4.0
May 7, 2012
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook
Pros
In founder and CEO Hiroshi Mikitani, Rakuten is led by one of Japan's true visionaries and one of the few in Japan leaders in Japan willing to stick their neck out to get things done. The company believes in empowering its merchants and customers through e-commerce, rather than taking advantage of them. Rakuten moves quickly, takes chances, and aims to be the world's No.1 internet services company. Ambition is not a quality that Rakuten lacks.
Cons
On a day-to-day level, Rakuten can be bureaucratic and extremely focused on numbers at the expense of the big picture. That said, CEO Mikitani has a firm grasp of the big picture issues and is not afraid to make decisions above the numbers.