Japan and the Pacific Rim Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Japan and the Pacific Rim - Essay Example Overall, Japan is considered a good place to do business because of its relatively stable economy and friendly local people. The Japanese economy has now slipped behind China in terms of GDP, although it is still considered a large economic force within Asia and the world as a whole. China is a strange case because their governmental systems and economic choices do not necessarily match up. The Chinese government is very strictly Communist, although over the last couple of decades, the ruling party has seen the need to bring about capitalist reform in order to propel China to become an economic superpower. Today, China has a great deal of political clout in such organizations as the United Nations because of its tremendous size. Other countries have picked up on this and realize how important trade can be with China. As such, many countries choose not to go against many Chinese economic decisions. China was not always the way it is today though. After China fell to the Communists in 1949, Mao Zedong led China through an era that ultimately proved unsuccessful. Millions of people died of starvation through China’s eccentric Communist policies. It took a long time for those in power in China to realize that capitalism may be a better option for a number of reasons. Korea used to be unified as one country; however, due to the Korean War in the early 1950’s, there is the Communist-backed North and the Democratic South. The economic differences between these two neighbors are vast and it can be put down to the difference between Communism and capitalism. The North Korean government is extremely secretive and rarely releases information to the outside world. On the other hand, South Korea can be considered as one of the success stories of Asia. In the late 1950’s, after the end of the Korean War, South Korea’s literacy rate was extremely high in conjunction with a very low average GDP per capita. It took a vast amount of modernization and new technology

Compare a shared theme between the book Don Quioxote and the movie Toy Essay

Compare a shared theme between the book Don Quioxote and the movie Toy Story - Essay Example The stories about the knights have sunken deeply into his mind that, somehow, it has misshapen his sanity. He grew up idolizing knights and their gallantry and even began to dress up like one and go out on adventures or quests of his own for reasons like "My armour is my only wear, My only rest the fray"2. He had his own damsel in the person of a peasant girl from Toboso named Aldonsa Lorenzo. Alonso Quijano was so much into his character that he also made up a name for himself and had others call him Don Quixote de La Mancha. Buzz Lightyear of Toy Story, on the other hand, is so caught up in his own reality as a high-tech, space ranger, and not simply a plaything. His belief in his reality is so profound that he even believed that he could fly - a feat he was able to prove to himself and to the other toys when he tried flying with his eyes closed. Falling with style as Woody puts it. Discussing the common theme between the story of Don Quixote and the film Toy Story, one can see how the characters lived in a world of their own made-up realities. Don Quixote fed on his imaginations of the gallant knights and was even caught saying this to himself: "Who knows but that in time to come, when the veracious history of my famous deeds is made known, the sage who writes it, when he has to set forth my first sally in the early morning, will do it after this fashion"3. The effect of the books on his thinking was as deep as his wanting to become a full-fledged knight. This is stated in the book as: "Day was dawning when Don Quixote quitted the inn, so happy, so gay, so exhilarated at finding himself now dubbed a knight, that his joy was like to burst his horse-girths."4 He also went to as far as dubbing, his so-called damsel, Aldonsa Lorenzo as Dulcinea del Toboso and swearing to offer his services to this "fair lady". Along with his absurd thinking are absurd behaviors such as talking to himself and saying verses like "O Princess Dulcinea, lady of this captive heart, a grievous wrong hast thou done me to drive me forth with scorn, and with inexorable obduracy banish me from the presence of thy beauty. O lady, deign to hold in remembrance this heart, thy vassal, that thus in anguish pines for love of thee5. He also named his donkey Rosinante to add more glamour to his stature as a knight. Adding to the extremity of his fondness for chivalry and knighthood, Don Quixote looked for a squire for himself to keep track of his adventures. He promised the laborer an island just to get that loyal travel companion. "Your worship will take care, Senor Knight-errant, not to forget about the island you have promised me, for be it ever so big I'll be equal to gov erning it."6 Those and Don Quixote's other bizarre actions were all caused by too much exposure to books on chivalry and knighthood. His actions were inevitable since these are based on a strong belief which he has stated as: Thou shalt never see it again as long as thou livest7. He was too engrossed on those legends that it was almost impossible to stop him from associating everything he sees with his adventure. One incident was when he fought against what he perceived to be as monsters: "Fortune is arranging matters for us better than we could have shaped our desires ourselves, for look there, friend Sancho Panza, where thirty or more monstrous giants present themselves"8. Miguel de Cervantes's Don Quixote and the movie Toy Story both

What evidence in the play can be interpreted as Mercutios Essay Example for Free

What evidence in the play can be interpreted as Mercutios Essay What evidence in the play can be interpreted as Mercutio’s affections toward Romeo being more than platonic? Discuss. ‘Romeo and Juliet’ a tragic romance written by William Shakespeare depicts the love between the two characters Romeo and Juliet. Other forms of love between characters are also present in the play, one of the most notable being the ambiguous relationship between Romeo and his flamboyant best friend Mercutio. Through a series of character interactions and character portrayals, Mercutio’s sexuality is left indistinct and his affections towards Romeo can be seen as homoerotic in nature. Romeo and Mercutio have a tendency to tease and banter with each other throughout the play. Mercutio’s teasing in particular could be interpreted as a form of homoerotism considering the large amounts of innuendo and references to Romeo’s phallus used. â€Å"To raise a spirit in his mistress circle Of some strange nature, letting it there stand Till she had laid it and conjured it down;† (Act 2, scene 1) Though this type of banter could be interpreted as normal amongst men their age, due to Mercutio’s ambiguous sexual orientation, it can be considered a form of flirting, especially when you take into consideration Mercutio’s attestment for the opposite gender and love between a man and a woman. Early on in the play, Mercutio is shown to have an aversion to women as well as heterosexual love. One of the clearest examples of Mercutio’s hostility towards women is shown in act 2, scene one when Benvolio and Mercutio are searching for Romeo after the party at the Capulets. â€Å"I must conjure him. I conjure thee by Rosalines bright eyes, By her high forehead and her