Anne MICHAUD
Séminaire Stratégie des Firmes Multinationales
Année 2007-2008
Breaking with the Japanese Proverbial phrase
“Good Wife, Wise Mother”
Shiseido changes its traditional “chauvinist-male” management
practices to implement gender equality initiatives.
Monographie de gestion réalisée sous la direction de M. Kitous
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to thank all the people who helped me in the writing of this thesis. I am
particularly grateful to:
- Professor Bernhard Kitous, my research director, for his help and support.
- Tomoko Uemura met through the association Bretagne-Japon who kindly introduced me
to Japanese women and helped during my interviews as a translator.
- Keiko and Masayuki, Japanese exchange students at the Institute and all the Japanese
people I had the opportunity to interview for giving me a realistic view on Japanese society and
Shiseido.
- Professor Aya Takahashi from Hokkaido University for the references she gave me on
women in Japan.
- Carole Duprez, who was an excellent team partner and is a great friend.
- Christopher Eddy who was kind enough to proof read this thesis.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.................................................................................................................... 2
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.................................................................................................................. 4
Partie A : CASE DESCRIPTION.........................................................................................................5
Context.............................................................................................................................................5
Shiseido, an old Japanese company...with a pioneer spirit..............................................................7
Part B: ANALYSIS AND CASE RESOLUTION............................................................................... 9
I. SYMPTOMS AND SIGNS.........................................................................................................9
A) Shiseido breaking with the traditional Japanese management system...................................... 9
1) The traditional Japanese management system........................................................................ 9
1.1 An exclusive system......................................................................................................... 9
1.2 Life-time employment and training ...............................................................................10
1.3 The seniority wage and social benefits...........................................................................10
1.4 The search for harmony: the group as preeminent to the individual..............................11
1.5 Office Lady and Salaryman, the two figures of the Japanese management system. .....11
2) Shiseido introducing diversity to increase corporate competitiveness................................. 12
2.1 Gender equality initiatives and human resources management. ................................... 12
2.3 Gender equality initiatives and Social Responsibility....................................................15
3) Shiseido implementing gender equality initiatives...............................................................15
3.1 The beginning of gender equality initiatives for Shiseido............................................. 15
3.2 The Second Phase to promote a Gender Free environment........................................... 15
3.3. The Gender equality Action Plans.................................................................................16
4) Benchmarking: a comparison with another leading international cosmetic retailer in
women's promotion—Avon. .................................................................................................. 20
4.1 Avon and Shiseido, two old cosmetic firms with two different distribution methods... 20
4.2 Avon, a firm led by a woman named Andrea Jung. Shiseido following suit?............. 20
4.3 Avon, far in the lead for promoting women : “Avon, the company for women”.......... 21
B] Sociological, Political and economical context analysis ......................................................... 22
1) A social and cultural context hard to fight............................................................................22
1.1 The traditional view of women in the Japanese Society still in the minds.................... 22
1.2 “Shûdanshugi”, the Japanese collectivism..................................................................... 27
2) Policies that still do not provide the conditions for women to have a career....................... 28
2.1 A fiscal system highly against full-time work for women............................................. 28
2.2 A day-care system completely not adapted to working women.....................................28
2.3 The toothless Equal Employment Opportunity Law of 1986........................................29
2.4: Family policies that are still out of proportion to the demographic problem ...............30
2.5 A small national budget dedicated to family support that does not allow the
government able to actualize their ambitions.......................................................................32
II] DIAGNOSIS.............................................................................................................................34
PART C: LIMITS...............................................................................................................................36
Elements of Bibliography...................................................................................................................37
APPENDIX........................................................................................................................................ 38
Appendix 1 : The Shiseido Plan for Gender equality............................................................... 38
Appendix 2 : Interviews....................................................................................................... 40
Appendix 3 : Office Lady and Salaryman................................................................................ 52
Appendix 4 : emails with Shiseido's executives in France....................................................... 54
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Multinational firms are changing as a result of the spatial expansion and social deepening of the
processes of globalization that push for corporate governance reforms. Indeed, investors are demanding for
greater accountability and transparency, and put an emphasis on social and environmental impacts as they
relate to economic performance. Non-financial disclosure becomes an important feature of long-term
business success in terms of effective risk management. As a result, companies are increasingly pressured to
disclose non-financial material—especially social and environmental performance data—to enhance
stakeholder relations. In Japan, globalization is producing pressures for change in the Japanese national
model of capitalism to establish a principle of sexual equality at work.1 Indeed, there is a tremendous gap
between women’s careers and those of men within the kernel of Japanese management due to a
Confucianism influenced culture that has always considered that the husband should be the bread winner.
Moreover, the demographic situation in Japan is also slowly leading to a change.
Shiseido, the Japanese Cosmetic firm is one of the first big Japanese companies to implement gender
equality initiatives as they adopted the key concepts "Cosmetics," "Women," and "Cultural Capital," as
appropriate to their line of business when deciding to establish a Corporate Social Responsibility department
in 2004. The aim of this thesis is to analyze to what extend these initiatives break with the traditional
Japanese management, why it is important for Shiseido to implement these measures as part of diversity
management and the effectiveness of the reforms that are implemented in a society that is very slowly
unblocking the path for equality between men and women.
1 Beverley Bishop, “Globalization and Women in the Japanese Workforce”, RoutledgeCurzon, 2004
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Partie A : CASE DESCRIPTION
Context
In an open and spacious sunlit room, an infant is mesmerized by his smiling nurse. Two toddlers
squirming quietly in their sleep are sucking their thumbs. Shelves are lined with puzzles, infant formula, and
a picture library that includes "The Little Engine that Could."
These are not the typical scenes at the headquarters of big Japanese firms, but for the tots at
Kangaroom Shiodome, which opened five years ago and is located in Shiseido's headquarters in Tokyo,
playing while mom or dad are at work is business as usual. Meals, including lunch, dinner and snacks, are
prepared on site and dad and mom are welcome to come visit at any time during the workday. Reflecting the
reality of overtime, the center also offers flexible hours and is open until 10 pm.
5
At the Kangaroom Shiodome, Shiseido website
As recently as five years ago, corporate day-care in Japan was the realm of a very few enlightened
corporations. Most, such as cosmetics company Shiseido, had a predominantly female staff. The on-site
daycare center was the result of a clear demand from Shiseido's employees who said it would make it easier
to return to work after childbirth. But opening the day-care center is not an end unto itself. The day-care
center can't solve all of the work-life balance and gender equality issues in the firm, but it is part of a more
complete solution.
Indeed, there is a tremendous gap between women’s careers and those of men within the kernel of
Japanese management due to a Confucianism influenced culture that has always considered that the husband
should be the bread winner and that the wife should stay at home. This statement is embodied by the
Japanese proverb “good wife, wise mother,” which is referring to a woman who sacrificed herself to her
family’s welfare and to the figure of the “salaryman” which is a man who is fully dedicated to his firm.
The biggest barrier to the advancement of women is the nation’s notoriously demanding corporate
culture, particularly its expectation of morning-to-midnight work hours which are completely not adapted for
women who either have children or plan to have children. Currently, 70% of all Japanese working women—
regular, temporary and contract workers—are quitting companies to give birth or raise children. In other
countries, many women take maternity and childcare leave and continue their work. In Japan this is almost
impossible.
As a result, Japan ranks as the most unequal of the world’s rich countries, according to the United
Nations Development Program’s “gender empowerment measure,” an index of female participation in a
nation’s economy and politics. The country placed 42nd among 75 nations surveyed in 2006—just above
Macedonia and far below other developed nations like twelfth-ranked United States and top-ranked Norway.
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In 1985, women held just 6.6 percent of all management jobs in Japanese companies and
government, according to the International Labor Organization. Despite the introduction of an Equal
Employment Opportunity Law in 1986, by 2005 that number had risen to only 10.1 percent even though
Japan’s 27 million working women made up nearly half of its work force. By contrast, women held 42.5
percent of managerial jobs in the United States in 2005.
Still, the realities of Japan’s shrinking population are slowly forcing change. As Japan’s birthrate
rapidly declines and its population ages, there are growing concerns that Japan can’t afford to ignore so much
potential. “Japan is losing half of its brainpower as it faces a labor shortage” said Kuniko Inoguchi, a former
cabinet minister in charge of gender equality. The annual report titled “White Paper on Labor Economy”
released by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry in August 2007 states that Japan needs "to create an
employment system in which (workers) can strive for a balance between work and life in order for the
country and the society to continue economic development amid depopulation." It points to studies showing
that nations with greater women participation in the workplace, like the United States, actually have higher
fertility rates.
Shiseido, an old Japanese company...with a pioneer spirit.
Shiseido was founded in 1872, four years after the Meiji Restoration by Arinobu Fukuhara, former
head pharmacist to the Japanese navy. Shiseido was Japan's first private western style pharmacy in the Ginza
area of Tokyo, the cultural and fashion hub of Japan. Its philosophy was to associate western modernity (as
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being research and development oriented) with traditional classic Asian philosophy. Indeed, Shiseido's name
implies "richness of life," which, according to Confucian thought, can be reached only through harmony of
mind, body, and soul.
The small store, well placed in a populous shopping area, attracted purchasers of traditional
remedies as well as curiosity-seekers interested in the novelty of Western imports which therefore quickly
reached success. The company entered the cosmetics business in 1897 with the launch of its "Eudermine"
skincare lotion which is still on the market today.
Shiseido presents itself as a company with a pioneering spirit combining eastern aesthetics with
western science and business technology, that continues to live on today to serve as the underlying
philosophy of Shiseido's corporate activities.
Indeed, Shiseido advertises for having made several breakthroughs in the Japanese society. For
example, Shiseido introduced Japan's first toothpaste in 1888 when the majority of Japanese used tooth
powders. Then, in 1906, when all face powders were white, Shiseido launched two brands of skin-toned face
powder. Later on, breaking with tradition where white skin was a virtue, Shiseido proposed healthy suntans
in the mid 1960's. This summer promotion was very popular because it expressed a true sense of personal
freedom and independence of women by giving an impression of individual strength and confidence.
Shiseido models were no longer just "pretty faces" but proposed a way of living for the "new" woman. With
the 1970's, Shiseido again took a new turn in advertising creation: most Japanese cosmetics companies used
Eurasian models with western looks that were popular at the time. Shiseido, however, decided to use Sayoko
Yamaguchi, a model with the look of a traditional Japanese doll, to promote eye makeup most suitable for
Asian eyes that helped boost the self-esteem of the Japanese woman.2
Being the leading cosmetic company in Japan and the fourth-largest in the world, with a proportion
of 70% women among its employees and 90% women among its customers, Shiseido decided then in 1988
to implement gender equality initiatives to become a pioneer to tackle the issue of gender inequalities at
work.
However, according to the Gender Equality Action Plan 20 that was implemented in fiscal year
2005-06, the target percentage of female leaders for October 2007 was 20%. Yet, according to other
information available in the report, as of April 1st 2007, that percentage was stuck at 13.7% and thus creating
a gap of 6.3 points between the current value and the target to be achieved in six months.
Twenty years after implementing its first program, this figure of 13.7% looks low for a firm which
claims to be a leader in women's promotion...
2 Shiseido website, www.shiseido.com
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Part B: ANALYSIS AND CASE
RESOLUTION
After years of a traditional Japanese workforce management system that basically excluded women
from the regular workforce, Shiseido broke with the Japanese proverbial phrase "good wife, wise mother”
and began to change its traditional “chauvinist-male” management practices to implement gender equality
initiatives in 1988.
Twenty years later, the efficiency of these initiatives might look disappointing when compared to the
emphasis the group put on these programs for its promotion. Even if Shiseido looks like an example to
follow for other Japanese firms, the company is still far behind the leaders such as the American company
Avon Products concerning issues of women’s promotion and equality in management.
In 2004 when deciding to establish a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) department, Shiseido
adopted "Women" as one of their key concepts as appropriate to their line of business. They hired the former
Director General of the Equal Employment, Children and Families Bureau at the Ministry of Health, Labor
and Welfare, named Iwata Kimie to become Shiseido's corporate executive officer in charge of personnel
affairs to set up Action Plans for Gender Equality program. Many measures where taken to help women to
work and still raise children. However, these measures are too weak to have an impact on reforming the
management system, which is actually key to finding a permanent solution.
I. SYMPTOMS AND SIGNS
A) Shiseido breaking with the traditional Japanese management system
1) The traditional Japanese management system
Shiseido's management has been highly influenced by the traditional Japanese management system
which is very different from the management system in western countries.
1.1 An exclusive system
The post-World War II Japanese employment system is sustained by personnel management rules
and practices which make a clear distinction between the 'core' and the 'non-core' employees. 3 Women
workers constitute a high proportion of the latter category of employees. Indeed, gender roles in the family
bear a close relationship to the situation in the workforce as the distinct separation of gender roles in Japan
3 Beverley Bishop, “Globalization and Women in the Japanese Workforce”, RoutledgeCurzon, 2004
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has accounted for the bifurcation of the productive and reproductive spheres.
As a result, males possess many more career opportunities than females, who are marginalized in the
workforce and are considered to be a source of temporary labor and are expected to find accomplishment in
marriage and childbirth. Based on this scheme, the traditional Japanese management system is a very malecentric system which has been based on three great pillars: lifetime employment, the seniority wage and
promotion system, and the preeminence of the group on the individual.4
1.2 Life-time employment and training
One of the prominent features of Japanese management is the practice of permanent employment
(shūshin koyō). Permanent employment covers the minority of the work force that work for the major
companies such as Shiseido, also called “salarymen”. Management trainees are recruited directly from
colleges when they graduate. After a six-month probationary period with the company, they are expected to
stay with the companies for their entire working careers. Employees are not dismissed thereafter on any
grounds, except for serious breaches of ethics.
Permanent employees are hired as generalists, not as specialists for specific positions. A new worker
is not hired because of any special skill or experience. Rather, the individual's intelligence, educational
background, and personal attitudes and attributes are closely examined because companies provide their own
training. On entering a Japanese corporation, the new employee will train from six to twelve months in each
of the firm's major offices or divisions. Thus, within a few years a young employee will know every facet of
company operations, knowledge which allows companies to be more productive.
1.3 The seniority wage and social benefits
Another unique aspect of Japanese management is the system of promotion and reward. An
important criterion is seniority. Seniority is determined by the year an employee's class enters the company.
Thus, career progression is highly predictable, regulated, and automatic. Compensation for young workers is
quite low, but they accept low pay with the understanding that their pay will increase in regular increments
and be quite high by retirement. It consists of a wide range of tangible and intangible benefits, including
generous semiannual bonuses, housing assistance, inexpensive vacations, good recreational facilities, and the
availability of low-cost loans for such expenses as housing and a new automobile, as well as grants on
marriage/childbirth/illness/death and subsidized shopping facilities, that in other countries might have been
provided by the state.
Members of the same graduating class usually start with similar salaries, and salary increases and
promotions each year are generally uniform. The purpose is to maintain harmony and avoid stress and
jealousy within the group.
4 Ronald Dore, “Japanese Management, has it survive, will it survive” RIETI
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1.4 The search for harmony: the group as preeminent to the individual
There is a distinction to be made between "property" firms and "entity" firms. Property firms are
treated as the property of the shareholders, but in entity firms, there is some sense of being part of a
community which continues through time and has a reputation of its own, irrespective of the people who are,
at any one time, working in it. This is very clearly a Japanese characteristic.5 Thus, the group is preeminent
to the individual and most employees are dressed in standardized uniforms. There is little distinction between
staff and shop floor workers. Common cafeteria is used by all and professional workers, such as engineers,
mingle at the workplace with lower level workers and each work together to solve problems. This does not
mean that power and status differentials do not exist but are difficult for an outsider to discern in a high
context culture.
Management practices are also intended to promote harmony in the workplace. Japanese decision
making is characterized as bottom up rather than top down, with input from all those concerned with the
outcome. Techniques ranged from the “ringi” system of circulating proposals for comment through to quality
circles and other ways in which shop floor workers are involved in decision making relevant to the
workplace.
