Abstract This paper discusses some of the challenges that Ron Dennis has had to face in his position as leader of McLaren Group and as one of the most successful Formula-One leaders ever. The author describes the problems arising betwen two of McLaren's drivers, and the lawsuit against McLaren that resulted in a fine of $100 million. Dennis' successes as a leader are also noted. The paper concludes with a few recommendations for Dennis to improve his leadership skills and restore the reputation of his company.
From the Paper "McLaren had been doing fairly well for few years in 2000s but in 2006, the company found itself in a rough spot with no win at all and this was the first time this had happened since 1996. The company had earlier signed a deal with Vodafone and signed Fernando Alonso but if the company failed to live up to its reputation, the deals could cost it heavily. This being the main concern, McLaren decided to come up with a new car design and gave up their current one completely. This gave birth to the idea of 2007 MP4-22 car and with the new car came better fate. The year 2007 was a smashing success but within the company, there were problems. Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton did not get along and that alone raises questions about Dennis' leadership."
An analysis of the writer's awareness of poverty in Canada and recommendations for action, following a reading of Dennis Raphael's book, "Poverty and Policy in Canada."
Abstract This paper discusses Dennis Raphael's book, "Poverty and Policy in Canada." It specifically focuses on the writer's new-found awareness of the pervasiveness of poverty in Canada and what factors - political and economic - appear to be perpetuating it. Finally, the paper looks at some actions ordinary Canadians can take to reduce poverty in their country.
From the Paper "With the political and business communities not helpful in the war on poverty, it is clear that the general public will have to take matters into its own hands by loudly supporting organizations and interest groups committed to social welfare reform. At the same time, people need to contact corporations and politicians and pressure them to do more to alleviate poverty in this land. Of course, simply complaining about poverty is the wrong approach - and, in any case, a truncated one. Instead, the avenue Canadians should pursue is to take from the aforementioned parties something they want: in the case of businesses, that would be consumers; in the case of politicians, that would be votes. Thus, concerned citizens should boycott selected organizations that will not assist workers and which enthusiastically embrace outsourcing. At the same time, people should use the ballot box to throw out governments that are unresponsive to the poverty issue. This approach, which is really a two-pronged approach, is the best one for the significant reason that interest groups rarely move off of a position unless pressure compels them to do so."
Abstract This paper compares Frederick Denny's Islam and the Muslim Community and John Alden Williams' edited The Word of Islam . Denny provides an interpretation of Islam, while Williams presents translated Islamic literature to allow the religion to speak for itself.
Tags: BOOK REPORTS - BOOK REVIEWS, book review islam
Abstract This paper discusses the meaning of corporate racial discrimination, its consequences, the response of the firms that are allegedly practicing it and the methods of fostering corporate diversity. Racial discrimination is referred to any set of actions that discriminate on the basis of race, color, cast or creed. It shows how in the corporate world, racial discrimination can take the form of categorizing employees, customers and suppliers on the basis of their race, cast, color, or creed by treating them in a relatively negative way as compared to other races. It explains racial discrimination through the example of two different companies, Denny?s, a food service chain in the United States ,and Texaco Inc. regarding their treatment of minority workers and the consequences of the allegations of their action.
From the Paper "In 1993, six US Secret Service agents who happened to be African-Americans went to Denny's for breakfast. After waiting for a considerable period of time and complaining to the manager, when they still did not get served, they filed a class-action race-discrimination lawsuit against Denny"s. Not only did the management at Denny's had to respond to this lawsuit but they were further forced to deal with the myriad complaints and lawsuits that followed this event. As a consequence of racial discrimination that was being practiced at Denny"s, the firm had to pay $54 million to 294,000 discriminated customers and their lawyers (Abes et.al, 2000). Furthermore, Denny's was obliged into signing a decree with the US Justice Department where the firm agreed to publicize non-discriminatory policies and retrain existing employees about the same. Moreover the firm's outlets came under the constant supervision of the Justice Department, for the following seven years, where they would be judged continually for any evidence of racial discrimination."
Abstract This paper examines the damage recently caused by the natural phenomena of earthquakes and hurricanes and measures that can be taken to to predict their arrival in order to prepare for them. In particular it looks at Hurricane Dennis, which menaced the coast of North Carolina and Hurricane Floyd, which led to a huge evacuation of people from Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. It also discusses the devastating effects of the two earthquakes that hit Turkey in 1999.
From the Paper "The other major natural disaster in the fall of 1999 has been earthquakes, of which there have been several considered major in impact. Indeed, Turkey has been hit twice in different regions of the country. The earthquake in August left a death toll originally estimated to be about 500. This was a quake of magnitude 7.8 on the old Richter scale, making it almost as powerful as the 7.9 in San Francisco in 1906, which killed 700 people. The earthquake in Turkey struck at 3 am. Dozens of buildings collapsed. It is often noted in American cities when there is an earthquake at that hour that the death toll would have been much higher in the daytime when people were out on the street, but it is not clear that this would be true in areas like Turkey where buildings are not as well-constructed and where most of those killed were sleeping in their own beds when the house collapsed about them."
