F1 :: essays research papers

It really all started at the end of the first lap of 1988 Portuguese Grand Prix. Aryton Senna and Alain Prost were nearing the end of their first season driving together in the totally dominant Mclaren Honda team. All season long, the tension between these two great drivers had been building as the battle for the drivers crown intensified. But, even the most informed observer in Portugal could never have dreamt of what was about to be unleashed along with its impact on the consequences for Formula One. As the two Mclarens entered the pit straight to complete the first lap, Senna led, but Prost, having carried more speed through the final turn, was firmly in his slipstream. As Prost pulled out to complete the pass, Senna swerved to the right, Prost, refusing to lift, kept coming. Soon the cars were side by side, wheels interlocking at 180 MPH. Prost was just inches from the pit wall. Prost made the pass and duly won the race. Afterwards, furious at such tactics by a fellow driver, he is reported to have stated "If he (Senna) wants the World Championship so badly, he can have it." Prost's rage was due to the fact a basic rule of Motor Racing had been broken, and not by some F3 novice, but by a driver blessed with such enormous talent that he should have been able to find other ways to win in the supposed pinnacle of the sport, Formula One. Since motor racing began, the "slipstreaming pass" was the classic way to overtake. It relies on the fact that the leading car does not deviate too much from its line on the straight. There was no rule to enforce this, it was just taken for granted. If a slower car just weaved all over the road overtaking would be impossible, but that was against the "spirit" of racing. More of course was to come, much more. The inaction of the governing body of Formula One sent its message out loud and clear. Clearly Senna now felt that if he could get away with "swerving", then the next step would be "shutting the door firmly". This he duly did to Nigel Mansell at the same race the following year. Mansell, having slipstreamed Senna on the pit straight, went for the inside at the following right hand corner. Senna, refusing to be passed, moved over and the ensuing contact took them both out of the race.

