As a consultant who has been involved in the globalization of numerous Japanese companies, I believe that one of the real keys to expanding business overseas lies in globalizing the headquarters in Japan.
Even if the CEO declares, “Increase our overseas sales,” in some companies the overseas business division at headquarters is treated merely as one of the regular domestic divisions—on the same level as, for example, the Western Japan Division.
Major corporations usually avoid such extremes, but even among large firms, it is still common that meetings in corporate planning or marketing at the headquarters cannot be conducted unless they are in Japanese.
As a result, the top management of overseas subsidiaries often ends up being Japanese executives who speak Japanese, which inevitably leads to a lack of deep understanding of the local environment.
I see this negative cycle as quite serious.
However, because people at headquarters with a strongly Japan-centric mindset hold influence—not only in companies but also in the media—these problems are rarely pointed out.
The traditional headquarters side tends to have a weak global mindset and inevitably falls back into a Japan-centric perspective.
A major reform of the headquarters is therefore essential.