What this article1 says should be obvious, but many Japanese companies fail to put it into practice.
If I were to raise one objection to the article, it would be that the very axis of promotion is different.
Managers and players simply have different occupations. Strictly speaking, becoming a manager is a “career change,” not a promotion. The article gives the example of a baseball player, but classical music offers an even clearer example. Surely no one would consider a player at a music agency becoming a manager to be a promotion. Conversely, it is equally difficult to imagine a manager becoming a player. Being able to move back and forth between manager and player means being at a low professional level in both roles. Put another way, Japanese companies are amateurish in both respects.
I believe the right approach is to create a path for advancement within each occupation. Naturally, someone who has mastered the player role should be on an equal footing with someone who has mastered management, and the reverse is also true.
Footnotes
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