scarlet lip, By her fine foot, straight leg and quivering thigh And the demesnes that there adjacent lie, That in thy likeness thou appear to us! †(Act 2, scene 1) Mercutio starts mocking Romeo’s feelings for Rosaline as well as insulting her by listing her body parts in a crude manner. Mercutio’s aversion towards women and love is also quite prominent in his Queen Mab speech which outside of being a ‘fairy’ is also a reference to whores during Elizabethan times. The speech starts off as more of a flight of fancy but steadily becomes darker the further he gets. â€Å"This is the hag, when maids lie on their backs, That presses them and learns them first to bear, Making them women of good carriage: This is she† (Act 1, scene 4) This passage could be interpreted as women losing their virginities as well as going into prostitution. Mercutio makes a stab at women through generalising them as whores, as well as stating how love is insignificant, nonsensical and corrupting. This is shown through the emphasis on Queen Mab’s small size, the fairy’s ability to confirm what ever vices that dreamers are addicted to and how the description of Queen Mab itself is complete nonsense. His aversion to women and heterosexual love could be interpreted as a sign of homosexuality, or at the very least bisexuality; Mercutio’s disrespect for the opposite gender is shown to be indiscriminate when involving matters in concern to Romeo. All women that Mercutio is seen interacting with or acknowledging in the play are insulted and ridiculed by him; the fact that they have all wanted Romeo’s company or have been subjected to Romeo’s affections is what they all have in common. â€Å"NURSE If you be he, sir, I desire some confidence with you. †¦ MERCUTIO A bawd, a bawd, a bawd! so ho! ROMEO What hast thou found? MERCUTIO No hare, sir; unless a hare, sir, in a lenten pie, that is something stale and hoar ere it be spent. An old hare hoar, And an old hare hoar, Is very good meat in lent But a hare that is hoar Is too much for a score, When it hoars ere it be spent. Romeo, will you come to your fathers? well to dinner, thither. † (Act 2, Scene 4) In this scene, Mercutio is shown to immediately interrupt the conversation between the other two characters once Romeo has lost interest in teasing the nurse, and the nurse has shown interest in conversing with him in private. Mercutio’s insults and teasing become bawdier as he tries to draw the groups attention and in turn Romeo’s attention towards him rather than the nurse as he continues to mock her. This act could be seen as an adverse reaction to the possibility of Romeo romancing another woman, or even the possibility of him romancing the nurse herself. A similar attitude is taken up by Mercutio concerning other women in Romeo’s life, as shown with Rosaline. The callous and unseemly way that Mercutio treats women who associate with Romeo could be seen as a form of jealousy, and thus his possible homoerotic affections for his best friend; characters such as Tybalt make allusions to the possibility of Mercutio’s non-platonic affections towards Romeo right before the play’s climax. Mercutio’s death scene, aside from being the climax of the play, has the most allusions to Mercutio’s affections towards Romeo being more than platonic. â€Å"Mercutio, thou consortst with Romeo† (Act 3, scene 1) This line spoken by Tybalt suggests the possibility of Mercutio’s homosexuality. Tybalt starts insulting a passive Romeo which results in a brawl between Mercutio and Tybalt, stemming from Mercutio’s need to defend his friend’s dignity and outrage at Romeo’s unresponsiveness to the insults. The brawl between the two, along with Mercutio’s resulting death, is seen as completely unnecessary as Tybalt is making no direct insult to Mercutio’s person, only Romeo’s. The need that Mercutio had felt to defend Romeo’s dignity could be seen as the manifestation of romantic feelings towards his best friend due to how unnecessarily far he’d taken his brawl with Tybalt and how it had resulted in his death. Through these series of events and character interaction such as Mercutio’s teasing of Romeo, his aversion to women, love, senseless death borne out of want to defend Romeo’s dignity and the possibility of him being homosexual, that Mercutio’s love for Romeo could be concluded as being more than just platonic. ________________ ROMEO AND JULIET ESSAY- VERSION 2. What evidence in the play can be interpreted as Mercutio’s affections toward Romeo being more than platonic? Discuss. ‘Romeo and Juliet’, a tragic romance written by William Shakespeare, depicts the love between the two characters Romeo and Juliet. Other forms of love between characters are also present in the play, one of the most notable being the ambiguous relationship between Romeo and his flamboyant best friend Mercutio. Through a series of character interactions and character portrayals, Mercutio’s sexuality is left indistinct and his affections towards Romeo can be seen as homoerotic in nature. Romeo and Mercutio have a tendency to tease and banter with each other throughout the play. Mercutio’s teasing in particular could be interpreted as a form of homoerotism considering the large amounts of innuendo and references to Romeo’s phallus used. Said references to Romeos phallus appear when Mercutio, in an attempt lure Romeo out of hiding, begins to talk of Romeo raising a spirit in his mistress circle and letting it there stand / Till she [Rosaline] had laid it and conjured it down (William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, Scene 1, Line 26). Though this type of banter could be interpreted as normal amongst men their age, due to Mercutio’s ambiguous sexual orientation it can be considered a form of flirting, especially when you take into consideration Mercutio’s attestment for the opposite gender and love between a man and a woman Early on in the play, Mercutio is shown to have and aversion to women as well as heterosexual love. One of the clearest examples of Mercutio’s hostility towards women is shown in when Benvolio and Mercutio are searching for Romeo after the party at the Capulets. Mercutio starts mocking Romeo’s feelings for Rosaline as well as insulting her by listing her body parts in a crude manner. He describes her fine foot, straight leg and quivering thigh (Act 2, Scene 1, Line 21) amongst other body parts considered uncouth to talk about during his time period. Mercutio’s aversion towards women and love is also quite prominent in his Queen Mab speech which outside of being a ‘fairy’ is also a reference to whores during Elizabethan times. The speech starts off as more of a flight of fancy but steadily becomes darker the further he gets. Mercutio makes references to women losing their virginities and going into prostitution when he talks of when maids lie on their backs / That presses them and learns them first to bear (Act 1, Scene 4, Line 96). Mercutio makes a stab at women through generalising them as whores, as well as stating how love is insignificant, nonsensical and corrupting. This is shown through the emphasis on Queen Mab’s small size, the fairy’s ability to confirm what ever vices that dreamers are addicted to and how the description of Queen Mab itself is complete nonsense. His aversion to women and heterosexual love could be interpreted as a sign of homosexuality, or at the very least bisexuality; Mercutios disrespect for the opposite gender is shown to be indiscriminate when involving matters in concern