The Rotten Apple Essay -- Self Identity Stereotypes Stereotyping Essay

The Rotten Apple My mom has always told me, "If you're ever going to get anywhere in life, you have to make good first impressions!". I'll spare you the details about the hell holes I'd live in and the dead-end jobs described by my mom if I did otherwise. Not a lot of people would think this is a big deal. I mean, making a good first impression is one of the first things parents should be telling their kids to do right? I, however, get the lecture a lot when I was a kid. Heck, my mom called me last night to give me my fix. I seem to be unable to make any sort of good impression with lots of people. This is especially true with teachers. You had no idea the pain I went through trying to look for a teacher who liked me to write my recommendation. I'm not complaining though. I make no effort in trying to leave a good first impression, nor do I ever care for the first impression someone leaves after meeting me. What is a first impression anyway? It is probably the judgement a person makes on another based on the way he or she talks and acts in the first meeting. But in a lot of cases, first impressions are made based on the stereotypes, especially racial ones, that person fit in. "Wow, you must be really smart.". For most people, this is usually meant as a compliment. And I would take that comment as a compliment, if I had, for example, shown whoever said it the proof to a complicated math problem. But when given the comment the first time I meet someone, it means something completely different to me. It means they forgot to say "because you're Chinese". "Oh, stop complaining! You're in a good stereotype!" is the general response I get when I talk about this with my friends or people in general. That’s about when we would... ...identifies with a stereotype, he is losing a part of his self to the masses. He then tends to act or behave accordingly, based on what the stereotype demands of him. He asks himself, â€Å"What am I supposed to do?† as opposed to â€Å"What do I want to do?†. That â€Å"want†, I think, is the one answer of how to destroy the concept of stereotype. Still, I find it very ironic that, in a country found on the preservation of individuality and equality, there can be such problems associated with stereotyping and double standards. Perhaps, as a country, we are losing sight of the importance and mystique of the individual. Perhaps we are becoming too lazy and impersonal to understand each other for the human that we are, and not just some vague generalization. I am not a nerd, Americanized Chinese immigrant, Weezer-maniac, rebelling teen, overachiever, or crazed sports fan. I am Wang.

Essay --

The book The Great Gatsby is a detailed drama set during the prohibition era written by author F. Scott Fitzgerald. While reading this book, people might stumble along several coincidences between the book and Fitzgerald’s life. This is because F. Scott Fitzgerald uses his life and everything around him to inspire the different style of writing in the novel. While some people state The Great Gatsby is a creative novel, others think it’s just a reflection. F. Scott Ftizgerald uses things that happened in his life to inspire the situations and complications that the characters go through. He used his imagination in writing the novel, to take him to new heights as a person, and an explorer. Finally Fitzgerald used the government and life of the United States to build the setting of The Great Gatsby. As a writer, F. Scott Fitzgerald wasn’t that versatile or well-known. He started off life in New York, attending a private Catholic school. Even as a child, he was ambitious. When he was a young adult, he attended Princeton, which is an elite college, but he dropped out because he was most likely going to fail. While he was in the army, he fell in love with a woman named Zelda Sayre. Zelda was unwilling to live on such a small income, so she broke off the engagement. After Fitzgerald published a very popular book and becoming rich, Zelda decided to marry him. While they were going through a rough patch and arguing, Fitzgerald discovered the effects of alcohol. He became an alcoholic, but wrote sober. Fitzgerald generally wrote about aspiration. Soon, he and his wife were spending more money than they were taking in. He was unable to control his finances and created high levels of debt for his family. He took a break to California, where... ...almost overnight, and a week later he married Zelda Sayre in New York.† (University) Like Gatsby, as soon as his love found out he was rich, she became interested in him again. Except Daisy never married Gatsby. â€Å"He was an alcoholic, but he wrote sober.† While Gatsby did not drink, it was a result of his mentor Dan Cody was an alcoholic. Fitzgerald used his addiction as a key factor in this novel. â€Å"The chief theme of Fitzgerald’s work is aspirational idealism.† (University) The main character of The Great Gatsby, Gatsby, was a very aspirational person. He always hoped for the best when it came to Daisy. â€Å"The author that wrote so eloquently about the effects of money in character was unable to manage his own finances.† Gatsby always had a ridiculous amount of money. This is what Fitzgerald wished he could have. Nick on the other hand, struggled, just like Fitzgerald.

