Task 2. Reading
_________Women at work_____________
by Alison Maitland
Nissan Motor's sales executivesin Japan used to take cars 10customers' homes for viewing,often late in the evening. Nowthe showrooms and salespeopleoperate more regular working hours.
The change of approach mightsound like a decline in personalservice. In fact, it is signed to be the opposite. Cars are no longer just'boys' toys', even in conservativeJapan. Nissan's research shows thatwomen make a third of car purchases,and women and men jointly makeanother third. Female customersoverwhelmingly would like there tobe more women in the sales teams,but the late hours made the jobunappealing to women in a countrywhere there is still often a starkchoice between work and family.
These findings promptedCarlos Ghosn, Chief Executiveof Nissan and Renault, to adopt astrategy to hire and promote more women into the leadership ranks.
Since 2004, Nissan's 'Womenin the Driver's Seat' initiative hasmore than doubled recruitment offemale engineering graduates to 17per cent this year and recruitmentof female salespeople has jumpedfrom 15 per celli to 34 per cent.
The number of women managersat Nissan, while still tiny, has risenfrom 2 per cent to 5 per cent. 'In anideal situation, we should mirrorthe market we serve - 50 per cent -but there is a long way to go,' saysMiyuki Takahashi, General Managerof the Diversity DevelopmentOffice that runs the initiative to woofemale employees and customers.At a conference organised by Catalyst, which researches andcampaigns for the advancement of women in business. Nissan was oneof this year's two award winners, notleast for having hit its initial target of50 women making lip 5 per cent ofits managers in an industry in whichthe average is just 0.6 per cent.
Nissan says that getting morewomen engineers into the company,in which 80 per cent of employees areengineers, is important to its success.'Males are attracted by big picturesof cars and specifications aboutperformance,' says Ms Takahashi,who was previously MarketingDirector in Japan. 'We found most mothers were attracted by picturesof a family having a great time withthe car.'
To prioritise female customers,three years ago Nissan launched theSerena people carrier, which wasdesigned by and for women. Lastyear, it won the top-selling spot in Japan. Ms Takahashi says, 'I amconvinced that this hit is closelyrelated to women's advancement inNissan in terms ofmarketing and sales.
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