Bloomberg (July 12)
Itochu’s unconventional “tough love worked.” A decade after banning overtime after 8:00 PM, profit per employee has increased fivefold. “What also changed, to the surprise of Itochu’s management, is that more female employees took maternity leave, had kids and came back to work.” This raises the question, “could similar changes help East Asia’s flagging birthrate?”
Tags: 8:00 PM, Banning, Birthrate, East Asia, Employees, Female, Itochu, Kids, Management, Maternity leave, Overtime, Profit, Unconventional
Bloomberg (October 1)
“Stocks of the so-called sogo shosha, the groups that drove Japan’s postwar export success—the likes of Itochu Corp., Marubeni Corp. and Mitsubishi Corp.—have rallied as much as 36 percent over the last year, outpacing the race to a three-decade high by the broad Topix Index. The trading companies’ free cash-flow levels are above those reached in their heyday, and their leverage much lower.”
Tags: Export, FCF, Itochu, Japan, Leverage, Marubeni, Mitsubishi, Outpacing, Postwar, Rallied, Sogo shosha, Success, Topix