Should College Athletes Get Paid to Play Essay -- Argumentative Persua

Should College Athletes Get Paid to Play Forget about the game-winning touchdown, forget about the cheerleader girlfriend, and forget the pageantry. What about the hard earned money college athletes will never see and earned? In the world of college sports its win or go home, and to the winners go the spoils. Most successful college sports teams rake in millions of dollars in revenue. Steve Spurrier, the coach for the Florida Gators signed a six year contract where he would make a little over 2.5 million dollars a year not including certain benefits like a free car for his wife. So with the institutions and coaches getting rich off their player who is to say that the player does not deserve a share of the wealth? Most college athletes get around 200-250 dollars a month for living expenses and spending money, this is very small compared to the student who has time to work. Some people say that athletes get paid by having a scholarship but if you look at the ulterior motive behind scholarships I think people would change their minds. Coaches try to get players who they think have the talent to make them win and to persuade them to come to their school they try to give them scholarships. So the whole idea behind a scholarship is to lure the student to come to your school. Scholarships are j ust a recruitment tactic. Don’t confuse what I am saying though I don’t think college players should be making millions of dollars but there should be a set salary for all p...

Kip Kinkel Essay

Kip Kinkel was a high school student at Thurston High who was incarcerated for killing his parents, 5 students, and injuring over 20 other kids at school. Kip had a lot of psychological problems due to the biological and social aspects of his life, that maybe if had been treated properly, would not have made him feel the need to commit the crimes that he did. To begin, Kip Kinkel had many biological problems that may have kick started his problems from a young age. He had dyslexia, so he could not read and write very well. This caused him to fall behind in class and have to be held back a year. Biological psychologists would say that he had this problem due to his brain structure and chemicals and his brain that were dysfunctional and it caused him to have learning problems. He was also too small for his age, this made him get bullied by other boys at school. Psychoanalytic psychologists would say that because he had bed experience as a child, he probably would become bitter and feel like an outcast later in life as well. His mother was older than the recommended age to have babies and still be healthy, biological psychologists would say that this may have caused some abnormalities in his body and brain, such as the small body for his age, and dyslexia. Kip Kinkel had a terrible social life at home and at school. He got bullied in school because of his small body image; according to humanistic psychologists, this would lead him to low self esteem. He also had a lack of friends because growing up, he only had one friend, who was a girl, because he lived in a house that was kind of secluded in the woods, so there weren’t many kids around. He also got held back a year while all of his friends went on to the next grade. This would make him feel lonely and isolated according to the humanistic approach. Kip had a bad relationship with his family as well. He did not live up to his parents standards, and he did not really have anything to bond with his father over, except guns. This probably made him insecure about himself, always trying to be better than he was to please his parents. According to the psychoanalytic theory, security and parental relationships are major influences on personality. Kip also had many psychological issues that may have pushed him over the edge. He was diagnosed with depression, and given Prozac. However, shortly after he was starting to feel okay, the doctors took him off of it. This made him depressed again, but nobody realized it. He was also believed to be a schizophrenic because he would talk about â€Å"the voices in my head†, however he was never diagnosed and never treated for it. The combination of depression and schizophrenia lead him to maladaptive behaviors, according to the cognitive perspective, such as exploding homemade bombs and shooting things to take out his anger and relieve stress. Incarceration may not have been the been conclusion for the crimes that Kip committed. All of the things he did were because of his of his psychological problems that were caused from the social and biological aspects of his life growing up, and that were mistreated. If Kip had been better treated medically, the shootings may have not happened. Kip Kinkel is just the severe victim of his disorders, not just a cold hearted killer.

Culture Clash in “Two Kinds” and “Dead Mans Path” Essay

The culture clash in Two kinds occurs between Amy Tan who has become â€Å"Americanized† and her mother who is still very much under Chinese influence. Amy’s mum believes strongly in â€Å"The American Dream† â€Å"My mother believed you could be anything you wanted to be in America† Shows the large amount of Aspiration and hope in her mother’s mind about the future for Amy. Her mother continues the idea that Amy could be a star in America when she says â€Å"You can be best anything† Not only does the statement reflect her ambitions for Amy and beliefs but also her broken English represents that she is still very much Chinese. Amy takes a rebellious stance when her hair cut goes wrong, and claims she likes it as it was not what her mother wanted â€Å"I liked the haircut; it made me look forward to my future fame† The phrase not only shows her rebellious side but also that she believes what her mother has said about being famous. Amy’s views are filled with a degree of irony in being what her parents wanted her to be â€Å"I was filled with a sense I would soon become perfect† The italics in the phrase represent the irony of it and also the certain amount of insecurity Amy feels. Amy’s mother is also ironic to a degree although she may not mean to be â€Å"Searching for stories about remarkable children† The irony continues as Amy is not remarkable, and her mother thinks she can be. The fact Amy