1.5 Office Lady and Salaryman, the two figures of the Japanese management system.
The typical Office Lady (OL) is between the age of 20 and 29, and is probably a Junior College
graduate. Since she lives with her parents (and intents to live with them till she gets married) the money she
earns is all invested in haute couture clothes that she exchange upon arriving at her locker at work for the
navy blue suit which is the standard uniform of almost all OL's. Most of the day she will do monotonous
jobs: paper clipping piles of documents, delivering office memos, and filing. However, her most important
role is to be courteous, smile sweetly, make tea and welcome guests when they come to the office. The role
of the OL is to support her co-workers and to be a part of the group or system6
The salaryman arrives in the office at 9am and ends his working day late, often around midnight
because he cannot leave the office before his supervisor—and managers stay late to show their loyalty. A few
times a week, at around midnight, the boss may assemble the team and go out on the town. Then the
“working” day does not end until around 2am. Nightly drinking leads to a special camaraderie. This is
supposed to be translated into better company performance, because it is easier to reach a consensus—the
way almost all decisions are made in Japanese companies. They also accept boring jobs or transfers to often
5 The Economist of Jan 3rd 2008 “Sayonara, salaryman”
6
Ogasawara, Yuko. Office Ladies and Salaried Men: Power, Gender, and Work in Japanese Companies. Berkeley,
Calif.: University of California Press, 1998.
11
obscure and isolated areas without question. Though the companies may own numerous onsen, or hot-spring
resorts, dotted across the country, most salarymen take only a small fraction of their annual paid holiday,
since to use it all would raise a question over the employee's devotion to the firm. The consequences of
breaking the unwritten code can be severe where even a star performer who uses the full holiday may be
denied pay raises and promotions. Leaving the company is treated as betrayal. All traces of the person are
airbrushed from the workplace. Leaving a company means unwinding a dense web of relationships.7
This system works fine as long as only its members are men who have wives to do domestic tasks
and take care of the children. However, the Japanese system is simply not compatible with a woman's
situation as it has never been designed for women to take part in it. Working days that last till 2am or
transfers necessary for promotion just don't fit with a mother's duties, neither does the idea of the seniority
wage system or that re-entering the system is impossible because women in Japan need a career interruption
to take care of their children when they are young.
2) Shiseido introducing diversity to increase corporate competitiveness
In 1987 the Equal Employment Opportunity Law (EEOL) was enacted which had the objective of
eliminating sexual discrimination regarding available opportunities and treatment in all forms of
employment. The promulgation of this law gave the group its first occasion to reform. Indeed, the cosmetic
firm quickly saw the advantages it could have from promoting women, which account for 70% of their
workforce and 90% of their customers, because egalitarian considerations apart, there are other reasons why
it is interesting for Shiseido to
have an effective management of diversity or "daiba-shitii". Indeed,
managing diversity not only has an impact on the individual but as well as on the effectiveness of
organization. At the individual level, the management of diversity has an impact on satisfaction, involvement
and commitment. Within the corporation, the effects at the primary level can be seen in the rate of turnover,
productivity, quality of work, as well as creativity. At the secondary level the management of diversity will
affect profits and market shares8
2.1 Gender equality initiatives and human resources management.
Gender equality initiatives appear to provide benefit for businesses and ensure efficient human
resources management. Indeed, it could contribute to the "human performance" of the organizations. It is
increasingly necessary for companies to attract and retain talents in a growing workforce shortage 9. The
search for professional equality, including policies of gender equalities, can contribute.
2.1.1 Gender equality initiatives and recruitment opportunities.
The diversity policies, which include gender equality initiatives, serve to broaden the pool of talents
7
8
9
The Economist of Jan 3rd 2008 “Sayonara, salaryman”
Sophie LANDRIEUX-KARTOCHIAN (Université Paris I - Panthéon Sorbonne,(CERGORS), La Contribution des Femmes à la
Performance, DARES 2004
BENDER Anne-Françoise et PIGEYRE Frédérique, 2003. « L’égalité professionnelle entre hommes et femmes comme
responsabilité sociale de l’entreprise. »5e université de printemps de l’audit social, 78-86.
12
of the company10. These policies should help to recruit the best, and may also be an asset for attracting
attention to some candidates who value diversity.
Furthermore, gender and diversity initiatives, by
increasing the recruitment pool, can provide a solution for companies to avoid labor shortages (with the
retirement of the baby boomer generation).
This is something that was verified in Shiseido's case. In an article from the 1st November, 2007 issue
of Japan Spotlight, Kimie Iwata, who was at that time Shiseido's corporate executive officer in charge of
personnel affairs testified it:
“J.S: Is Shiseido's program to help employees achieve a good balance between work and childcare duties
useful in recruiting human resources?
Iwata: Yes, it is. Only female students used to ask if workers can achieve a balance between work and childraising at Shiseido. Male students have come to pose such a question in recent years. It has also become an
issue for male students as well amid an increasing number of working couples in Japan. Regardless of
gender, I think the balance between work and child-raising or any other personal affair is a very important
working condition. “
2.1.2 Gender equality initiatives and loyalty of employees
The recruitment and training are transactions that represent a cost to businesses. This is an
investment in human capital. Having gender equality initiatives limits the expensive turnover of female by
showing women that the company is interested in them and their problems. The results of a survey by
Catalyst show that 70% of women are ready to leave their jobs if they are not satisfied. When a woman
decides to leave her employer, it loses its investment in terms of human capital, but it also loses
competencies related to the experience during the years working in the company. These costs have been
estimated at about 70 to 130% of an annual salary.11
This is also a reason given by Kimie Iwata in the same article:
“Shiseido has set a target to raise women's share in employees in the "leader" managerial post at group
firms in Japan to 30% by 2013 from the present 13.7%. The Japanese government has also established a
similar goal seeking to raise to 30% by 2020 the share of women in leadership posts such as section chiefs in
various fields of society. Why does Shiseido plan to clear the goal seven years faster than the government?
Iwata: It is because it would be a waste of human resources on the part of Shiseido if the company failed to
fully train women and promote them to leaders. In Japan the labor force has begun to shrink, and
corporations saw some difficulties this year and last in recruiting new employees. As such a trend is
expected to continue and grow stronger, companies will face more difficulties in securing high-quality
human resources. Under the circumstances, we need to further boost the capability of each worker on the
payroll now.”
2.1.3 Gender equality initiatives and the involvement and motivation of staff.
10 ISNARD Claire, 2003. « La performance par la diversité. » Revue Ressources Humaines et Management, octobre, 11, 22-23.
11 SCHWARTZ Felice, 1992. « Women as a business imperative» Harvard Business Review, march-april, 105-113.
13
There is also a relationship between career management and the involvement of managers12. It is
therefore vital for the company to use the potential of each employee and expand it by offering training and
an adequate development of opportunities. The companies expect increased productivity through greater
motivation and improved performance of existing staff, as a result of the introduction of a policy of diversity
management.
It is indeed particularly discouraging to have the feeling of working for a manager perceived as
worse which may be the case for women being unfairly blocked by the existence of a “glass ceiling”. They
have in this case a feeling of injustice and the feeling of not being recognized if they work for a manager that
limits the expression of their vision and talents. Companies which do not take advantage of the contribution
of these women are less innovative and effective and thereby reduce their productivity. The presence of
women at the top of the hierarchy and the existence of gender equality initiatives are two factors that prove
to women that there are for them opportunities for advancement and give them motivation. If they have no
prospectives, then this lack of motivation represents a hidden cost.
This argument explains the fact that Shiseido elected Kimie Iwata as Vice President in April 2008,
making her the first woman to assume the post.
Thus, according to these studies, gender equality initiatives and workforce diversity management
contributes to effective human resource management as a tool to improve business performance.
2.2 Gender equality initiatives and performance
2.2.1 The impact of gender equality initiatives on the corporate image
The corporate image among consumers is an essential issue. The competition is equally based on the
products and the values it conveys13. Women have a major influence on purchase decisions: in Japan they are
the driving force behind more than 80% of household purchases although they account for only 51% of the
population14. Even in industries where buyers are traditionally male, women represent a growing proportion
of the consumer base: for example, women influence 60% of new car purchases in Japan. Therefore,
knowing that a large proportion of purchases are made by women, it is important that companies care about
their image regarding gender equality.
2.2.2 Diversity and creativity
From a marketing point of view, diversity management enables the company to create a commercial
competitive advantage. Indeed, innovation is stimulated by diversity and the tastes of the customers can be
better perceived by a more representative workforce, which better understands customer’s expectations.
Diversity helps to have employees who better understand the purchasing decisions of diverse customers and
also to have more creative teams15.
12 THEVENET Maurice, 1992. « Gestion de carrière et système de représentation et implication des cadres ». Revue de Gestion des
Ressources Humaines, 2, 28-35.
13
SCHWARTZ Felice, 1992. « Women as a business imperative» Harvard Business Review, march-april, 105-113.
14 Anne GUARRIGUE. « Japonaise, la révolution douce »Picquier Poche 2000
15
COX Taylor Jr. et SMOLINSKI Carol, 1994. Managing diversity and glass ceiling initiatives as national economic
imperatives.
Rapport pour le US Department of Labor Glass Ceiling Commission.
14
Kimie Iwata in the interview given to Japan Spotlight highlights this fact too: “in the cosmetics
industry, where most customers are women, regular employees must be well aware of women's makeup
practices, habits and sense of fashion. In a broad sense, our company is engaged in a business helping
women with their sense of value and philosophy of life. Women workers can understand this more easily than
men because this is also their own theme. “
2.3 Gender equality initiatives and Social Responsibility
Furthermore, capital markets and investors are paying more and more attention to corporate
performance in terms of gender diversity. For instance, investment funds such as Calpers in the US or
Amazone in Europe include this indicator among their investment criteria, while rating agencies (Core
Rating, Innovest, Vigeo) are now developing tools to measure gender diversity.
Introducing diversity is a radical switch in corporate Japan which has previously taken pride in its
homogeneity, especially during the go-go years of the 1970s and 1980s, saying it makes them efficient.
3) Shiseido implementing gender equality initiatives
3.1 The beginning of gender equality initiatives for Shiseido
Ten years after the promulgation of the Equal Employment Opportunity Law, some slight effects
could be seen. In 1996, half of the new employees among the sogoshoku career track were women that then
represented 15% of the workers. The percentage of female managers at that time was only 6%. The reason
for this was that it takes approximately 15 years to become a manager and that Shiseido only began to
employ more women in soshoku track only in 1988.
Other progress was noticeable. In 1997, half of the high-potential employees sent abroad were
women; there were not any only three years before. Most of these women were single but more and more
married employees made application for expatriation. Also in 1997 half of the people in the sales department
were women where only ten years earlier there were none. In addition the average age of women workers
had increased by 10 years since 1987.
However, the beauty consultants that sell the image of the brand in department stores which account
for 60% of the female workforce at Shiseido were still leaving their jobs at around 26 years of age.
3.2 The Second Phase to promote a Gender Free environment.
In January 2000 the company moved on to a second phase to promote a gender-free work
environment. Five concrete objectives of the positive action were set up.
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The first one was an awareness campaign. For this purpose, the company conducted seminars and
made use of its in-house channels and the corporate Internet. It also published annually a “Gender-free
Book” to show behavioral guidelines to maintain a gender-free workplace and distributed it to all employees.
The second is the action targeting managers. In manager training programs the company encouraged
managers to take gender-free approaches in their daily duties such as nurturing capable female employees by
providing them with challenging duties, conducting fair appraisals in accordance with career evaluation
standards, and so on.
Thirdly, the company also held awareness-raising seminars, targeting women. It tried to correct the
somewhat passive attitude on the part of female employees and instilled in them the perception and sense of
duty that they are the main actors of the company.
Fourth, a new personnel system was introduced based on gender-free approaches. Job positions and
career tracks were revised in a way that every employee can maximize his or her capabilities and have a
sense of fulfillment.
The results of these efforts have come out in various ways. The workforce structure slowly
changed.More and more female workers stopped leaving the company due to giving birth or child rearing.
The average length of service of the female employees has increased and a growing number of talented
female university graduates are applying for positions in the firm but these were still very slow progresses. In
2002, an in-house survey showed that only 38.2 percent of employees responded that their workplace has
become free of gender bias16. Another step forward had to be made.
3.3. The Gender equality Action Plans17
In 2004 when deciding to establish a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) department, Shiseido
adopted the key concepts "Cosmetics," "Women," and "Cultural Capital," as appropriate to their line of
business. They hired the former director general Iwata Kimie of the Equal Employment, Children and
Families Bureau at the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare to become Shiseido's corporate executive
officer in charge of personnel affairs to set up Action Plans for Gender Equality program.
3.3.1 Identification of the problems for working women in Japanese society:
3.3.1.1 The “anytime, anywhere” performance model, irreconcilable with women’s double burden
The dominant model in the business world—especially so in Japan—equates leadership with
unfailing availability and total geographical mobility at all times (“anytime, anywhere”). The model also
presupposes a linear career path, with no space for career breaks or the rejection of a geographical mobility
offer.
The “double burden” syndrome18 – the combination of work and domestic responsibilities – weighs
heavily on women's careers, particularly in Japan. Women remain at the center of family life, with all the
16 Ms. SANUI (Employers’ adviser delegate, Japan), International Labor Conference, Geneva 2003
17 See Appendix 1
18 Women Matter, Mc Kinsey 2007
16
attendant constraints (maternity, child-rearing, organizing family life, care of the elderly, etc). In a malecentric model, women who are today carving out prime positions for themselves follow the same path as
men, and make the same choices imposed by the dominant model – particularly that of putting career before
family. But it seems that this dilemma – the choice between professional success and work-life balance – has
more consequences for women, who might have to pay a higher price for success.
Moreover, in other countries, many women take maternity and childcare leave and then come back to
work. In Japan, only a limited number of women are allowed to go back to work as regular workers when
they seek reinstatement because of the life-long employment system that does not allow a career interruption.
Therefore, knowing this many women renounce a career.
3.3.1.2 Japanese men's overtime
Men's long working hours remain another challenge. Indeed, Japanese men spend much shorter
hours on childcare duties than those in the United States and Europe. OECD data shows that in 2007
husbands spend only 0.8 hour per day on home and childcare duties in Japan, much smaller than in many
other countries where men spend more than three hours on such duties 19. This does not mean that Japanese
men are neglecting home and childcare responsibilities despite the fact that this is an ingrained cultural
tendency but it also stems from regular Japanese male workers' long working hours. Japanese women cannot
rely on help from their husbands for home and childcare duties neither can they rely on the scarce public
infrastructures to take care of their children when very young. In such a situation, they face great difficulties
with continuing work while raising children.
Therefore, 70% of all Japanese working women—regular, temporary and contract workers—are
quitting companies to give birth or raise children.
3.3.1.3 Psychological obstacles
In addition to these barriers, there are also psychological obstacles: women’s difficulty in identifying
with success and their lesser ambition seem to lead many women to opt out of a business career.
Perhaps because of their perception of these barriers, women seem to have lower professional
ambitions than men. In fact, 48% of men in the USA – according to a Harvard Business Review survey– see
themselves as “extremely or very ambitious”, while only 35% of women have a comparable self-image.
Furthermore, only 15% of highly qualified women aspire to positions of power, against an average of 27% of
men.
Ultimately, “opting out” – a voluntary decision to discontinue one’s career – is both the result of
the barriers identified and an additional cause of the shortfall of women in corporate executive bodies.
3.3.2 Different measures taken to tackle these problems that still do not challenge the system it itself.
3.3.2.1 Parental leave and childcare time programs
19 The data is an international comparison of childcare hours spent by couples with children aged 4 or younger.
17
Kangaroom Shiodome
Shiseido provides an on-site day care for its headquarters employees and has also opened it to
employees from other companies. Indeed, Shiseido believes that companies must work together to meet the
challenge of assisting employees in balancing work and childcare. The center also offers flexible hours
reflecting the reality of overtime and is open until 10 pm.
Wiwiw program
Shiseido has developed a website to help employees return to work from parental leave called the
wiwiw program. The wiwiw program was based on answers from a survey of female employees of Shiseido
who were taking maternity leave. The realization was made that childcare in itself brings forth various kinds
of anxiety and problems, along with the necessity for a maternity leave system which presents no negative
conditions for female employees to build their professional career. The program provides knowledge of how
to realize a fulfilling maternity period and return to work at the same time. Employees on maternity leave
have access to online courses for developing business skills, helpful hints on balancing work and childrearing, message boards relating company news, and information-sharing networks of other "wiwiw" users.
“Wiwiw” also provides information about childcare knowledge and a place for exchanging such information.
