Womenomics in Japan

Boris  Groysberg; David  Lane

Teaching Note | HBS Case Collection | January 2018

Womenomics in Japan

Abstract

This case profiles Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's vigorous attempts to revive Japan's economy, specifically by advocating for a larger role for women in the economy—not as a matter of social policy or gender equity per se, but as an essential element of any solution to Japan's persistent low economic growth. Several decades of economic stagnation led Abe to spearhead a multi-faceted reform effort to shake off deflation and come to grips with Japan's large national debt and rapidly aging society. "Womenomics"—the promotion of economic empowerment for women—has been a key element of this effort. Since taking office in late 2012, Abe has advocated for women in myriad ways: through sustained rhetoric at home and abroad, by naming women to key cabinet and party positions, and by setting ambitious numerical targets for expanding their professional ranks. To support these efforts at effecting institutional change, Abe also has overseen rapid growth in daycare facilities for the children of working mothers and has worked intensively to encourage Japan's business associations to increase hiring, promoting, and empowering women among member firms. At issue is how effective such measures have been and whether they can successfully be sustained.

Keywords: Gender equality; Japan; leadership; government-business relations; Shinzo Abe; economic growth; aging society; Womenomics; Abenomics; labor market discrimination; workplace culture; women and leadership; change management; Working Conditions; Leading Change; Gender; Business and Government Relations; Growth and Development; Employment; Japan;

Language: English

Format: Print

20 pages

Purchase

Citation:

Groysberg, Boris, and David Lane. "Womenomics in Japan." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 418-051, January 2018.

Case | HBS Case Collection | June 2017 (Revised April 2018)

Goodbye IMF Conditions, Hello Chinese Capital: Zambia's Copper Industry and Africa's Break with Its Colonial Past

Rafael Di Tella, Vincent Pons, Sarah Mehta and David Lane

Over the past several decades, rapid growth in Chinese investment and trade has created for Africa a new development partner. China represents an alternative to U.S. and European nations whose past imperialism, resource avarice, and economic dictates—through the conditionality of IMF and World Bank lending—remain a negative legacy. This case uses the story of Zambia's Chambishi copper mine, which was purchased in 1998 by the state-owned China Non-Ferrous Metals Mining Corporation, to illustrate China’s growing interest and involvement in the African continent. While many in Africa welcome the substantial Chinese investment, resentment over labor abuses, low pay, and substandard working conditions at some Chinese-owned enterprises fuels anti-China sentiment. At Chambishi copper mine, a 2005 explosion, caused by management's shoddy adherence to safety standards, killed nearly 50 miners and sparked outrage among Zambians. The explosion marked the first in a long series of protests and safety violations that would unfold at Chambishi over the next ten years.

Keywords: China; Africa; Zambia; copper; imperialism; Development economics; IMF; World Bank; ODA; debt relief; geopolitics; Growth and Development; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Labor and Management Relations; History; Development Economics; China; Zambia; Africa;

Citation:

Di Tella, Rafael, Vincent Pons, Sarah Mehta, and David Lane. "Goodbye IMF Conditions, Hello Chinese Capital: Zambia's Copper Industry and Africa's Break with Its Colonial Past." Harvard Business School Case 717-034, June 2017. (Revised April 2018.) View Details

Cite View Details Educators

In March of 2011, Northrop Grumman divested shipbuilding assets through the spin-off of Huntington Ingalls Industries. This case reviews many of the key questions faced by Northrop's CEO, CFO, and top management team during this process, including questions concerning whether to sell or spin-off the assets; how to handle customers, employees, and investors during the restructuring; and how to reorganize a diversified business to increase the performance of its parts.

Manish Goel was the CEO of TrustSphere, a seven-year-old company in the data analytics industry that focused squarely on relationship analytics, a space in which TrustSphere was pioneering a unique technology and solutions in the areas of sales, risk, and people analytics. Essentially, TrustSphere's technology allowed its customers to view the patterns of digital communication captured on the organization’s communication infrastructure among internal and external players. With this information, TrustSphere could help customers infer where relationships existed and the strength of those relationships, information that could be leveraged to address a number of business challenges and opportunities. Based in Singapore, but operating globally, TrustSphere was trying to get its footing and establish its technology and solutions as a "must-have" for prospective customers, all the while trying to navigate the relatively unchartered waters of relationship analytics.

Faculty & Research

Womenomics in Japan

Abstract

Citation:

About the Author

More from the Author