is not remarkable is brought up when she is asked to recall what she remembers from a page in the bible. â€Å"Now Jehosophat had riches and honor in abundance. That’s all I remember ma'† The phrase shows that Amy’s memory is poor and she is not exceptional. Amy soon begins to dislike her mother methods of trying to turn her into a child prodigy, and the cultures start to clash as Amy’s mum still believes that she can be, but the Americanized Amy starts to dislike it. â€Å"I hated the tests, the raised hopes and failed expectations† This shows Amy’s dislike of her mother’s methods, and the feeling that she has failed again and again. Amy then begins her rebellion in her feeling that she wont be who she’s not. â€Å"I promised myself, I won’t be what I’m not† This shows Amy’s determination to succeed against her mothers will and not become a prodigy. The view that a Chinese girl could succeed in American is brought back to her mum three months later when she sees a little Chinese girl playing a piano on TV when Amy defends the girl her mother takes the traditional view that she isn’t trying and that’s why she’s failing â€Å"Not the best because you’re not trying† The phrase emphasis’s the mother’s feelings towards her daughter as in traditional Chinese culture it must be the child’s fault. The culture clash is emphasized when Amy refuses to rehearse properly for her performance and play’s badly as a result her mum is deeply ashamed as she has in Chinese terms at least â€Å"shamed the family’s name† her father shares a similar view He says: â€Å"That was something else† In ambiguous phrase, her mum has a look on her face which rattles Amy and brings home what she’s done â€Å"But my mother’s expression was what devastated me: a quiet blank look that said she had lost everything† The phrase is powerful as her mum had lost everything, and Amy was her last hope. Her mum continues her methods of Chinese belief a few days later when in an argument she shouts at Amy on the basis that daughters in China are obedient â€Å"Only one type of daughter can live in this house, obedient daughter!† This is one of the more important lines as it really shows the Chinese culture that children should be obedient and Amy is not. Amy’s American beliefs and nature are brought up when she says â€Å"For unlike my mother I did not believe I could be anything. I could only be me† This emphasizes the fact she is not a traditional Chinese daughter the way her mum wants her to be instead she has her own beliefs and lifestyle. The first line of Dead Man’s Path emphasizes a culture clash, as the headmasters name is Michael Obi. Michael being a western name. So he obviously has western influence. And his clash begins with his views â€Å"He was outspoken is his condemnation of the narrow views of these older and often less educated ones† Michael is critical of the older generation, which is probably a western influence but in most Nigerian towns the elders are to be respected showing a clash between his and African views. His ideas and views are summarized and appear to be the opposite of the village in which the school is situated when he says â€Å"Everything will be modern and delightful†¦..† The word modern is italicized to show that it is the opposite of the current village and the change Michael Obi wants to create. Michael also tried to disassociate himself with the locals, and make himself sound better. â€Å"We’ve got a chance to show these people how a school should be run† Shows not just disassociation in the phrase â€Å"these people† but arrogance, in believing he can show them how to run a school. Michael’s western influence is also shown in the plants which are planted around school â€Å"Beautiful hibiscus and allamanda hedges† Both the plants are traditionally western showing Michael wishes to westernize the school. Michael’s amazement at the actions of the locals also shows his intolerance for both local traditions and respect for the old â€Å"He was scandalized to see and old women hobble right across the compound† The phrase scandalized shows just how amazed he is that the event has occurred; it also shows his feelings about tradition, that it needs to be removed. To be replaced by his modern ways. Michael then shows his ignorance to their culture by separating the incident and the school and exclaiming â€Å"And what has that got to do with the school?† The phrase is both pompous and patronizing and shows his ignorance in thinking that the two should be divided and religion/culture should be kept away from schools. The priest when talking to Michael has a feeling of power and looks down on Michael. â€Å"Look here my son† The priest uses this opening phrase to create a feeling of inferiority to Michael he also bangs his stick on the ground to emphasize his point. Michael responds to the whole conversation in a very arrogant way, â€Å"Our duty is to teach your children to laugh at such ideas† Shows his intolerance towards the priests and villages beliefs, and shows how he plans to change traditional ways. The conversation later grinds to a halt with neither parting with their idea’s or culture â€Å"I have no more words to say† Shows the priest has been defeated by ignorance, and that the conflict between the cultures will not be resolved. Both stories have culture clashes neither ending with particularly happy endings, However I feel that in Dead Man’s Path the culture clash is more straight forward in that it is traditional against modern. However two kinds is slightly more complicated as at first Amy seems to be trying to be traditional and try hard where as Michael never wanted any sort of tradition right from the start. Both culture clashes involve arguments and verbal disagreements, and some degree of action. Amy ruining her piano piece in Two Kinds and the Michael blocking off the path in Dead Man’s Path. These are followed up by more action from the other culture; Amy’s mum continues to make Amy learn claiming she could still be a prodigy whilst the villagers tear the school apart. In Dead Man’s Path it is an antithesis however I feel that Two Kinds is less so and the ideas are more intertwining however I still feel there is a large culture clash. In both stories however it is clear to see that both traditional and modern views find it hard to live side by side.

