World Economic Forum

The rise of stakeholder capitalism is one of the major trends that will likely characterize the post-COVID global economy. As the pandemic crisis has exacerbated socioeconomic disparities and racial tensions across the world, there are increasing pressures on companies to shift from the shareholder capitalist model that prioritizes corporate profits and shareholder returns to the stakeholder capitalist model that maximizes returns for employees, customers, the community, and the environment.

As the international community seeks to promote stakeholder capitalism under the World Economic Forum’s “Great Reset” initiative, world leaders are drawing lessons from Japan’s “practical wisdom” and its multi-stakeholder traditions. Meanwhile, there remains a question as to how Japanese leaders could effectively communicate such “practical wisdom” to the global audience. I suggest that Japanese leaders should promote the so-called“Shibusawa Doctrine” to explain the country’s stakeholder approach.