How Does Culture Affect Meaning and Communication Essay

Nowadays we live in what is considered a â€Å"global village†, over time we have collectively worked towards this end. The need and desire to create a closer global community is not only seen as a technological advantage but an economic benefit. The world as we know it gets smaller every day, thanks to a new generation of social media applications such as facebook or twitter, which links vast communities together; communities and cultures are no longer cut off or remote. Take facebook for example, it has over 1 billion users, if it were a country it would be the third largest by population. (www.imf.org/external/np/speeches/2013/012313.htm) Whether you live and work in remote Antarctica or bustling Hong Kong, technology and the studies of inter-culture communication ensures that people, governments and organizations can work effectively together in a harmonious and beneficial way. Naturally, this is an ideal situation, but as experience tells us, nothing is ever as simple. This essay explores how cultural differences effect meaning and communication. In doing so it will look at the definition of culture, what it is, and how it affects meaning. Furthermore, it will look at the acclaimed Dutch researcher, Geert Hofstede’s four dimensions of corporate culture as a framework to define and categorize cultural differences. Finally, it will raise potential problems raised in the field of inter-cultural communications and provide suggestions to overcome them. What is culture? Currently there are over â€Å"7 billion human inhabitants living on this planet. Each of these earth dwellers comes from a specific culture. (geography.about.com/od/obtainpopulationdata/a/worldpopulation.htm) As the world becomes smaller, not physically, but by the use of new media and technology, as they traverse earth looking for new or better opportunities, so must they face the modern conundrum of understanding firstly, what is culture, and secondly, how the differences between cultures effect meaning and communications. Without an understanding of different cultures, the potential for misunderstanding is high, with the ever-present possibility of a breakdown in relationships and opportunities. (Dostine, 2008, pg 58) text book suggests that all humans can be broadly defined by our culture. In essence, we are all born into a culture that over time has been passed down from previous generations, bestowing a rich history, significant culture defining traits such as its religion, its values and ethics, its ceremonies, rites and rituals, languages, customs, laws and business practices. Moreover, verbal and non-verbal communications practices that differ from one culture to the next. Therefore, suffice to say that the more we know about each other’s cultures the more effective our communication and co-habitation of the planet will be. How does cultural effect meaning? At the best of times, communication between individuals can be somewhat challenging. Add to that mix, communicating with people from another cultures and suddenly, the propensity for misunderstanding and in some cases offence can very easily take place as a result of the differences between the cultural backgrounds, understanding and meaning between the sender and receiver can be in stark contrast. This can be due to the increase in variables in the communication mix, therefore making global interaction more complex. Furthermore, people’s perception or way of thinking, hearing or seeing can vary quite extensively from one culture to the next. It could be strongly argued that it would be highly advantageous for both parties to be aware of the differences and therefore the potential for problems that arise from inter-cultural communication. Nowadays, many multi-national organizations, governments and educators have training and education programs in place. They see the importance in creating a clear, concise and respectful flow of communications between cultures. An example of this could be the department of foreign affairs and trade (DFAT) in Canberra. One of its main functions is to liaise internally and externally to better position itself to and for greater opportunity. It would be highly likely that the department has educated its employees in the science of how to deal effectively with other cultures (governments, organizations, businesses). One of DFATs main objectives is to â€Å"work with other government agencies to ensure that Australia’s pursuit of its global, regional and bilateral interests is coordinated effectively†. (dfat.gov.au/dept/what-we-do.html) In the field of organizational cultural studies, a Dutch researcher known as Geert Hofstede went on to publish his highly regarded findings. These findings have become a highly influential and acceptable way in which modern organizations can asses the difference between national culture and organizational culture. Hostede, seen as a pioneer in area of corporate culture, created a framework in which to asses national cultural groups and how they may affect or influence behaviors within an organization. Hofstede’s research in the 1980s, included the survey and analysis of hundreds