Why Learning English is Important for Your International Business Career
According to Bloomberg News, Honda Motor Co. has made English the official language of its global meetings. The decision is part of a policy move to give regional offices more decision-making power.Takanobu Ito, Honda’s CEO, announced the change to global employees back in April. The move copies similar policy decisions by other Japanese companies fast Retailing Co., Asia’s largest seller of apparel, and also Rakuten Inc., Japan’s biggest Internet shopping mall. The ‘English only’ rule adopted by Honda refers to meetings in-person and also video conferences. For some of the company’s staff it means using interpreters as Ito has done in previous media interviews.
Honda is not alone; various other companies have adopted a similar English only policy for global operations, Rakuten back in 2010 phased the language change in over a two year period, fast Retailing adopted English as their official language last year and Bridgestone Corp., based in Tokyo took the decision last month to phase in a similar English only policy.
But this idea is nothing new. Nissan Motor Co. and Renault SA have been doing it for over a decade now.
The adoption of English for global business meetings sets the tone for business in a global context and with almost 50% of Honda’s sales coming from North America, it clearly demonstrates global thinking for the future.