These services help relieve the anxieties of child-rearing and encourage mothers to go back to work. At
Shiseido, the "wiwiw" program has helped about 500 female employees return to their jobs. This program
has been carried out internally since September 2001 and has expanded to include 110 companies.
Kangaroo Staff program
Beauty Consultants (BC) directly serve customers at stores. Support for balancing work and childrearing had been a big issue for them. In Japan, babysitting is not very common and there are few
infrastructures to take care of children after class. Beauty Consultants with children were sometimes forced
to leave their job because they needed to leave the office in the afternoon to pick up their children at school
which is coincidentally around the time when business usually picks up in retail stores. In 2006 the company
started employing part-time workers to relieve beauty consultants who want extra time on child care during
the evening hours. These part-timers are called Kangaroo Staff and start work after two to three weeks of
professional training. About 500 Kangaroo Staff helped 487 BCs take time off to care for their children
starting in 2007.
3.3.2.3 The training and encouragement of female leaders
In Japan, women account for only 10% of those in managerial positions. The Shiseido plan
incorporates a target to raise women's share in holders of the "leader" managerial post at group firms in
Japan to 30% by 2013, more than double the current level.
Shiseido also established a company university called Ecole Shiseido in April 2007. This framework
helps individual employees identify the goals and the type of career they want to pursue, and then it provides
18
an opportunity to complete the studies necessary to attain those goals. In 2007, women accounted for 23%
of workers who were promoted in April to the rank of sanji (counselor, a qualification necessary to obtain
manager status) for the first time. Above sanji is kacho (section chief). Women accounted for 21% of those
who were promoted to kacho for the first time.
The figures are still low, Kimie Iwata explains: “Even at the Shiseido group, women's share in
managerial staff at its overseas subsidiaries and affiliates has reached 53%. In comparison, the present
13.7% figure at group firms in Japan is too low. This mindset was at the very beginning of our move to set
the 30% target. The reason for setting the 2013 goal of 30% is our belief that the target can be attained
without straining to do so if we make steady efforts. I have decided not to give favorable treatment to
women. I don't want to promote a female worker instead of a more competent male worker only to attain
the 30% goal. Women themselves don't want preferential treatment, which is discriminatory against men.
Shiseido will never give women favorable treatment because it would be a loss for the company if it
neglected a more competent man and picked a less competent woman.”20
3.3.2.2 Encouragements for Balancing Work and Personal Life
With the sessions of the School for Balancing Work and Personal Life, Shiseido said they also made
steady progress in encouraging male employees to participate in childcare, with about 33 employees taking
time off under the short-term parental leave program over the course of two years. Nevertheless, they
admitted that the program remains underutilized in sales and other departments, and they plan to hold
another session of the School for Balancing Work and Personal Life that was previously held at the Head
Office, this time for their sales organization.21
333 : Reforms that still do not tackle the roots of gender inequality at work
Overtime and high-mobility, which are of the most important reasons why it is very difficult for
women in Japan to balance work and personal life, seems to be still very strong in the company. Heidi
Manheimer, Chief executive of Shiseido Cosmetics (America) Ltd., talks about her work experience in Japan
at Shiseido:
“Shiseido is a large, old, conservative Japanese company that still offers lifetime employment. People
joining it often shift positions every three years. They might run fragrance marketing and then become
general manager of one of the company’s restaurants. When I started, it felt like being in a traffic jam. To
manage projects, I had to learn who was last to serve in a position and who was coming to that job next. I
knew where I needed to go but I wasn’t quite sure how to get there. I was used to having meetings to make
decisions. I had to learn when things get done in Japan. You get information in meetings, but the important
decisions are made in sidebar conversations, during coffee in the hallway, over dinner at night, or at
karaoke. In the beginning, I skipped dinner and karaoke often because I was so exhausted, but not after I
learned that’s where things get done.”
20 Japan Spotlight,1st November 2007, Helping Women Work, Rear Children
21 2007 CSR Report
19
From Fitting In, Japanese Style, The New York Time (March 2, 2008)
4) Benchmarking: a comparison with another leading international cosmetic retailer in
women's promotion—Avon.
4.1 Avon and Shiseido, two old cosmetic firms with two different distribution methods.
Avon Products Inc. is a cosmetics and perfume company with markets in over 135 countries across
the world and net sales of $9.8 billion worldwide (compared to 5.8 billion worldwide for Shiseido).
Both Avon and Shiseido are old firms since both of them were founded in the 19th Century. Indeed,
Avon was founded in 1886 by David H. McConnell (Shiseido was founded in 1872). He recruited a sales
force of women to sell his products door-to-door providing them with an earning opportunity and a financial
independence that had not been offered to them before. Women had been selling Avon in the United States
for 34 years before they were even able to vote! Traditionally an American-based direct-selling company,
Avon uses both door to door sales people ("Avon ladies" primarily) and catalogs to advertise their products,
and in some markets (most notably China, who banned all door-to-door selling in the 1990s). Avon products
are sold primarily in retail stores. Today, there are 5 million Avon Sales representatives across the world.
On the contrary, Shiseido never had a direct selling system. In Japan, Shiseido products are sold in
retail stores by their 6,548 Beauty Consultants. Just like Shiseido, one of Avon's fastest growing markets
today is in China.
4.2 Avon, a firm led by a woman named Andrea Jung. Shiseido following suit?
Currently, Avon is headed up by Andrea Jung, the company's president and CEO, who was the first
woman to be promoted to the position in 1999. Her mother is a Shanghai-born concert pianist. Her father is a
Hong-Kong-born partner at an architectural firm.
Andrea Jung attended Princeton majored in English literature and graduated Magna Cum Laude in
1979. Her remarkable retailing career began at Bloomingdale's when she joined the company's management
trainee program. She quickly climbed the management ladder before jumping to San Francisco retailer I.
Magnin, later named Neiman Marcus, where she became executive vice president. Jung began her career at
Avon as a consultant before signing on full-time in 1994. In 1999 she was elected CEO of the company.
Today, Jung is sitting on top of this unique Fortune 500 company with more women in management
positions than any other. In fact, half of Avon's board of directors is women.
20
In April 2008, Shiseido elected Kimie Iwata as Vice President of the group. This was a shift in the
traditional Japanese management since Kimie Iwata is a woman and became vice president without having
spent her whole career at Shiseido.
Indeed, she is the Former Director-General of the Equal Employment, Children and Families Bureau at
the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. She joined Shiseido Co., Ltd. as Corporate Advisor in 2003 and
became General Manager of CSR Department in 2004. In 2006, Kimie Iwata became Corporate Officer,
Responsible for Personnel, Executive Affairs and Consumer Information. She was credited for her initiative
in upgrading Shiseido's child-support and manpower-development programs for employees. She is an
example for many Japanese women since she achieved to become a front-running woman while raising two
daughters.
4.3 Avon, far in the lead for promoting women : “Avon, the company for women”.
Avon has a long history of recognition for its efforts in promoting women. First of all, Avon was one
of the first companies to provide a way for women to become financially independent, even before they got
the right to vote. Then, in the early 1970s, the company created the policies and procedures necessary to
incorporate more women into the managerial pipeline. The Avon Women’s Network that created to help the
firm set up these policies voluntarily disbanded in the early 1980s because its key goals and objectives had
been met by Avon’s management.
The appointment of Andrea Jung as CEO demonstrates the company’s long-term commitment to the
advancement of women. Additionally, over half the members of Avon’s board of directors are women, and 86
percent of management positions are filled by women.
At Shiseido, even if the vice president is now a woman, she remains the single female member of the
9 members of the board.
In 2003, the National Association for Female Executives (NAFE) ranked Avon for the fifth
consecutive year, as the best company for women, with the highest numbers of women board members,
corporate officers and top earners in their “Top 30 Companies for Executive Women." Avon also made the
2003 lists of "100 Best Companies for Working Mothers" by Working Mother magazine.
Shiseido was also recognized for its efforts: in 2006, Shiseido ranked second in terms of the work
environment they offer female employees, according to Nikkei Woman, a business magazine for women
which announced the top 10 firms based on such factors as the number of female executives and employees,
and equality of opportunity for men and women to advance. Shiseido earned points, particularly for its inhouse child-care centers and the length of service of its female employees, who have worked for the
company for an average of more than 16 years.
Personnel figures from Avon are impressive compared to those of Shiseido even if there is still a
glass ceiling for women to reach the rank of Senior Manager.
Avon Percent Female Representation (US only)
21
2002
2003
2004
Senior Managers
27%
36%
38%
Officers and managers
84%
83%
83%
Associates (employees)
73%
73%
73%
Despite the efforts Shiseido has advertised for 20 years, Shiseido is very far from reaching Avon's figures:
Composition of Personnel in the Shiseido Group (Domestic) (as of April 1, 2007)
Male
Female
Total of the workforce
88,3%
41%
11,7%
59%
9%
32%
Beauty Consultants
0,01%
Other (adviser, part-time,
34%
site specific)
Total
26%
99,9%
44%
66%
15%
74%
100%
Managers
General
Moreover, the Beauty Consultants account for 60% of the female employees at Shiseido. Only 25%
of the female employees work at the head office and only 1.4% of them are managers.
B] Sociological, Political and economical context analysis
The reasons why there is such a gap between the two firms are complex. Shiseido began gender
equality initiatives much later than Avon and also, Shiseido has tried to progress in a much more gender
biased environment than that of Avon. This specific political, economical and sociological environment is a
huge restraint for the implementation of gender equality initiatives as the Japanese management system is so
inextricably linked with the traditional roles of women and men in Japanese Society and the group pressure
is still very strong making change difficult.
1) A social and cultural context hard to fight
1.1 The traditional view of women in the Japanese Society still in the minds
In Japan, during the long centuries of shogunate rule. The oft quoted Three Obediences dictated their
lives: “When she is young, she obeys her father; when she is married, she obeys her husband; when she is
widowed, she obeys her son.” To this lowly status, both Buddhism and Confucianism gave strong spiritual
and moral backing.
Confucius himself did not inherently denigrate women, although he placed them at the lower end of the
patriarchal family structure. Yet, through the ages the assumption that men’s and women’s social places and
22
expected behaviors were quite distinct was based on Confucian hierarchical precepts, and were reinforced by
prescriptive advice in a variety of texts including, among others, The Book of Odes, The Book of Rites, The
Book of Changes, and Admonitions for Women :
"Let a woman modestly yield to others; let her respect others; let her put others first, herself. Last."
"As Yin and Yang are not the same nature, so man and woman have different characteristics....Man is
honored for strength; a woman is beautiful on account of her gentleness.", Admonitions for Women
"Women are to be led and to follow others.", Record of Ritual and Book of Rites
By the late nineteenth, early twentieth centuries, serious challenges to accepted beliefs about gender
were mounted in Japan’s Meiji Restoration (1868-1912) when the nation’s rapid transformation from a
feudal shogunate to modern nation opened the door for female public participation. Through speeches,
magazines, and within newly formed political parties, a small group labeled Japan’s “first wave feminists”
tried to raise women’s consciousness about their subordinate position. The phrase “good wife, wise mother”
was coined, meaning that in order become good citizens women had to become educated and take part in
public affairs. However, conservative legislators reasserted Neo-Confucian family values by passing
restrictive laws, codes, and a new constitution. Women were denied the right to any political participation,
including even taking political science courses, and married women lost some of the legal rights they had
held during the Shogunate. The term “good wife, wise mother” was reinterpreted to refer to a woman who
sacrificed herself to her family welfare.
After World War II, the legal position of women was redefined by the occupation authorities. The
reforms carried out by General Mac Arthur as Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers brought about
dramatic changes in the legal status of Japanese women. Women were granted equal rights as men under the
new constitution of 1946. The new family law put an end, at least in formal legal terms, to women's
centuries-old subjugation to the male head of the family. Individual rights were given precedence over
obligation to family. Women as well as men were guaranteed the right to choose spouses and occupations, to
inherit and own property in their own names, to initiate divorce, and to retain custody of their children.
Women were also given the right to vote in 1946.
However, the “Good wife, wise mother” idea still finds some resonance today as Public Opinion
Polls on a gender equal society and interviews with Japanese people shows. Indeed, despite some progress in
the society, the idea that a woman has before all a reproductive role is still very strong. As an example, the
contraception pill was introduced in Japan in only 1999, even after Viagra. Then, most women may not be
able to realize that ideal, but many believe that it is in their own, their children's, and society's best interests
that they stay home to devote themselves to their children, at least while the children are young as there is
also a lot of social pressure for a mother to take care of her child for its three first years (“Mitsugo no
tamashii hyaku made mo”or “what we are given during the three first years influences the whole existence”).
23
Many women such as Tomomi Kasagi, a housewife interviewed22, finds satisfaction in family life and in the
accomplishments of her children, gaining a sense of fulfillment from doing a good job as a household
manager and mother. In most households, women are responsible for their family budgets and make
independent decisions about the education, careers, and life-styles of their families.
In an opinion poll implemented in 1979, over 70 percent of respondents agreed with the above view.
Twenty five years later, in the 2004 Public Opinion Poll on a Gender-equal Society, the number of those who
disagreed with the view (48,9%) exceeded those who agreed with it (45,2%) for the first time... However,
even in 2004, by gender it was the case that while 53 percent of women who disagreed with the view as
opposed to 41,3 percent who agreed with it, a majority of men (49,8%) were in agreement, with only
43,3percent in opposition.
International Comparison
In other countries, very few respondents indicate that they “support” the assertion “The husband
should be the breadwinner, the wife should stay at home”. This tendency is particularly strong in Sweden.
Respondents who agree with this view are still of a higher proportion in Japan although there has been
progress since 1979. In an opinion poll implemented in 1979, over 70% of respondents agreed with the
above statement. Twenty five years later, in the 2004 Public Opinion Poll on a Gender Equal Society, the
22 Appendix 2, interview 6
24
number of those who disagreed with the view (48.9%) exceeded those who agreed with it (45.2%) for the
first time. However a majority of men (49.8%) were still in agreement, with only 43.3% in opposition.
Thus, when asked for their views on gender equality in society as a whole, both women and men in
Japan feel that disparities exist between the status of women and men. Approximately 74% of all women and
men hold the perception that men are treated more favorably.
This difference is felt even more by women trying to enter the management track that clearly see the
discrimination against women, as they live it daily.23
Time usage by married couples in Japan24
Looking at how Japanese couples spend their time we see that regardless of whether their wives
work or not, husbands spend little time on housework, raising children or nursing care for the elderly. In
international comparisons, Japanese husbands are also seen to spend little time on housework and raising
children. As a result, working wives have to shoulder their responsibilities both at home and at work.25
This is also testified by the interviews made, even though there is slight progress in the younger
generations, as they do not consider the situation to be normal, it is not the case for their parents who do not
see any problem in this repartition.
Because women are considered to be those who take of children when young, the labor participation
23 Appendix 2 Interviews
24 Basic survey of Social Lifestyles 2001, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications
25 « Basic survey of Social Lifestyles 2001 »Ministry of internal affairs and communications.
25
rate of women in Japan shows an M-shaped curve, as labor force participation rate declines during the
periods in a woman's life when she marries, bear and raise children and then goes back up when they
rejoined labor force, whereas the men's one has an inverted U shape.
Source : Labor Force survey (2004) Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications
Indeed, interviews show that there is social pressure for women to take care of their children when
young26 which is added to the fact that Japan does not have very developed family friendly policies.
On the contrary, in many western countries, women's labor force participation rate by age bracket
shows an inverted U shape for a number of reasons: a favorable working environment for working women
through measures to harmonize working life and childrearing, the relative ease of switching between fulltime and part-time jobs, and greater degree of advancement to higher education among women.
Then, education seems to be influenced by this culture too. Even though the percentage of female
students advancing to high school is now exceeding that of male students, most male students choose
universities (undergraduate level) whereas fewer female students go to universities and others enter junior
college. As a consequence, there is still a majority of men in undergraduate programs and still yet more in
graduate school—as if women were anticipating the barriers they face entering the workforce.
Tomomi Kasagi, the Japanese housewife interviewed appeared to be a product of these influences as
she never considered going to college. She said she thought she was not talented enough to do it and that she
26 See Appendix 2 Interviews
26
never considered building a career because she was planning to become a housewife anyways.
Enrollment Rate by School Category
(school Basic Survey, ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. )
As a consequence, Firms like Shiseido still find difficulties to hire an equal number of men and
women in the management track since there are less women choosing to go to College. However, the graph
shows that this difference on education between men and women in shrinking.