of thousands of employees across fifty countries, to further increase the validity of his findings he followed up several years later by re-surveying these workers. In his work Hofstede asserted that the values that differentiated counties from each other fell into four dissimilar categories or clusters. Through the process of his study in corporate culture, Hofstede’s created a framework whereby he classified culture into four different dimensions. These dimensions looked at four anthropological problem areas that societies tend to handle differently to one another. Such as, ways in which they cope with inequality, uncertainty, the relationship between the individual and their primary group and implication of the persons sex. Born from this was Hofsted’s four dimensions of national culture. They become knows as Power Distance, Uncertainty Avoidance, Individualism versus Collectivism, and Masculinity versus Femininity. (www.geerthofstede.nl/dimensions-of-national-cultures) In discussing the Four Dimensions of Culture, Hofstede claims that: Power Distance Power distance is the extent to which the less powerful members of organizations and institutions (like the family) accept and expect that power is distributed unequally. This represents inequality (more versus less), but defined from below, not from above. It suggests that a society’s level of inequality is endorsed by the followers as much as by the leaders. Power and inequality, of course, are extremely fundamental facts of any society and anybody with some international experience will be aware that â€Å"all societies are unequal, but some are more unequal than others†. Uncertainty Avoidance Uncertainty avoidance deals with a society’s tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity. It indicates to what extent a culture programs its members to feel either uncomfortable or comfortable in unstructured situations. Unstructured situations are novel, unknown, surprising, and different from usual. Uncertainty avoiding cultures try to minimize the possibility of such situations by strict laws and rules, safety and security measures, and on the philosophical and religious level by a belief in absolute Truth: â€Å"there can only be one Truth and we have it†. People in uncertainty avoiding countries are also more emotional, and motivated by inner nervous energy. The opposite type, uncertainty accepting cultures, are more tolerant of opinions different from what they are used to; they try to have as few rules as possible, and on the philosophical and religious level they are relativist and allow many currents to flow side by side. People within these cultures are more phleg matic and contemplative, and not expected by their environment to express emotions. Individualism Individualism on the one side versus its opposite, collectivism is the degree to which individuals are integrated into groups. On the individualist side, we find societies in which the ties between individuals are loose: everyone is expected to look after her/himself and her/his immediate family. On the collectivist side, we find societies in which people from birth onwards are integrated into strong, cohesive in-groups, often extended families (with uncles, aunts and grandparents) that continue protecting them in exchange for unquestioning loyalty. The word collectivism in this sense has no political meaning: it refers to the group, not to the state. Again, the issue addressed by this dimension is an extremely fundamental one, regarding all societies in the world. Masculinity Masculinity versus its opposite, femininity refers to the distribution of emotional roles between the genders which is another fundamental issue for any society to which a range of solutions are found. The IBM studies revealed that (a) women’s values differ less among societies than men’s values; (b) men’s values from one country to another contain a dimension from very assertive and competitive and maximally different from women’s values on the one side, to modest and caring and similar to women’s values on the other. The assertive pole has been called masculine and the modest, caring pole feminine. The women in feminine countries have the same modest, caring values as the men; in the masculine countries they are more assertive and more competitive, but not as much as the men, so that these countries show a gap between men’s values and women’s values. (www.geerthofstede.nl/dimensions-of-national-cultures) Whilst Hofsted’s four dimensions are highly regarded, further research has highlighted other areas that effect intercultural communication and understanding. These include context, language and non-verbal communications. Firstly, it is almost impossible to investigate research into the cross-cultural issues without making mention of Edward Hall’s research in the area; he asserted that cultures are defined by context. (Hansen & Lee, pg,30) A person’s behavior can be affected by its cultural context. (Dostine, 2008) From here, he broke context down into low context cultures; these prefer direct verbal interaction with minimal regard to context. Examples include Australia, USA, Germany, Switzerland, and Scandinavian cultures.

