It's the part of the job that stock analyst Hiroshi Naya dislikes the most: phoning investor relations managers on a Saturday or Sunday when he's working on a report and facing a deadline. In Japan, placing a work call to someone's cell phone on the weekend "feels like entering someone's house with your shoes on," says Naya, chief analyst at Ichiyoshi Research Institute in Tokyo. So last year, Naya started asking his questions via messages on Facebook. While a telephone call seems intrusive, he says, a Facebook message "feels more relaxed."
展开▼