Culture Analysis of Toyota Essay

ABSTRACT This case study analyses the corporate culture of Toyota by using two theories and then analyze the national cultures of Japan and USA by using two theories and its impact on the corporate culture of Toyota. The models of â€Å"Edgar Schein† and â€Å"Charles Handy† will be used to analyze the corporate culture of Toyota while the models of â€Å"Greet Hofstede† and â€Å"Fons Trompenaars† will be used to analyze the national cultures. Afterwards the case study will discuss the climate of Toyota and the impact of the same to its success. Also the case study will analyze the reasons as to why the Toyota Company had to face failures and whether the company culture had any impact in the same. It will also point out on how the culture of Toyota had become inflexible over a period where the company was facing rapid expansions in to other countries and how it had impacted the success of the company. Finally the author will provide with suggestions and advice as to how Toyota could do in the future on developing their corporate culture. Toyota was established as a commercial vehicle manufacturer in 1937 with a capital of  ¥ 12 million. By 1948 Toyota’s debt was 8 times than its capital value. In 1950s Toyota studies US plants, including Ford, and supermarkets during a 12 week study visit. They see little improvement since his previous trip but use supermarkets as a model for just-in-time production. Toyota entered the US in 1958 by launching its model the Toyopet. It established its first overseas production unit in Brazil in 1959 and entered the European market in 1963. Besides manufacturing, the company started a global network of design and R&D facilities covering the three major car markets of Japan, North America, and Europe. The company underwent rapidexpansion in the 1960s and exported fuel-efficient small cars to different countries across the world. By the early 1970s, Toyota‘s global vehicle production was behind that of only GM and Ford. The oil crisis in the late 1970s gave a major boost to Toyota, with many people shifting to smaller, fuel-efficient cars, where Toyota had a significant presence. In 1988, Toyota opened its first plant in North America in Georgetown, In 2000, Toyota‘s global production exceeded five million vehicles. By November 2003, Toyota‘s market capitalization touched US$ 110 billion. In 2006, Toyota became the third largest car and truck seller in the US, surpassing Chrysler Group LLC13 (Chrysler). In 2007, Toyota with sales of 2.6 million vehicles overthrew Ford from the second position in the US auto market. About two-third of Toyota‘s workforce was located outside Japan at that time. In July 2008, Toyota replaced GM15 as the largest automaker in the world. In the financial year 2008, Toyota emerged as the largest automobile manufacturer in the world. 2. National Culture & Toyota Culture 3.2. What is Culture â€Å"Culture is not something you can manipulate easily. Attempts to grab it and twist it into a new shape never work because you can’t grab it†- Prof.John P. Kotter â€Å"Culture† could be defined as â€Å"the sum total of the beliefs, values, rituals, rules & regulations, techniques, institutions, and artifacts that does characterize human populations†. Sociologists generally talk about the term socialization process, referring to the influence of parents, friends, education, and the interaction with other members of a particular society as the basis for one’s culture. These influences result in learned patterns of behavior common to members of a given society. 3.3. National Culture 3.4.1. National culture according to Fons Trompenaars model Fons Trompenaars teamed with Charles Hampden-Turner and developed a theory on culture. Universalism vs. Particularism – Universalism cultures are strictly rule-based behavioral cultures where particularistic cultures tend to focus more on the exceptional nature of present circumstances. Toyota had been a company who was working on relationship based culture where they have even treated the suppliers as of their own. They value these relationships and trusts that through such practices they will achieve success. Specific vs. diffuse – This the manner which the organization or the culture handles their communications (Low context vs. High context) it is obvious that the Japanese belongs to low context and it was the case in Toyota as well where they value long term relationships with employees and its suppliers. Individualism vs. Collectivism – Individualism is about the rights of the individual. It seeks to let each person grow or fail on their own, and sees group-focus as denuding the individual of their inalienable rights. Communitarianism is about the rights of the group or society. It seeks to put the family, group, company and country before the individual. It sees individualism as selfish and short-sighted. It is clearly proven that Japanese works as groups and all team members and senior managers altogether will decide together on many strategies. Inner-directed vs. Outer-directed (â€Å"Do we control our environment or work with it?†) – An inner-directed culture assumes that thinking is the most powerful tool and that considered ideas and intuitive approaches are the best way. An Outer-directed culture assumes that we live in the ‘real world’ and that is where we should look for our information and decisions. The Japanese culture had strong beliefs on thinking power. Even at Toyota they created their own environment through introducing TPS and Toyota way. 3.4.2. National culture according to Greet Hofstede’s model National cultures can be described according to the analysis of Geert Hofstede. It has five dimensions –†¢ Power Distance, †¢ Individualism, †¢ Masculinity, †¢ Uncertainty Avoidance, †¢ Long-Term Orientation. Japanese national culture had a huge influence in corporate culture of Toyota even though they had their operations stretched towards the other parts of the world. Power Distance – By means which you could understand â€Å"the extent to which the less powerful members of institutions and organizations within a country expect and accept that power is distributed unequally†. As per the table given below, it shows that Japan has more power distance than of USA culture. It’s clear as where all the strategic decisions were taken through the head office of Japan through a hierarchical layer who had more authoritative power. Most of the decisions were dependent on fewer individuals. Individualism – Individualism is the one opposite of collectivism that is the degree to which individuals are integrated into groups. â€Å"Individualism pertains to societies in which the ties between individuals are loose: everyone is expected to look after himself or herself and his or her immediate family.