Spare the Rod and Spoil the Child

I was really enjoying service last Sunday, because my pastor I must admit is good at what he was called to do- crack jokes and preach the word of God. He shared a story about his childhood during service and that gave me the inspiration for this write up.A young pastor Tunde (not real name) apparently set out to grind pepper for his mum, so that dinner could be made without hassle. And so Tunde went to the grind-man’s house and got the pepper well grounded, but instead of going back home decided to play â€Å"one-set† of football. â€Å"One set† led to â€Å"two sets† and more and Tunde was running late for dinner preparations, but at least he had grounded the pepper.Done with football practice and catching up with friends Tunde was on his way out of the sandy football pitch when a more excited friend on the football pitch decided to smash one last shot at goal, but missed by a long mile and caught Tunde’s hand and the grounded pepper spilled on the sand. Afraid and panicking, Tunde managed to get a hold of himself and packed whatever spilled on the sand, alongside the sand and put it all back in the bag and ran straight home with the ‘perfect excuse’.Tunde’s mum asked in earnest what kept him so long, and Tunde said he had to wait in line for his turn. Tunde’s mother refused to dwell on that and collected the (sandy) pepper from his hand and went back into the kitchen. It was there she saw a rather new mixture of grounded pepper and sand (delicious) and required from Tunde as to what came about this combination. Already a successful liar once, Tunde brought out another great line when he said the grinds-man, on putting the pepper inside the machine brought out this mixture and he had no choice but to take what the machine had given to him.Cutting the story short, now born-again Pastor Tunde revealed that he still vividly remembers the slap that was dished out to him when he was done with his ridicul ous response. It was in line of that story that Pastor Tunde revealed a bible passage (Proverbs 22 vs. 15) to back his claim that a child must be disciplined, to set his ways straight.While the church burst out in laughter, I was taking notes. I took notes because I was never beaten as a child by my parents, but at school I got my share and for emphasis sake I am not against it. I just find the topic fascinating anytime it comes up that you must be disciplined by the rod, else you grow up wayward. That assertion does not sit very well with me and so I decided to express myself in my own words. I believe it is the call of a parent to discipline their child however they feel is right, as long as it is done with a high level of tolerance.I definitely agree that a parent reserves the right to spank their child to reality should he default as truth be told, growing kids are the most manipulative people you can ever come across. From the trickery in their moves when they’ve just st olen a bar of chocolate, to the animated tears that form up immediately they have been caught, parents must face the facts that children are indeed manipulative.What then leads the best way to discipline? I grew up knowing that charity began from our home but even then it took a few strokes on my behind in school to correct some of my errors that could not be detected at home. My understanding of that phrase is that whatever basic values you might need as a child, including discipline, you must first get that experience at home. Not being a parent puts me at a slight disadvantage to this debate, but I have watched my little cousins and nieces and nephews grow and I do understand why this needs to be addressed by public opinion. Therein lies the argument, to beat or not to beat.