A review of two socio-historical accounts of Canada, "Wild Things: Nature, Culture, and Tourism in Ontario, 1790-1914" by Patricia Jasen and "Global forces, Local Strategies and Urban Tourism" by Susan Fainstein and Dennis Judd.
1,900 words (approx. 7.6 pages), 2 sources, 2002, $ 71.95
Abstract This paper is a review of the book by Patricia Jasen, "Wild Things: Nature, Culture, and Tourism in Ontario, 1790-1914". The book is a socio-historical account of Canadian history, considering relations of early Canadian settlements, tourism, with gender-race-class analysis. The book is ideal for students of Tourism or Canadian history. This essay also includes a short summary of an article by Fainstein, Susan and Judd, Dennis. "Global forces, Local Strategies, and Urban Tourism."
Abstract Two anthropologists present their ethnographic studies in their books, "Amazon Journey", by Dennis Werner, and "To the Mountain and Back", by Jody Glittenberg. The paper explains how the two show different interests, have different methods, and come to different conclusions about the subjects they study. The paper discusses how Werner describes the Amazonian Indians, while Glittenberg presents her study on the native tribes of Guatemala, especially the Ladino and the Cakchiquel Mayan Indian.
From the Paper "Both ethnologists enter the society and observe, but Glittenberg makes herself more of a participant than does Werner, raising the question of how much her participation affected the subjects and so how much her own involvement in the culture changed what she was observing even as she observed it. Werner was also in the culture he observed, but he observed more than participated, observing to such an extent that he did not even want to hear stories directly from the source. Glittenberg is open about this, even asking certain questions at the outset about how much one can learn by observing. She says that fieldworkers give a general description of a culture, while what she wants to know is answers to questions about family formation."
Abstract Language as a tradition and experience illustrates the holistic effect of language to individuals. In the field of social psychology, it is posited that language determines thought, and this hypothesis, called the theory of linguistic relativity, is proposed by Benjamin Whorf and Edward Sapir. The theory shows how language determines people's perceptions of their social realities as experienced and related to within their society. Chang-Rae Lee ("Mute in an English-Only World"), Dennis Baron ("Don"t Make English Official-Ban it Instead"), and Amy Tan ("Mother Tongue") confront this issue in discourses on language as tradition and experience. This paper provides a comparative analysis of the authors" works and arguments about language and its function and meaning for the individual and society.
From the Paper "Baron uses the academic approach in portraying English as a tradition, a functional system of codes that enables people to interact with each other in the society. Using this as his primary thesis, Baron argues that English should not be implemented as the country's national language, since ?it's hardly even English anymore.? The hybridization of English in America is the result of the assimilation of other languages of people with various nationalities who immigrate and live in America. Because of the emergence of hybrid, pseudo-American languages, it cannot be possible to determine the "purity" of English as a language anymore. Thus, implementing English per se defeats the purpose of language for society?that is, to let people interact and understand each other. However, Baron's argument does not conclude definitively, since as he confesses, "there is no obvious candidate" that would be fitting to become an alternative to English. Thus, Baron's arguments is halted and brought to a standstill, since his arguments against the language pertains only to its function as tradition, and not as an argument against English as a language experienced by its users."
Abstract This paper examines how the increased use of technology in today's workplace has had a largely negative effect on workplace stress and reviews two articles on the topic. The applicability of each of the articles in relation to a type of organization similar to the law/claims group of a public utility is also analyzed, giving recommendations. The two articles are Michael C. Dennis's "Technology and Stress in the Workplace", which focuses closely on the newly emerging impact of technology-mediated stress in the credit industry, and the State of Utah's article,"Workplace Stress".
From the Paper "The State of Utah's article can be applied to a public utilities law/claims group type of organization. Employees in such an organization are likely to share the feeling that workplace stress is an ingrained feature of office life. Further, these employees likely share the impression that there is little that can be done to combat technology-fueled workplace stress. Importantly, the characteristics of those who deal well with workplace stress can also be applied to employees in the field of public utilities."
Abstract This paper presents a comparison of three different websites for all-terrain vehicle (ATV) parts and accessories, specifically geared to the over-50 demographic, with an emphasis on heavy trail/utility vehicles. The paper presents the similarities and differences evident in the following sites: the "Dennis Kirk" site, the Montana Jacks site, and the RideGear site. The paper evaluates the user-friendliness of each site, as well as the specific design of the sites.