† In Toyota all employees were treated equally important, referred as knowledge workers and everybody was given the freedom to come up with ideas. As per the table given below USA can clearly been seen as individualistic culture where as Japan is more towards Collectivism culture. Masculinity – is the degree to which ‘masculine’ values like competitiveness and the acquisition of wealth are valued over ‘feminine’ values like relationship building and quality of life. According to the table, both Japan and USA are having high Masculinity characteristics but it’s much higher on Japanese cultures. In Toyota, they were obsessed to overtake their competitors and become as the largest automaker in 2008 simply to prove their power proving masculine approach towards their competitors. Uncertainty Avoidance – focuses on the level of society’s tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity. A High Uncertainty Avoidance ranking indicates the country has a low tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity. This creates a rule-oriented society that institutes laws, rules, regulations, and controls in order to reduce the amount of uncertainty. Japanese try to avoid uncertainty by planning everything carefully. Japan is a culture that depends on rules, laws and regulations. Japan wants to reduce its risks to the lowest and proceed with changes step by step. The United States scores a 46 compared to the 92 of the Japanese culture. Uncertainty avoidance in the US is relatively low, which can clearly be viewed through the national cultures. In Toyota, you could see that they make all the related parties (Supplier, Designers, Engineers, Dealers and Partners) involved in the manufacturing process right from the designing stage to marketing the product so that they produce exactly what is needed with minimum risk. Long-Term Orientation – focuses on the degree the society does or does not embrace long-term devotion to traditional values. High Long-Term Orientation ranking implies that the country embraces to the values of long-term commitments and respect for tradition and where long-term rewards are expected as a result of today’s hard work. This is very evident as Toyota has spent much revenue and focus on R&D activities even at tougher times. Hofstede’s Dimension of Culture Scales When considering these factors, it is obvious that Toyota (which comprises with Japanese culture embedded to its organizational culture) will have a significant impact to its culture when working in USA as USA culture is much more different to than Japanese culture. 3.4. Culture of Toyota 3.5.3. Toyota’s culture according to Edgar Schein’s Theory Schein’s three levels of culture model were developed in the 1980s. Schein identifies three distinct levels in organizational cultures: 1. Artifacts and behaviors 2. Exposed values 3. Basic Assumptions Artifacts of Toyota – Artifacts are the visible elements in a culture. Artifacts can be easily recognized by people. Artifacts can be dress codes, furniture, art, work climate, stories, work processes, organizational structures etc..Toyota’s artifacts could be * Fuel efficient vehicle manufacturer * Concentrated highly on maintaining quality and minimizing waste. Basic Assumptions of Toyota – Basic Assumptions reflect the shared values which are within the specific culture. These values oftentimes will not be especially visible to the members of the culture or the external parties. Assumptions and espoused values are possibly not correlated, and the espoused values may not at all be rooted in the actual values of the culture. This may cause great problems, where the differences between espoused and actual values may create frustrations, lack of morale and inefficiency. Toyota, when they ventured in to U.S. is when conflict in culture start to appear. Japanese corporate culture often conflicts with American management styles is partially due to a basic underlying assumption of Japanese culture. * Japanese Corporate Decision-Making involves group where Americans make decisions as individuals. * Japanese management is much more focused on relationships with their employees than rules to ensure corporate goals are met. * Managers in Japan depend on the honor system to get work done, relying on their workers’ trust and good will * The traditional structures and the hierarchy maintained by Toyota * Functional managers acting as mentors to other staff to understand the values and the culture of the organization * Chief engineers played a vital role in the organization’ * All employees of all levels were treated as knowledge workers * Encouraged all employees to communicate in simple language and encouraged them to be a part of different clubs & groups to share ideas amongst them. * Personal relationships were valued on a higher level 3.5.4. Toyota’s culture according to Charles Handy Theory Charles Handy gave a classification to the organizations culture into range of four cultures. The four cultures he discusses are Power’, ‘Role’, ‘Task’ and ‘People’. Power Culture – Power is concentrated in a smaller group. Power radiates out from the centre, usually a key personality, to others in the organization who send information down to other departments, functions or units. After the Toyota Company had established after global expansion over different continents, the main decision making power was still with headquarters which reflects the control was centralized to Japan headquarters. Role Culture – This