Nicknames: Forced Delusions of Corporate Equality and Cultural Assimilation
Last Monday saw a sudden announcement of a brand-new corporate tradition here at Rakuten: the forced adoption of nicknames. Yes, everyone was ORDERED to register a 7-letter maximum UNCHANGEABLE official nickname by this past Thursday. The nickname was to be searchable in official records (emails and any sort of employee list) and will become past of the name badges that the company requires ever employee to wear during their entire time on company premises.
The reason: more equal communication among all employees. Supposedly, even the higher-ups (Executive Officers and the Boss himself) have selected nicknames and are expecting their subordinates to call them by those nicknames in public. I really do applaud the sincere effort by the Boss to reduce distances among different ranks of the corporate ladder, but such a measure does nothing beyond generating a bit of over-the-lunch conversation for a couple of reasons.
(1) The implementation and execution of the nickname-calling system is and will continue to be fundamentally unequal. Obviously, it is completely ironic yet rings so true of Japanese corporate culture to see a measure of equality like nicknames to be implemented as a top-down, NON-voluntary order. The face that using your own name as nickname was not a choice is a fundamental sign of how unequal and authoritarian the action was. Oh yeah, by the way, everyone was cautioning each other to NOT openly refer to their superiors by nicknames for fear of career damage...so much for their "rank-flattening" nature.
(2) The move is an enormous disrespect to individual cultural identity, especially in a microcosm marked by presence of many different cultures with differing sensitivities. The most telling sign is how most people simply adopted English (or English-sounding) names as their nicknames. Sure, it could certainly be true that some Japanese, like the Chinese, think of English names as "cool," but because the majority chose English-sounding names as nicknames, for the individual to not follow suit is now somehow regarded as refusing to be globalized.
Furthermore, along the same line of logic, what I am really afraid of is that the adoption of nicknames as a requirement for an employee is becoming a covert method for Rakuten to force its own employees into some sort of unified conforming Rakuten employee culture. The motive reminds me of how Chinese teachers force foreigners to get Chinese names in order to be "immersed" in Chinese culture, and will certainly become intra-company social force to destroy any sort of individual identity still steadfastly held by individual employees.
Simply stated, company-wide adoption of nicknames is the latest in a cycle of actions undertaken by the unity-conscious management of the company to force all employees, Japanese and foreign, into a Rakuten-style obedient mindset codified by company ideology of Rakuten Shugi and defined by Japanese corporate traditions. Acceptance of the mindset is punctuated as the prerequisite for working at Rakuten (and corporate Japan) as an employee. A saddening personal example can illustrate this point well:
I had the opportunity to go having a Mexican dinner with some of the Indian new graduates who started the company this month. Asking them about the conflicts between their religious adherence (Hindus do not eat beef, drink, or smoke) and eating in Japan, they tell me that they have abandoned religion in favor of mingling more with their Japanese coworkers. They go to Japanese-style drinking parties (nomikai, 飲み会) and eat beef at the company cafeteria because there are nothing that is religiously appropriate.
Even as the Indian new grads tell me all these with lightheartedness, both they and I cannot help but feel sorrow. Religion is one of the most important aspect of one's culture and all of us should believe that respecting religions is the first step of globalization. As the Indians tell me how their parents do not know that they are drinking in that Mexican restaurant, I had to really fight down my inner anger against Rakuten's, and corporate Japan's, half-hearted attempts for accepting the foreign that only serve to push the foreigners emotionally further away from Japan.
The reason: more equal communication among all employees. Supposedly, even the higher-ups (Executive Officers and the Boss himself) have selected nicknames and are expecting their subordinates to call them by those nicknames in public. I really do applaud the sincere effort by the Boss to reduce distances among different ranks of the corporate ladder, but such a measure does nothing beyond generating a bit of over-the-lunch conversation for a couple of reasons.
(1) The implementation and execution of the nickname-calling system is and will continue to be fundamentally unequal. Obviously, it is completely ironic yet rings so true of Japanese corporate culture to see a measure of equality like nicknames to be implemented as a top-down, NON-voluntary order. The face that using your own name as nickname was not a choice is a fundamental sign of how unequal and authoritarian the action was. Oh yeah, by the way, everyone was cautioning each other to NOT openly refer to their superiors by nicknames for fear of career damage...so much for their "rank-flattening" nature.