Describe How to Interact, Respond, Communicate and Deal

When we are communicating with all children and younger people we must treat them all the same. We should be clear and concise. Instructions should be clear and the same E. G. please can you tidy up. Then we should keep repeating please can you tidy up, please can you tidy up, if a child (3-6years) was asked can you put toys away, they can get confused with what they have been asked to do. We can ask the younger child to repeat what the instruction was so we are aware that they have understood what was said to them. Children of the age3-6 are using their grammar a lot more.At this age they can exaggerate very well when telling something. If they are hurt they might tell fibs. Verbalising whilst playing is very common for 3-6 yrs. whilst communicating with these small children I would get down to their level. With the 6-12yrs they tend to ask lots of question. At this age most of the children set their own goals to achieve. Fact and fantasy are distinguished by now. The 6-12 age group s will need to have boundaries in place. They might also need support if they have a falling out with friends.This is the age when they speak about transitions in life. Use language to predict and draw conclusions. Use long and complex sentences. Understand other points of view and show that they agree or disagree. Understand comparative words e. g. ‘it was earlier than yesterday’. Keep conversations going by giving reasons and explaining choices? Start conversations with adults and children they don’t know. Understand and use passive sentences e. g. â€Å"the thief is chased by the policeman†. 12-18 yrs. olds will still look for adult support even though they are striving to be an adult.As teens seek independence from family and establish their own identity, they begin thinking abstractly and become concerned with moral issues. We need to be approachable and also remind them of confidentially. Not all children will like face to face talking so it might be best to speak at side of them. Teens should be able to process texts and abstract meaning, relate word meanings and contexts, understand punctuation, and form complex syntactic structures. However, communication is more than the use and understanding of words; it also includes how teens think of themselves, their peers, and authority figures.Resolving conflict with age groups. Ask each individual what happened and why. Encourage both children to come up with ideas to resolve the problem. Do not judge either child or be negative about their suggestions. Make it clear that you want to work toward a solution that will make them both happy. Encourage the children to listen to each other, including why they believe the conflict started. This effectively forces the children to accept that there is another person with feelings involved. Children are often totally unaware of how their behavior affects other people.Help both children understand what the end goal is; this may involve being v ery clear about what would be a good end result, an answer that suits both children. Ask both children to discuss the incident and to tell you how they have decided to handle it. Be sure to praise the children for handling the problem themselves and reassure them that you know there will be no future conflict between them. When your child gets angry, give them time and space to calm down before trying to resolve the situation. Explain later that it is difficult to think of good solutions when we are angry.We help children to learn the value of positive relationships in many ways. We promote and reward positive behaviour, encourage turn taking, we ensure we are good role models; we encourage sharing and build self-esteem of the use of praise and reward, with either sticker, certificates, merits ECT. We also encourage the children to be kind to each other. As adults we must respect other peoples view even if we don’t agree as everyone is entitled to their opinion. Always show y ou’re interested in what people are saying, show concern if needed and be a listening ear.Respect can be gained by talking to a child at their level and understanding them, for example looking at children at eye level whilst talking to them increases mutual respect. Keeping calm and talking in a â€Å"normal† friendly tone also increases mutual respect. Listening to children and addressing their needs. Role models are inspirational people who encourage others to progress and work toward self-improvement. They are especially important for today’s youth and can play an important role in shaping our society.Role models can influence a young one’s values, beliefs, and attitudes, which will shape the person that one will grow to be. Role models have the ability to focus their efforts on others rather than on themselves and they are selfless. Role models inspire others not only by their words, but more so by their actions that move us to do the same. Role model s help others by offering good examples, by inspiring others realize the endless possibilities to reach their goals, and by moving others to be the best that they can be. Children will copy behaviour so I use manners the children will copy.Influenced by the people around them affects children Reinforcement is used to help increase the probability that a specific behavior will occur with the delivery of a stimulus/item immediately after a response/behavior is exhibited. Negative reinforcement is often confused with punishment. Positive reinforcement is a very powerful and effective tool to help shape and change behavior. Positive reinforcement works by presenting a motivating item to the person after the desired behavior is exhibited, making the behavior more likely to happen in the future.We do this with either thumb up, smiling, verbal praise. Negative reinforcement is when a certain stimulus/item is removed after a particular behavior is exhibited. We can change seat or room. The likelihood of the particular behavior occurring again in the future is increased because of removing/avoiding the negative stimuli. Communication can be hard with young people as well as children. Each difficulty has its own effect. This could be how they learn, or understand what is being said to them. They will need time and to feel less pressured when speaking.Someone with Hearing difficulties would benefit from BSL( British sign Language), difficulty with attention or following complex directions in the classroom would benefit from being near the teacher or having 1-1, difficulty retaining information could have pictures or tape recorders,, poor vocabulary achievement could have extra time, difficulties with grammar, difficulties with organization of expressive language or with narrative discourse, difficulties with academic achievement, reading, and writing, unclear speech, persistent stuttering or a lisp.Most children tent to communicate through text and emails. Sometimes we n eed to change the way we communicate with people. This will depend on the individual. We often do this without knowing we have changed. Eye contact is best for non- hearing as they can lip read. Other ways we can communicate are via letters, email, using different color paper. We might need to speak slowly and more clearly. Depending on the type of visual impairment and what adaptations are necessary, I will produce reading books and class material in large print or braille.Touch typing programmers might be introduced, using a screen reader. Visual timetables, pictures, symbols or photographs are also a good way to communicate. For younger children, a visual time line can be effective, labels for equipment and places for specific activities, pictures, symbols, photographs or written labels. Visual displays of topics or current activities can for some children can cause overload.

