Mini-Project #2 – Book Club for the 21st Century
Executive Summary of “Media Mythmakers: how journalists, activists, and advertisers mislead us” by Benjamin Radford, released in 2003
The intention of Benjamin Radford in Media Mythmakers is stated as soon as the title. Radford intends to show ways that journalists, activists, and advertisers have misled us in the past and how they are able to continue to do so. The structure of the book is appropriately divided into four sections. The first is concerned with advertising and how the only concern of an advertisement is promoting the product. Advertisers will tamper with the consumers’ emotions, often even resorting to fear, in order to push the product. The book provides numerous examples of this.
One particularly striking example is about Philip Morris, the cigarette company. Tobacco products have been proven to kill about five million people per year, yet Philip Morris advertises itself as a humanitarian organization that is constructive to our civilization. For decades, Philip Morris and other major tobacco brands have been raking in billions of dollars selling their dangerous products to the consumers without properly revealing these dangers, which they were well aware of. In order to repair their image, the companies organize these humanitarian campaigns which can cost upwards of 150 million dollars per year. Corporations will resort to deceitful packaging and advertisements in order to push the product, even if it is detrimental to society as are cigarettes.
The second part of Media Mythmakers is all about the media: how the media is so powerful in dictating the opinions of their audience and how they never use this power properly. Radford describes misuse of media influence in terms of political bias, which is common during important events in which there are varying opinions, such as wars, elections, and disasters. Journalists can choose which stories to emphasize in their reports, and which stories not to report at all. Since the goal of a media corporation is to maximize their audience size, they will select and emphasize stories that will earn the highest ratings. Be it newspapers, magazines, television, radio, internet, or otherwise, the highest rated stories turn out to be those describing bad news as well as minor fears and risks. Modern media has progressed to the point that they are capable of creating the illusion of providing content and information that is proportional to actual global happenings.
The reality is that this is never true, and that the media corporation thinks about its own success first and the audience second. Media organizations will stoop to the point that they will attempt to put ideas in the audiences’ heads while inducing the illusion that it wasn’t their idea. They will also often exploit the emotions of the audience by profiting in reporting tragedies incorrectly. Reporters will make use of loaded words to spin their stories completely out of context.
These concepts provide an appropriate lead-in to the third section of Radford’s’ book, which is based on a deeper insight as to the media’s constant exploitation of fear, myths, and tragedy, notably the tragedy at Columbine High School, a particularly striking example.
The fourth and final section of Media Mythmakers is undeniably the most important in that it describes the permanent damage done by myths developed up to now. The chapter describes all the consequences of the way the media has conducted its operations on society. These side effects are monumental and need to be addressed sooner rather than later. Radford makes suggestions involving large scale media literacy education in which the audience is encouraged to question every aspect of the media and to scrutinize what they are being instructed to feel and believe.
The format of the book is quite unique. The writing style is informal, the author tells many stories, some of which are quite humorous, and there are numerous captioned illustrations that provide excellent examples as to the topics at hand.
Depth of knowledge of this subject is not only significant, but is nearly essential for everyone entering the 21st century. With innovation bringing new exciting ways of delivering media and advertising, society needs to be prepared to react appropriately in order to be able to make intelligent decisions in a world of uncertainty. Managers and leaders can attempt to gain a comprehensive understanding what goes on behind the world of media and advertising. Radford’s implications in his conclusion are directed at managers and leaders with lots of influence, since they will ultimately decide whether or not society is willing and able to change. A significant concept in this book that is universally relevant is that a problem addressed is not a problem solved and that action must be taken by those with the power to do so in order to make a change.
Another important concept to take away is that with influence comes responsibility, and even though the consumer now knows to be very critical of what the media instructs it to believe, the media is very much responsible to be non-detrimental to society as well.
A third significant notion to draw from Media Mythmakers is the concept of a myth. Radford says that the world is shaped by myths. Myths are created and modified by people interested in controlling your values and beliefs for their benefit. The bottom line of this book is that the author has made an effort to increase awareness about this issue and hopes to “domino” this effect onto others in order to make progress in society in terms of media and advertising filtering. A myth is just words and Radford’s innovative opinion is that only facts should dictate the opinion of the consumer and not unexamined half-truths or assumptions. Managers or leaders are encouraged by Radford to educate and motivate society to look past the bells and whistles orchestrated by the media and to see the true intention of the media’s actions, which will usually tend to be negative anyway. In this ideal society, the consumer would decide whether or not they will invest in the product or service, or join the group, based solely on its qualities and nothing else, which may seem farfetched but is actually an attainable reality.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Book Club for the Twenty First Century
High Noon: Twenty Global Problems, Twenty Years to Solve Them
By: J. F. Rischard
Review by Anastasia Pokholok
In his book, High Noon: Twenty Global Problems, Twenty Years to Solve Them, J. F. Rischard highlights for the reader what he believes are the twenty most important and pressing issues for the human race to solve in the next twenty years.
He starts his books by explaining the “two big forces” that are already having and will have an (even bigger) effect on our planet in the next century—the demographic explosion and the emerging new world economy.
The exponentially growing population of the world is predicted to be 9-10 billion by the year 2025, and this population boom, which for the most part happens in developing countries creates immense problems for the world—problems such as the spread of disease, pollution, food and energy shortages, depletion of natural resources and poverty.