culture comprises with several functional units of the organization which have to implement the decisions. The strength of the culture lays in specialization within its theses functional units. Interaction takes place between the functional specialism by job descriptions, procedures, rules and systems. Toyota showed lot of signs of role culture. During the Manufacturing process, they got the Engineers, suppliers and all the other related parties involved from the designing part to the sale of vehicle. Also they treated all employees as equal and each employee were given the opportunity to give their suggestions or express their feelings. Also Toyota had separate divisions operating for separate functions such as Sales, Finance, Legal, Manufacturing and R&D. Task Culture – Such cultures are of organizations which are much involved in R&D activities. They will create temporary task teams to meet their future needs. Information and expertise are the skills that are of value here. In Toyota it was not much shown this type of culture but since Toyota were very aggressive in intensive R&D activities and they emphasized the fact that engineers to spend more time on core engineering and technical skill acquisition, it shows a little bit of task culture in existence in Toyota. 3. Corporate Climate 4.5. What is corporate climate? Climate is defined as the recurring patterns of behavior, attitudes and feelings that characterize life in the organization. Climate impacts employee attitudes and motivation which directly impact on business performances. 4.6. Was the climate correct in Toyota The corporate climate in Toyota was set right at the beginning and lost its way when the expansion process was taking place. As we all know, Toyota has been valued as an organization which been driven through its values, processors and philosophies. Their main focuses were initially on understanding the requirements of the users through intense R&D activities and fulfill the same while maintaining high level of quality. For such they had developed mechanisms such as TPS or Toyota way. The Toyota Way was invented, discovered, and developed over decades as talented Toyota managers and engineers, learned to cope with its (Toyota’s) problems of external adaptation and internal integration. Managers understand the challenges and context that led to active on-the-floor problem solving, not theoretical, top-down exercises. Communications were very strong amongst the functions units. With the rapid expansion and the globalized diversifications being carried out (more broadly in USA), Toyota turned in to an ambition driven company that ignored its traditions. The practice of conveying the Toyota way to an alien culture was an uphill task and a costly exercise. Also there were signs that the top level of the company had its own issues. 1995 when Okuda became the President, he made some dramatic changes to the long lived traditions of Toyota culture by cutting costs, increasing focus on product development and revamping of the product designs. Under his leadership, Toyota went on massive overseas expansion in a rapid phase but the cultural development and the processed values were not conveyed in the same phase. Once the expansions were set the focus/objective of the company became to be the largest car making company in the world beating GM. They were obsessed with this new vision. In parallel to this new vision somewhere in early 2000s, they launched the CCC21 cost cutting program. Due to such many of Japan employees were reduced from overseas plants and due to such the transferring of age old quality practices and corporate philosophy couldn’t be done to its subsidiaries. And finally due to new vision of being the largest car maker, more of production was focused than quality and Toyota looked for suppliers who could produce parts at a lower cost. Due to cultural change and knowledge gap between suppliers and Toyota, series of downfall in quality was observed later in Aug 2009. 4.7. Areas which went wrong with culture As per the case study it is evident that the two countries naturally have different cultures and they will impact the new venture which has cross cultural dynamics. In Toyota culture, they were very concerned on the values and the processor and the people involved. It’s much towards the Japanese cultural influence. But with the expansions, such practices were not effectively transferred to the employees of USA where they were part of a different culture. Even though they set up different division set up in different parts of USA all the main decisions were taken from the headquarters which was in Japan. The overseas divisions were not given much authority. Also another facture was that in Japanese culture they need lot of paperwork to take a decision where in USA culture they take quick decisions. Due to such several crucial decisions could not be taken on time leading to losses and at times up to legal penalties. And the Rigid structures and the Hierarchy were not helping the operations or were not letting the company grow towards the future. As the decision making was solely with the headquarters, it did not empower or give an opportunity to the managers in the USA offices as they were to follow set orders or tasks. 