation in multinational teams. Journal of International
Business Studies, 45(5), 508-535. doi: 10.1057/jibs.2013.64

Author bio

Saeko Ozawa Ujiie is an international business consultant and an adjunct lecturer
at Kokushikan University in Tokyo. Previously, she worked at Morgan Stanley,
UBS and Merrill Lynch in US and UK. Saeko holds an MBA from Kellogg School,
Northwestern University, an MA from UC Berkeley, and a BA from Waseda
University. She is currently working towards a Ph.D. at Waseda University.
saekouj@gmail.com
Received: October 3, 2017
Accepted: November 11, 2018242

English as Common Business Language, OnCUE Journal, 11(2), pages 235-244

Appendix A
Interview Questions
General Questions
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Demographic Information (age, gender, nationality, languages spoken, etc.)
Educational Background
Profession
Living Experience abroad: Countries, Years, Age, Purpose
How many languages do you speak?
What do you think about the corporate policy to mandate English as the official
language?
7. Tell me anything related to the above.
8. Do/did you use English at work?
9. What do you think about the ways in which English is used in your work place?
10. Do you use English in meetings?
11. Do you write E-mails in English?
12. Do you write memos/reports in English?
13. Do you use English in telephone conversations?
14. Do you use English in teleconferencing?
15. Do you use English to communicate with your colleagues?
16. Do you use English to communicate with your clients?
17. Who do you speak English with the most?
18. Tell me anything you think about the use of English in your business.
19. Do you feel any disadvantages in your business because you are not a native speakerof English?
20. Do you think it is fair to recruit or promote employees based on their abilities tocommunicate in English?
21. Do you think it is good for business to recruit or promote employees based theirabilities to communicate in English?
22. Tell me any thing related to the above.
23. What do you think about how English is used in Japan in general?
24. Is there anything that should be improved in terms of using English in Japan?
25. If so, what is the best or better way(s) to improve it/them?
26. Please let me know anything related to the above questions.
243

UjiieAppendix B
Participant 1

Participant 2

Participant 3

Age

46

49

55

GenderFemaleFemaleFemaleEducation

BA (ICU/Japan)
MBA(Northwestern)

BA (Waseda),
MA (Iowa),
MBA(Northwestern)

BA (Waseda),
MA (Illinois),
MBA(Northwestern)

Profession

Human Resource

Strategic planning

Compliance

6

4

11

Consulting

PharmaceuticalPharmaceuticalYears Living Abroad
Industry

Participant 4

Participant 5

Participant 6

Age

42

48

43

Gender

Male

Male

Male

Education

LLB (Univ. of Tokyo)
LLM (UC Berkeley)

BA (Waseda)
MBA(Northwestern)

BA (Univ. of Tokyo)
MBA (Northwestern/
HUST)

Profession

Attorney

Investment Specialist

CFO (Finance)

9

2

3

Years Living Abroad
Industry

Legal

Venture Capital

Real Estate Investment

Participant 7

Participant 8

Participant 9

Age

53

51

43

GenderMale

FemaleMale

Education

BS (UC Berkeley)

BA (Aoyama Gakuin)

BA (Waseda)

Profession

Operation Consultant

Finance Manager

HR Manager

20

13

None

National ResearchInstitute

Insurance (Reinsurance)

e-commerce

Participant 10

Participant 11

Participant 12

43

mid 50’s

mid 50’s

Years Living Abroad
Industry

Age
GenderFemaleMale

Male

Education

BA (U of Tokyo) MBA(Northwestern)

BA(Kyushu U)
MBA(Northwestern)

BA(Waseda), CFA

Profession

Consultant

Regional (Asia) Director

Regional Director

2

20

3

Management Consulting

Pharmaceutical

Investment Management

Years Living Abroad
Industry244