to Romeo. All women that Mercutio is seen interacting with or acknowledging in the play are insulted and ridiculed by him; the fact that they have all wanted Romeo’s company or have been subjected to Romeo’s affections is what they all have in common. In the second act, Juliets nurse approaches Romeo and expresses her interest in speaking with him alone. Mercutio, seeing that Romeo had lost interest in teasing the nurse, instantly interrupts the conversation by calling the nurse a bawd (Act 2, Scene 4, Line 115), followed by an indecent song on a girl who prostitutes herself. Mercutio’s insults and teasing become bawdier as he tries to draw the group’s, and in turn Romeo’s, attention towards him rather than the nurse as he continues to mock her. This act could be seen as an adverse reaction to the possibility of Romeo romancing another woman, or even the possibility of him romancing the nurse herself. A similar attitude is taken up by Mercutio concerning other women in Romeo’s life, as shown with Rosaline. The callous and unseemly way that Mercutio treats women who associate with Romeo could be seen as a form of jealousy, and thus his possible homoerotic affections for his best friend; characters such as Tybalt make allusions to the possibility of Mercutio’s non-platonic affections towards Rome right before the play’s climax. Mercutio’s death scene, aside from being the climax of the play, has the most allusions to Mercutio’s affections towards Romeo being more than platonic. Tybalt suggests the possibility of Mercutio’s homosexuality when he says that Mercutio consortst with Romeo (Act 3, Scene 1, Line 42). Tybalt starts insulting a passive Romeo which results in a brawl between Mercutio and Tybalt, stemming from Mercutio’s need to defend his friend’s dignity and outrage at Romeo’s unresponsiveness to the insults. The brawl between the two, along with Mercutio’s resulting death, is seen as completely unnecessary as Tybalt is making no direct insult to Mercutio’s person, only Romeo’s. The need that Mercutio had felt to defend Romeo’s dignity could be seen as the manifestation of romantic feelings towards his best friend due to how unnecessarily far he’d taken his brawl with Tybalt and how it had resulted in his death. Through these series of events and character interaction such as Mercutio’s teasing of Romeo, his aversion to women, love, senseless death borne out of want to defend Romeo’s dignity and the possibility of him being homosexual, that Mercutio’s love for Romeo could be concluded as being more than just platonic.

Case Study Of Toyotas Vehicle Recall Management Essay

Case Study Of Toyotas Vehicle Recall Management Essay This study focuses on the risk of reputational damage from a crisis situation and uses the Toyota recall crisis as a case study. The study examines Toyotas actions as relates to preserving its reputation as more than 8 million of its motor vehicles are recalled from 2009-2010. In order to do this, Toyotas actions are benchmarked against critical risk factors identified in the Roads to Ruin report conducted by Cass Business School for Association of Insurance and Risk Managers in Industry and Commerce (AIRMIC). The findings from the case revealed that a serious breakdown in Toyotas culture and a violation of its clearly stated principles of quality and customer-focus were the root causes of its reputational decline. Upon closer examination of the Toyota case, we find that the Toyota crisis escalated majorly because the company seemed to have no plan whatsoever to prepare for a crisis of the magnitude it faced and hence failed to protect its reputation. The case goes on to highlight various risk management that can be incorporated by businesses, managers and CEOs to preserve their reputation in crisis situations and avoid common pitfalls that lead to reputational decline. Table of Figures Executive summary This paper explores the subject of corporate reputation and the risk a crisis situation poses to a companys reputation. The main objective of this study is to extract risk management lessons from a crisis situation that can be used by managers and CEOs to avoid reputational decline in similar circumstances. The paper is structured as a case study that focuses on Toyota Motor Corporation as it faced the greatest threat to its reputation the recall of its vehicles in 2009. It explores key factors that made Toyota vulnerable during the recall and explores the effects of the recall on Toyotas reputation. In order to determine the underlying risk factors that exacerbated the crisis, Toyota is benchmarked against critical risk factors identified in the Roads to Ruin report a research report on risk management by Cass Business School for AIRMIC. The report was chosen because it provides a rich source of lessons about risk, risk analysis and risk management by detailing over one hundred specific lessons about risk from different case studies of companies in reputation-damaging crisis situations. Upon closer examination of the details of the Toyota case, we find that Toyotas reputation was damaged because the company seemed to have no plan whatsoever to prepare for a crisis of the magnitude it faced and hence failed to protect its reputation. Amongst other reasons for Toyotas reputational decline were these factors: management were not communicating effectively with stakeholders during the crisis; decision making was centred in Japan where the company was head-quartered making the crisis response very slow. We also find that Toyota shelved its corporate values which made it a symbol for quality in its quest for growth. In order to understand the Toyota crisis, the paper starts off with a brief introduction of Toyota Motor Corporation, highlighting its businesses and its reputation before the recall crisis. A timeline of the recall is also included to provide an overview of the flow of events during the period under review. Literature on corporate reputation, its importance and ownership is reviewed in the second part of this study whilst chapter three sets out the methodology employed in this study. Chapter four and five represent the crux of this work examining Toyotas actions in more detail. The research work ends with important recommendations for managers for preserving reputation in a crisis situation. Table of Contents CHAPTER 1: Introduction Glass, China, and reputation are easily cracked, and never well mended. -Benjamin Franklin. A few years ago, if we talked about companies with good reputations, the Japanese carmaker Toyota might have been mentioned. 