1.2 “Shûdanshugi”, the Japanese collectivism
In old Japan, the very notion of the individual did not exist. It was not until the arrival of ships of
Commodore Perry (1854) on the eve of the Meiji era that the word for “individual” appeared in Japan. The
essence of this latent collective consciousness, deeply rooted in Japanese society, is expressed in a traditional
concept commonly used, “ie” the family group, a concept that permeates Japanese society.
Indeed, nowadays the Japanese are still afraid to make changes and differentiate from each other
because of group pressure. The interviews conducted highlighted the fact that even with a more favorable
environment the Japanese still have their eyes fixed on what others are doing in order not to be victimized if
they do not follow social norms. The difference is not valued in itself. At best, it is accepted that the others
and group solidarity are still very strong.
The sociologist Anne Guarrigue makes this statement: “currently, we are at an intermediate stage:
80% of the Japanese continue to be like the others but accept that others act differently. However, if it is no
longer forbidden not to follow the rule, contestation continues to be taboo. Contesting is still regarded as a
selfish attitude, capricious”.
Therefore, even if firms allow employees to leave work at 6pm, nobody dares to leave the office
before the manager does. Men do not dare to ask for their parental leave because they do not want to be
considered as different. As an example, Keiko, one of the Japanese women interviewed, described the
27
situation of this man working with her, who wanted to take family care leave. Asking that was very
courageous of him she said, but it was just a career suicide. The “Onji”, the manager from the older
generation, can not understand why a man would rather take care of his children instead than his wife. In a
very conformist society, asking this resulted in him being automatically classified as a trouble maker. 27 The
other Japanese people interviewed confirmed this saying that it is still very embarrassing for a man to pick
up his children at school for example because then people would wonder what he does for a living since men
who have a career do not end their workday before 9 pm....
Thus, we can see that there are still sociological barriers on women who want to rear children and
work, as it is not very widely accepted by society. But there are also restraints on firms willing to implement
gender equality initiatives because if they do not implement coercive rules for it to be applied, then the
former “rule” will still be the one followed as nobody dares to be the one that is different, especially when
the Onji, the managers of the older generation, just do not understand why women should work and why men
should be at home more. This partially explains why it is so hard for Shiseido to have efficient results in its
gender equality initiatives as they do not have coercive rules on over-time.
2) Policies that still do not provide the conditions for women to have a career.
Aside from sociological pressures, there are also political barriers linked with these sociological
pressures which prevent women from being able to have a career. Indeed, the Japanese government,
influenced by the vision of this gender role separation, did not implement any family friendly policies until
very recently and in proportions that are not sufficient to create the conditions for women to have a career.
2.1 A fiscal system highly against full-time work for women
Indeed, a woman with an annual income of more than 8100€ loses the insurance coverage of her
husband and the couple is no longer entitled to housing benefits or tax relief given to couples with a single
income. On the contrary, a wife who has never worked receives three quarters of the retirement of her
husband in the event of death, while a woman who has worked must settle for half or her own which is
often much lower . The whole system creates a threshold effect, which perpetuates the M-shaped curve of
female employment.
2.2 A day-care system completely not adapted to working women
Day-care closing hours (5 or 6 pm) are not adapted with the schedule of a working woman despite
the fact that they depend on the Economy and Health ministry (Kôsei Rôdôsho). Kindergartens are under the
authority of the Education ministry (Monbusho) and take care of children in the mornings only meaning that
this is not a solution available for working women.
27 Appendix 2 interview 2
28
2.3 The toothless Equal Employment Opportunity Law of 1986
In the seventies, the only previous laws regarding women's conditions were those imposed by the
Allied Powers in the Constitution that gave women the same rights as men and in the Labor Standard Law of
1947 that granted women a series of protective measures in the areas of working hours, night work,
underground work, menstruation leave, maternity leave, holidays and restrictions on dangerous work.
International Women's Year (1975) and the United Nations Decade for Women (1976-1985)
stimulated much popular and media debate in Japan, and impacted upon public opinion. In response to that,
the prime minister became the Director of the Headquarters for the Promotion of Women's Issues, which in
turn initiated an action program with the goal of improving women's status at home and in the workplace.
The outcome of their deliberations was the Equal Employment Opportunities Law (EEOL) which was passed
on 17 May 1985 and came into effect on 1 April 1986. The EEOL had the stated aim of eliminating sexual
discrimination in opportunity and treatment in all forms of employment.
The Japan Federation of Employer's association (Nikkeiren) opposed the introduction of the new
EEOL on the following grounds: women had no work consciousness, women were uninterested in long-term
work and if the female workforce were enlarged, then granting “protection” such as maternity leaves and
limited overtime, to a larger proportion of the workforce would prove costly business.
As a result, when the EEOL was promulgated, the Labor Standard Law was simultaneously revised.
Restriction on overtime was declared not to apply to women in managerial positions. In other words, women
who were doing men's jobs were expected to suffer the disadvantages of male “core” work.
The law was much criticized. Many large companies reacted to the enactment of the EEOL by
introducing a dual track employment system for their employees because having a different job category to
their male colleague made it more difficult for women to sue their employers for discriminatory treatment.
The system generally consists of a general clerical track or ippanshoku (that is basically the descendant of
the Office Lady) and a managerial track or sogoshoku. Entrants to the sogoshoku are usually expected to do
overtime and to be prepared to accept transfers, totally incompatible with a mother's duties in Japan and the
lack of family policies. Then the EEOL was toothless. Despite two revisions in 1997 and 1999, the law
includes no real punishment for companies that continue to discriminate. The worst that the Labor Ministry
can do is to threaten to publish the names of violators, and the ministry has never done that.
Thus, in 1990, 99 percent of men were on the management track, compared to just 3.7 percent of
women. Moreover, evidence seems to suggest the existence of a “glass ceiling,” that is even for female
Sogoshoku workers who entered the management track, prospects of promotion are limited. Indeed, even if
the proportion of firms recruiting female college graduates almost doubled between 1984 and 1995 and the
proportion of female team leaders has risen from 4 per cent to 7.3 percent, the proportion of female section
leaders has grown only incrementally from 1.1 per cent to 1.3 per cent.28.
28 Beverley Bishop, “Globalization and Women in the Japanese Workforce”, RoutledgeCurzon, 2004
29
However, the EEOL opened a path that was before closed to women like Keiko, the successful 30
year old who was interviewed. The discussions and publicity around the law may also have had a
consciousness raising effect on the general population. The proportion of people believing it was acceptable
for a woman to continue working after giving birth rose from 16.1 percent in 1987 to 32.5 percent in 1995.
Though indirect and informal discrimination continued, as she testified in her interview describing what she
had to go through,29 only 17 percent of companies excluded female job applicant in 1987 compared to 41 per
cent in 1986, and 78.9 per cent of companies offered equal starting salaries to men and women in 1987
compared to 31,7 per cent in 1975.
2.4: Family policies that are still out of proportion to the demographic problem
Since 2005, Japan with a population of 127 million inhabitants has lost each year 1 million
inhabitants. In less than a half-century - in 2050 - the country is expected to loose about 37 million people—
a phenomenon that was never seen in a wealthy country on peace time. The country now has 11 million
inhabitants who are over than 75 years old. This number is expected to double within twenty years. A sign of
the times, the new prime minister, Yasuo Fakuda, is 71.30 According to statistics, the country has 32,000
centenarians, a number increasing rapidly.
On the other hand, with 1.32 children per woman on average in 2006, Japan has the one of the
lowest fertility rates in the world, a situation which if not stopped would lead to a drastic reduction of the
population in the country, 127 million today to a hundred million in 2050. One of the main causes of the
problem lies in the difficulties experienced by women to combine motherhood and professional life, leading
many women to forgo children.
This dual phenomenon - declining and aging – population has important consequences, most
noticeably at the economics level. Even though the link between population and growth is complex, the
reduction of the workforce—as calculated by the research institute of the bank Mizuho—would from 2030 it
deprive the country each year by more than half a percentage point of growth. Less working people, more
retired people: the equation for pension is easy to guess. As a result, Japan had no choice but to opens three
lines of thought for a long time remained taboo: family policy to be carried out, the place of women in the
world of work and immigration. According to an estimate by the Japan Research Institute, the nation will
have a shortage of about 3.9 million workers in 2015 as the population continues to shrink, and will need
880,000 more working women than there were in 2005 to keep growth at around 2 percent.
2.2.1 The Child and Family Care Leave Law
The government slowly began a family policy in 1991 and passed the Child Care Law, which
stipulated that employers cannot refuse requests from either men or women to take time off from regular
work schedules in order to care for children less than 1 year of age. Family care leave provisions were added
29 Appendix 2, interview 2
30 Frédéric Lemaître , Les Japonais, menacés de dispariton dans le Monde du 1/10/2007
30
to the Child Care Law in 1995, and it was renamed the Child and Family Care Leave Law. This revision,
which went into full effect in 1999, enables workers to leave their regular jobs for specified amounts of time
in response to a need to give special care to a spouse, a parent, a child, or a spouse's parent. The law
guarantees payment, via employment insurance funds, of 25% of one's regular salary, should an employee be
off work for infant or family care. Reinstatement in the employee's regular place of work, following such a
work-leave, is guaranteed. The government also set numerical goal targets for taking child care leave (10%
for men, 80% for women), and so forth. However, in 2007, among those who took full parental leave, only
0.5 percent were men because of the sociological blockages.
2.2.2 The Policy on Support Measures for the Balancing of Work and Child Raising
In July 2001, the Policy on Support Measures for the Balancing of Work and Child Raising was
adopted. This policy incorporated targets such as “Strategy for no children waiting for a day-care center,”
and a targeted increase of 50,000 more places for children in day care facilities was achieved in fiscal year
2002. However, according to the women interviewed, the target was far from reaching their needs and most
of them feel that they will be obligated to stop working when they have children or chose not to have
children because they do not want to interrupt their career like Hori Harumi, a lawyer in Tokyo. 31
2.2.3 The Immediate Action Plan to Support the Development of the Next Generation
The Immediate Action Plan to Support the Development of the Next Generation was adopted in
2003. It stipulates that the state, local governments and enterprises make concerted efforts to
comprehensively and systematically promote measures such as reconsideration of working habits, including
those of men, such as a reduction in the amount of overtime work, and setting numerical targets for the
amount of child care leave to be taken.
The government has vowed steps to ensure that women constitute 30 percent of managers by 2020.
Furthermore, the Law for Measures to Support the Development of the Next Generation was enacted. The
law obliges companies with more than 300 employees, and the state and local government institutions to
draft an action plan with numerical goals for child-rearing support. The law took effect in April 2005. Firms
that achieve the goals will get official government certification allowing them to display a special logo for
recruitment or advertising purposes to show it accommodates working mothers to formulate action plans to
promote intensive and systematic measures to be taken over a 10- year period. However, there is still no way
to enforce the law and the success of the law is only based on the firm's goodwill. Thus, the Japanese women
met were very skeptical regarding these initiatives.
2.2.4 The Work-Life Balance Charter
The charter and action guidelines were revealed on December 18, 2007, and are aimed at preventing
overwork and reversing the nation's declining birthrate. The charter contains provisions for measures to be
taken by national and local governments, as well as effective approaches for companies, workers and citizens
in pursuit of a society where people can work and live in a well-balanced manner.
31 Appendix 2 réponse 1
31
The main objectives of the charter are envisioned as three attributes of society, that is, it aims to
create a society where:
(1) people can provide themselves with jobs,
(2) have time to lead healthy, affluent lives, and
(3) can choose from a diversity of working and living styles.
The charter also sets up numerical targets to be achieved in five and ten years to reach individual
fulfillment in several areas. For example, one target for employees who work more than 60 hours a week
(10.8% in 2007) is a decrease of 20 percent by 2012 and of 50 percent by 2017. The target for the job
continuity rate of female workers around the time of their first childbirth is an increase from the current 38.0
percent to 45.0 percent by 2012, and to 55.0 percent by 2017. The target for the ratio of male workers who
take paternity leave is an increase from the current 0.50 percent to 5 percent by 2015 and to 10 percent by
2017.
2.5 A small national budget dedicated to family support that does not allow the government able to
actualize their ambitions
In 2007, the government proposed a budget of 1.71 trillion yen for child support, up from 1.52
trillion yen in fiscal 2006. The money would be used to boost nursery school use by 45,000 children and
raise the monthly allowance for women on maternity leave to 50 percent of salary instead of 40 percent.
Another proposition was to increase the monthly help for each child till it reached high school from 5000
yens (31€) to 26 000 yens (162€) but this is still low when compared to other countries. Japan dedicated
1.1% of it's GDP to family support in 2003, whereas the average for the OECD countries was 2.4 % and
3.6% for France where the fertility is among the highest of these countries.
3) Economic changes that challenged the traditional Japanese Management system, but to what
extent?
Globalization is producing two kinds of apparently countervailing pressures for change to the
Japanese national model of capitalism, both of which have different implications for men and women. There
are pressures for labor market deregulation and to increase the international competitiveness of Japanese
production. There are also pressures for the re-regulation of labor to establish a principle of sexual equality at
work.32 The 1990s economic stagnation after the bursting of the speculative bubble
highlighted the
weaknesses of the Japanese Model. There was the push for deregulation, which was partly ideologically
driven—the growth of neoliberal thinking stressing the importance of unleashing market forces and price
competition. However, changes are mostly blocked by a strong attachment to the older generation of
management, the “Onji,” to the traditional model that the younger generation seems to be very well aware of.
32 Beverley Bishop, “Globalization and Women in the Japanese Workforce”, RoutledgeCurzon, 2004
32
Thus the answer to Masayuki Maekawa, a 21 year old student, when asked if he thought the system would
change: “I think it will change when the “Onji” will retire but that is a long time from now, I would say
maybe 50 years...”
Indeed, it is certainly true that there is more mobility of young people. But looking at the general
wage survey, which gives a breakdown of workforces by the number of years of service, the proportion of
people between the ages of 30 and 34 who have been working for a company for less than one year was 4%
in 1985, rose to 5% in 1990, but was back to 3% in 2002. The labor mobility among people in their early 30s
is still very restricted. If you only consider university graduates, each of these figures are 1% lower. The
lifetime employment system has survived to a remarkable degree. Indeed, in the deliberations, a lot of people
on the Labor Standards Committee have argued that these protections should be abolished because every
other country is going for labor market flexibility, but they were prevented by paternalistic managers, the
older generation of managers and bureaucrats33.
Then, firms introduced some kind of performance pay, replacing the seniority-constrained merit
promotion. However, it is not clear how this will end up. Many firms that introduced the system in the mid1990s have backtracked because the administration costs and effects on morale of objectively measuring
differences in performance were counterproductive in terms of productivity.
Thus, we can see that there is sociological barriers on women who wants to rear a child and work, as it is
not very well accepted by the society that is something that explains the underutilization of the programs set
up. The Japanese collectivism is also a restrain the application of these initiatives as if they do not
implement coercive rules for it to be applied, then the former “rule” will still be the one followed as nobody
dares to be the one that is different.
Besides sociological pressures, there are also political barriers linked with these sociological pressures, that
prevent Shiseido employees to choose to have a career. Indeed, the Japanese government influenced by the
vision of this gender role separation did not create a favorable environment for women to work and for
firms to implement gender equality initiatives.
Then, on an economical level, the bursting of the speculative bubble highlighted the weaknesses of the
Japanese model that pushed for reforms. However, this movement did not last long and as the recession
threat is disappearing, many firms have backtracked and the “Onji”are more than ever reluctant for a
change. As a consequence, Shiseido is encountering many restrain to their plan.
33 Ronald Dore, “Japanese Management, has it survive, will it survive” RIETI
33
II] DIAGNOSIS
Thus, we see that Shiseido has made many initiatives to encourage women to keep their jobs after giving
birth and reach management positions. There is certainly a break with the male chauvinistic part of the
traditional Japanese management system and this is a good step forward in the achievement of good
diversity management. However, just like what the Japanese government is doing, these reforms are too
weak to have an actual impact as they do not have coercive force. They are a patchwork of temporary
solutions and do not show a strong and fundamental will to change. Indeed, the traditional Japanese
management system is so heavily linked with traditional gender roles (with the importance of overtime
among others), that to change things and insure gender equality, the whole system would need to be
reformed, but yet they still avoid facing the issue by going round it.
causes
consequences
- Internal causes :
A traditional Japanese management system
designed on the traditional gender role separation that
is still not questioned by the reforms. The roots of the
issue: overtime and job transfers are not aimed by the
initiatives.