The new world economy that is emerging as a result of the capitalistic economic system which is now accepted by almost all countries in the world, also brings its own problems as well as benefits. The technological and informational boom that has happened over the past 20 years has helped create an economy, which connects the whole world and creates a more efficient, connected and innovative international business environment. This economy brings with it all new markets, products and processes as well as the extinction of inflation, due to the hypercompetitive nature of business which prevents prices from sticking like they used to, and a different business cycle, not as heavily influenced by the old consumption/manufacturing model. However, along with the benefits there are stresses that this new economy brings: the need to adapt to this new model, the growing inequalities between countries and excessive trust in the market, which can lead to huge inefficiencies and failures.
The author then goes on to discuss the new complexity that had been created in the world as a result of all these new developments. He points to the fact that human institutions are not up to par to deal with the demographic explosion and new world economy that have emerged. He suggests that these institutions need to adapt by forming networks, as opposed to the old system of hierarchy, and the need for the nation-state to adapt to the new trans-national economic, political and environmental systems.
Rischard then goes into the bulk of his book, describing the twenty global problems, which he divides into three categories: issues involving the global commons, issues requiring global commitment and issues needing a global regulatory approach.
The first set of problems: global warming, ecosystem losses, fisheries depletion, deforestation, water deficits and maritime pollution. The interesting aspect of these issues is that all of them are interconnected. Global warming, being a principal issue, is very much connected to ecosystem losses (for example, in the arctic), water deficits (due to rising temperatures in already water scarce and population dense regions), and deforestation (which in turn also leads to ecosystem losses). The author point to the fact that despite global efforts to prevent the spread of these issues, they have been largely fruitless and uses this to support his argument for the need for better institutions.
The second set of problems: poverty, peacekeeping/terrorism, education for all, infectious diseases, digital divide and natural disaster prevention. Out of all of these issues under the category of “sharing our humanity,” Rischard points to poverty as the root for many of the others, and therefore being the most important. It is poverty and leads many people to turn to violence, causing terrorism and ethnic conflicts, and fuels the spread of infectious diseases and the huge gap in technology and education accessibility. It is nearly impossible to tackle the problems of education, terrorism or infectious diseases without first raising half of the world population from poverty—living on less than two dollars a day.
The third set of problems: reinventing taxation, biotechnology rules, global financial architecture, illegal drugs, trade, investment and competition rules, intellectual property rights, e-commerce rules and international labor and migrations rules. All of these problems have to do with the new interconnected world and the fact that nation-states are less and less capable to dealing with international problems individually. For example, it is impossible to target illegal drug trade for one country alone, there needs to be a collective effort on the part of many to bring down a powerful drug cartel whose influence extends past the borders of any one nation. The same way, new rules need to be created for taxation (for companies who do business in several countries), investment, trade, commerce, intellectual property, all of which transcend nation-state boarders. Due to this new international system, there also needs to be a new financial structure to deal with a new set of financial and economic problems that are emerging from the new world economy. In addition, new scientific discoveries that are being made need some sort of guidelines, since they are now bring made with international teams and therefore affect different countries.
The author admits that this list is not a final one and that perhaps one can give or take (most likely give) five. However, the issues on the list are important and on the list for several reasons. They are, indeed, global (and greatly affect the relationships between nation-states), they are urgent, not particularly expensive to solve (with the right tools) on a global scale, and most importantly of all, none of them can be solved with the current international setup. There have been attempts at solving these issues with efforts such as treaties, conventions, intergovernmental conferences, G8-type groupings and global multilateral institutions. However, all of these have proven to be insufficient because they are too slow, do not follow up, have a lack of knowledge or are unable to work independently.
The author suggestion is the creation of networked governance, which would minimize complication and hierarchy and expediting solution times. These global issues networks would each have their own issue to tackle but at the same time would work together to achieve maximum success and cooperation. The author breaks down their make-up timeline into three periods. First, there is the constitutional phase during which the networks would recruit members from governments, civil societies and businesses and come up with a code of conduct. Second, in the norm-producing phase brainstorming of the different parties should occur as to the best methods to tackle the issues at hand, using a method of “rough consensus” to vote on the best ways to achieve success. The final phase, would be the implementation phase in which the members of the networks would work with respective countries and industries to implement the plans. There would be a rating system for success in the countries, as well as a “naming-and-shaming” system to guarantee the efforts of all countries.
The author argues that this system of networked governance produces the speed, legitimacy, diversity and compatibility with traditional institutions that is required for its success. He admits that the tasks are not easy and that the democratic representation of people (through the electronic town meetings) will need some work before it functions the way it should. However, the issues which the author lists are indeed very important and pressing and, although the author’s approach to them may seem a bit naïve and simplistic, it is a starting point to thinking.
The hardest part of solving today’s global problems is coming up with a solution that will get results and setting up institutions that can implement decisions effectively and with transparency. Rischard’s book seems to lay out a very fine start to that brainstorming and sets a firm foundation to work from.
Video for Thought!
Hey guys,
Prof Karakas, Salman, and I stayed after class discussing some ideas for class projects. We all agreed that video would be a great medium for communicating our thoughts on some of the topics we've covered in OB. Prof K suggested that it could be a great idea for the fifth project (it's in our syllabus, without an official "Mini Project" title). One topic we came up with is a video comparing current educational systems and future educational systems, but we'd love more input... As well, we'd love to increase the "we" (i.e., we'd love more participants). If you're interested, post a reply. We can have more than one group doing a video for the last project. Ideally 3-4 per group, but, again, these are just our suggestions.
Hope to hear from you all!
Nicole and Salman
Prof Karakas, Salman, and I stayed after class discussing some ideas for class projects. We all agreed that video would be a great medium for communicating our thoughts on some of the topics we've covered in OB. Prof K suggested that it could be a great idea for the fifth project (it's in our syllabus, without an official "Mini Project" title). One topic we came up with is a video comparing current educational systems and future educational systems, but we'd love more input... As well, we'd love to increase the "we" (i.e., we'd love more participants). If you're interested, post a reply. We can have more than one group doing a video for the last project. Ideally 3-4 per group, but, again, these are just our suggestions.