2008 in particular was a good year for Toyota; Toyota was arguably one of the top brands worldwide, scoring high points for reliability and product quality on various reputational studies. It was the 6th top brand in the world according to interbrands Top 100 brands in the world list and was highly reputed for its reliability, customer-focus, and world-class quality. By the 27th of February, 2009, Toyota had moved up to third place on the Worlds Most Admired list, behind only Apple and Berkshire Hathaway. The company had the coveted AAA rating from Fitch and customers and car-enthusiasts alike had come to equate Toyota with quality. Even the companys philosophies, visions and advertising campaigns were unequivocal in stressing its commitment to quality However as Toyota recalled vehicle after vehicle in 2009, its pristine reputation for quality was badly damaged. Toyota literally drove into a reputational crisis like it had never seen before; the crisis was exceptionally damaging to the companys reputation as it struck its perceived core competence safety and quality. Company Background TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION is a Japan-based company mainly engaged in the automobile and financial business. The Company operates through three business divisions. The Automobile segment is engaged in the design, manufacture and sale of car products including passenger cars, minivans and trucks, as well as the related parts and accessories. The Finance segment is involved in the provision of financial services related to the sale of the Companys products, as well as the leasing of vehicles and equipment. The Others segment is involved in the design, manufacture and sale of housings, as well as information and communication business. For its automotive operations which is the focus of this study- Toyota produces and sells passenger cars, minivans and commercial vehicles, such as trucks. Toyotas vehicles can be classified into two categories: conventional engine vehicles and hybrid vehicles. Toyotas product line-up includes subcompact and compact cars, mini-vehicles, mid-size, luxury, sports and specialty cars, recreational sport-utility vehicles, pickup trucks, minivans, trucks and buses. The Companys subcompact and compact cars include the four-door Corolla sedan and the Yaris. In North America, Europe and Japan, Toyotas luxury line-up consists primarily of vehicles and other luxury sport-utility vehicles sold under the Lexus brand name. Toyota sport-utility vehicles available in North America also include the Sequoia, the 4Runner, the RAV4, the Highlander, the FJ Cruiser and the Land Cruiser, and pickup trucks available are the Tacoma and Tundra. Toyota also sells the Century limousine in Japan. Toyotas product line-up includes trucks (including vans) up to a gross vehicle weight of five tons and micro-buses, which are sold in Japan and in overseas markets. Trucks and buses are also manufactured and sold by Hino, a subsidiary of Toyota. Hinos product line-up includes large trucks with a gross vehicle weight of over 11 tons, medium trucks with a gross vehicle weight of between five and 11 tons, and small trucks with a gross vehicle weight of up to five tons. More than its cars, Toyota is well known for its TOYOTA WAY a set of principles and behaviours that underlie the Toyota Motor Corporations managerial approach and production system. These principles have been taught in various business schools and adapted in various organisations. The principles are summarised in the figure below: Figure : The Toyota way (Source: Hispage TONOway) 1.2 The Recall Crisis Toyotas recall fiasco took a disastrous turn on the 28th of August 2009 in San Diego, California. According to news reports, Mark Saylor and his wife, daughter and brother-in-law (Chris Lastrella) were killed when their Lexus, on loan from a dealer, careened out of control at more than 100mph, collided with another vehicle, and crashed into a ravine, setting the car ablaze. Figure : Inset is a picture of the vehicle after the accident (Source: PowayPatch) The familys high-speed tragedy was captured via a 911 call; the fear in the caller Chris Lastrellas voice was apparent as he said there are no brakesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ we need to pray and finally, their high-pitched screams as the car crashed. Over the next six months following this incident, Toyota would issue three separate recalls related to vehicle speed control for over 8 million vehicles; costing the company hundreds of millions of dollars in sales and immeasurable reputational damage. As the crisis intensified, Toyota became the target of adverse media attention with criticisms coming from various stakeholders for its actions during this period, and for its delay in identifying the fault and recalling the affected vehicles. 1.3 Timeline This section provides a chronological flow of the events leading up to and surrounding the recall crisis 2000 A cost cutting exercise called Construction of Cost Competitiveness for the 21st Century is launched by Toyota with the aim of reducing the cost of 180 car parts by 30% and saving $10 billion by 2005. 31-12-04 Toyotas vehicles accounted for about 20% of all unintended acceleration complaints filed with National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), up from 4 percent in 2000. 26-09-07 First floor mat recall in US of 55,000 vehicles to correct possible drivers floor mat causing accelerator pedal entrapment. 28-08-09 Off-duty California Highway Patrol officer Mark Saylor is traveling on Highway 125 in Santee, California (northeast of San Diego), with three family members, when the 2009 Lexus ES350 he is driving suddenly accelerates out of control, hits another car, tumbles down an embankment and catches fire. While the car is careening down the highway at speeds estimated to exceed 100 mph, his brother-in-law calls 911 and reports that the car has no brakes. All four are killed in the ensuing crash. 14-09-09 Preliminary reports from Toyota and local authorities indicate that the Lexus, which had been on loan from Bob Baker Lexus of San Diego, where Saylors personal Lexus vehicle was being serviced, may have had the wrong floor mats installed, interfering with the gas pedal. 29-09-09 Toyota announces it is recalling the floor mats on 4.2 million Toyota and Lexus vehicles. 2-10-09 Newly installed Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda publically apologizes to the Saylor family members killed in the accident and to every customer affected by the recall. 30-10-09 Toyota begins sending letters to owners notifying them of an unspecified upcoming recall to fix the unintended acceleration issue. In the letters Toyota says no defect exists. 2-11-09 NHTSA takes the highly unusual step of publicly rebuking Toyota, calling a company press release re-iterating the statements made in the 30 October letter to owners inaccurate and misleading, noting that the floor mat recall was an interim measure and that it does not correct the underlying defect. Toyota publicly apologizes. 02-11-09 Second floor mat recall in US of 3.8 million Toyota and Lexus vehicles to correct possible drivers floor mat causing accelerator pedal entrapment. 25-11-09 Second recall of 3.8 million vehicles amended to additionally reconfigure accelerator pedal. 26-12-09 A Toyota Avalon crashes into a lake in Texas after accelerating out of control. All four occupants die. Floor mats are ruled out as a cause because they are found in the trunk of the car. 21-01-10 Toyota recalls another 2.3 million Toyota-brand vehicles because of a problem with the gas pedal. Toyota says a rare set of conditions which may cause the accelerator pedal to become harder to depress, slower to return or, in the worst case, stuck in a partially depressed position. The company says the new recall is unrelated to the floor mat recall, but also announces 1.7 million Toyota vehicles would be affected by both recalls. 26-Jan-10 Toyota stops selling eight models in the US after being sanctioned by the NHTSA to halt selling vehicles with acknowledged defects. Toyota does not say why it has waited five days to stop sales after announcing the recall. 29-Jan-10 Recall extended to 1.8 million Toyotas in Europe and China. 