4. Suggestion for way forward 5.8. How could Toyota do better in the future When managing cross cultural issues, it is important that both parties spend a considerable amount of time on understanding each other’s cultures. It is very important that while the top level managers concentrate on the new diversification, the product lines and the bottom lines, they should strategize on how to manage the cultural issues as well. Toyota could have send the senior managers to USA prior to the expansions to really understand the culture of USA and same way they could have brought in the senior managers who were to be recruited from USA to Japan so they could have an deeper understanding of their corporate culture and the values. Same way they must be flexible on the structures and the Higher achy of the company by empowering the other unit heads to take decision and to be innovative from their end and back them on their decisions. Instead of adopting a culture where rewards are given on growth or production, it could be a combination of such and encouragement workers to perform better in order to collectively improve the company. More relationships could have been built with the suppliers and the dealers in order to maximize the production output and to develop the exact required features. The workforce in the USA plants to have a combination of Japanese and USA employees even at the senior levels. This way the touch of the original Toyota values and philosophies will not die fast and could be incarnated to the other employees as well. While trying to be the leader in automobile market, its not advisable to use only the cost leadership. It’s shown in the case study and in many other articles which done by industry experts that due to severe cost reduction practices, Toyota lost its core value which is Quality on its product. Hence it’s always good to have a mixture of strategies when conquering a market. Another aspect is Quick decision making. It is very important that when workings with a culture like USA who are keen on quick decision making, Japanese should react fact to situation otherwise will be at the risk of obtaining losses. R&D activities must be focused on the correct path as such practices will define the future of the company. If the R& D was done properly at Toyota they wouldn’t have acquired so many losses through recalls and poor product designs. And the sharing of information is a definite need when dealing with cross cultural matters. Since both cultural parties are new to each other such communications would bridge the gap. 5.9. Measures which they could take to effectively embed the proper culture to its employees As mentioned earlier, studying the involved cultures is an important process in any organization. For an example, the company which I work for (which is a leading Optical service provider in the country), they closely monitor the culture of the suburb or the region which they think of expanding before taking any key decisions. Same way, Japanese senior managers could have stayed in USA for long enough to get a grasp of their culture and understand their values and way of doing things. Understand the culture of the market which you are entering is a key strategy. Secondly they could have brought in the USA managers whom were to take up senior position in USA plants much prior to the installation of the factories as n induction programme or as an apprentice programme so that the Japanese managers could really transfer the cultural aspects and the values of Toyota which has been practiced for the past decades successfully. In my organization we do such practices as we recruit employees from the region where we are planning to expand to and place them at out head office so that they will be well trained and would really understand our values. Similarly, we send one of our senior staff or Managers to the newly opened branch once its stetted up to be there for a certain period so that he will be an mentor to the others and also he will bring in the details of the prevailing culture of the said region. Another thing Toyota must do is to empower the Managers from the said culture so that the decision making and other practices would be much more effective and related to the actual requirement. For this I could again take my company where all the branches are operated as separate profit centers and the Branch manager is empowered to take decision on behalf of the organization on many operational and at times on some strategic matters. Also for the employees of the two cultures to have much closer ties, Toyota could use the prevailing technologies such as social networking sites whereby they could get the employees of two cultures to meet up on a virtual world and get to know better and even to share ideas amongst them. This way the belongingness and the team work will develop amongst the employees. In our organization, we organize staff day outing, workshops, outward bound training programmes and other get-to-gather activities whereby they will get to know each other better and share their ideas amongst them. 5. Conclusion As most of the solutions are given in the previous paragraphs, the following points to be considered when managing cross cultural issues. When applied to cross cultural management of organizations different corporate cultures can be identified and proactive solutions must be developed to ensure compatibility between all parties and its cultures. And each culture must be valued as they are similarly valuable to both parties. When recruiting new employees it is very important to mentor them about the prevailing corporate culture and the values attached to these cultures. Train and socialize current employees to be more receivable for the coming alien cultures. Change and be flexible on organizational structure to give employees more control. Empower employees to make decision about their jobs. The long lived traditions and the best practices should not be neglected at any time and more importantly the culture plays a very vital role on the organizations success. 6. Reference http://geert-hofstede.com ICBT Study materials www.lindsay-shervin.co.ul www.changingminds.org www.businessmate.org

Nature-Nurture and the Cloned Human