Hope to hear from you all!
Nicole and Salman
BOOK CLUB FOR THE 21ST CENTURY
Executive summary: The Age of turbulence by Alan Greenspan.
Alan Greenspan was the former chairman of the US federal reserve. I can start by saying this book is striking. Mr. Greenspan’s book is mainly divided in two parts. The first one is his autobiography since his parents arrived to New York and the second part is about the major economic events that happened in the US and around the world, along with some tentative predictions of what things might be like in 2030. The author links all that to the new globalized economy that we are facing nowadays, including the rise of China and India.
Greenspan drives us through his Washington Heights childhood, his passion for the ideas of Adam Smith and Ayn Rand, to his career in economic forecasting, then through four decades in public service, including nearly eighteen years as Chairman of the Federal Reserve. In the second half of the book, Greenspan presents his conclusions about the state of the global economy and its future. He begins with a brief history of capitalism and goes on to discuss, chapter by chapter, the economic successes and challenges of recent decades in Japan, China, India, Russia, and Latin America.
I find the development of Russia during the past decade interesting to explore and Alan did not discuss about it. Alan Greenspan is an eloquent and convincing speaker for market capitalism and globalization. He explains the transition from manufacturing to a service economy in the US in a way that anyone can understand and get a better idea of what’s going on in the US in the past decade and even more. This is where I think the book is good at explaining. A lot of his analysis is based on understanding inflation rates, growth rates and the Fed rates, which he should well know, since he was the chairman of the Fed for so long. I felt that Greenspan is a smart man, well-intentioned, but susceptible to political pressures. He is bright, educated, but politically naïve especially about Russia.
I think that this book should be read by people living in the 21st century especially by future managers because it gives a lot of insights and explanation of our global economy. Moreover there are lots of explanations about the economic environment we are living in and how people should take advantage of the rising countries such as china and India. Greenspan experience as the Chairman of the Fed led him to take major decisions especially after September 11th 2001. Lowering interest rates, grating loans to airline companies, trying to reduce the likelihood of a recession, all these are strategies that he used to try to boost up the US economy after this event.
It is important to say that Mr. Greenspan is very charismatic. He criticizes a lot in the book president Bush especially on tax issues and the war in Iraq. He agreed that the invasion of Iraq was only to provide the US the oil it needs to survive within the next fifty years or so. However, I noticed that he doesn’t give any concrete example or actions that people should take about the environment and other critical issues that everyone of us should be taking care of like health, access to education etc.
The first idea that I find interesting in this book is about President Bush and the republicans. "They (Republican party) swapped principle for power. They ended up with neither. They deserved to lose." That’s what Greenspan said in the book and I agree with him. Greenspan, who during his tenure as chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank had been famous for his tight-lipped stoicism, also accuses President George W. Bush of abandoning Republican principles on the economy. The Bush administration did not know how to manage politics and the economy. They invaded Iraq and now the US economy might be facing soon a recession due to the huge expenses of the military activities. What every one of us should understand after looking and understating the Iraq war is that it is completely immoral nowadays to spend money on wars. We have so many issues to deal with, and all this billion dollars spent on munitions can rather be spent on education, access to health in developing countries or by trying to invest in research and development to eradicate thousands of diseases such as Aids, cancer and so on.
Secondly, in chapter 21, Greenspan talks about education and income inequality. In today’s world, it is very important to focus on education and to get specialized in a field. The demand for skilled managers in the 21st century is drastically increasing and so people should take advantage of that. The global world is being connected by sophisticated technologies and the internet is allowing people to do business without borders. And what drives our global economy is competition. However, in the United States, there is a big gap between rich and poor people. Politicians are responsible to create and design specific economic policies to help citizens survive and succeed in the business world.
Thirdly, talking about the future is everyone’s responsibility and that’s what greenspan does in his chapter. He says that he doesn’t have answers about what’s going to happen, however everyone of us should take actions to improve our intellectual thinking, our environment and the way to behave to become great managers as Mr. Greenspan was.
Finally, if you want to have an idea about who Greenspan is and what he did as a chairman of the US fed, this is a great book plenty of history, knowledge and facts.
Alan Greenspan was the former chairman of the US federal reserve. I can start by saying this book is striking. Mr. Greenspan’s book is mainly divided in two parts. The first one is his autobiography since his parents arrived to New York and the second part is about the major economic events that happened in the US and around the world, along with some tentative predictions of what things might be like in 2030. The author links all that to the new globalized economy that we are facing nowadays, including the rise of China and India.
Greenspan drives us through his Washington Heights childhood, his passion for the ideas of Adam Smith and Ayn Rand, to his career in economic forecasting, then through four decades in public service, including nearly eighteen years as Chairman of the Federal Reserve. In the second half of the book, Greenspan presents his conclusions about the state of the global economy and its future. He begins with a brief history of capitalism and goes on to discuss, chapter by chapter, the economic successes and challenges of recent decades in Japan, China, India, Russia, and Latin America.
I find the development of Russia during the past decade interesting to explore and Alan did not discuss about it. Alan Greenspan is an eloquent and convincing speaker for market capitalism and globalization. He explains the transition from manufacturing to a service economy in the US in a way that anyone can understand and get a better idea of what’s going on in the US in the past decade and even more. This is where I think the book is good at explaining. A lot of his analysis is based on understanding inflation rates, growth rates and the Fed rates, which he should well know, since he was the chairman of the Fed for so long. I felt that Greenspan is a smart man, well-intentioned, but susceptible to political pressures. He is bright, educated, but politically naïve especially about Russia.
