Honda appoints first woman to its board

Hideko Kunii named first female board member and foreigner promoted as carmaker shakes up Japanese corporate culture

theguardian.com, Associated Press, Monday 24 February 2014

Hideko Kunii, who is in charge of promoting gender equality at the university
of Tokyo, becomes Honda's first female board member. Photograph: AP

Honda has appointed a woman to its board for the first time and given a major promotion to a foreigner, in a sign that the automaker wants to change perceptions of a hidebound corporate culture.

Technology expert Hideko Kunii, 66, will join the carmaker's board, while Issao Mizoguchi, a Brazilian of Japanese ancestry who has worked with Honda's South American operations for nearly 30 years has been appointed operating officer, Honda said on Monday. The appointments need shareholder approval at a meeting set for June.

Japanese companies have come under fire for promoting only Japanese men. Putting women in leadership positions is a pillar of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's policies to revive the economy.

Toyota has one foreigner on its board, Mark Hogan, an American, formerly of General Motors, but had yet to appoint a woman.

Honda has cultivated an international image from its early years, as founder Soichiro Honda always regarded global acceptance as part of his vision for the company. It was the first Japanese carmaker to open a vehicle assembly plant in the US. But the addition of Mizoguchi, 54, as one of the top executives at its headquarters, as well as the appointment of Kunii, a professor at the Shibaura Institute of Technology, is a high-profile move for the company.

Kunii studied at San Jose University and the University of Texas at Austin, and previously worked for Japanese electronics maker Ricoh. She is in charge of promoting gender equality at the university of Tokyo.

Mizoguchi serves as senior vice-president and director of Honda South America.

Despite Abe's attempts to persuade firms to promote women to corporate boards, Honda is the first major Japanese company to act.

Honda officials stressed Kunii was picked because she was the right person for the job, not because of her gender.

Among Japanese companies, Nissan, allied with Renault of France, has been the most progressive in promoting diversity but has yet to appoint a woman to its board despite corporate vice-president Asako Hoshino being among its top executives. Nissan has three non-Japanese on its 12-member board, including the chief executive, Carlos Ghosn.

Japanese society is expected to lose its potential for growth and innovation if it does not do more to encourage women to enter the workforce, as its population is ageing and dwindling. Women say the difficulties of finding childcare as well as cultural expectations about women doing housework make it difficult to pursue a career in Japan.

The nation's tax system encourages women to stay in poorer-paying part-time jobs. The lack of role models in Japan also adds to the obstacles for women's efforts to move up the corporate ladder.

Boosted by the weak yen, Japanese acarmakers are targeting overseas growth. In late 2012, Honda announced ambitious plans to double its global annual auto sales to more than 6m vehicles in five years.