迅銷集團(tuán)（Fast Retailing Co.）創(chuàng)始人、現(xiàn)年70歲的億萬(wàn)富翁柳井正說(shuō)，他更希望由女性接班，這樣做對(duì)這家亞洲最大的零售商來(lái)說(shuō)更有益。

“這份工作更適合女性，”服裝巨頭優(yōu)衣庫(kù)背后的首席執(zhí)行官柳井正在接受采訪時(shí)說(shuō)，“她們堅(jiān)忍不拔，注重細(xì)節(jié)，更懂審美?！?/p>

隨著柳井正年齡增長(zhǎng)，他越來(lái)越多地被問(wèn)及公司交接的問(wèn)題。柳井正把公司從父親的裁縫店發(fā)展成了一個(gè)全球品牌。赤井田真?？赡苁且粋€(gè)選擇，她于今年被任命負(fù)責(zé)優(yōu)衣庫(kù)日本業(yè)務(wù)，這是公司利潤(rùn)最高的部門。柳井正表示，他希望將女性高管的比例提高到一半以上。迅銷去年實(shí)現(xiàn)了管理層女性比例超過(guò)30%的目標(biāo)，目前已經(jīng)有6名女高管。

上周三，迅銷在東京股市的股價(jià)上漲0.9%。

日本企業(yè)高層性別多樣性普遍不足，該現(xiàn)象受到密切關(guān)注；日本的上市公司中，只有4.1%的高管職位由女性擔(dān)任。與美國(guó)等其他國(guó)家相比，這個(gè)數(shù)字十分微不足道。多項(xiàng)研究顯示，美國(guó)公司高管層女性約占四分之一。

“有這種可能，”當(dāng)被問(wèn)及赤井田真希有沒(méi)有可能成為繼任者時(shí)，柳井正回答道?，F(xiàn)年40歲的赤井田真希于2001年加入優(yōu)衣庫(kù)，曾在中國(guó)和日本管理過(guò)優(yōu)衣庫(kù)門店，還曾在銷售和人力資源部門任職。

海外擴(kuò)張

迅銷公司通過(guò)優(yōu)衣庫(kù)的海外擴(kuò)張擺脫了國(guó)內(nèi)的低迷，無(wú)論是誰(shuí)接替柳井正，他們接手的都是日本最知名的全球品牌之一。優(yōu)衣庫(kù)通過(guò)在中國(guó)和美國(guó)等海外市場(chǎng)開設(shè)新店，實(shí)現(xiàn)了收入的持續(xù)增長(zhǎng)，2018年歲入超過(guò)2萬(wàn)億日元（189億美元）。

在日本人口老齡化和人口減少引發(fā)勞動(dòng)力短缺之際，日本首相安倍晉三致力于提升女性在勞動(dòng)力人口中的地位。根據(jù)國(guó)家人口與社會(huì)保障研究所(National Institute of Population and Social Security Research)的數(shù)據(jù)，隨著出生率的下降，到2060年，日本人口將減少近三分之一，屆時(shí)65歲及以上的人口占比將達(dá)到約40%。

柳井正說(shuō)：“我們做的是賣衣服的生意，年紀(jì)大可不是件好事?！?/p>

投資者在進(jìn)行股票評(píng)估時(shí)，更加關(guān)注管理層的性別多樣性。管理著3000萬(wàn)美元項(xiàng)目、總部在舊金山的馬修斯亞洲基金會(huì)(Matthews Asia)的分析師凱瑟琳·柯林斯說(shuō)，消費(fèi)類公司尤其如此，因?yàn)楦吖芎秃诵哪繕?biāo)客戶特征的匹配可能很重要。

匹配目標(biāo)人群

柯林斯說(shuō)：“我們希望管理層中有足夠多的人對(duì)當(dāng)?shù)氐娜后w有一定經(jīng)驗(yàn)，熟悉這個(gè)客戶群體需要什么、想要什么、心愿是什么?！?/p>