I think that this book should be read by people living in the 21st century especially by future managers because it gives a lot of insights and explanation of our global economy. Moreover there are lots of explanations about the economic environment we are living in and how people should take advantage of the rising countries such as china and India. Greenspan experience as the Chairman of the Fed led him to take major decisions especially after September 11th 2001. Lowering interest rates, grating loans to airline companies, trying to reduce the likelihood of a recession, all these are strategies that he used to try to boost up the US economy after this event.
It is important to say that Mr. Greenspan is very charismatic. He criticizes a lot in the book president Bush especially on tax issues and the war in Iraq. He agreed that the invasion of Iraq was only to provide the US the oil it needs to survive within the next fifty years or so. However, I noticed that he doesn’t give any concrete example or actions that people should take about the environment and other critical issues that everyone of us should be taking care of like health, access to education etc.
The first idea that I find interesting in this book is about President Bush and the republicans. "They (Republican party) swapped principle for power. They ended up with neither. They deserved to lose." That’s what Greenspan said in the book and I agree with him. Greenspan, who during his tenure as chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank had been famous for his tight-lipped stoicism, also accuses President George W. Bush of abandoning Republican principles on the economy. The Bush administration did not know how to manage politics and the economy. They invaded Iraq and now the US economy might be facing soon a recession due to the huge expenses of the military activities. What every one of us should understand after looking and understating the Iraq war is that it is completely immoral nowadays to spend money on wars. We have so many issues to deal with, and all this billion dollars spent on munitions can rather be spent on education, access to health in developing countries or by trying to invest in research and development to eradicate thousands of diseases such as Aids, cancer and so on.
Secondly, in chapter 21, Greenspan talks about education and income inequality. In today’s world, it is very important to focus on education and to get specialized in a field. The demand for skilled managers in the 21st century is drastically increasing and so people should take advantage of that. The global world is being connected by sophisticated technologies and the internet is allowing people to do business without borders. And what drives our global economy is competition. However, in the United States, there is a big gap between rich and poor people. Politicians are responsible to create and design specific economic policies to help citizens survive and succeed in the business world.
Thirdly, talking about the future is everyone’s responsibility and that’s what greenspan does in his chapter. He says that he doesn’t have answers about what’s going to happen, however everyone of us should take actions to improve our intellectual thinking, our environment and the way to behave to become great managers as Mr. Greenspan was.
Finally, if you want to have an idea about who Greenspan is and what he did as a chairman of the US fed, this is a great book plenty of history, knowledge and facts.
“Book Club for the 21st Century”
Faster: The Acceleration of Just About Everything (by James Gleick)
Megumi Wada
Student#:260164112
About this Book:
How many times do you push the button while you take an elevator? Are you good at multitasking? Is the microwave too slow for you? By definition, time is a continuum in which one event follows another from the past through to the future. Today, we have so many things to do in one day that 24-hours no longer fits in with our schedule book anymore. Instead, we move by the minute, by seconds and even by nanoseconds just to save time…to squeeze other things in. Since 24 hours is not enough for humans, multitasking has become a way of life. The prospect of saving time has become a major selling point of technological innovations. Children are proud to tell their friends that they eat “homemade meal” consisting of frozen ready-to-eat hamburger and potatoes. Time is no longer something to “spend”. We, who are chased by time, created new type of human characteristics called Type A personality, which is often described by aggression, hostility, and suffering from anxiety of “time”. Something is happening to our society. Faced with the unforgiving pressure to do more, to achieve more, to cram more into life, we are constantly looking for ways of doing things faster. It is such a general topic, but this book takes a bird’s eye view to describe the many different personal causes and effects of time.
How did we get here? We don’t know yet. However all we know right now is that “acceleration is the modern obsession.”
Why you should read Faster:
This book doesn’t just describe what is going on our lives; in terms of the way we live with time and what we should do in the future. The whole book is an introduction. Through more than 30 chapters, Gleick presents several cases and ideas, before each chapter ends. The reader keeps waiting for the actual book to start including some analysis and conclusions. However it never comes.
There are 2 possible messages from James Gleick:
1. Gleick purposely made this book for people living in this “Faster” world. One of the chapters, he talked about more jogging, less reading. We don’t actually have time to read. Why don’t we finish reading books like eating fast food?
2. We haven’t found the cause and cure for this “disease of clock”. Gleick does not suggest any reason or remedy for this matter. Instead, the readers are left with a list of serious symptoms in 21st century to contemplate on their own.
James Gleick points out many examples of “time” with different aspects of life. He covers the elements of why people need to accelerate in everything to the point where “making time” becomes a nightmare. Gleick does not make criticism, but rather observations to provide an engaging and compelling look at some important and indicative changes in our society.
The book suggests that if we can argue for acceleration in several areas that really make a difference in our society, we can eventually begin to answer our common complaint that there is never enough time. Thinking about how we live is significant not only for 21st century leaders and professionals, but also the rest of us, since time is a common, basic need that we cannot live without. Only we have the answer for it.
3 Things I learned from this book:
1. Time is NOT money.
Time is limited and so is money. Both are really hard to manage and hard to use. We have a constant income per day- “24 hours”. However, unlike money, we cannot save this time at the bank, invest, nor use whenever you want. James Gleick says, “Saving time is a very complicated mission.” Then why are we so in hurry all the time? Some people say, “I need to save time for traveling.” You cannot save time. Time passes no matter what you are doing at this moment. Sadly, even though most of people know this fact, satisfaction of how to manage time will never be achieved for us. Nowadays, the standard of livings in many countries have rapidly increased and our concept towards time and money has changed.