Exam 1 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Exam 1 - Assignment Example Since property was communally owned, power remained to men as they controlled the property. With time, these societies shifted to agricultural activities but the position of women only deteriorated as work that is more productive resulted from farming. Spartan boys were enrolled in a rigorous education system sponsored by the state at age 7. This system referred to as the Agoge focused on military training throughout its socialization program. Women in Sparta were also raised in the same way as boys, only they were inactive in military. The Decalogue provides the society with a code of conduct that is supposed to honor the family, secure property, protect life, enhance trust, and define boundaries therefore securing a strong foundation for a productive social cohesion. They are remembered for their immense contribution in trade as they established it with the people that lived along the Mediterranean Sea. The Greeks actually received the alphabets from the Phoenicians as early as 15OOB.C. Aristotle’s most important contribution to the society was classifying the various branches of knowledge. He sorted the branches into psychology, education, logic, poetics, physics, and metaphysics. This laid the foundation of the sciences we know today. He also contributed ethics, a very important subject of philosophy. The Archimedes’ principle is probably the most known of his work. This defines the laws of floating bodies and is one of the basic laws through which shipbuilding, mining and metallurgy are founded. His original theories on levers, screws and the pulley system are responsible for forming a basis for

Discuss the impact of the global financial recession on our lives Essay

Discuss the impact of the global financial recession on our lives - Essay Example Most of the countries today are still under the influence of the global financial recession that occurred. Apart from affecting a nation as a whole, the global financial crisis had an impact on people at the individual level. Today, most individuals still suffer under the effects of the global financial recession that have persisted. Therefore, the global financial recession continues to have an impact on the lives of people today. A major impact of the recession is that many people lost their jobs. The economic recession had a negative impact on companies, including small and big companies. These companies were a major source of employment for many people. When the companies became bankrupt and others broke down as a result of the economic recession, they were forced to lay off their employees (McKibbin W. and Stoeckel 2009). Therefore, many people were faced with the problem of joblessness. Today, most companies still struggle to improve their financial health after the recession. For this reason, these employ few or no new employees, and they have reduced benefits for existing employees. Therefore, most employees continue to feel the pinch of the recession today. The global financial crisis also led to reduced access to credit. During the recession, many people were unable to access credit, including loans for their personal and commercial uses. This was mainly because the recession had a negative impact on the banking and financial institutions that provide credit. This therefore, put a limit on how fast individuals could grow their business and personal lives using credit. The recession forced financial institutions to raise their interest rates, and this discouraged borrowing. Today, since the effects of the global financial recession have persisted, the interest rates on borrowing in financial institutions have remained relatively high. Therefore, most people still feel discouraged to borrow, in order to expand their businesses or build homes, among

Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 12500 words

Dissertation Example This study suggests that the explanation as to how information systems contribute to the performance and competitive advantage of the firm may lie within the specific responses, and competitive actions that the firm participates in or the role information systems play in the competitive dynamics of the firm (Eisenhardt 2004). Kenya and most African countries have one thing in common; they all have a large health provision gap, which is growing each year. This provision gap is prevalent mostly in the urban areas. This arises due to rural-urban migration since young men, and women move to urban areas in search of employment. This movement to urban areas has led to the over stretching of the available and limited health facilities. Due to this, many dispensing chemists that at times act as clinics have sprung up in almost every estate, surburb in the city. The health provision gap can be supplemented through such dispensing chemists and pharmacies. Moreover, many households cannot affor d to pay medical bills at the hospitals and see this as a cheaper way of meeting their medical needs. Capital Chemist is one of those dispensing chemists that operate within Nairobi with the aim of making medical supplies such as drugs, and equipment readily and cheaply available. It also offers services such as laboratory tests. It aims to support and reduce the health gap that exists in Kenya, especially the urban areas. Capital Chemist has over 50 employees and has been operating in the pharmacy market in the country for the last 5 years. Its drug dispensing division is one of the most profitable of the overall venture. Despite increasing competition from other dispensing chemists and pharmacies, Capital has maintained a strong position in the drug dispensing market thanks to its attractive, long operating hours, and the variety of drugs and medical equipment it offers. Even though the popularity of Capitals’ long working hours and a variety of services, Capital has manage d to keep and attract more customers due to the strong customer relationship it has. It has also been able to achieve this through its high level of customer support. 1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY The Capital Chemist, herein referred to as ‘The Chemist’ is a pharmaceuticals drugs and medical equipment retail chain in Nairobi, Kenya. A registered pharmaceutical retail company was incorporated in 2007. It has branches in several parts of the city. Its presence manifests itself in almost every estate, in the city. Administratively the chemist is served through all its 12 branches across the city. It has its headquarters in Nairobi’s Central Business District. These branches aim at meeting the goals, and mission of the company. All operations are regulated and controlled by the headquarters in Nairobi. It aims at providing quality, readily available medical drugs to its client when needed and whenever needed. Synchronizing the management and operations of these branche s to ensure efficiency in service delivery, and profitability has become a nightmare. Currently each of the 12 branches has its own management system that is limited to point-of sale management only. The other process such as inventory management, price control, and diagnosis are manually handled using spreadsheets. Given that daily sales and purchase quantities are high and are forecast to increase, tracking and