02-Feb-10 U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood sharply criticizes Toyotas response to the accelerator pedal concerns, telling the Associated press that Toyota may be a little safety deaf and that while Toyota is taking responsible action now, it unfortunately took an enormous effort to get to this point. 09-Feb-10 Recall of 437,000 Prius vehicles and other hybrid vehicles worldwide to correct possible faulty hybrid anti-lock brake software 23-Feb-10 Public hearings of various committees of the U.S. House of Representative regarding the Toyota safety issue. At the hearing, Toyoda publicly apologizes before Congress and pledges renewed commitment to quality and safety from Toyota. 24-Feb-10 Akio Toyoda, president and CEO of Toyota, issues the following statement at the congressional hearing: Toyota has, for the past few years, been expanding its business rapidly. Quite frankly, I fear the pace at which we have grown may have been too quick. I would like to point out here that Toyotas priority has traditionally been the following: First; Safety, Second; Quality, and Third; Volume. These priorities became confused, and we were not able to stop, think, and make improvements as much as we were able to before, and our basic stance to listen to customers voices to make better products has weakened somewhat. We pursued growth over the speed at which we were able to develop our people and our organization, and we should sincerely be mindful of that. I regret that this has resulted in the safety issues described in the recalls we face today, and I am deeply sorry for any accidents that Toyota drivers have experienced. Especially, I would like to extend my condolences to the members of the Saylor family, for the accident in San Diego. I would like to send my prayers again, and I w ill do everything in my power to ensure that such a tragedy never happens again. 1.4 Aims and Objectives The Toyota case study is an insightful one as it involves the review of management response in a crisis situation that involved major loss of lives and regulatory action. By focusing on Toyotas management response, the aim of this study is to provide useful recommendations for preserving corporate reputation in a crisis situation. The work will focus on Toyotas response, its crisis management and the effect of the crisis on the companys reputation. In so doing, the author aims to extract essential risk management lessons from the case. The objectives of this study are to: Trace the underlying cause of the crisis using the risk factors identified in the Roads to Ruin Report by Cass Business School for AIRMIC. Evaluate the impact of the incident on the ratings, profitability and reputation of the company. Evaluate the actions of the CEO, highlighting what he did well and what he did not do so well. Outline the main consequences of the crisis for shareholders and other stakeholders Outline the key risk management lessons to be learnt. Every reputational crisis is different and there is no panacea for a reputational crisis but this research work seeks to provide a valuable tool for protecting and managing reputational risk when a crisis occurs. In order to fulfil the objectives listed above, the following research questions will be answered: What made Toyota particularly vulnerable during the recall crisis? How did the recall crisis and its ensuing consequences affect the financial position and reputation of the company? How was the recall handled? How could it have been better handled? What lessons can be learnt such that a future crisis is managed better? What was the impact of failing to meet its stakeholders expectations on Toyotas reputation? CHAPTER 2: Literature Review O wad some Power the giftie gie us To see oursels as ithers see us! It wad frae monie a blunder free us, An foolish notion Robert Burns Every individual, every company, every organisation be it a large multi-national or a small food kiosk by the corner- have one thing in common; a reputation. Over time, every contact, every media mention, every rumour, every leak, every piece of gossip (whether true or not) will play its part in forming an overall impression of an organisations standing. This built up reputation not only has a significant impact on share price; but also influences the strength of the brand and determines its competitive advantage amongst its peers. As Bill Margaritis puts it: a strong corporate reputation is a life preserver in a crisis and a tailwind when you have an opportunity 2.1 Corporate Reputation: An Overview In recent years, the idea of reputation as a strong business asset has received increased recognition in management literature. Series of publications have appeared dealing with the benefits of positive corporate reputations, risks to reputation, and reputational risk management. This increased interest grew out of a realization that an organizations reputation is a major determinant for its short run and long run success and differential advantage in any business environment. Furthermore, the last decade has seen many of the worlds most admired companies descend from their once lofty positions. In light of all these, it is not a surprise that corporate reputation has started to feature prominently on Swiss Res and Aons study of the top ten risks identified by corporate executives. This emphasises the point that management and other stakeholders have started to see the importance of corporate reputation and the various factors that make up the reputation of their firm. Fomburn (1996) defines reputation as the overall estimation in which a company is held by its constituents which can be formed based on the net perception of a companys ability to meet the expectation of all its stakeholders. This perception will usually be based on both the organisations actions and inactions such that everything an organisation does, and does not do, has a direct impact on their reputation Dolphin (2004). Other authors, such as Bromley (2001) emphasize the differing nature of reputation and describe reputation as the distribution of opinions about a person or organisation A more balanced view of corporate reputation according to (Warwick, 1992) is the view that corporate reputation is in itself an aggregate evaluation made by stakeholders of how well a company is meeting stakeholders expectations based on its past behaviour. (Atkins, et al., 2006), also address corporate reputation and reputational risk from this perspective and define reputational risk as the threat to a companys reputation resulting from a failure to meet stakeholders reasonable expectations of an organisations performance or behaviour. Corporate reputation should (also) be considered in terms of its historical context, i.e. a corporations track record. A companys standing in the community and in the marketplace all help shape its reputation Fomburn (1996). A reputation is much more than brand image, and includes factors such as trust in the organisations integrity and how it will conduct itself in the future, both at the corporate level and through the actions of its management and staff. . (Atkins, et al., 2006). It is also an important form of corporate capital that determines to a large extent the companys worth, quite simply, it is an index of a companys worth or value (Bromley, 2000). In determining corporate value, most authors have come to agree that a reputation is an indicator of a companys future performance. A favourable reputation is powerful enough to convince the undecided to choose a certain product or service and dissuade existing customers from moving to a competitor; whereas