Time > Money.
Stacks of to-do lists accumulate in front of us and even if we are on vacation, we are lying on the beach with a blackberry.
Symptom 1: Multi-taskers
2. Time really flies!
Collections of brain knowledge have invented amazing convenient machines and transportation methods all over the world. James Gleick noted that before Federal Express shipping became commonplace in the 1980s, the exchange of business documents did not usually require a package to be delivered “absolutely, positively overnight.” But soon, the whole world expected goods to arrive the next morning. Mailing systems have also dramatically changed since the advent of e-mails. Photo development, food cultivation, and even such basic actions like walking are now faster than ever. Airplanes are amongst the most ingenious inventions of all-times. You can basically go anywhere in the world, whenever you want, and in such a short time compared to the when people used ships to cross over the oceans. However, because of this, we have gotten a new disease, jet lag. Time difference is against the daily routine of the body and makes people more fatigued. But who does care? This is our future. Maybe time traveling through isn’t so far away…
Symptom 2: Disease of Clock
3. Times don't change. Men do. (by Sam Levenson)
Living in Tokyo numbs your sense of time. Everybody walks very fast, subways come every minute, there are a lot of people, bright lights in the city at night, and convenience stores are open 24 hours. All these things are normal for Japanese. There is a reason why Japan has the second highest GDP in the world. We never sleep. Many work all night, until the last trains are gone. From the outside, Japan may be one of the most peaceful and richest countries. However, when you look at the people’s faces, they all look dead. There are so many Type A people.
Psychologist Selye introduced the general adaptation syndrome to explain the response of the body to stressors. Those stages show exactly what people in Japan are going through.
Stage 1: Alarm
People start to have symptoms of getting stressed such as feeling blue, fatigue and depression.
¯
Stage 2: Resistance
Neurological and hormonal changes will lead to diseases of adaptation. (E.g. Hikikomori and Hypertention)
¯
Stage 3: Exhaustion
This is the stage where the body breaks down and borderlines death.
(E.g. committing suicide)
Tokyo is one of the model cities of the future. This can be viewed in a good way and a bad way. Japan is famous for its beautiful city, but it has record-high suicide rates as well. This is not solely because of the faster society, but it is definitely a contributing factor.
Symptom 3: Time = Stress
Our physical evolution is still quite slow, but our technological enhancements have enables us to evolve at a frightening pace, and it’s getting faster. At the same time, our psychological aspects haven’t been able to catch up. It appears that the 21st century will see humans physically and psychologically merge with technology and time.
BOOK CLUB FOR THE 21st CENTURY
My top book capable of preparing us for the 21st century is The World Café: Shaping Our Futures Through Conversations That Matter by Juanita Brown, David Isaacs and the World Café Community. In my opinion, this book is very valuable and I thought it was worth sharing this information with my colleagues. The core message is that through conversations that matter we are able to co-produce a world in which we want to live in. “The World Café reintroduces us to a world we have forgotten. This is a world where people naturally congregate because they want to be together” (Foreword of the book, by Margaret J. Wheatley).
The book is divided into twelve chapters. The first two chapters emphasize on the fact that conversation matters and view the conversation as a “core process”. The co-author David Isaacs also talks about the World Café and its beginnings. The World Café is a way of hosting conversations in small or large groups. It’s an evolving discussion through several rounds in which a conversation about a core question is first initiated and then people begin to rotate to new rounds of dialogue keeping their critical ideas from the first round into the next. Through several rounds, core ideas are generated, innovative possibilities become accessible and the patterns become clear. The World Café was born in Juanita Brown’s (the co-author) living room in a dialogue on intellectual capital and knowledge management involving people from different countries. These people then went out of that gathering and began hosting in their own regions. As a result, the initial dialogue in that living room evolved into a global dialogue movement in order to build cultures of dialogue around the world. Chapters three to nine expose and give an in depth look into the principles that strengthen the practice of a successful World Café. These principles are respectively: set the context, create hospitable space, explore questions that matter, encourage everyone’s contributions, cross-pollinate and connect diverse perspectives, listen together for insights patterns and deeper question, harvest and share collective discoveries. The last three chapters give us an insight on the Café process and illustrate the art of creating a learning culture through dialogue. This book is different from others in the sense that it’s a living story accompanied by many deep insights. “The World Café works like the window of a cathedral whose light reminds people to tap into their innate sources of natural wisdom” (Rev. Jan Willem Kirpestein). This book is an immediate and extremely efficient source of learning.
In my opinion, this book is noteworthy for 21st century professionals, leaders and societies in the world in the sense that it will extend one’s perspective on the importance of dialogue as a core process in one’s life and work. As proof, World Café dialogues were hosted by Nokia Corporation around their global values for the company as a whole. This book is a way for people to discover how to create their best ideas through this system of discussion and also a way to build those powerful relationships in order to bring those ideas to action. The World Café presents a map to this divisive world in which we live in. A map that is a must for anyone aspiring to leadership, healthy relationship or quality conversation. This map has been used to support non-profit organizations, church organizations, universities by people who are trying to shape their futures through conversations that count. “This book is required reading for anyone who cares about a better tomorrow. The World Café offers tools that can convert analysis into profound change and provides a structure for connecting people that is pure genius”(Peter Block, author of Stewardship). The promise is that by following those suggested processes for taking action we will be able to shape our future. Based on the book, quality conversation is a must for managers in the 21st century. Through quality conversation many important ideas will develop leading to the benefit of everyone and especially managers who seek leadership.
