Fujitsu Chairman Resigns Over Misconduct Toward Women
Is this corporate accountability in action or a band-aid on Japan's deep-rooted gender inequality?
Above: Fujitsu headquarters in Kawasaki, Kanagawa prefecture, on June 17. Image credit: Yuichi Yamazaki/AFP/Getty Images
The Spin
Narrative A
Fujitsu's swift removal of Chairman Hidenori Furuta after his inappropriate conduct toward women shows corporate accountability in action. In discharging its duties, the board didn't drag its feet — Furuta resigned then was immediately pulled from the director candidate list. That kind of decisive response is exactly what good governance looks like.
Narrative B
One resignation will not fix a system built on patriarchy. Japan ranks shamefully low in the Global Gender Gap Index, and women hold only a fraction of senior roles, creating an environment that breeds workplace sexual harassment. In light of this, what is required to solve this crisis is wholesale structural change, which the removal of a single bad actor does little to effect.