My boyfriend and I are arguing right now and he thinks that nepotism is a major issue in all Japanese corporations. I think it’s a problem in small companies and he has a good point about Nissan but I don’t think the average salaryman is facing nepotism as a major issue. Do you agree/disagree? And why?
https://www.reddit.com/r/japan/comments/17308sl/do_you_believe_that_nepotism_is_a_major_problem/
10 comments
The average salaryman has nothing to do with the levels where nepotism happens. Toyota is run by a Toyata, Bridgestone is run by an Ishibashi, and Suzuki is run by a Suzuki; things are absolutely kept in the family.
At the risk of being a bit controversial I’d say the reverse is currently almost a problem for smaller companies.
There are shitloads of postwar SMEs that are financially doing fine, the founder/president is reaching his retirement age, but there is no nextgen, or the nextgen doesn’t want to take the wheel, so the company is sold or dismantled to bits.
Nepotism is certainly an issue for a lot of companies, but very mild compared to developing countries like India, Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia.
These economies are largely run by a small group of elite families with strong political connections. They tend to hand out lucrative corporate positions and government subsidies to their friends.
Welcome to asia
We love to keep it in the family
I would love Japanese style nepotism
At least they have a traditional reasoning and excuse
American style nepotism they don’t and say it’s meritocracy
All companies have a neoptism problem in their C-suite. American, European, Japanese, Korean, every single company. Rich people keeping the money in the family is a human flaw that humanity has yet to come up with a solution for.
In dictatorships it’s familial succession. In capitalist countries, it’s familial corruption. People, as a rule, want their families to grow fat with wealth and that means giving their progeny jobs in the company they own.
The kinds of people who would not do this are usually held back from obtaining these positions by their own scruples. There are no ethical millionaires, much less billionaires.
家族経営, read this again
These days, though, nepotism is becoming less common in Japan.
In Japan I feel it’s just accepted and part of how things are. It’s seen as legacy. I don’t know if many employees feel openly hostile toward nepotism… I mean the salaryman world is brutal and (IMO) most are just grateful to have a job to show up to. I’m guessing most that browse this sub aren’t on boards of such large corporations where nepotism is blocking their ascendance to the executive board lol.
Nepotism is extremely common throughout the entire world. The kids of rich people get the high paying jobs. Period.