Rakuten 2018

Abstract

Rakuten has adopted cultural diversity as an innovation and growth strategy in a conservative, strong culture of Japan. What distinguishes Rakuten from its competitors is an open and dynamic corporate culture that fosters exchange of diverse ideas. Diversity is at the core of the company’s vision to be a global innovation company and mission to contribute to society by creating value through innovation and entrepreneurship. The dilemma is regarding a clash in the boardroom that ensued at Rakuten mobile regarding a decision made by the company in 2018 where Rakuten announced its entrance into the Mobile Network Operator market to build a state-of-the-art, fully virtualized cloud-native network within a period of two years. The conflict that occurred had been due to cross-cultural decision-making approaches between a French leader and a Japanese leader. The French Director was eager to cease the opportunity to go into market within the two years as this was a first in Japan.adding to the agility of the market and gaining a competitive advantage, however the Japanese Leader felt it was too short a period to launch within a period of two years and considered this a risky move which would impair quality and reputation. The case considers the difference in decision-making approaches through the lens of national culture, leadership styles as well as cognitive diversity and its impacts on business. Further, considering the aftermath of Covid-19 and how the internet services became increasingly impertinent at the time, how delaying the decision may have led to increased costs and “market miss” for Rakuten mobile especially considering as a new entrant which needed to differentiate itself from big existing competitors in an agile industry. In addition, considering the virtualized environment post Covid-19 how managing conflict in multicultural organizations adds complexity for leaders and the skills required to lead in a virtual global environment. The case aims to accentuate the necessity of organizations fostering Diversity especially in conservative cultures, however inherently Diversity can pose its own challenges and resistance in such a context which may lead to conflict. The case does not focus on demographic diversity such as gender, race, or sexual orientation but rather cultural diversity and cognitive diversity between two leaders from different contexts in decision making.

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