In a radical move for a Japanese company, Ito-Yokado Co. has scrapped its traditional promotions track and introduced an open practice that allows all employees, including part-timers, to apply for management posts, company officials said Thursday.

Under the system, which the company hopes will help promote structural reform, all employees with at least two years at the Tokyo-based supermarket chain are eligible to apply for roughly 3,800 management positions, excluding board members' posts.

Officials of the nation's largest supermarket chain hope the switch will also energize the company by making better use of personnel.

"There is no more seniority-based thinking in our company," said Yoshiaki Ota, managing director of Ito-Yokado. "We want help motivate our employees and bring out their ability."

The company will start transferring employees to new positions under the open-application system in early May. The system covers all 14 types of management posts, including manager at the head office, store manager and general manager.

About 15,000 full-time and 30,000 part-time employees, regardless of their academic background, are eligible to apply for management positions.

The company's labor union has agreed to the plan.

The company is accepting applications by mail but not inter-office e-mail, in order to protect privacy. So far, dozens of employees have applied for management positions, the officials said.

An Ito-Yokado subsidiary, convenience store chain Seven-Eleven Japan Co., has introduced a similar system, and all firms in the Ito-Yokado group plan to adopt the practice in the future.

The company will work out details, including wages, and announce them by the end of this month, a spokesman said.