There are three main concepts learned from this book. The first one is that through quality conversation, collective wisdom becomes more accessible. In this way, problems, conflicts and issues of all humanity can be solved leading to a better world, a welcoming one shaped by us. The second concept is a key one I believe; Juanita Brown tries to show the reader that unlike the general opinion, conversation is action because it’s the source from which relationships, which play a big role in our lives, are created but also because it’s the only process that creates trust. The third important concept states that in order to have a good conversation it’s important to listen. It’s important to learn not to interrupt, letting the speaker share his ideas while you process the information and then share yours. In this way, key ideas become clear and as said before patterns get noticed.
To conclude, this book is a great way to learn a process for hosting conversations that matter. If you’re looking for deeper relationships or curious about different ways of tackling real-life issues then this book is a must.
RAMZI RAHBANI#260230521
Book Summary
East Asia and the Global Economy.
Japan’s Ascent, with Implications for China’s Future.
By Stephen G. Bunker and Paul S. Ciccantell
This work stands out amongst academic examinations of Japan’s post WWII economic development: it looks at the hard facts first and theorizes later. The authors paint a powerful factual framework to describe how Japan, a small island-nation that lacked adequate domestic supplies of virtually all the raw materials essential for industrial production, became the world leader in steel making, shipbuilding and heavy industry. In the process, Japan restructured the world economy by globalizing regional industries such as of coal and iron ore extraction, and created a model of economic development that China would later emulate. This raises two fundamental questions. Based on Japan’s experience, what lessons can we draw about China’s future? Conversely, can Japan take advantage of the spectacular ascent of its neighbour to rejuvenate itself?
In 1960, seaborne petroleum, coal, iron ore and bauxite trade totalled 2,093 billion ton-miles, twenty years later Japan’s restructuring of the world economy would push that figure to 11,015 billion-miles, an increase of 426%. The authors argue that each sequential case of ascent to hegemonic status -- Portugal, Netherlands, Britain, US, China/Japan? -- depended on sequential increases in control of raw materials peripheries, which would fuel the rise of key “generative” sectors. Japan’s very success was based on the organization of its steel industry to provide low-cost inputs to a wide range of heavy industry (e.g. auto manufacturing), which had the effect of increasing global competitiveness. Cooperation is essential amongst political, economic and social groups to create these “generative” sectors because of the inherent contradictions between economies of scale and diseconomies of space. In other words, as Japanese technological advances created increasing scales of steel production, the challenge was to deal effectively with the escalating costs of sourcing raw materials from increasingly large and distant mining operations. The authors describe how state-sector-firm cooperation was essential to decrease the costs of transport (innovations and scale in the shipbuilding industry) and to secure supply of low-cost raw materials in extractive peripheries including Australia, Brazil and Canada through the use of long-term contracts and joint-venture agreements.
Chapter 2 introduces the theoretical framework of historical materialism and explains the importance of “generative” sectors and the importance of solving contradictions between scale and space. Chapters 3, 4 and 5 describe the physical characteristics of iron ore and metallurgical coal; the technical aspects of achieving incremental economies of scale; the role of MIDA in creating tightly integrated deepwater ports incorporating steel mills, shipyards and automobile plants; the formation of extractive peripheries and the bargaining strategies used by MITI to transfer the risks and costs of supplying cheap coal and iron ore. Chapter 6 focuses on the role of the shipping industry in creating economies of scale and reducing the costs of transport. Finally, chapter 7 discusses how Japan’s successful developmental model eventually led to the economic malaise of the “lost decade(s)”. More importantly, the last chapter addresses some emerging parameters of the 21st world economy, in particular the manner in which China is replicating Japan’s developmental model, importing its technology and benefiting from the Japan-made global raw materials network.
There are two central, yet widely ignored, insights in this work. First, the authors are right in pointing out that sustained economic ascent can only be achieved when raw materials and transport industries are the cornerstone of national policy and the focus of state-firm coordination. Second, it is not widely understood that China is in fact replicating the Japanese developmental model, one that has already proven successful in the past. Indeed, the Chinese government is busy creating “generative” sectors in steel making and coal by building state-of-the-art coastal steel mills using Japanese technology while importing the lowest cost raw materials from abroad. As a result, China is today the world leader in steel production, both in volume and costs. However the authors rightfully point out that following the models of earlier ascendant economies does not guarantee success, in part because the outcome is highly contingent on the strategies of other competing economies, and in part because of the need to create a dynamic and unified state-sector-firm strategy.
A factor that is not directly addressed by the authors however, is that the scale of the raw materials challenge in China is an order of magnitude greater than Japan’s ever was; indeed, the former has ten times the population and thirty times the territory. And while China is busy integrating new regions into its raw materials peripheries (especially in Africa), it is questionable whether the raw materials challenge can be effectively resolved without devising a new strategy. Obstacles include the growing scarcity of low-cost fossil fuels and metals reserves across the globe, the increased consolidation of oil & mining industries into oligopolies that can extract larger rents and the environmental impact of coal and metals mining and processing in China. At the rate it is currently growing, China will eventually make oil, coal and industrial metals cost-prohibitive and will have to begin looking at technological solutions to improve resource efficiency. Interestingly, Japan is the world leader in this field, having successfully resolved its own environmental crisis and today boasts the highest energy and resource productivity amongst OECD countries. Convexly, if China creates a world of 200$ oil/coal/iron ore, Japanese society will suffer and political/economic reform will become inevitable. Despite its economic malaise, Japan has changed little in the past twenty years; the tremendous success of its post WWII development period depended on the very rigidity and cohesion of its socio-economic institutions which are today the source of its low competitiveness and dysfunctional financial system. Its failure to take full advantage of the size of its next-door neighbour’s population as an engine for growth is a testimony of its inability to achieve reform. It is possible then to envisage a future where Japan and China become increasingly integrated economies, at last lifting Japan from twenty years of self-imposed economic stagnation.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Introduction
Hi everyone,
My name is Salman and I am an international student from Pakistan, entering the 3rd year of my engineering degree. Coming 10 times zones away from a hot country and starting a new life in different environment, (where zero degrees celsius feels really warm in February) was a huge challenge initially, and I really missed home. But with passage of time, I become acquainted with place, made new amazing friends, grew to love the snow and all the joys that came with it ( skiing, the never-ending snow ball fights, tubing, toboganning etc) and thus, found a 2nd-home for myself.