From the Paper "Although it is tempting for any aspiring web-entrepreneur to jump right in to the design of their Web site, it is first essential to know something about what already exists "out there" in their chosen focus area. By doing this one can not only get a good feel for the level of competition one may encounter, but also observe how that that competition may be lacking-both in product line and/or services offered as well as in overall Web site design."
Abstract This paper examines the timetable of events leading up to the arrest of Dennis Rader, a serial killer who began his murder spree in the 1970s and was only arrested in 2004. The paper examines his methods of murder, the clues he left for the police, and the reasons why he was finally caught.
From the Paper "On April 28, 1979 BTK waited inside a 63 year old woman's house. Luckily the woman didn't show up that night, otherwise she would have became a victim of BTK as well. BTK then wrote a letter to the woman telling her to be thankful that she didn't come home that night. He also sent one of her scarves to her. Years had passed with no killings or letters from BTK. Throughout the 80's no new leads came in, and investigators were working with profilers to learn more about BTK."
Abstract This paper analyzes the controversial film "The Good Woman of Bangkok", directed by Dennis O'Rourke. Most of the reviews of the film were negative, which the author explains is understandable given the controversial subject matter of the film. In the film, O'Rourke plays a "fictional" filmmaker who comes to Bangkok after his divorce, and then sets out to have sex -- and film it -- with one of the prostitutes who cater to the foreign market. The paper investigates the motivations and actions of the characters, and then considers the various reviews and public responses to this movie. The author also attempts to understand O'Rourke's intention in directing the film and to present his subject honestly.
From the Paper "The first major problem with the presentation of the prostitute Aoi is the "reward" she is being offered for her appearance in the film. The filmmaker offers to buy her a rice farm. This might be seen as just another act of prostitution. Aoi gives the filmmaker what he wants in exchange for compensation. This, along with the documentary conventions of nights with a hand-held camera in bars and the attempted elicitation of the cool and ambiguous Aoi, contributes to an effect of what Cynthia Fuchs (2002) calls the film's "lumpy moralizing". Fuchs continues her harsh judment of the film by claiming that the filmmaker used his film and his stated purpose for the film simply as a screen for gratuitous sex."
Tags: Movie, Bangkok, Prostitution, Sex, Trade, Industry
Abstract This paper examines the semiotic references that are found in Dennis O'Rourke's film "The Good Woman of Bangkok." The writer defines semiotics as being primarily concerned with how meaning is generated and conveyed and explains how the director used this form of communication to confuse his audience. The film, which is reviewed in this paper, discusses the prostitution industry in Bangkok and the director's goal to find the bond between the banality and the aesthetics of love. The writer also explores the semiotic codes used to define the signifier/signified relationship between prostitution and its meanings which are initially the typical codes of contemporary culture.
From the Paper "Of course the code that these men use to interpret themselves and their own behavior is of a mostly deceptive nature. It could be argued that the filmmaker uses his own interpretive code in the same manner to deceive himself. Some argue that the true reason for the film was to indulge in gratutous sex only to justify oneself afterwards. The rice farm is seen as a reward, or a payment, for Aoi to provide her services as a prostitute."
Abstract This paper analyzes the 1969 film "Easy Rider" directed by Dennis Hopper. It discusses the film's relation to the youth culture of its period. The paper explores the social and political split in America. The author considers the lead character's search for freedom and meaning in a materialistic, repressive society.
From the Paper The counterculture of the 60's was a rebellion by the youth of America against the materialistic values of their society and an attempt to get back to relating humanely with each other. People who adopted the counter culture embraced an unconventional appearance ..."
Tags: Film, Easy, Rider, Youth, Counterculture, Hopper, Music, America
An analysis of the styles contributing to the comedy in "The Reluctant Debutante," directed by Vincent Minnelli, and "What a Girl Wants," directed by Dennis Gordon.
Abstract This paper reviews the two films "The Reluctant Debutante," directed by Vincent Minnelli in 1958 and "What a Girl Wants," directed by Dennis Gordon in 2003. The paper discusses the plot, setting and styles of the two films and discusses how these contribute to the comedic portrayal of the cultural clashes between the British and American characters in the films.
From the Paper "In "The Reluctant Debutant" Lord Broadbent brings his daughter willingly over to England. He always knew of her existence, and both he and his wife, in however bumbling a fashion, take an interest in the girl's coming out into society and becoming part of their lives. In "What a Girl Wants," the barbed insults of the aristocrats are more cruel than witty, and they lack the glittering, attractive if cruel perfection of the persons involved in the social whirl of "The Reluctant Debutante." Because there is less of a believable cultural difference between nations, and more of an obvious class difference between middle-class America and upper class England, the aristocrats seem cruel. In the earlier film, this sense of social hierarchy is simply not in the film's frame of reference. England equals class and money. America equals culture and democracy."