(2) The move is an enormous disrespect to individual cultural identity, especially in a microcosm marked by presence of many different cultures with differing sensitivities. The most telling sign is how most people simply adopted English (or English-sounding) names as their nicknames. Sure, it could certainly be true that some Japanese, like the Chinese, think of English names as "cool," but because the majority chose English-sounding names as nicknames, for the individual to not follow suit is now somehow regarded as refusing to be globalized.
Furthermore, along the same line of logic, what I am really afraid of is that the adoption of nicknames as a requirement for an employee is becoming a covert method for Rakuten to force its own employees into some sort of unified conforming Rakuten employee culture. The motive reminds me of how Chinese teachers force foreigners to get Chinese names in order to be "immersed" in Chinese culture, and will certainly become intra-company social force to destroy any sort of individual identity still steadfastly held by individual employees.
Simply stated, company-wide adoption of nicknames is the latest in a cycle of actions undertaken by the unity-conscious management of the company to force all employees, Japanese and foreign, into a Rakuten-style obedient mindset codified by company ideology of Rakuten Shugi and defined by Japanese corporate traditions. Acceptance of the mindset is punctuated as the prerequisite for working at Rakuten (and corporate Japan) as an employee. A saddening personal example can illustrate this point well:
I had the opportunity to go having a Mexican dinner with some of the Indian new graduates who started the company this month. Asking them about the conflicts between their religious adherence (Hindus do not eat beef, drink, or smoke) and eating in Japan, they tell me that they have abandoned religion in favor of mingling more with their Japanese coworkers. They go to Japanese-style drinking parties (nomikai, 飲み会) and eat beef at the company cafeteria because there are nothing that is religiously appropriate.
Even as the Indian new grads tell me all these with lightheartedness, both they and I cannot help but feel sorrow. Religion is one of the most important aspect of one's culture and all of us should believe that respecting religions is the first step of globalization. As the Indians tell me how their parents do not know that they are drinking in that Mexican restaurant, I had to really fight down my inner anger against Rakuten's, and corporate Japan's, half-hearted attempts for accepting the foreign that only serve to push the foreigners emotionally further away from Japan.
Xiaochen, all that you write is really interesting and true, but I am afraid using full name of your company in blog which can be read by anybody is a bit unprofessional .
ReplyDeletemmm....yes.But sometimes it sounds as you are inside-observer journalist who experiences how it is to work in Jap.company and writes these posts. Sort of 楽天で働く体験の日記..But you are not observer - you are part of it and in a position close to Executives - so I think not only critics (even true and so necessary for the company) but also suggestion for how to change and action for it are necessary.
ReplyDeleteYeah, what you say is exactly how I ideally think of my role in the company...but, looking at what I am writing about, I see that I am not against the actions themselves (I am actually for them, including the nicknames), but I am against how they are executed.
ReplyDeleteThe underlying purposes for each action is very correct, but throw in the Japanese mentality and the whole thing just goes wrong. Sometimes I really do hope some Executive officers are reading what I write so that they actually know there are other ways of thinking about their actions than the way they do.
You can send links to the Boss directly :)
ReplyDelete...but nevertheless I think it is bad that internal problems are so openly discussed (my own opinion)...Anyhow, I wish u good luck in your new position.
I actually forwarded the link to HR a few times...doubt the Boss has any time to read this when he does not even read my Weekly Reports...thx!
ReplyDelete(btw, I just got a sudden project at 8pm, working now!)
"I had to really fight down my inner anger against Rakuten's, and corporate Japan's, half-hearted attempts for accepting the foreign that only serve to push the foreigners emotionally further away from Japan."
ReplyDeletePlease. When you go to a new culture, it is your obligation to adapt, to certain minimum common denominators. Food is not a big deal -- but if you don't like the food, you can bring your own. I'm glad that this Indians don't represent the cultural chauvinism of "here I am with my culture so adapt to me" attitude. They've adapted to their host culture, which is how it should be.
well, the problem is that all the actions taken by the company, including this nickname ordeal, is done with "more flatness" and "more openness" in mind, i.e. to give up more core aspects of traditional Japanese culture...
ReplyDeletethe fact that these actions have been hijacked to further increase the top-down nature of the company is counterproductive in every line of logic...