 The programs implemented remain
insufficient to find permanent solutions to
fighting gender inequalities.
 Even more, the programs implemented
remain underutilized.
Employees are reluctant to take advantage of the
reforms because of group pressure.
- external causes:
Sociological pressures on women to be the one
taking care of the children.
Education differences between men and women.
A government that does not provide family friendly
policies.
Laws that do not favor full-time working women.

Female employees are not encouraged to
choose to have a career as the obstacles are
so numerous or the sacrifices too important
Prognostic
As Ms. SANUI (Employers’ adviser delegate, Japan), underlined at the 2003 International Labor
Conference in Geneva, equality at work is a leadership issue. Indeed, the chief executive's commitment is
crucial to the success of any diversity program. But commitment by the top in management is something you
elicit as well, it's also a matter of how you communicate with other employees. This is particularly true in
Japan, when the older management, the “Onji” are still very attached to the traditional management system.
34
Till recently, Shiseido seemed to lack this commitment to achieve its goal by not questioning the
system as a whole. The CEO elected in 2005, Shinzo Maeda, has a career that perfectly followed the track of
the Japanese management system. Indeed, he entered the group right after graduation and climbed the
hierarchical ladder slowly until he reached the top. However, maybe because he is originally a sociology
graduate, he appears to better see what is at stake with women’s promotion and he reinforced this
commitment by appointing Kimie Iwata as vice president of the group on April 1st 2008. This was a shift in
the traditional Japanese management since Kimie Iwata is a woman and became vice president without
having spent her whole career at Shiseido. However, since this appointment is very recent, it is impossible to
evaluate if this is just a communication initiative without actually giving her important responsibilities or a
real shift in the company since no description of her new role was available.
Executives in charge of diversity and human resources in Japan say that flexible policy on working
hours and job transfers are crucial to promote real gender equality in firms. Indeed, those two factors are at
the roots of the problem. Shiseido, by not attacking them, is very likely to go on with this slow pace of
change. This shyness into reform may be explained by the fact that tackling those two problems basically
means to question the whole Japanese management system, and this is possibly something that Shiseido is
not yet ready for.
Another problem is the group pressure is still very strong in Japan to which the interviews are a
testimony. Many women interviewed such as Yuka34 underlines the fact that if nobody dares to take
advantage of the programs set up, then no one is going to as they don't dare to look different and get an
advantage that others do not ask for. The implementation of strict rules can be a solution to this group’s
phenomenon. Indeed Osamu Yunoki, executive officer in charge of human resources at Uniqlo, a clothing
retail chain, is also working on gender equality initiatives in Japan. He has said his company found a solution
to fight overtime by imposing a rule whereby employees in the head office are not allowed to work beyond
7 in the evening. "Lights go off at 7," he said. The burden of working overtime had been a turnoff especially
for women and non-Japanese staff, Yunoki said.35
Modest recommendations:
In order to achieve full gender equality in the firm, Shiseido needs to question the traditional
management system as a whole because it was shaped on the scheme of a strict separation of gender roles
that is not adapted to working women. It is essential to fight overtime and implement flexible policies on job
transfers.
Then, in order for the measures to actually have an effect, it is necessary to communicate a lot,
especially to the old management, the “Onji,” who appear to be a locking point in this promotion of gender
equality. The implementation of strict rules like the Uniqlo “"Lights go off at 7,"could be considered to fight
the under use of the programs due to sociological pressures.
34 Appendix 3
35 Miki Tanikawa, Japanese Management Embrace Diversity
35
PART C: LIMITS
The first problems I encountered appeared very quickly, in the research phase. Before making this
research paper, I knew nothing about Japan an the Japanese culture. It took me lots of time and lots of
reading to begin to understand the logics under this society.
Then, the problematics erased by sociologist were so interesting that I sometimes lost track and the
main aim of my research, focusing on sociological issues rather than on managerial ones.
Moreover, despite a lot of communication about their Gender Initiatives Policies on their websites
and in Newspapers, Shiseido is in fact in reluctant to give more information if we question it. I managed to
get in touch with two directors of two different units of Shiseido in France, one at the R&D unit in the
Cosmetic Valley with Patricia Richard and at Shiseido Europe with Kimitoshi Sato. Neither of them
accepted to let me interview Japanese employees who worked in France or give me more information about
what was going on in Japan. The first one wrote that I should contact Shiseido Europe since they have more
Japanese Employees and the second one wrote me that there is no Japanese employees at Shiseido Europe
that worked in Japan before...36
Therefore, I was only able to have a view of the society through its website and articles which made
it first difficult for me to have a realistic view of what was going on in the firm and pass the idealistic view
given by the firm and journalists at first. However, one article by an American women working in Shiseido
Japan at published in the New York Time helped me catch a sight of what was going on but the most
important shift was the interviews period I made with Japanese women and men who helped further to see
clearer the reality.
The writing of the thesis was also a point of difficulty since the subject was so dense. It was
sometimes hard to distinguish what was relevant and what was not, given that informations was all linked in
a way. The view of the Japanese women interviewed step by step helped me to unravel all parts of the
problem.
Finally, this diagnosis is only relevant for the reform set up till 2007. Indeed, the election of Kimie
Iwata on April 1st 2008 can be seen as a strong will to change corporate culture, but it was just to soon to
figure out to what extend was Shiseido going to go further.
36See Appendix 4
36
Elements of Bibliography
Books and reports
- Beverley Bishop, “Globalization and Women in the Japanese Workforce”, RoutledgeCurzon, 2004.
- Ronald Dore, “Japanese Management, has it survive, will it survive” RIETI.
- Anne Guarrigue, “Japonaise, la révolution douce” Picquier Poche 2000.
- Murielle Jolivet, “Un pays en Mal d'enfant”, la Découverte, 1993.
- Alice Lam, “Women and Japanese Management”.
- Sophie Landrieux-Kartochian (Université Paris I - Panthéon Sorbonne,(CERGORS), “La Contribution des
Femmes à la Performance”, DARES 2004.
- International Labor Conference, Geneva 2003.
- Ogasawara, Yuko, “Office Ladies and Salaried Men: Power, Gender, and Work in Japanese Companies”.
Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press, 1998.
- “Women Matter”, Mc Kinsey 2007.
Articles
- Japan Spotlight,1st November 2007, “Helping Women Work, Rear Children”.
- The Economist of Jan 3rd 2008 “Sayonara, salaryman”.
- Frédéric Lemaître , Les Japonais, menacés de dispariton dans le Monde du 1/10/2007.
- Fitting In, Japanese Style, The New York Time (March 2, 2008).
- Miki Tanikawa, Japanese Management Embrace Diversity
Websites:
Shiseido website, http://www.shiseido.com
RIETI website : http://www.rieti.go.jp/en/rieti_report/074.html
Gender equality bureau of the Japanese Government : http://www.gender.go.jp/english_contents/index.html
Avon : http://www.avon.com
37
APPENDIX
Appendix 1 : The Shiseido Plan for Gender equality
Results of Phase 1 (Fiscal 2005 to 2006), Gender Equality Action Plan 20
Priority Issue 1 : Cultivating an organizational culture to take advantage of employee diversity as a
truly global corporation
Action step
Principal initiatives
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
Strengthening
internal • Produced and held viewings of videos; promoted explanatory meetings and
communication to help transform dialogs for all decision-making bodies.
behavior
• Worked to transform individual employees’ awareness and behavior by
disseminating information in the company magazine and other sources.
Promoting gender equality at the • Each department and workplace selected at least one priority issue to be addressed
workplace level
by the gender equality program and worked to implement it using the PDCA
technique.
Holding meetings of the Gender • Held eight Gender Equality Group meetings over two years.
Equality task force
• Introduced attendees to initiatives being undertaken in members’ departments and
workplaces.
• Created Phase 2 of the Gender Equality Action Plan.
Priority Issue 2 : Developing and promoting leaders with an eye to accelerating the participation of
women in management decision making
Reassessing the responsibilities,
authority, and treatment of
leaders
Establishing targets for the
percentage of female leaders
Encouraging female participation
in decision-making entities
• Determined posts based on the definition of a leader.
• Reassessed the responsibilities, authority, and treatment of leaders.
Increasing use of personnel
assignments geared to human
resources development goals for
course employees nationwide
Increasing use of personnel
assignments geared to human
resources development goals for
workplace course employees and
reviewing course content
Dramatically enhancing the Job
Challenge/Free Agent program
• Actively encouraged personnel changes and assignments linked to career
advancement regardless of gender.
Strengthening internal education
for training and supporting
leaders
Trailing a mentoring program
• Held management training and new leader training; provided instruction in the
roles expected of Shiseido leaders and techniques for leading while developing
subordinates’ skills.
• Built and tested a trial system for offering one-on-one advice about career
development as a mentoring program in branch areas.
• Established targets for the percentage of female leaders in the domestic Group
(October 2007: 20%; October 2010: 25%; October 2013: 30%).
• Reviewed the membership of all decision-making bodies except the Executive
Conference in light of the goal of 30% female participation.
• Actively encouraged personnel changes that do not require moving with the goal
of improving career awareness and providing greater opportunity for employees to
use their skills.
• Both the number of applicants to and places in the Job Challenge/FA program
increased.
38
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
Priority Issue 3 : Reviewing how employees work with the goal of achieving high productivity and
reduce overtime
Reviewing how employees work
• Established targets for the criteria used to evaluate the performance of appointed
leaders.
• The Corporate Ethics Committee and CSR Committee collaborated to hold a
Work Reassessment Month.
• Required employees to apply in advance for authorization to work overtime.
• Changed the working hours system and enforced the use of timecards.
• Held training to strengthen management with the goal of reducing overtime.
Priority Issue 4 : Helping employees balance work and childcare to attract and retain a talented
workforce
Creating guidebooks for programs • Created a “Balancing Work and Personal Life Guidebook” as an easy-tosuch as childcare, care for the understand source of information about programs and rules related to maternal
aged, etc.
welfare, childcare, and care for the aged; distributed to all domestic Group
employees.
Creating a workplace where • Added maternal welfare and health management programs to the infirmary, and
pregnant employees can work with created a Childcare Support Center that offers telephone access to counseling
peace of mind
services.
• Revised childcare plans and encouraged their use.
Introducing uniforms for pregnant Introduced maternity wear for Beauty Consultants.
employees
Creating a workplace environment • Undertook measures designed to help Beauty Consultants balance work and
where employees can easily take childcare and introduced the Kangaroo Staff program nationwide in April 2007.
parental leave and time off to care • Revised the parental and family care leave programs, including changes to make
for their children
them available to limited-term contract employees.
Encouraging the participation of • Revised the existing parental leave program and began offering short-term (paid)
male employees in childcare
parental leave of up to two weeks; about 33 male employees have used the
program over the last two years.
• Held the School for Balancing Work and Personal Life for Dads in conjunction
with labor unions, non-profit organizations, and other companies.
Introducing a sick child leave • Created a short-term leave program of up to five days per year for employees
program
with pre-elementary age children, separate from the regular annual paid leave;
program provides paid leave for employees and contract employees.
Encouraging use of the wiwiw • Offered a summer school program for children using the Kangaroom and other
workplace nursery school and facilities in partnership with local government, non-profit organizations, and other
after-school
daycare
support companies.
program
• Increased the number of Kangaroom places after the program filled up.
• Some 1,420 employees have used the wiwiw program at 191 participating
companies.
Providing programs to assist • Compiled proposed revisions to a reemployment program for retirees and a
employees when their spouses program to help female employees move within the Company so that they can
transfer
accompany their spouses when they are transferred to other cities.
[Social Contributions to Raising the Next Generation]
Creating “Shiseido Bring Your Kids • Shiseido has held a Bring Your Kids to Work Day for two years running, and in
to Work” Day
fiscal 2006 conducted a bus tour in partnership with Kamakura Factory, the
Research Center, and the Head Office.
Helping young individuals establish • Accepted about 20 individuals for internships.
their careers
• Participated in about 160 career support courses at universities, etc.
39
Appendix 2 : Interviews
Entretien n°1
Shiho Lagnel
âge : 23 ans
statut : mariée à un français
étudiante
niveau d'études : 3 ans après le lycée
1- Connaissez-vous l'entreprise Shiseido, quelle image en avez-vous ?
C'est une entreprise très connue au Japon. Une entreprise pour les femmes, la beauté.
2-Avez-vous entendu parler de la politique RH de Shiseido favorable aux femmes ?
Oui, car j'ai des amies qui étudiaient la chimie et qui souhaitaient travailler pour Shiseido pour cette raison.
3- Connaissez-vous d'autres entreprises qui ont ce genre de politique ?
Pas vraiment. Généralement les femmes cherchent à travailler pour les entreprises étrangères implantées au
Japon. Ainsi j'ai une amie qui travaille pour City Bank. Elle a préféré travailler pour eux, même si le salaire
est moins élevé car les conditions de travail sont vraiment différentes.
4-Comment se passe la répartition des tâches dans un ménage, sent-on des évolutions par rapport à la
génération précédente ?
La jeune génération change, il apparaît moins inhabituel qu'un homme participe aux tâches et ils sont plus
volontaires pour participer, cependant cela n'a rien de naturel pour eux, ils ont l'impression qu'ils font
quelque chose qui mérite des félicitations. Les femmes changent plus vite que les hommes. Chez mes
parents, c'est ma mère qui fait tout ce qui est tâches ménagères mais mon père, contrairement à beaucoup
d'hommes de sa génération s'occupait beaucoup de nous, c'est parce que c'est son métier, il est instituteur
alors il aime bien les enfants.
5- La nouvelle génération d'étudiants est-elle toujours attirée par l'image du salaryman ?
Oui, mais une partie d'entre eux s'interroge, certains essaient de chercher leur propre chemin en dehors des
sentiers battus.
6-Quels sont vos projets pour l'avenir, comptez-vous repartir au Japon avec votre mari, avoir des
enfants, y travailler ?
Nous aimerions bien partir au Japon pour quelques années. Dans l'idéal, je travaillerai et mon mari apprendra
le japonais. J'aimerais avoir des enfants, il s'en occupera puisqu'il ne travaillera pas. Cela sera vraiment très
original (rires) car il n'est pas courant qu'un homme s'occupe des enfants même aujourd'hui mais je m'en
moque.
7-Vous avez une sœur, travaille-t-elle au Japon ?
Ma sœur est très originale, elle ne s'épanouit pas au Japon. Elle a choisi d'aller vivre en Australie, elle s'est
vraiment bien adaptée mais ne pourrait pas revenir vivre au Japon
Entretien n°2
Keiko
âge : 30 ans
statut : mariée à un japonais
travail : a travaillé deux ans dans une entreprise privée, avant de décrocher l'examen d'entrée au
Ministère des Affaires Etrangères du Japon en 2005.
niveau d'études : 4 ans après le lycée
1- Connaissez-vous l'entreprise Shiseido ?
Oh oui bien sûr, c'est une entreprise très connue au Japon, un peu comme l'Oréal en France.
2- Quelle image en avez-vous ?
Une image féminine et aussi l'image d'une entreprise japonaise qui a du succès à l'étranger. J'ai d'ailleurs été
très surprise de voir qu'à l'étranger Shiseido est vendu entant que tel avec le même statut que des marques
comme Lancôme car au Japon, les produits Shiseido sont des produit de base, un peu comme les produits
l'Oréal en France. J'imagine que cela fait partie de leur stratégie.
3-Connaissiez-vous sa politique RH favorable aux femmes ?
Non, je n'étais pas au courant, mais j'imagine que ça pourrait être logique car c'est un secteur féminin.
40
4- Comment s'est passée votre expérience professionnelle dans le privé ? Y-avez-vous subi des
discriminations ?
C'était dans une entreprise d'un secteur très masculin, le secteur de l'énergie. J'avais d'abord été recrutée pour
travailler dans le service international par la voie normale. Il y a deux voies dans les emplois au Japon, la
voie normale est traditionnellement réservée aux hommes mais s'ouvre un peu et la voie secondaire pour les
tâches subalternes traditionnellement réservée aux femmes. J'étais la première femme (peut être la dernière,
rires) qu'ils employaient pour la voie normale car c'est un secteur très masculin. Selon eux le fait qu'il n'y ait
aucune femmes cadre n'était pas seulement de leur faute mais aussi de la faute des femmes qui refusent les
difficultés et les horaires du salaryman....