柳井正補(bǔ)充道，東南亞地區(qū)將成為迅銷業(yè)務(wù)越來(lái)越重要的一部分。該公司表示，將與聯(lián)合國(guó)下屬的國(guó)際勞工組織合作，投資180萬(wàn)美元，為印尼的工人提供支持。國(guó)際勞工組織還將在迅銷擁有代工廠的其他國(guó)家開展研究，探索今后該如何提高對(duì)工人的社會(huì)保護(hù)。

柳井正表示，這樣的投資既有助于實(shí)現(xiàn)商業(yè)目標(biāo)，也能為世界做出貢獻(xiàn)，因?yàn)槿绻l(fā)展中國(guó)家人口能夠向更高階層流動(dòng)，最終可能有助于提振迅銷的營(yíng)收。

“如果我們發(fā)展業(yè)務(wù)的地方收入不漲，衣服就賣不出去，”他說(shuō)。（財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)）

譯者：Agatha

Tadashi Yanai, Fast Retailing Co.’s 70-year-old billionaire founder, said he would prefer to be succeeded by a woman, which would be better for Asia’s largest retailer.

“The job is more suitable for a woman,” Yanai, the chief executive officer behind clothing giant Uniqlo, said in an interview. “They are persevering, detailed oriented and have an aesthetic sense.”

As Yanai gets older, he’s been asked more frequently about succession at the company, which he built from his father’s tailor shop into a global brand. A possible candidate could be Maki Akaida, who was appointed this year to run Uniqlo’s Japan operations — the company’s most profitable unit. Yanai said he wants to increase the ratio of female senior executives to more than half the total. Fast Retailing currently has six women in such roles, after hitting its goal last year of having more than 30% of women in management positions.

Fast Retailing shares climbed 0.9% in Tokyo trading on Wednesday.

Japan has faced scrutiny over its lack of gender diversity in top management roles; only 4.1% of executive titles at publicly traded firms in the country are held by women. That pales in comparison with places such as the U.S., where women make up about a quarter of executive ranks, according to multiple studies.

“It’s a possibility,” Yanai said when asked whether Akaida would be a potential successor. Akaida, 40, joined the company in 2001 and has managed Uniqlo stores in China and Japan, as well as working in the sales and human resources divisions.

Expanding Overseas

Any successor to Yanai would inherit one of Japan’s more recognizable global brands, after Fast Retailing fought off domestic doldrums by expanding Uniqlo overseas. Revenue has grown consistently, surpassing 2 trillion yen ($18.9 billion) in 2018, mainly through new stores in foreign markets from China to the U.S.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has sought to promote women in the work force amid a labor shortage triggered by Japan’s aging and shrinking population. With a declining birthrate, the number of people will slump by almost a third by 2060, by which time about 40% will be 65 or over, according to the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research.

“We’re in the business of selling clothes — it’s not so good that we’re old,” Yanai said.

Investors are looking at gender diversity in management ranks to evaluate their holdings. That’s especially true for consumer companies where it may be important to have executives who are similar to and match the core customer profile, said Kathlyn Collins, analyst at Matthews Asia, a San Francisco-based fund with about $30 billion under management.

Demographic Match

“We would hope that there would be enough people who are overseeing management who have some sort of experience with that demographic, who maybe are familiar with the needs, wants, desires of that customer,” Collins said.

The Southeast Asian region will become an increasingly important part of Fast Retailing’s business, Yanai added. The company said it would invest $1.8 million in a partnership with the International Labour Organization, an arm of the United Nations, to help support factory workers in Indonesia. The ILO will also conduct a study in other countries where Fast Retailing has contract factories to explore ways to improve social protections for workers in the future.

Yanai said such investments are a way to both help pursue business goals and contribute to the world, as upward mobility in developing countries would likely eventually boost Fast Retailing’s top line.

“If we expand in a place where incomes are not growing, we cannot sell clothes,” the CEO said.