Japan oil firm chief sacked over misconduct, but is it ‘sign of fundamental change’ in corporate culture?
- Instead of firms cleaning up their act, some rights campaigners say such cases are only coming to light because whistle-blowers are making them public knowledge
- Japan has seen a spate of high-profile sexual harassment cases this year in organisations run by ‘grey men’ who lack an understanding of appropriate workplace behaviour
The recent firing of Takeshi Saito, the president of major Japanese oil refining company Eneos Holdings, for inappropriate behaviour towards a female employee has been praised by equality campaigners, but others are less optimistic that the case signals a significant change in the highest echelons of Japan’s corporate culture.
Instead of firms cleaning up their act, they say, such cases are only coming to light because whistle-blowers are making them public knowledge and top officials – in private companies, the Japanese military and even the government – know they have to be seen to be responding.
“I honestly do not see this as a sign of fundamental change,” said Noriko Hama, a professor of economics at Doshisha University in Kyoto. “I feel that companies and organisations are acting because they feel the pressure of society, not because of any internal change in attitudes.
“These companies are being forced to react by changes in society and they are almost trying to create credible alibis for these people,” she told This Week in Asia. “I don’t sense there is real change and I don’t trust them one inch.”
On Tuesday, the board of Eneos fired Saito after an investigation confirmed that he had acted inappropriately towards a female manager.