What I really like about the O.B. class is that it is breakaway from the traditional linear styled classes where quizzes, exams and grades are the only goals and creativity and life-long learning are (more or less) squeezed out of the class. This my experience having studied in an engineering curriculum that is very rigorous and "getting an A-/A seems to be the exclusive goal." While exam are important for evaluation of the students, at the same time, I feel there should be some room for innovation and creativity.
Like one of my colleagues pointed, we have people from all over the world within this class and it could in fact be a mini-global platform for exchange of innovative ideas/views/opionions. I am sure looking forward to this.
My name is Salman and I am an international student from Pakistan, entering the 3rd year of my engineering degree. Coming 10 times zones away from a hot country and starting a new life in different environment, (where zero degrees celsius feels really warm in February) was a huge challenge initially, and I really missed home. But with passage of time, I become acquainted with place, made new amazing friends, grew to love the snow and all the joys that came with it ( skiing, the never-ending snow ball fights, tubing, toboganning etc) and thus, found a 2nd-home for myself.
What I really like about the O.B. class is that it is breakaway from the traditional linear styled classes where quizzes, exams and grades are the only goals and creativity and life-long learning are (more or less) squeezed out of the class. This my experience having studied in an engineering curriculum that is very rigorous and "getting an A-/A seems to be the exclusive goal." While exam are important for evaluation of the students, at the same time, I feel there should be some room for innovation and creativity.
Like one of my colleagues pointed, we have people from all over the world within this class and it could in fact be a mini-global platform for exchange of innovative ideas/views/opionions. I am sure looking forward to this.
Hey everyone,
My name is Sasha and I’m a U2 Biochemistry student at McGill. I was born inHi everbody,
Hello everybody. I am Metin Keles. Actually I am only visitor in this class. I would like to thank Mr. Fahri for the invitation of this blog and class. He is a very kind man. Thanks very much my dear friend.
I am from Turkey, I am a civil engineer minor in construction planning graduated from Istanbul Technical University in 2004. I have been here since April 2008. I like montreal much. The city and mc gill universies are really excited.I worked in Turkey, in Azerbaijan, in Dubai and now I am in Montreal. I am a founder and partner of two companies, one is a local company in education sector , the other one is an international trade consulting company, making business matching between Turkish SME and some europan countries SME's such as German, France and Holland .
I come to Canada because my wife is canadian, she is studying on phsycology at Montreal University.We plan to stay here for some time. During this period I would like to go on my dreams, career change, continue my career on International Trade, therefore i am searching for programs in universities.
I like travelling, making research on internet, doing businesses, meeting with people.
I am glad to meet you all. And I am very happy, feel lucky for being in this class.
hope this course will be a step on your career, dreams, expectations.
Metin
I am from Turkey, I am a civil engineer minor in construction planning graduated from Istanbul Technical University in 2004. I have been here since April 2008. I like montreal much. The city and mc gill universies are really excited.I worked in Turkey, in Azerbaijan, in Dubai and now I am in Montreal. I am a founder and partner of two companies, one is a local company in education sector , the other one is an international trade consulting company, making business matching between Turkish SME and some europan countries SME's such as German, France and Holland .
I come to Canada because my wife is canadian, she is studying on phsycology at Montreal University.We plan to stay here for some time. During this period I would like to go on my dreams, career change, continue my career on International Trade, therefore i am searching for programs in universities.
I like travelling, making research on internet, doing businesses, meeting with people.
I am glad to meet you all. And I am very happy, feel lucky for being in this class.
hope this course will be a step on your career, dreams, expectations.
Metin
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Heather says hello
Hey everyone,
greetings in the wee hours of the morning, my name is Heather Tsang.
I am a U1 management student, majoring in Marketing.
I was born in Toronto, raised in Vancouver, and now I am currently living in a little building next to Concordia... I like to wear McGill sweats to provoke the locals. jk.
I drink lots of tea and laugh loudly though not necessarily at the same time.
And of course I should like to get to know you!
I look forward to all the ideas that we will toss around together, as well as the inspiring thoughts that we will each bring home with us after every class to ponder. I sense there will be challenges ahead which we will struggle with and no doubt overcome, albeit not without effort of course so good luck, work hard and play hard! I hope we all enjoy~
Cheers
HT
greetings in the wee hours of the morning, my name is Heather Tsang.
I am a U1 management student, majoring in Marketing.
I was born in Toronto, raised in Vancouver, and now I am currently living in a little building next to Concordia... I like to wear McGill sweats to provoke the locals. jk.
I drink lots of tea and laugh loudly though not necessarily at the same time.
And of course I should like to get to know you!