a damaged reputation can be irreparable and in extreme cases, lead to a companys down fall (ORourke, 2004). In order to build a favourable reputation, four attributes need to be developed: credibility, trustworthiness, reliability and responsibili ty. Reputation is in itself intangible, untouchable and most times immeasurable. Reputation often cant be quantified, compared against hard benchmarks or analysed in the same way as financial or other numerical data. Its management requires softer skills such as sound judgement, an ability to anticipate future trends and requirements, understand stakeholder concerns, listen carefully, consider dispassionately and respond constructively. (Rayner, 2003). A good corporate reputation can take many long years to build; it can be destroyed in an instant through an ill-considered off-the-record remark, a lapse in personal behaviour, an ethical blunder in the supply chain or an inadequate response to a crisis. In the words of Warren Buffet who is considered the most successful investor of the 20th century it takes twenty years to build a reputation and five minutes to destroy it. An area where authors share different views is as regards ownership of reputational risk. The first school of thought argues that one person or a group of people be appointed with the sole responsibility of preserving the companys reputation. It is probably due to the inefficiencies of some CEOs over the years in safeguarding reputation that some authors argue that a reputation officer or a reputation department be charged with the responsibility of handling and sustaining the corporate reputation. Others have criticised this view for various reasons, the main one been that, appointing a chief reputational office tends to remove the awareness of the importance of safeguarding corporate reputation from the Board of Directors and other top executives. Another school of thought is the one which states that every member of the organisation is responsible/accountable for the corporate reputation. As good as this argument might sound (it does make some sense for everyone in the organisation to be aware of maintaining the organisations good name), the loophole is in the danger that this leaves the accountability for corporate reputation as everyones task which in most times equals no ones task. The third school of thought argues that the responsibility for corporate reputation should rest on the CEO. According to this school, various studies have shown that CEOs understand the importance of a good reputation and hence should safeguard it. However, studies have also shown that few CEOs put any structure in place to safeguard the reputational asset of the organisation. It is disappointing to note that many CEOs who are supposed to be the custodians of the companys reputation have actually been the villains responsible for tarnishing the companys reputation. (This was certainly the case with AIGs Hank Greenberg). One important reason why CEOs should be responsible for reputational risk rests on the fact that when people think of a company, they are usually thinking of the CEO, with his actions/inactions invariably contributing to the reputation of the organisation. As Dr Leslie Gaines-Row pointed out in an interview, failure to maintain a good reputation should rest squarely on the shoulders of the CEO because in her own words: CEOs increasingly find themselves in the spotlight during crises and are without question a strategic player in reputation recovery. Their success in managing reputational difficulties is one of the determining factors in whether stakeholders retain confidence in the company and believe that reputation will eventually be restored. For this reason, failure to maintain a good reputation rests squarely on the CEOs shoulders. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (Studies show) that nearly 60 percent of the blame is attributed to the CEO when crisis strikes. As the companys public face during times of crisis, and the companys chief reputation officer, the CEO should remain visible, and communicate honestly, transparently and proactively. CEOs must also present themselves to stakeholders, whether it is customers, financial analysts or employees, consistently with the companys vision, code of conduct and values. By taking responsibility, acting quickly and compassionately, listening carefully, and establishing clear priorities, the CEO can set an example for reputation recovery for the entire organization. Reputation is the most important asset entrusted to a CEO (Schreiber, 2011). Not all CEOs recognize that, but a growing number do. In a 2009 global study, AON Insurance asked 551 CEOs to rank the relative importance of 31 risk factors. Reputation was ranked No. 6. In past AON studies before the current financial crisis, reputation was the top-ranked CEO risk factor. But, what is troubling is that two-thirds of the respondents had no formal reputation risk plan in place, and that figure has not changed substantially. 2.2 Effects of a Favourable Corporate Reputation Strong reputations act as cushions in case of a crisis and have the ability to protect a company from harm caused by a crisis. A favourable prior reputation protects the organisations reputation during a crisis in two aspects: it gives the organisation the benefit of doubt, which means that if a consumer holds a general favourable view of the company, the consumer might assign the company less crisis responsibility which in turn result in less reputational damage from the crisis; secondly, it acts as a shield, which serves as a part of the larger psychological phenomenon of expectancy confirmation, emphasizing that stakeholders will focus on the positive aspects of the organisation and ignore the recent negative information created by the crisis (Coombs and Holladay). In these ways, a good prior reputation perceived by consumers has the potential to reduce attributed crisis responsibility and dismiss the impact of the crisis. Strong, trustworthy reputations will usually always mean g reater resilience in crisis situations. The occasional lapse of a reputationally strong company is likely to be regarded as a one-off aberration, because it has a solid track record and its values and business ethos are clearly understood the reaction will most probably be a shrug and a thats not like them rather than a there they go again (Rayner, 2003). A typical case is that of oil companies who were ranked rather low in public opinion. In cases where oil companies have faced major crisis, consumers have been less sympathetic with these corporate group. The BP case and the Exxon Vladez case are typical examples. A study in the late 1990s of the performance of US companies during the 1987 stock market crash found out that the shares of the ten most admired companies dropped less and recovered faster, while the shares of the ten least admired companies plunged three times as far a very strong indication that having a good corporate reputation can pay real dividends. Various authors have identified several benefits of a good corporate reputation: (Atkins, et al., 2006) state that a good reputation is highly valuable and can benefit a company enormously. Potentially, it can result in: Banks being willing to supply loans on more favourable rates and terms: Good employees being attracted to work for the organisation, and their services being retained Investors being more likely to place their capital in the firm; Improvement