La plupart des clients internationaux étaient asiatiques et le chef de service voyait d'un très mauvais oeil mon
arrivée, il craignait une perte de crédibilité si les clients avaient comme contact une femme... On m'a donc
changé de service, j'ai été mutée au service financier dirigé par un homme plus ouvert sur le travail des
femmes et l'importance de la vie de famille. Ainsi alors que les employés du service international devaient
respecter la tradition d'aller boire un verre après le travail tous ensembles certains soirs, ce qui équivaut à
rentrer chez soi souvent après minuit, mon chef de service était contre cette tradition car il voulait consacrer
du temps à sa famille chose, plutôt rare pour un homme de cette génération.
Au Japon, la vie d'un employé dépend extrêmement des vues de son chef car nul ne peut s'autoriser à partir
avant lui....Mon rythme de travail était le même que celui d'un salaryman classique, avec des journées qui
finissent entre 21H et 1 à 2H du matin selon les jours. Autant dire qu'il est impossible d'avoir des enfants à ce
rythme.
5- Quel est le secteur le plus discriminant ?
Les grandes banques sont très discriminantes, il y a une « règle » officieuse et illégale qui fait qu'ils
n'emploient pas plus de 5% de femmes dans leurs emplois de la voie dite normale. J'en ai été victime à la
sortie de mon université. Chaque grande université à son quota de jeunes diplômés assurés d'être employés
par les grandes banques. J'avais été sélectionnée par mon université, il n'y avait aucune raison qu'on ne me
retienne pas et pourtant je n'ai pas eu le poste. Quelques temps après, j'ai pu rencontrer un membre de
l'équipe de recrutement qui m'a expliqué que le refus de ma candidature était du au fait qu'il avait déjà atteint
les 5% de femmes parmi les nouvelles recrues cette année là.
Il existe beaucoup d'autres règles discriminantes et inofficielles, totalement illégales par ailleurs comme celle
pour la femme de démissionner de l'entreprise, si elle se marie avec un salaryman de la même firme.
6-Vous travaillez dans un ministère, y-a-t-il aussi des discriminations dans le secteur public ?
La sélection se fait sur concours puis entretien oral avec une obligation de parité or 65% des personnes qui
réussissent l'écrit sont des femmes, elles sont donc désavantagées pour l'oral car il y a plus de concurrence.
On ne peut pas vraiment parler de discrimination mais plutôt d'un système très mal adapté aux femmes
mariées. Une carrière dans la diplomatie est assez difficile à tenir en étant une femme. En effet, je dois
changer de poste tous les deux ans, or mon mari qui est un salaryman chez Itachi, une très grande firme
japonaise, ne peut pas laisser son travail pour me suivre comme le font les femmes pour suivre leurs maris
diplomates. Quand je suis arrivée au ministère j'étais la seule femme mariée. Le taux de divorce est élevé au
ministère.
7-La pression sociale est-elle forte sur les hommes qui souhaitent s'occuper de leurs enfants ?
Oui toujours. Je me souviens d'un collègue d'un autre service dont la femme venait d'accoucher. Elle
souhaitait reprendre le travail après ses trois mois d'arrêt. Son mari a donc voulu profiter du congé paternel
prévu par la loi afin de s'occuper de son enfant. Cette demande a créé un grand étonnement au sein du
ministère et il a dû subir les railleries des autres.
Au Japon, la loi est très favorable envers les femmes et le partage de la responsabilité parentale, cependant
elle n'est pas appliquée. Les Japonais adoptent un comportement « moutonnier ». Personne ne veut être
différent. La seule solution pour accélérer les choses serait de rendre tout cela obligatoire car personne ne
veut faire le premier pas.
Cet homme est désormais assuré de ne jamais monter dans la hiérarchie, il est classé comme « trouble
maker » par ses supérieurs.
8-Comment se passe la répartition des tâches au sein de votre couple ?
Je fais tout. Cependant, mes raisons diffèrent des raisons pour lesquelles le faisait ma mère qui pensait que
cela était naturel. Mon mari n'est pas opposé à participer cependant je suis beaucoup plus efficace que lui
pour faire les tâches ménagères. D'autre part, le seul repas que nous partageons est le petit déjeuner car nous
ne savons jamais quand l'autre va rentrer le soir. Je ne vois pas la préparation du petit déjeuner comme une
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contrainte car c'est un moment privilégié de la journée pour nous.
9- Voyez-vous une évolution entre vos parents et votre couple ?
Elle est claire et évidente. Ma mère est totalement soumise à mon père et se charge de tout à la maison. Ils
travaillent ensemble dans leur petite entreprise mais le soir alors que mon père se repose, ma mère elle fait
les tâches ménagères. Étant adolescente je reprochais à mon père cette injustice qui à son tour ne comprenait
pas où était le problème.
D'autre part, les hommes ont changé. Comme beaucoup d'hommes de sa génération, Mon père n'a qu'un seul
et unique sujet de conversation, son travail. Les hommes de ma génération s'intéressent à autre chose aussi et
trouvent le partage de tâches normal. Ainsi même mon frère marié à une Coréenne participe aux tâches et
aide sa femme avec leur enfant alors même qu'il ne faisait rien à la maison. Il dit qu'il le fait parce que c'est
comme ça maintenant, la société a évolué.
10- Vous pensez que cette évolution est due à quoi ?
Le statut des hommes et des femmes dans le travail sont toujours différents mais il n'empêche que près de
50% de la population active est composée de femmes, les hommes sont donc forcés de faire un partage des
tâches car cela serait injuste. L'importance des secteurs traditionnellement masculins comme l'électronique
réduit face à la tertiarisation de la société qui elle est plus favorable au travail féminin. Il y a aussi la montée
de l'individualisme. La pression du groupe est moins importante. Désormais les jeunes n'hésitent plus à
changer de travail, les Freeters. Il existe des versions plus négatives de ces évolutions comme les jeunes
femmes « parasites » qui travaillent mais vivent toujours chez leurs parents, profitant des services de leur
mère ou bien encore des NEET (non employment education training) qui eux refusent tout simplement de
travailler et restent chez leurs parents.
11-Envisagez-vous d'avoir des enfants? Si oui, pensez-vous arrêter de travailler ?
J'aimerais avoir un enfant et continuer de travailler. En fait le taux de natalité est plus élevé chez les femmes
qui travaillent. Pour moi la variable la plus importante dans la chute du taux de natalité est le fait qu'il existe
de nombreuses inquiétudes quant à avoir un enfant. Il y a le coût très important des études tout d'abord qui
poussent les parents à n'avoir qu'un seul enfant mais aussi toutes les histoires de crime et de sécurité des
enfants.
L'idéal pour moi serait d'avoir un enfant en poste à l'étranger car les horaires sont moins contraignants qu'au
ministère. Il n'existe même pas de crèche pour les enfants des fonctionnaires alors qu'ils sont censés donner
l'exemple...
12- Quelle est la politique du gouvernement quant à ce problème ?
Jusqu'à il y a trois ans, le gouvernement rejetait la responsabilité sur les familles. Il n'avait tout simplement
pas admis que c'était un problème gouvernemental. Traditionnellement, il est de la responsabilité de la
famille de s'occuper des enfants, ainsi, c'est la mère qui doit s'en occuper et pas les crèches... Il existe
désormais une nouvelle politique basée sur le modèle français. Cependant, encore une fois, pour que ces
programmes aient une efficacité, il faudrait les rendre obligatoire car sinon la pression sociale est trop forte.
Ici ne pas respecter la loi est moins grave que de ne pas respecter les règles admises implicitement dans la
société.
13- Que pensez vous donc des programmes mis en place par Shiseido?
Le programme est une très bonne idée mais je pense qu'il faudrait rendre obligatoire les mesures prises
comme dans le groupe Mitsui-Sumitomo qui ferme tous les mercredis soirs à 5h, et communiquer un
maximum pour faire changer les mentalités ensemble. Au Japon être isolé est la pire des choses.
Entretien n°3 :
nom : Etsuko Yasuda
age: 29 ans
statut : célibataire
études : 2 ans après le lycée
expérience de travail entant que office lady
1- Connaissez-vous l'entreprise Shiseido, quelle image en avez-vous ?
Oh oui oui je la connais. C'est une entreprise très ancienne je crois, qui a un marché mondial. Shiseido c'est
la mode, les femmes, des produits de qualité.
2-Connaissiez-vous sa politique RH favorable aux femmes ?
Je crois que j'en ai entendu parler oui.
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4- Comment s'est passé votre expérience professionnelle dans le privé ?
J'étais une « office lady » dans une compagnie d'assurance. A partir des années 90 le travail des offices lady
avait changé dans cette entreprises. J'étais chargée de tâches subalternes mais la politique de la firme était de
ne plus demander aux office lady de faire des tâches telles que servir le thé. Il y avait très peu de managers
féminins. Il est très difficile pour une femme de rentrer dans la voie « normale », celle des hommes. Chaque
année de recrutement, il y avait environ 4 femmes recrutées pour 40 hommes.
8-Vous vivez chez vos parents au Japon, comment se passe la répartition des tâches entre eux ?
Ma mère fait tout. Mon père aide seulement lors du grand ménage annuel. Mon père dirige une PME, ma
mère ne travaille pas.
9- Souhaitez-vous vous marier, avoir des enfants, dans quelles conditions ?
Tout dépendra de l'homme que je rencontrerai. J'espère me marier mais je refuse d'épouser un homme qui
aurait le même comportement que mon père, je préfèrerais rester seule. Je veux un mari qui soit présent et
qui m'aide.
J'imagine que si nous avons des enfants, je serai obligée d'arrêter de travailler. Tout d'abord parce qu'il y a
peu de place en crèche mais aussi parce que je craindrais la désapprobation sociale notamment celle de mes
parents. Ils pensent qu'une mère doit s'occuper de son enfant et que c'est une réaction égoïste de le laisser à
la crèche et de travailler. Ma sœur est mariée avec un salaryman, elle a dû s'arrêter de travailler à l'arrivée de
leur premier enfant pour ces même raisons.
10-Y-a-t-il aussi des pressions sur les hommes ?
Un homme qui s'occupe de ses enfants, c'est toujours surprenant. S'il vient chercher ses enfants à l'école, les
autres se demandent ce qu'il fait dans la vie car les hommes qui ont un travail n'ont pas le temps de s'occuper
de leurs enfants. C'est ce qui s'est passé pour un ami à moi. Il travaille la nuit dans un bar, sa femme elle, a
un travail de jour, c'est donc lui qui va chercher son enfant à la crèche. Les gens ont été choqué au début,
puis il a expliqué les raisons et les réactions ont changé, les femmes autour ont vu cela d'un œil plus positif,
elles se sont habituées.
11- La nouvelle génération est-elle toujours attirée par l'image du salaryman ?
Avec la crise économique, le mythe du travail à vie a disparu. La plupart des jeunes gens ne veulent plus de
CDI à vie en échange d'un dévouement sans borne à l'entreprise. Ils veulent plus de liberté.
Entretien n°4
Tsutomue, 21 ans, Matsuo, 24 ans étudiant au CIREFE
1- Connaissez-vous l'entreprise Shiseido, quelle image en avez-vous ?
Oui oui c'est une entreprise de cosmétique, c'est de la bonne qualité.
2-Connaissiez-vous sa politique RH favorable aux femmes ?
Nous en avions entendu parler oui.
3- Quel genre de travail désirez-vous faire plus tard, le modèle du salaryman vous attire-t-il ?
Matsuo : je crois que j'aimerais bien être un salaryman, même si je préfèrerais avoir des horaires à la
française, finir à 18h et avoir des vacances. Malheureusement cela n'est pas vraiment possible. On ne peut
pas partir à 5h si tout le monde reste et dire « oh il est 5 h je m'en vais » alors qu'il y a encore du travail. .
Tsutomue : Oui c'est sûr, il y a la peur du regard des autres, la pression du groupe, on ne peut pas faire ce que
l'on veut. Le problème c'est qu'à la tête des grandes entreprises, les dirigeants appartiennent à l'ancienne
génération mais tout ça changera quand la nouvelle génération arrivera à ces postes, je pense qu'il y aura plus
de flexibilité pour les employés.
4- Envisagez-vous de vous marier ? Si oui serez-vous d'accord pour que votre femme travaille?
Tsutomue : je ne m'étais jamais posé la question. J'imagine que oui, j'aimerais me marier plus tard. Je ne vois
aucun inconvénient à ce que ma femme travaille.
Matsuo : Moi non plus, je ne suis pas comme mon père. Lorsque j'ai eu 8 ans, ma mère a voulu reprendre à
travailler, mon père était contre, elle lui a tenu tête, elle a eu raison.
5- Comment voyez-vous la répartition des tâches au sein du couple? Seriez-vous prêt à prendre un
congé de paternité si votre femme désirait continuer à travailler après la naissance de votre enfant ?
Matsuo : Je suis pour un 50/50, cela me paraît normal. Je refuse que l'on fasse les choses pour moi, on dit
bien « on n'est jamais mieux servi que par soi-même ». Concernant le congé de paternité cela serait vraiment
très bizarre mais tout dépend du poste occupé par ma femme. Si elle a un poste plus élevé que le mien alors
oui, peut être, tout en sachant que pour moi cela équivaut à un suicide dans ma carrière.
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Tsutomue : Je suis pour un partage aussi mais je ne dirai pas que c'est normal. Je considère que si j'aide je
fais un effort par rapport à ce qui est socialement admis. Je suis d'accord avec Matsuo en ce qui concerne le
congé paternel.
Entretien n°5
Masayuki Maekawa 21, étudiant en économie à Waseda, fils d'un salryman
1- Connaîs-tu l'entreprise Shiseido, quelle image en as-tu?
Oui oui, c'est une entreprise de maquillage. Elle a une bonne image, ce sont des produits de qualité. Les
vendeuses Shiseido sont très professionnelles. Je crois que l'entreprise Kao qui fait des produits de beauté a
voulu acheter Shiseido pour se donner une image plus luxueuse.
2-Connais-tu sa politique RH favorable aux femmes ?
J'en ai entendu parler oui.
3- Tu es étudiant dans une université prestigieuse, quel genre de travail désires-tu faire plus tard, le
modèle du salaryman t'attire-t-il ?
Oui, c'est mon projet. J'aimerais toutefois avoir un rythme de travail moins contraignant, rentrer à 6h le soir
mais je sais que c'est impossible.
4- Ta mère travaillait-elle lorsque tu étais enfant ? Comment se répartissaient les tâches entre tes
parents, est-ce un modèle qui te convient ?
Lorsque mes parents se sont rencontrés, ils travaillaient tous les deux dans la « voie normale ». Quand elle
est tombée enceinte ma mère s'est arrêtée de travailler car il est très difficile d'avoir un emploi à temps plein
et un enfant. Le Japon manque d'infrastructures pour les enfants en bas âge. Je ne voyais pas mon père car à
cette époque il rentrait très tard le soir, vers 23h-minuit. Maintenant il a 49 ans, il rentre plus tôt, vers 21h. Je
voyais mon père seulement le dimanche, souvent il travaillait le Samedi aussi. Il ne s'occupait pas de moi car
ma mère était là pour le faire. Ensuite, lorsque j'ai eu 15 ans, elle a repris à travailler à temps partiel pour
aider à payer mes études. Ma mère fait tout à la maison, mon père l'aide un peu à faire le ménage le
weekend. C'est un schéma encore très courant, je crois que moi aussi je devrais m'y plier. Les dirigeants des
entreprises japonaises sont âgés et ne comprennent tout simplement pas qu'un homme ait d'autres intérêts que
sa carrière. Je ne pense pas que je pourrai m'occuper de mes enfants. Les choses changeront peut être dans
une cinquantaine d'années. Les femmes qui sont désormais acceptées dans la voie normale sont encore
jeunes, il faudra attendre qu'elle arrivent à des postes de hautes responsabilités pour que les choses changent.
Il existe de nouvelles lois mais elles ne sont pas appliquées. Par exemple, les hommes peuvent désormais
prendre un congé payé pour soigner leur enfant s'il est malade. Personne ne le fait. Ce serait vraiment trop
différent, la pression du groupe nous empêche de le faire, d'autant plus que les managers ne comprendraient
pas. Pour eux, l'homme doit travailler et la femmes rester au foyer.