The three levels in biopsychosocial theory (explained in Myers, 2006) are biological, psychological (e.g., cognitive and emotional influences), and social-cultural (unusual since these influences include those studied by social psychologists, e.g., family, peer, and other group influences).   The influences in the three levels generally interact with each other in accounting for the variability between individuals.   However, if a person wanted to be cloned, the person and the clone should be genetically identical, i.e., a result of the first level.   We do know that identical twins are essentially clones (Myers, 2006). Genetics can fully account for characteristics such as genetic sex, and also can influence or fail to influence other personality characteristics of identical twins.   Influence, however, means that genetics interact with influences from the other two levels.   Until the last paragraph of this paper, the assumption that evidence based on identical twins can be generalized to clones has been accepted. Similar article: The Case of the Boy Who Became a Girl The goal of psychologists studying personality is to account for the variability between individuals.   Behavioral-genetic research, which has been furthering this goal, has been motivated by findings that similarities between identical twins do not vary as a function of whether the twins were reared together or apart, there is considerable between-twin variability, and adopted children do not share characteristics with their adoptive families but do share them with their biological families (reviewed in Harris, 1995).   There have been consistent findings that 40-50% of the between-individual variability in personality characteristics is attributable to genetics, and the percentage of variability accounted for by genetics depends on the characteristic being studied (reviewed in Harris, 1995). Studies of genetics and IQ scores (reviewed in Neisser, et al., 1999) have provided evidence that genetics account for a large percentage of between-individual (but not between-group) variability in scores (whatever these tests actually measure!), though results can be mediated by other influences, e.g., by social expectations (from level three) and cognition (from level two). For example, children who do not care enough about their grades to appreciate the worksheet and memorization approach that passes for teaching at many schools (social expectations) may interpret these tests (cognitive influences) as yet another obstacle invented by the educational system.   Nonetheless, if you score well on an IQ test, there’s a high probability that your clone will too.   There are genetic predispositions for many characteristics, with varying degrees to which non-genetic factors interact with genetic ones, e.g., depression (Behar, 1980), attitudes (Turner, 1993), alcoholism (Hill, 1990), altruism (Ruston, 1989), shyness (Kagan, Reznick, & Snidman, 1988). Need for Further Research When people think of cloning, they seem to be asking questions such as, â€Å"if Einstein or Mozart were cloned, would the clone grow up to be a scientific or musical genius?†   First, the clones and persons would differ in some or many of   their experiences both before birth (i.e., in the womb, identical twins differ in their positions, access to nutrition, etc.) and   after.   The clones would be predisposed towards scientific or musical accomplishment.   However, Watson and Rayner (1920/2000) demonstrated that classical conditioning resulted in â€Å"Little Albert† becoming frightened of anything furry after only two trials in which the presentation of a white rat was followed by a loud noise.   So who knows what would happen if Einstein’s or Mozart’s clone tripped over an encyclopedia or violin? However, Einstein and Mozart were at the extremes of scientific and musical genius, where genetics are a greater influence than for Aunt Edna, who teaches science at Dung Hill High School, or for Grandpa Patrick, who entertains his family with heart-warming renditions of â€Å"When Irish Eyes are Smiling.†Ã‚   So there should be a high probability that Einstein’s and Mozart’s clones would make important contributions to science and music.   To my knowledge, there have not been identical-twin studies, where one or both twins received historical recognition for their accomplishments. A second type of question is related to possible differences in reproduction and cloning.     Increasingly sophisticated methods of monitoring brain activity, e.g., functional magnetic resonance imaging, have resulted in studies that have provided evidence that particular areas of the brain become activated as we develop new abilities and acquire new forms of memories, and that over the course of development, there are permanent changes in a person’s brain (reviewed in Damasio, 2002). Probably the most interesting possible change is related to our understanding that we have an internal world separate from others.   Piaget (1952/1963) studied how such a sense of self developed during childhood, and there’s evidence that different brain areas are activated in response to self-relevant information than in response to other information (reviewed in Zimmer, 2005).     Thus the question arises:   Is it possible for Aunt Edna and her clone to have a shared sense of self? References Behar, D. (1980).   Familial substrates of depression:   A clinical view.   The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 41, 52-56. Damasio, A. R. (2002).   How the brain creates the mind.   Scientific American Special Edition, 12, 4-9. Harris, J. R. (1995).   Where is the child’s environment?   A group socialization theory of development.   Psychological Review, 102, 458-490. Hill, S. Y. (1990).   Personality resemblances in relatives of male alcoholics:   A comparison with families of matched control cases.   Biological Psychology, 27, 1305-1322. Kagan, J., Resnick, J. S., & Sidman, N. (1988).   Biological bases of childhood shyness. Science, 240, 167-171. Myers, D. G. (2006).   Psychology eighth edition in modules.   New York:   Worth. Neisser, U., Boodoo, G., Bouchard, T., Boykin, A. W., Brody, N., Ceci, S. et al. (1999). Intelligence:   Knowns and Unknowns.   In R. J. Sternberg & R. K. Wagner (Eds.), Readings in cognitive psychology (pp. 486-532).   Orlando, Fl:   Harcourt. Piaget, J. (1952/1963).   The origin of intelligence in children.   New York:   Norton. Rushton, J. P. (1989).   Genetic similarity, human altruism, and group selection. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 12, 503-559. Tesser, A. (1993).   The importance of hereditability in psychological research:   The case of attitudes.   Psychological Review, 100, 129-142. Watson, J. B., & Rayner, R. (1920/2000).   Conditioned emotional reactions.   American Psychologist, 55, 313-317. Zimmer, C. (2005).   The neurobiology of the self.   Scientific American, 293, 92-101.