in sales Maintenance and enhancement of market share Public perception of the organisation as an asset to the society in which it operates (John Croft, 2003), identify similar benefits: Securing profits and future cash flows Attracting new business partners Securing investment Attracting new customers word-of-mouth In ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡uencing political and legal affairs Human capital: retaining good staff and attracting the best employees Allowing easier entry to new markets and brand extensions Enabling successful mergers and acquisitions Helping to reinforce relationships with suppliers and distributors and other direct stakeholders Enhancing relationships with NGOs or corporate activists that potentially could be aligned against you 2.3 Area of Further Research One area of interest for future research work identified while carrying out this research work is on handling reputation risks from social networking sites and other online media sources the so called web 2.0. Web 2.0 allows users to interact and collaborate with each other in a social media dialogue and the mediums include social media sites like Facebook, blogs, twitter and other mediums which allow people to freely air their opinions. This area is important because in recent times, a lot of companies have had their reputation damaged through web 2.0 mediums. What makes web 2.0 dangerous is that response time is very limited; the most time an organisation has to squelch rumours or avoid a reputational disaster is 24 hours. It would be immensely helpful if further research is done into helping companies and various organisations cope with the risks from these mediums. CHAPTER 3: Data Collection and Research Methodology 3.1 Data Collection Data has been collected from a wide range of secondary sources; newspaper articles, academic journals and online resources. This study was also based on documents from five categories of media: (i) print newspapers, (ii) online editions of print newspapers, (iii) the Associated Press newswire, (iv) Blogs, and (v) Internet forums. 3.2 Methodology The research is tailored as a case study. This method gives a multi-perspective approach, incorporating the views of direct stakeholders, indirect stakeholders and the interactions between these two groups. This case study will be based mainly on secondary data. The paper will comprise the collection of secondary data from a broad variety of sources such as business academic journals, books, reports, newspapers and internet articles on the Toyota vehicle recall crisis. All information will be taken from the public domain and the author has put into consideration the possibility of errors in press reports and other sources. The research will use various underlying risk classifications identified in the Roads to Ruin report by Cass Business School for AIRMIC to trace the underlying cause of the crisis. The Roads to Ruin report is a highly valuable guide for this research as it investigates the origins and impacts of over twenty major corporate crises of the last decade. The report was chosen because it provides a rich source of lessons about risk, risk analysis and risk management detailing over one hundred specific lessons about risk. This will be particularly helpful as I develop my recommendations on this subject. A crisis communication framework developed by (Lukaszewski, January/February 1999) would also be used to analyse Toyotas crisis response. CHAPTER 4 Review of the Recall Crisis In this chapter, the author shall in line with the research objectives, test the effectiveness of Toyotas reputational risk response to seven key risk areas identified in the Roads to Ruin report and in so doing trace the deeper cause of the crisis. According to the report, these key risks areas include: Board skill and Non-Executive Directors (NED) control risks -risks ar

Prayer in Public Schools Essays -- Religion in Public Schools

Prayer in Public Schools An issue that has been constantly debated for years is whether voluntary prayer in public schools should be permitted. A student should be allowed to pray voluntarily at the beginning of each school day based on many reasons. Prayer based on moral beliefs reinforce good citizenship as defined by our forefathers. A daily reminder of a need for the belief of good over evil is a necessary part of this society. Daily voluntary school prayer should be re-instated in public schools due to three reasons, the historical basis of the beginning of the United States government, the serious moral decline since prayer has been outlawed, and the government infringement on the constitutional guarantee of individual freedom of personal beliefs. First, a student should be allowed to pray voluntarily at the beginning of each school day because the United States government was originally based on Christian principles. The Declaration of Independence, a document written to express the mission and purpose of this new country, states, ? We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that God endows them, with certain unalienable rights?..? Credit for the rights that Americans hold dear is given to God, the Creator, by the founding fathers of this Nation. In order to understand the basic fundamentals of the US form of government, students need to understand the religious teachings that influenced these early leaders; that is the creation, the providence of God and a final judgement day for accountability. Since the government was formed under these principles, it can only stay strong if students understand these beginnings. The first amendment states ?that congress shall make no law respecting the establi shment of religion, nor prohibiting the free exercise thereof The first clause declares that the federal government cannot establish a common state church. Many of the US forefathers left Europe because they did not agree with nor want to be forced to support the established state church. The second part of this clause insures and encourages individual religious belief. The demonstration that religion is important to the workings of the government of this country can be seen when every session of Congress opens with a prayer. Why are the governing bodies of this nation allowed to pray daily, but schools are prohib... ...ople of color, women, and others fight for individual rights. If told they could not talk of their beliefs in public, this country would probably face another civil war. But for some reason, those who wish to practice their religion publicly are treated as criminals. In one instance a child who brought her Bible to school to read during free reading time, was sent home and told not to bring the Bible to school again. Silent messages are sent to children when disapproval seems the norm. Future generations accept this infringement on personal rights, and so goes the country and moral responsibility to each other. Voluntary prayer in public schools should be reinstated due to this country?s founding principles, moral emphasis, and first amendment rights of individual freedom. Due to the non-confrontational nature of those who ascribe to religious beliefs, the government has adjusted to those who have been confrontational. The elected officials of this nation need to re-evaluate volunteer prayer in school, and pass a resolution supporting that as long as beliefs are not forced on a student (citizen) the practice of faith and morality through volunteer prayer should be encouraged.