5-Comment vois-tu la répartition des tâches au sein du couple? Serais-tu prêt à prendre un congé de
paternité si ta femme désirait continuer à travailler après la naissance de votre enfant ?
Faire garder ses enfants coûte très cher au Japon c'est pourquoi je préfèrerais que ma femme s'en occupe.
Cependant je pense que je devrais aussi participer un peu. Plus aucune Japonaise de ma génération
n'accepterait de se marier sans partage de tâches équitable, elles ont des conditions désormais.
Je pourrais envisager d'accepter le congé paternel si ma femme était à un poste plus élevé que le mien et
gagnait plus d'argent mais ce serait très difficile. Le regard des autres serait très pesant.
6-Comment expliques-tu que les lois votées ne soient pas mises en place dans les entreprises ?
Je pense que c'est un problème de génération. Les hommes qui sont à la tête des entreprises ne comprennent
pas ces problématiques.
7-Que penses-tu du programme de Shiseido ?
C'est une très bonne initiative mais je doute de son efficacité. Il est très à la mode en ce moment pour les
entreprises de mettre en avant leur responsabilité sociale. Shiseido n'est pas la seule firme à mettre en place
ce genre de programme mais je ne crois pas qu'ils atteignent leur but dans la plupart des cas. Il n'y a pas de
règle stricte avec une force de coercition, alors les gens préfèrent faire comme tout le monde et garder
l'ancien modèle par peur du regard des autres.
Entretien n°6
Tomomi Kasagi, 31 ans, bac+2, mariée depuis 8 ans à un salariman (Sanden), 1 enfant de 2 ans, femme
au foyer expatriée en France depuis 1 an.
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1- Connaissez-vous l'entreprise Shiseido, Quelle image en avez-vous ?
Oui bien sûr. C'est une très grande entreprise de cosmétiques qui fait des produits de qualité. J'utilise leurs
produits. Ils font toujours des publicités avec de grandes actrices très connues.
2-Connaissez-vous sa politique de ressources humaines favorable aux femmes ?
Non , je n'étais pas au courant, je ne me suis jamais vraiment intéressée à la question pour être honnête mais
j'imagine que c'est normal de favoriser le travail des femmes pour un grand groupe de cosmétique.
3- Avez-vous une expérience professionnelle ? Y-avez vous subi des discriminations ?
Après mes études, j'ai travaillé entant qu'assistante dans un cabinet de dentiste. Je n'ai pas ressenti de
discrimination bien qu'il est vrai qu'il n'y avait que des femmes assistantes, jamais d'hommes. J'ai arrêté de
travailler il y a 5 ans, lorsque mon mari a été muté dans une autre ville. Je n'ai pas cherché de nouveau travail
car nous voulions avoir un enfant.
4-pensez-vous reprendre à travailler ?
Oui je pense, à mi-temps, quand notre enfant sera plus grand car nous aurons besoin d'argent pour payer ses
études.
5-Comment se passait les journées de votre mari au Japon ? S'occupait-il du bébé ?
Comme mon mari est salaryman, il rentrait souvent très tard, vers 21 H, parfois après minuit. Il n'avait pas du
tout de temps pour s'occuper de notre fils dans la semaine. De plus, comme il s'en occupait rarement il ne
savait pas vraiment comment faire, comment le prendre dans ses bras, il était très maladroit. Je crois qu'il a
changé sa couche trois fois en tout (rires). Il jouait avec lui le weekend.
6- Comment se passait la répartition des tâches entre vos parents ? Votre mère travaillait-elle lorsque
vous étiez enfant?
Mon père était un homme exceptionnel pour sa génération. Il s'occupait très bien de nous. Il vrai aussi que
son métier lui permettait de rentrer tôt. Lorsque j'étais enfant, ma mère était femme au foyer puis elle a repris
à travailler à mi-temps lorsque nous étions plus grands. Mon père pensait que la mère devait rester à la
maison pour s'occuper des enfants. Ma mère faisait tout dans la maison.
7-Le modèle de vos parents vous convient-il ?
Oui, tout à fait. Mon mari et moi pensons qu'il est essentiel pour l'enfant que ce soit sa maman qui s'en
occupe. S'il est loin de sa mère, l'enfant est triste. Je fais tout dans la maison aussi. C'est mon rôle. Mon mari
sait aussi le faire mais il ne m'aide jamais, sauf lorsque je suis malade.
J'ai toujours considéré le mariage comme un accomplissement. C'était mon rêve, mon but. Se marier est très
important an Japon, surtout vis à vis du regard des autres. Il faut y penser à partir de 25 ans. Si on n'est pas
marié à 30 ans, vient alors la peur de ne pas trouver car tout le monde est marié autour de nous. Je ne voulais
pas que cela m'arrive.
Cependant, je sais que mon profil se fait de plus en plus rare, beaucoup de femmes veulent une carrière
désormais.
8-Comment se passe la répartition des tâches au sein de votre couple ?
C'est moi qui fait toujours tout à la maison, c'est mon rôle.
9-Que pensez-vous des carreer-women ? Auriez-vous souhaité en être une?
J'admire beaucoup les carreer women. Ce sont des femmes qui ont fait beaucoup d'études, elles sont très
intelligentes et courageuses. Moi je n'étais pas assez douée à l'école. Et jamais je n'aurais pu travailler
comme un homme comme elle le font, je ne suis pas faite pour cela.
Ce qui est dommage pour elles, c'est qu'elles se marient tard et ont moins de chance pour trouver un mari or
c'est très important au Japon, enfin surtout là d'où je viens. Je viens de la province. Il y a de plus en plus de
femmes qui préfèrent être carreer woman. Parfois il y a une vision matérialiste de la career woman. Elles
peuvent s'acheter beaucoup de choses. Certaines femmes au foyer les envient, d'autres au contraire les
plaignent car certaines n'ont pas de mari et en cherchent.
10-Que pensez-vous des femmes qui continuent à travailler juste après la naissance de leur enfant ?
Est-ce facile au Japon?
C'est le choix de chacun. Si une femme veut travailler, je pense qu'il est important qu'on la laisse faire ce
qu'elle veut. Évidemment ce serait plus facile si son mari s'occupait aussi de l'enfant. Ce ne sera pas très
facile pour elle car les infrastructures manquent pour la garde d'enfant. Peut-être peut-elle compter sur les
grands-parents de l'enfant pour le garder.
11- Pensez-vous qu'il est normal qu'un homme s'occupe de ses enfants ? Pourquoi ? Que pensez-vous
du congé paternel ?
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Oui, c'est bien qu'un homme s'occupe de ses enfants. Les nouvelles générations d'hommes s'occupent de plus
en plus de leurs enfants. Il est vrai cependant que si c'est l'homme exclusivement qui s'occupe de l'enfant,
cela intriguerait beaucoup, on se demandera où est sa femme, s'il est marié...
12- Shiseido a mis en place un programme qui consiste à avoir une crèche pour les enfants des
employés mais aussi un plan de réduction des heures de travail, l'instauration d'un congé de paternité
et le remplacement des mères par des employés à temps partiels le soir afin qu'elles puissent s'occuper
de leurs enfants. Qu'en pensez-vous ?
C'est très bien je pense. J'ai vu à la télé que les entreprises qui ont ce genre de structures améliorent leur
chiffre de femmes qui restent travailler après avoir eu un enfant. Cependant cela doit être très difficile à
mettre en place car même si la loi et l'entreprise autorisent par exemple à partir plus tôt, on ne peut pas
vraiment se permettre de partir du bureau avant le chef, ce serait très mal vu. Il faut que les chefs suivent la
loi et profitent des avantages donnés par l'entreprise, sinon personne n'osera le faire.
13- Le premier ministre du Japon a récemment dit qu'il pensait que la place de l'homme est au travail
et celle de la femme à la maison. Cela vous choque-t-il ?
Pas vraiment, mais je peux comprendre l'exaspération des femmes qui travaillent.
Entretien n°7
Hiromi Takahashi, universitaire, 33 ans, marié à un Italien, titulaire d'un doctorat en philosophie.
1- Connaissez-vous l'entreprise Shiseido, quelle image en avez-vous ?
Oui, c'est une entreprise de cosmétique très classique, avec des produits assez chers.
2-Connaissez-vous sa politique de ressources humaines favorable aux femmes ?
Non.
3- Avez-vous une expérience professionnelle ? Aviez-vous des managers femmes ? Quelle était leur
proportion par rapport aux hommes? Y-avez vous subi des discriminations ?
Pendant mes études j'ai travaillé en parallèle dans un magazine de mode, entant que rédactrice.
J'ai toujours choisi d'échapper au monde des grandes entreprises que je juge misogyne, surtout dans les
domaines de la finance et de l'industrie. Il y a une énorme différence de salaire entre hommes et femmes dans
ce genre d'entreprise, les femmes ont beaucoup moins de chance de promotion et on leur demande toujours
de faire des tâches « typiquement féminines » comme servir le thé, faire l'accueil, sourire même si cela est
strictement interdit par la loi. J'ai ce système en horreur. Cependant, les hommes ne sont pas seuls
responsables de la perpétuation de ces rôles traditionnels, certaines femmes adorent faire ce genre de tâches
car elles sont alors bien vues, on les admire car elles sont féminines, elles connaissent les codes, elles sont
charmantes. On exige aussi d'elles qu'elles portent la jupe par exemple aux fêtes d'entreprise.
Pour ma part, j'ai choisi une carrière universitaire pour ne pas être victime de discrimination. Les médias
aussi sont un secteur privilégié pour les femmes c'est pourquoi j'y ai travaillé aussi. Bien sûr le patron du
magazine était un homme mais il y avait beaucoup de femmes managers.
4-Quels métiers font vos parents ? Comment se passe la répartition des tâches entre vos parents ?
Votre mère travaillait-elle lorsque vous étiez enfant ?
Mon père était dirigeant d 'une PME, ma mère était femme au foyer. Ma mère faisait tout à la maison. C'est
un système dans lequel je n'ai jamais été à l'aise. Je ressentais une profonde injustice. A l'école, j'étais la plus
douée et pourtant à la maison, toutes les tâches me revenaient alors que mes frères eux ne faisaient rien. Mes
parents considéraient que c'était normal, car j'étais une fille et une fille doit s'occuper de la famille. Je me
souviens aussi que lors des fêtes de l'entreprise, je devais être présente et toujours souriante. Mes frères eux
n'avaient aucune réelle contrainte. La culture traditionnelle est toujours très forte, surtout dans le monde de
l'entreprise.
5- Le modèle de vos parents vous convient-il ?
Absolument pas. D'ailleurs jamais je ne me serais mariée avec un Japonais si je vivais au Japon. Les horaires
que les hommes font là-bas condamnent leurs femmes à s'occuper de tout à la maison, il n'est était pas
question pour moi. Le partage des tâches est une évidence pour moi.
6- Voyez-vous une évolution des femmes dans le travail ?
Les femmes de ma génération voulaient travailler, avoir une carrière. Cependant les jeunes générations
voient combien il est difficile pour elles d'atteindre leur but. De plus le prix à payer, c'est à dire renoncer à se
marier et avoir des enfants leur paraît beaucoup trop élevé. Ainsi certaines reviennent vers le modèle
traditionnel. De plus même s'il y a eu des évolutions chez les jeunes japonais, le partage des tâches est
46
toujours extrêmement inégal. Ils aident, seulement mais les femmes font presque tout, y compris les soins
aux parents de leur mari et ceux de leurs propres parents. Je ne pense pas que ce soit une question de volonté,
mais plus une question de temps. Les jeunes cadres japonais n'ont tout simplement pas le temps de faire plus.
Il est donc très difficile pour elles d'envisager une carrière sans renoncer à une vie de famille c'est pourquoi
beaucoup d'entre-elles baissent les bras.
7- La nouvelle génération est-elle toujours attirée par l'image du CDI à vie? Pourquoi ?
Les jeunes gens qui ont réussi à entrer dans les universités prestigieuses sont très attachés à ce modèle. C'est
ce pourquoi ils ont tant étudié, leur récompense. Ils veulent être salaryman malgré les horaires de travail
pour le statut, la stabilité, le salaire mais aussi parce que ce sont des postes intéressants et stimulants pour
eux.
8- Shiseido a mis en place un programme qui consiste à avoir une crèche pour les enfants des employés
mais aussi un plan de réduction des heures de travail, l'instauration d'un congé de paternité et le
remplacement des mères par des employés à temps partiels le soir afin qu'elles puissent s'occuper de
leurs enfants. Qu'en pensez-vous ? Quel pourrait être l'impact de ce programme selon vous ?
Il y a en ce moment beaucoup d'attente pour faciliter le travail des femmes au Japon, je pense donc que ce
programme rencontrera un certain succès. Les hommes de La quarantaine-cinquantaine sont très machos,
certains n'entreraient même pas dans une cuisine mais les nouvelles générations d'hommes pensent
différemment. Si Shiseido parvient à convaincre ses cadres, alors les autres suivront car l'esprit de
l'entreprise est le plus important. De plus Shiseido est un grand groupe qui peut lancer un mouvement et
avoir une influence sur d'autres firmes. En effet, les entreprises au Japon s'observent beaucoup entre elles et
ont tendance à s'imiter.
Réponses au questionnaire envoyé à des Japonaises (traduction par Tomoko Uemura)
Réponse 1
Nom : HORI
prénom : Harumi
âge : 49
situation familiale : divorcée
nombre d'année d'études : 4ans d'université + 7 ans (master et doctorat)
expériences professionnelles : Procureur au Parquet du District de Tokyo, Procureur au Ministère de la
Justice à Tokyo, Magistrat au Tribunal du District de Chiba, Magistrat au Tribunal du District de Shizuoka,
Attachée à L'Institut de Recherche du Japon (The Japan research institute)
Profession Actuelle: Avocate à Tokyo
1- Connaissez-vous l'entreprise Shiseido ?
Oui
2- Quelle image en avez-vous ?
Une entreprise qui prend le soin des conditions de travail pour les femmes.
3-Connaissez-vous sa politique de ressources humaines favorable aux femmes ?
Oui, mais pas concrètement.
4- Avez-vous une expérience professionnelle ? De quelle catégorie (voie classique ou emploi
subalterne)? Comment s'est -elle passé ? Aviez-vous des managers femmes ? Quelle était leur
proportion par rapport aux hommes ? Y-avez vous subi des discriminations ?
Il y avait une majorité d'hommes parmi les employés de la voie dite classique. Il n'y avait quasiment pas de
système d' aide pour les femmes. Je n'ai pas eu de managers ou chefs femmes, mais il y avait quelques
collègues femmes (mais très peu). J'y ai subi des discriminations.
5-Quels métiers font vos parents ? Comment se passe la répartition des tâches entre vos parents ?
Votre mère travaillait-elle lorsque vous étiez enfant?
Père= salaryman
Mère= femme au foyer
Mon père ne faisait jamais rien à la maison, c'était un homme qui se consacrait entièrement à l'entreprise.
C'était ma mère qui faisait tout pour les enfants ou la maison. Il lui arrivait aussi de travailler en mi-temps.
6- Souhaitez-vous vous marier, avoir des enfants, dans quelles conditions ? Le modèle de vos parents
vous convient-il ?
J'ai été mariée mais je ne souhaitais pas avoir 'enfant. Mes parents ne sont pas du tout un modèle pour moi.
7-Comment se passait la répartition des tâches au sein de votre couple ?
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C'était moi qui faisait toujours tout à la maison.
8- Voyez-vous une évolution entre vos parents et votre couple ?
Je n'avais aucun espoir sur ce point, c'est pourquoi j'ai demandé le divorce.
9- Si vous vous mariez, envisagez-vous d'arrêter de travailler à la naissance de vos enfants? De les
mettre à la crèche ? Pourquoi ?
Je n'ai jamais eu aucune intention d'avoir des enfants car je savais que ce serai moi qui aurais dû m'en
occuper tout le temps or je voulais continuer à travailler. Mais même si cela était arrivé, je ne pense pas que
j'aurais arrêté de travailler car si l'on arrête de travailler une fois, c'est très difficile de reprendre après.
10- Pensez-vous qu'il est normal qu'un homme s'occupe de ses enfants ? Pourquoi ? Que pensez-vous
du congé paternel ?
