Shintaro Okuno
Managing Director,
Managing Director,
Bain has a rich history of over 40 years. This is the history of us helping our clients add value to society by providing solutions to their problems and relentlessly focusing on results together. We take pride in and measure our achievement by is the number of success stories we have created with our clients, and the individual career success stories achieved by both management executives at our client companies as well as our own consultants.
Japan has become one of the most challenging markets in the management consulting industry today. Along with Japan’s continuous population decline, aging society, and an increasing number of low-income households, we expect to see an increase in income, intergenerational, and regional inequities. We are also at a demographic crossroads; with the generation born after the bubble economy burst entering the workforce, now nearly half of the working-age population have never known the era of Japan’s economic growth. Japanese companies have been falling far behind in terms of globalization, digitalization, and diversification in the workplace. But while Japanese companies today tend to have lower growth aspirations, a market with a population of almost 100 million is unlikely to experience a sudden collapse; players are increasingly tempted to just wait for others to fail and then reap the benefits, rather than to take risks of their own in pursuit of profit.
However, Bain strongly believes in Japan’s potential to play a significant role in the world, Bain’s potential to contribute to it as a key global management consulting firm, and of course, the potential of Japanese players to star in that role. Our clients who rely on us and continue to recommend us to others provide the strongest evidence for our belief. In the wake of discontinuous opportunities impacted by digital transformation, governance and stock market pressures as well as headwinds and uncertainties created by macro-economic trends, the need for Bain’s “True North” guidance has been increasing more than ever. Growing demand for Bain’s consultants as well as alumni who excel on the domestic and international stages is another indication.
At Bain, our people are intellectually curious and aspire to bring specific, visible changes to society, going beyond just stylish and unique idea generation. We cultivate a culture of collaboration and integrity, putting the team and others before our individual wants and reputation, always with humility and a willingness to learn from others, but at the same time, also striving to inspire those around us. We are the realizers and originators of our own beliefs, and tackle challenging work together with a sense of humor and enjoyment. We look for such talented people equipped with a global perspective to join us in breaking through the shackles of stagnation facing Japan.