The Importance of Point of View in Kate Chopin’s Fiction Essay

The Importance of Point of View in Kate Chopin’s Fiction The impact of Kate Chopin’s novel, The Awakening, on society resulted in her ruin, both literary and social. Reviewers called it vulgar, improper, unhealthy, and sickening. One critic said that he wished she had never written it, and another wrote that to truly describe the novel would entail language not fit for publication (Stipe 16). The overwhelming condemnation of the entire book rather than just Edna’s suicide seems surprising in light of her successful short story career. The themes that Chopin explores in her novel are present in both Bayou Folk and A Night in Acadie, her short story collections published before The Awakening, and the other short stories she published separately. The only reasonable explanation is that people misinterpreted Chopin’s short stories about male/female relationships as sentimental and witty stories rather than serious condemnations of the social order that left women so little choice while giving men little restr iction. This misinterpretation even occurs today. In classes I have taken that cover Chopin, many students and instructors read her short stories as romance, as celebrations of motherhood, and as empowerment of the matriarchy, yet they read The Awakening and recognize Chopin’s criticism of society without seeing any serious contradiction in their earlier readings of her short stories. However, the overwhelming pattern in Chopin’s fiction seems to either satirize or undermine the worlds of her characters. One way in which she does this is through point of view. A look at this technique reveals the genesis of The Awakening in even the earliest of her published fiction dealing with male/female sexual relationsh... ...man Writer in the South: 1859-1936. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State UP, 1981. Le Marquand, Jane. â€Å"Kate Chopin as Feminist: Subverting the French Androcentric Influence.† Deep South 2 (1996). 26 July 2002 . Stipe, Stormy. â€Å"The Book That Ruined Kate Chopin's Career.† Biblio 4.1 (1999): 16-17. Notes [1] Patricia Evans notes in a discussion of Chopin’s place in the literary canon that â€Å"in the first modern historical survey of southern literature, The South in American Literature, Jay B. Hubbell identifies one hundred male writers, but only five women. He justifies this omission by stating, ‘their writing was generally sentimental and inferior’ (4).† [2] In The Awakening, Robert LeBrun turns way from Edna when she proposes they live openly together. He cannot violate the codes of his world so blatantly.

Kevin Phillips criticizes the Reagan administration

Kevin Phillips criticizes the Reagan administration for grossly redistributing wealth from the poor to the rich. He refers to this phenomenon as the â€Å"upward redistribution of wealth†. He feels that the country’s current economic climate continues to give an unfair advantage to the rich, by means of tax-code restructuring and deregulation of private enterprises. Phillips maintains that the tax burden on rich people has to be considerably increased and tax benefits for corporation has to be cut down to facilitate fair distribution of wealth.Phillips draws up on statistical data to reiterate his views on economic inequality; one percent of Americans belonging to the rich elite class own more than 40 percent of the nation’s total wealth, according to a 1997 study. Such striking diversity in wealth distribution was witnessed before only during the Great Depression of late 1920s. Citizens from middle income group have experienced a meager increase of 2.8 percent i n stock market during the 90s, while being responsible for 38.7 percent of the rise in debt. A majority of people in this group are religious and conservative voters. According to the Wall Street Journal, 90 percent of private stocks are owned by the affluent 10 percent. This trend has resulted in widening of the economic divide and slow degradation of the middle class in America.Middle-class Americans becoming wealthier in the 1980s was primarily due to a surge in the economy, and certainly not due to the Government’s redistribution of existing wealth (National Review). The eighties also marked a period of decent employment opportunities of the poor and minority groups. During the 80s, a CEO’s salary was 93 times that of a normal worker, and this figure has leaped to 419 times in the 90s (Phillips 1991). The wage distribution patterns of private corporations clearly indicate the extent of income disparity and explain difference in lifestyles.The Cold War marked the pe riod between the post war 1940s and 1991, when the USA and USSR were competing in a virtual war comprising of arms race, creating espionage and forging strategic alliances. This also included fighting proxy wars such as Korean War, Vietnam War and Afghan War by using political pawns. America was spending a great sum of money to gain strategic advantage and political pride over the Soviet Union.The two-tier wage system is policy adopted by corporations, by which newly hired employees are paid much lesser wages compared to regular employees (Kebler). Although this results in a lot of cost saving to the employers, it leads also to discrimination discontent among one class of workers. This system also encourages companies to lay off senior employees through retirement schemes and buyouts, thereby leading to insecurity among senior workers. Bargain basement is also short term credit plan concept which was prevalent during this period wherein money comes at a lesser value, but helps to im prove the economy since the inflow of money is consistent.Trickle-down economics is characterized by tax benefits for rich citizens and corporations (Wikipedia). This policy is justified by the assumption that business will use tax savings to further contribute to economic growth. Reagan's economic policy was aligned towards trickle-down economics and also vouched for deregulation. It also concentrated on cut down on government spending, so as to control the money supply and bring down inflation. Trickle-down economics, also know as Reaganomics, led to problems such as tax evasions for the government. Kevin Phillips suggests that these policies did more harm rather than good to the US economy.Reference:Kebler, Harry. Unions Accepting a Two-Tier Pay System are Giving a Major Concession to Bosses. Retrieved 14 December, 2007, Phillips, Kevin. (1991). The politics of the rich and poor: Wealth and the American Electorate in the Reagan Aftermath. Harpercollins.National Review. (1991). Th e Eighties Economy. Retrieved 14 December, 2007,Rast, Ben. Book Review: The Politics Of Rich And Poor. Retrieved 14 December, 2007,  Wikipedia. Kevin Phillips. Retrieved 14 December, 2007,Wikipedia. Trickle Down Economics. Retrieved 14 December, 2007,