Oui, c'est normal.
Le congé paternel doit être aussi reconnu mais dans les entreprises au Japon cela doit être très difficile car ce
n'est pas vraiment bien compris et accepté.
11- La nouvelle génération est-elle toujours attirée par l'image du CDI à vie? Pourquoi ?
Le statut de salaryman est toujours enviable car il apporte la stabilité et le salaire.
12- Shiseido a mis en place un programme qui consiste à avoir une crèche pour les enfants des
employés mais aussi un plan de réduction des heures de travail, l'instauration d'un congé de paternité
et le remplacement des mères par des employés à temps partiels le soir afin qu'elles puissent s'occuper
de leurs enfants. Qu'en pensez-vous ?
C'est très bien, je souhaiterais qu'il y ait de plus en plus d'entreprises qui suivent cet exemple, mais cela ne
doit pas être très facile.
Réponse 2
Nom : AUDE-SHIMOSAKA
prénom : YUKA
âge : 35
situation familiale : mariée
nombre d'année d'études : Université
expériences professionnelles : 11ans
1- Connaissez-vous l'entreprise Shiseido ?
Oui
2- Quelle image en avez-vous ?
Grande marque de cosmétiques japonais
3-Connaissez-vous sa politique de ressources humaines favorable aux femmes ?
Non
4- Avez-vous une expérience professionnelle ? De quelle catégorie (voie classique ou emploi
subalterne) ? Comment s'est -elle passée ? Aviez-Vous des managers femmes ? Quelle était leur
proportion par rapport aux hommes ? Y-avez vous subi des discriminations ? Si vous êtes étudiante,
quel est votre projet professionnel ? Par quelles entreprises êtes-vous attirées ? Pourquoi ?
Je travaille dans l'informatique. Quand je travaillais à Singapour, J’ai eu des chefs femmes. Leur proportion
était bien équilibrée et elles étaient respectées. J’ai aussi été chef de projet et je n'ai jamais eu de problème
de discrimination là-bas. Lorsque j’ai travaillé au Japon, je n’avais pas de chefs femmes.
Si vous êtes marié :
5-Comment se passe la répartition des tâches au sein de votre couple ?
On partage bien.
6- Voyez-vous une évolution entre vos parents et votre couple ?
Oui.
7- Vous pensez que cette évolution est due à quoi ? :
Cela est dû au changement de la société et c'est aussi grâce à l’éducation que ma belle mère a donné à mon
mari concernant l'égalité entre femme et homme.
8-Si vous n'avez pas d'enfant, envisagez-vous d'en avoir? Si oui pensez-vous arrêter de travailler ?
Non, je n'envisage pas d'en avoir. Cependant, si j'avais des enfants, je continuerai à travailler en mettant
l’enfant à la crèche, car j’aime bien mon métier et je voudrais le continuer.
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9- Shiseido a mis en place un programme qui consiste à avoir une crèche pour les enfants des
employés mais aussi un plan de réduction des heures de travail, l'instauration d'un congé de paternité
et le remplacement des mères par des employés à temps partiels le soir afin qu'elles puissent s'occuper
de leurs enfants. Qu'en pensez-vous ?
Avoir une crèche au bureau est d'une grande aide car aujourd’hui il est difficile de trouver des places pour
les enfants. Si beaucoup de gens commencent à profiter de ce nouveau système de congé paternité et des
heures de travail réduites, ce serait bien car aujourd'hui il est très difficile de profiter du système créé (dans
le pire cas on perd son poste après ses congés).
Réponse 3 :
prénom : Michiko
âge : 23
situation familiale :(célibataire/mariée) Célibataire
nombre d'année d'études : Université
expériences professionnelles : sans emploi
Lieu d'habitation : ville
1- Connaissez-vous l'entreprise Shiseido ?
Oui
2- Quelle image en avez-vous ?
Une entreprise de produit cosmétique.
3-Connaissez-vous sa politique de ressources humaines favorable aux femmes ?
Non
4- Avez-vous une expérience professionnelle ? De quelle catégorie (voie classique ou emploi
subalterne)? Comment s'est -elle passée? Aviez-vous des managers femmes ? Quelle était leur
proportion par rapport aux hommes? Y-avez vous subi des discriminations ? Si vous êtes étudiante,
quel est votre projet professionnel ? Par quelle entreprises êtes-vous attirées, ? Pourquoi ?
Je travaillais dans un service commercial où beaucoup de femmes travaillent.
Dans ce service, ,il y avait beaucoup de supérieurs femmes et très peu d' hommes (2 hommes seulement)
Je n'ai pas spécialement subi de discrimination.
J'aimerais travailler dans une société qui a un bon système de soutien, d'aide et d'assurance.
Si vous êtes célibataire :
5-Quels métiers font vos parents ? Comment se passe la répartition des tâches entre vos parents ?
Votre mère travaillait-elle lorsque vous étiez enfant?
Mon père est chercheur et ma mère est femme au foyer.
Elle ne travaillait pas non plus quand j'étais petite.
6- Souhaitez-vous vous marier, avoir des enfants, dans quelles conditions ? Le modèle de vos parents
vous convient-il ?
Oui, je souhaite avoir des enfants, et aussi reprendre le travail quand l'enfant sera grand.
Je ne peux pas dire si le modèle de mes parents me convient ou pas. Il y aura peut être beaucoup de choses
qui vont ressembler à eux, mais je pense aussi que la différence de vie, situation, et de personnalité changent
la façon de vivre.
7- Si vous vous mariez, envisagez-vous d'arrêter de travailler à la naissance de vos enfants? De les
mettre à la crèche ? Pourquoi ?
Je pense que j'arrêterai de travailler car c'est aussi un moment intense et il est important de rester à la maison
et s'occuper de famille, j'aimerais profiter de ce moment.
8- Pensez-vous qu'il est normal qu'un homme s'occupe de ses enfants ? Pourquoi ? Que pensez-vous
du congé paternel ?
Dans le Japon actuel, je pense qu'on ne peut pas encore dire que c'est normal. Mais cela serait idéal.
Pareil pour le congé paternel, l'idéal c'est que tout le monde puisse en profiter.
9- La nouvelle génération est-elle toujours attirée par l'image du CDI à vie? Pourquoi ?
Par rapport à avant, il y aura certainement moins de jeune qui voudront travailler toute la vie dans la même
entreprise, mais il y a toujours beaucoup de personnes qui souhaitent avoir un poste à CDI.
10- Shiseido a mis en place un programme qui consiste à avoir une crèche pour les enfants des
employés mais aussi un plan de réduction des heures de travail, l'instauration d'un congé de paternité
49
et le remplacement des mères par des employés à temps partiels le soir afin qu'elles puissent s'occuper
de leurs enfants. Qu'en pensez-vous ?
Je pense que c'est un très bon programme.
Si l'entreprise aide vraiment à profiter de ces programmes malgré les conditions, ou des pressions de l'équipe,
je pense que cela marchera bien.
Réponse 4
Nom : UEDA
prénom : Masumi
âge : 48
situation familiale :(célibataire/mariée) Mariée
nombre d'année d'études : Université
expériences professionnelles : professeur/instituteur
1- Connaissez-vous l'entreprise Shiseido ?
Oui
2- Quelle image en avez-vous ?
Une grande entreprise de cosmétique.
3-Connaissez-vous sa politique de ressources humaines favorable aux femmes ?
Non
4- Avez-vous une expérience professionnelle ? De quelle catégorie (voie classique ou emploi
subalterne)? Comment s'est -elle passée? Aviez-vous des managers femmes, ? Quelle était leur
proportion par rapport aux hommes ? Y-avez vous subi des discriminations ? Si vous êtes étudiante,
quel est votre projet professionnel, par quelle entreprises êtes-vous attirée ? Pourquoi ?
Je suis enseignante-fonctionnaire.
Je n'ai pas eu spécialement de discrimination.
Si vous êtes mariée :
5-Comment se passe la répartition des tâches au sein de votre couple ?
Quand nous étions jeunes, c'est moi qui faisais toutes les tâches à la maison.
Mais à présent, on partage sauf la préparation du repas.
Chacun fait ce que l'on peut, mais on ne décide pas spécialement qui fait quoi.
6- Voyez-vous une évolution entre vos parents et votre couple ?
Oui
7- Vous pensez que cette évolution est due à quoi ?
Socialement, il est devenu normal de penser que les femmes soient égales aux hommes.
8-Si vous n'avez pas d'enfant, envisagez-vous d'en avoir? Si oui pensez-vous arrêter de travailler ?
Si vous avez des enfants, avez-vous arrêter de travailler ? Si oui, comptez-vous reprendre à travailler
et quand et pourquoi, si non comment avez-vous géré l'arrivée de l'enfant, qui s'en occupe ? Avez-vous
subi des pressions pour que vous vous en occupiez vous même ?
J'ai pris des congés maternité.
Quand j'ai repris le travail, il y avait encore un coutume selon laquelle "c'est forcément la mère qui doit
s'absenter/prendre des congés quand les enfants sont malades" par exemple, ce qui ne me plaisait pas.
Mais comme les enfants ont grandi maintenant, je n'ai pas beaucoup de problèmes;　9- Shiseido a mis en place un programme qui consiste à avoir une crèche pour les enfants des employés
mais aussi un plan de réduction des heures de travail, l'instauration d'un congé de paternité et le
remplacement des mères par des employés à temps partiels le soir afin qu'elles puissent s'occuper de
leurs enfants. Qu'en pensez-vous ?
Je ne pense pas forcément qu'il soit bien que l'entreprise prépare une situation qui facilite la vie avec des
enfants pour les employés car chacun a des priorités différentes soit pour le travail soit pour s'occuper des
enfants....
En réalité, les femmes qui doivent s'occuper de leurs enfants n'ont pas toujours des possibilités pour un projet
important, et aussi quand elles reprennent le travail, elles ont souvent perdu leur capacité. Je pense aussi
qu'il faut comprendre cela et y faire face, mais il faut savoir que "travailler" demande aussi une certaine
rigueur.
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Réponse 5
Nom : KUDO
prénom :Saiko
âge : 38
situation familiale :(célibataire/mariée) : Mariée
nombre d'année d'études : 16ans (université)
expériences professionnelles :
1 Vente et marketing des vaisselles.
2 Opératrice informatique (intérim)
3 Formatrice informatique
4 Consultante de couleur (profession d'actuel)
1- Connaissez-vous l'entreprise Shiseido ?
Oui
2- Quelle image en avez-vous ?
Une marque qui prend toujours de l'avance dans le cosmétique au Japon.Très bon marketing et des projets
innovants, parfois ça me surprend.
3-Connaissez-vous sa politique de ressources humaines favorable aux femmes ?
Non.
4- Avez-vous une expérience professionnelle ? De quelle catégorie (voie classique ou emploi
subalterne)? Comment s'est -elle passée? Aviez vous des managers femmes ? Quelle était leur
proportion par rapport aux hommes? Y-avez vous subi des discriminations ? Si vous êtes étudiante,
quel est votre projet professionnel ? Par quelle entreprises êtes-vous attirée ? Pourquoi ?
-1 vente et marketing des vaisselles.
Une moyenne entreprise dont 90% des employés étaient des femmes. Aucune discrimination du fait qu'il n'y
ait autant de femmes, mais pour les hommes, peut être.
- 2 opératrice informatique (intérim)
Traitement de dossiers pour la société comme des Banques d'investissements. Jusqu'à l'application de la loi
sur le harcèlement sexuel, il y avait des problèmes tous les jours. Après l'application de cette loi, il y avait
moins de problèmes directs, mais à cette époque (2000) il n'y avait pas de femmes dans les supérieurs
hiérarchiques, les hommes étaient mieux accueillis dans l'entreprise par rapport aux femmes.
-3 formatrice informatique
Aucune femme dans les supérieurs. C'était un travail de petite équipe, donc le travail était bien réparti entre
femmes et hommes, mais au moment de l'embauche, ils m'ont dit tout de suite "si l'on embauche une femme,
si elle est jeune, c'est mieux", et en réalité ils n'embauchaient pas de femmes de plus de 30 ans.
- 4Consultante de couleur (profession actuelle)
Je n'ai pas grande chose à dire puisque je suis travailleur indépendant.
Si vous êtes mariée :
5-Comment se passe la répartition des tâches au sein de votre couple ?
Chacun fait ce que l'on peut faire, quand on peut.
6- Voyez-vous une évolution entre vos parents et votre couple ?
Oui
7- Vous pensez que cette évolution est due à quoi ?
Mon père travaillait jusqu'à très tard, donc c'était ma mère qui s'occupait des enfants et faisait le ménage.
Et ma mère ne pouvait donc pas aller travailler.
Par contre quand il avait le temps, mon père faisait aussi la cuisine, ou discutait souvent avec ma mère, donc
il essayait de prendre le temps pour la famille et sa femme, donc on l'intègrait dans notre vie.
8-Si vous n'avez pas d'enfant, envisagez-vous d'en avoir? Si oui pensez-vous arrêter de travailler ?
Si vous avez des enfants, avez-vous arrêté de travailler ? Si oui, comptez-vous reprendre à travailler et
quand et pourquoi, si non comment avez-vous géré l'arrivée de l'enfant, qui s'en occupe ? Avez-vous
subi des pressions pour que vous vous en occupiez vous même?
Je suis enceinte actuellement.
Comme je suis tombée enceinte après être devenue travailleur indépendant, je réduis moi-même le travail,
mais si je n'étais pas tombée enceinte, je pense que c'est une période durant laquelle j'aurais bien aimé
51
travailler plus. Je vais voir en fonction de la situation, comment je vais recommencer mon travail après la
naissance car je ne peux pas imaginer la situation que je vais rencontrer comme c'est la première naissance
pour moi. Je me prépare seule en général pour la naissance mais je demande des conseils à ma mère et à mon
mari qui a déjà eu cette expérience. A partir de là, je pense que l'on va gérer plus de choses ensemble. Je sens
beaucoup de pressions : je ne voulais pas d'enfant pendant longtemps, mais comme je suis tombée enceinte
je pense profiter plus de cette chance plutôt que de réfléchir trop.
9- Shiseido a mis en place un programme qui consiste à avoir une crèche pour les enfants des employés
mais aussi un plan de réduction des heures de travail, l'instauration d'un congé de paternité et le
remplacement des mères par des employés à temps partiels le soir afin qu'elles puissent s'occuper de
leurs enfants. Qu'en pensez-vous ?
Plus il y aura du soutien social, plus ça nous donnera moins l'impression d'avoir des difficultés causées par le
fait d'avoir des enfants. Et on pourra continuer aussi à travailler.
Je souhaite fortement que tous les pères prennent leur congés paternité. Et j'espère qu'il y aurait une
possibilité de choisir de travailler à mi-temps ou temps plein en fonction de la période.
Appendix 3 : Office Lady and Salaryman
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Appendix 4 : emails with Shiseido's executives in France
RE: votre demande d'entretien
De : SASAKI Kazuko ([email protected])
Envoyé : lun. 25/02/08 14:45
À : Anne Michaud ([email protected])
Bonjour Mademoiselle,
En ce qui concerne votre demande d'entretien, nous avons le regret de vous
informer que nous ne pouvons pas y donner une suite favorable étant donné qu'il
n'y a pas de cas de figure qui correspond à ce jour. En ce qui me concerne, je
n'ai jamais travaillé chez Shiseido au Japon.
Nous allons revenir vers vous avant fin mars pour vous donner des réponses à
vos questions.
Cordialement,
Kazuko SASAKI
>
>
>
>
>
Kazuko SASAKI Assistante Direction Générale Traductrice Interprète
SHISEIDO INTERNATIONAL EUROPE 79, rue Marcel Dassault 92773
Boulogne-Billancourt, France TEL 01 46 94 11 56 FAX 01 46 94 11 83
[email protected]
***********************************************
RE: ENTRETIEN
De : [email protected]
Envoyé : jeu. 10/04/08 08:43
À : Anne Michaud ([email protected])
Bonsoir,
Comme nous vous l'avons indiqué dans notre précédent message, il faut
contacter notre société parisienne.
Nous n'avons chez nous aucun français ayant travaillé au Japon et
quelques expatriés japonais, mais ils sont plus nombreux à Paris.
Cordialement
Patricia RICHARD
Direction Générale
Shiseido International France
02.38.52.84.10
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