Honda has made English the official business dialect for international meetings

The language culture in Japan is strong, and enterprise firms have followed traditional operation methods. The same scenario is visible in reputed Japanese auto firms, years ago, Japanese enterprises formulated conventional practices of employing domestic recruits, but now foreign recruits are common, because of massive globalization.

The global recession scenario is a trigger for Honda Motor Company to go global, and the company has decided to make English, the official dialect. North America is a robust sale market for Honda, and the decision to make English the primary language is a smart move. The CEO of Honda, Takanobu Ito, was firm on this decision and spread the word to overseas employees, as stated by John Mendel, the Executive Vice President of Honda US.

On the topic of adopting the English way of business operation, Mendel quoted, the CEO announces that the way of business functioning will have English dialects, and he indulged in some witty moments as well, the CEO said, if the language accent is not understood, get a translator. Honda is not the first esteemed firm to go the English way,  over ten years ago the CEO of Renault and Nissan Carlos Ghosn, adopted this theme.

Japan boasts a strong economy today, despite a series of natural calamities like Tsunami and earthquake that has rocked the nation for the past few years, the country has recorded largest export sales in past three years this October. The Ministry of Finance, predicted 16.5% export increase, which is a stronger prediction compared to 11.5% in the September month, the figure this year, has gone past predictions and stands at 18.6%.

Weak export volumes has been a concern for Japan, and  shipment trade volumes have stagnated, the weakening of Yen value is an area of concern, and this has hindered swift growth momentum in robust promising economy nations, the capital flows of US Federal reserve was an all time low, and is expected to achieve a hefty monetary inflow. The value of Yen has depreciated to 14% against dollar this year, and the export growth was not up to economic expectations.

Taking into account, the unfavorable macro-economic circumstances in Japan, with the steep depreciation of Japanese Yen against the dollar, there is a need for strong foreign trade and talent in the country. The initiative of Honda to make English, the main business language is a smart move. Japan has encountered turmoil in the past with the massive impact of Tsunami, and earthquake, and also leakage of its nuclear unit in Fukushima, that has got the attention of UN nuclear agencies.

Honda cars are popular in Indian and North American markets, to quote a few examples, Jazz, Civic and Accord. The Japanese headquartered firm has a strong base in Asian markets, with the launch of Amaze and Mobilio MPV. The Amaze is a cracker launch in India contributing massive profits to the company, and is a breadwinner during the turbulent economic phase in India.

Honda is a key player for overseas markets, now with English being the primary business language, the company can hope for greater profits.

Pic Source: CarScoop