Flexpetz

Have you ever had a pet before? According to Harry Truman, if you want a friend, get a dog. Unfortunately, in my case, I have never had a pet before because I do not have enough money, time and I do not have an appropriate place. Flexpetz,one of the biggest pet rental industries, is here to solve our pet problems. http://www.flexpetz.com/

This impressive company provides dogs for customers using rental service. It is a good opportunity for us to decide if we want to keep pets and not have to spend a lot of money and time. However, the animal protection organization in US dissaproves of renting pets because animals are not like cars or furniture. Renting pets has become illegal in Boston in 2008.

On the other hand, in Japan the renting pet business has become popular in the elderly population. Senior citizens want comfort of pets. Furthermore, dogs are not only a recreation, entertainment but also a medicine in Japan. It means they have a significant role in healing people and society. The rental dog industry can provide senior citizens with pets and help them achieve a healthy, happy life.

How to Think like Leonardo da Vinci

I was lucky enough to get the impressive book titled " How to Think like Leonardo daVinci" written by Michael Gelb. Even though this book was published in 1998, it is very informative and valuable for us. As you may know, baby ducks learn to survive by imitating their mothers. Similarly, the best way to improve your potential abilities is looking for your "Roll Models". It helps us by guiding what we think and what we feel and what we do. This book shows us " Seven Da Vincian Principles" to become genius.

①Curiosita: An insatiably curious approach to life.
②Dimonstratzione: A commitment to test knowledge through experience.
③Sensazione: The continual refinement of the senses, especially sight, as the means to clarify experience.
④Sfumato: A willingness to embrace ambiguity, paradox, and uncertainty.
⑤Arte/Scienza: The development of the balance between science and art, logic and imagination.
⑥Corporalita: The cultivation of ambidexterity, fitness, and poise.
⑦Connessione: A recognition and appreciation for the connectedness of all things and phenomena.

Today I will talk about "Curiosita". It means a desire to learn more. If you want to improve the Curiosita, you should carry a notebook or journal wherever you go and write down your ideas and questions whatever you want. For example, "How does a bird fly?" Why does it have two wings?" and so on. If you do this excise, your brain will be like Leonardo da Vinci.

Chaotic Career

What is your major? It is easy to answer it and we often use this question when we meet people for the first time. On the other hand, " What do you want to do after you graduate? " It is really difficult for us to answer it because our career choices are more unpredictable and complex than in past years.

In twenty century, we can use liner theories when we decide on our first careers after we graduate. It means there were strong relationships between our majors and first jobs. For example, the English major will be English teacher and business major will be working as banker and so forth; however, in the 21st century, our career choices is more chaotic. The college education is wide open to many more individuals regardless of gender, race, or career goal. Many students now choose a college education because of the interesting subjects they can study, not necessarily because of specific career plans.

For example, Nassim　Taleb who is the famous author of " Black Swan" was philosophy major and he is working as derivative trader now. Haruki Murakami who is famous novelist in Japan has ran a jazz bar when he was a college student and after that, he wrote the book at the age of 30. Keigo Higashino who is also famous author in Japan, majored in engineering.One of my friends Kyohei Yamamoto is business major and now he is working in Uganda. It means that our career is more complex and chaotic and it is difficult for us to choose our first career using liner thinking.

I strongly agree with Forrest Gump; life was like a box of chocolates and you never know what you're gonna get. That is why it is enjoyable.

Globalization Headaches at Whirlpool

MKT555/455Exam1

1. Consider the cultural issues we talked about in class. What cultural issues would Whirlpool have to consider for market planning in Sweden and Turkey.

2. Let's say Whirlpool has decided to launch a new compact washing machine globally. Rate the attractivenes of the following markets for Whirlpool using the case, external resources, and what you know from the text and lecture.

1. Brazil

2. Japan

3. Sierra Leone

3. Is Whirlpool using a global strategy? To what extent should Whirlpool standardize, adapt, and/or localize their strategy in each of the countries in #2? What would be the best mode of entry for whirlpool in each country in #2?

Chinese Negotiation

Surprisingly enough, China will soon become a leading English speaking country in the world. Since I started staying in the United States, I have been interested in China because half of international students enrolled here are Chinese. They are diligent and hardworking compared to other international students.

I am taking "Multinational Business Communication" in this semester and I had an opportunity to learn how to negotiate with Chinese effectively. One of the important tips is to built "Guanxi".Basically, it is translated as personal connections on which an individual can draw to secure resources or advantages when doing business as well as in the course of social life. The second tip is to minimize your "no". The most important value for Chinese is relationship. If we want to say " Do you understand?", we have to say " Are we being clear?". It means that to save face is extremely important when we negotiate with Chinese.

Hofstede Theory

I have been facing cultural differences between Japan and other countries since I started staying in the United States. When I was in high school, my father told me that America is called the melting pot or the salad　bowl where people who have different nationalities, values, religions can be accepted. I strongly agree with it. Actually, my roommates are from UAE and Spain. Needless to say, their cultural values are different from Japanese.

According to the Hofstede theory, which is the famous framework used to analyze cultural values. These are divided into five dimensions:①Individualism versus collectivism②Power distance③Uncertainty avoidance versus uncertainty tolerance④Masculinity versus femininity⑤Time orientation.

Based on this theory, the Arabic are collective oriented and polychronic culture. That is, time is an open- ended resource that is not to be constrained. But the fact remains that they are very punctual and individual oriented. It means learning culture in a class is really difficult for us because of the stereotype images and biases. Furthermore, culture has been changing gradually.

But on the other hand, Hofstede theory is sometimes useful for us when we meet people who are from different counties for the first time. We can predict what they think, what they feel and what they do. It means this theory is like a map that helps us get to the destination quickly, but it is just a map.

Why do you Study Second Language?

Why do you study English? This is an easy question for Japanese. If we can speak English, we could do business internationally. On the other hand, it is pretty hard for Americans to answer this question. "Why do you study a foreign language? " This is because if they want to do business internationally, everyone can use English wherever they go: South Africa, Singapore, India and so forth.

Although English is spoken all over the world and everyone can use English, I argue that learning foreign language is beneficial for us. There are two reasons for this: to communicate with people in the workplace and to make strong relationships with local people.

The first important reason is that we can communicate with people in workplace effectively if we learn foreign languages. To be sure, most people can speak English fluently, but on the other hand, this is true that there are many people who cannot speak English.

For example, in Japan, although studying English falls within the scope of compulsory education and if we work for leading company, we have to get high TOEIC score; however, most people cannot speak English fluently in business. This is because Japanese English education focuses on grammar and writing. That is why we can read English but not speak English very well. For these reasons, learning Japanese is extremely important for business person if they want to do business in Japan.

The second significant reason is that we can make strong relationships with local people effectively if you can speak Japanese. To communicate with people who are from other country in their language is the best way to have good impression.

For example, if we want to do business in Kyoto that is traditional city in Japan, we have to learn Japanese. Of course, people in Kyoto can speak English a little because of attracting tourists from all over the world; however, people who are originally from Kyoto do not want to speak English because they take pride in their culture and heritage. Therefore, communicating with local people in Japanese is an enormously essential point to make relationships with them.