I look forward to all the ideas that we will toss around together, as well as the inspiring thoughts that we will each bring home with us after every class to ponder. I sense there will be challenges ahead which we will struggle with and no doubt overcome, albeit not without effort of course so good luck, work hard and play hard! I hope we all enjoy~
Cheers
HT
little intro of me
hello everyone,
My name is Mohamed Khachab and I am a third year student in management, majoring in finance. I have been living in west Africa before moving to montreal five years ago. I have also lived in lebanon and Paris for a while. However, Montreal remains my favourite city. I am socially engaged a lot, especially in the Canadian Red Cross. I love music, travelling and flying. I will be graduating in a year and then be ready to join the job market in the banking field. I wish you every success in your future carreer and I will be happy to meet you guys anytime.
Cheers.
Mohamed
My name is Mohamed Khachab and I am a third year student in management, majoring in finance. I have been living in west Africa before moving to montreal five years ago. I have also lived in lebanon and Paris for a while. However, Montreal remains my favourite city. I am socially engaged a lot, especially in the Canadian Red Cross. I love music, travelling and flying. I will be graduating in a year and then be ready to join the job market in the banking field. I wish you every success in your future carreer and I will be happy to meet you guys anytime.
Cheers.
Mohamed
hi everyone, I am wendy
I’m Wenting Jiang, with my English name Wendy. I’m glad to meet you guys in this class and I’m willing to share something about myself with you. I came from a beautiful seaside city Dalian in China. As you all do, I’m now a McGill student with my major in finance and accounting. This is my second year in McGill, I enter this school as an engineering student and stay for that for my first year. After that, I found myself more comfortable with the management major, so I transfer to this faculty. I am an optimistic girl and love to make friends. Singing maybe the loveliest thing I think in my life. The feeling of music is really good. My dream is to be a good manager and live a happy life with many friends. I love to have a free and relaxed environment to study and this course just fit my flavor, as it has no exams! I hope this course would enhance my experience and ability and have a happy summer with you guys.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Allô?! Jimmy Chan speaking...
My name…Jimmy Chan
I’m from…Guayaquil, Ecuador
I study…Computer engineering at McGill
I am…Chinese raised in South America.
I like…eating, cooking, snowboarding, watching movies, chatting with friends, philosophy, computers and technology, travelling, 3D graphics and digital imaging, music, guitars, cold and sweet drinks, soccer, learning languages and meeting people, salsa and merengue.
I…came to Canada to pursue my undergraduate studies in engineering two years ago. OB is my first management class which I’m taking as an engineering general complementary course: one of my best decisions in my early life, with the promise of a lifelong learning opportunity. Let’s all challenge ourselves, let’s all pursue our dreams and goals! And, let’s all get to know each other,
Your buddy,
Jimmy Chan
Introducing Myself
Hey everyone!
My name is David Biggar and I will be one of your fellow classmates for the next month.
A little about me:
Born in Toronto, I moved to Montreal last year to attend McGill and am currently finishing up my second year of studies. My major is General Management (with concentrations still not declared) and I have a minor Philosophy. Although a humanities student at heart, my practical personality leaned me towards business, and my interest here firmly lies in the potential power that organizations can have to make a positive difference in today's globalized world. Oddly enough not only is this the main reason why i'm in business, but it is a central theme of our course! So, to follow from this, I am certainly thrilled to be here and look forward to the remainder of our learning together!
Other interesting facts about me include that I am a twin and live in a family with two sets of twins, I play football for the McGill Redmen, I spend most of my summers at a cottage in central Ontario, and I am a nationally certified and experienced Sailing instructor.
..with that haha, I hope to meet many of you over the next month and I wish everyone all the best in the remainder of the course!
Dave
P.S. apologize for the late post, I was travelling all weekend
My name is David Biggar and I will be one of your fellow classmates for the next month.
A little about me:
Born in Toronto, I moved to Montreal last year to attend McGill and am currently finishing up my second year of studies. My major is General Management (with concentrations still not declared) and I have a minor Philosophy. Although a humanities student at heart, my practical personality leaned me towards business, and my interest here firmly lies in the potential power that organizations can have to make a positive difference in today's globalized world. Oddly enough not only is this the main reason why i'm in business, but it is a central theme of our course! So, to follow from this, I am certainly thrilled to be here and look forward to the remainder of our learning together!
Other interesting facts about me include that I am a twin and live in a family with two sets of twins, I play football for the McGill Redmen, I spend most of my summers at a cottage in central Ontario, and I am a nationally certified and experienced Sailing instructor.
..with that haha, I hope to meet many of you over the next month and I wish everyone all the best in the remainder of the course!
Dave
P.S. apologize for the late post, I was travelling all weekend
A little about Dave
Hey Everyone
My name is David, and I was born in Georgia (the country) and I have moved to Montreal twelve years ago. I am currently beginning my third year in mechanical engineering in McGill this fall. Like my fellow classmate, I agree that mechanical engineering has been rough, but there's always summer to boosts our grades. I am planning on completing my bachelor's degree and continuing with a MBA after graduation and a bit of work experience. My hobbies; hanging with friends, hockey, jogging or exercising, working on projects in engineering, watching movies at work, playing poker, and just about anything that gets me out of the house. My interests; anything that has to do with mechanics or computers. I enjoy traveling and am hoping to be on my way to Israel by the end of June. I also like to try different types of cuisines found in abundance across our great city of Montreal. I have also just recently developed an interest in business and management through a course that I just took this past semester; Engineering Economy.
The most appealing aspect of this course is the extensive interaction between classmates and from what I hear, it just might be one of the most engaging courses in McGill. Like all engineers, I like challenges and I like working on projects because you get to meet new people and work together to accomplish a common goal; needless to say, a rewarding experience. I'm much looking forward to meeting and getting to know everyone.
See you soon.
My name is David, and I was born in Georgia (the country) and I have moved to Montreal twelve years ago. I am currently beginning my third year in mechanical engineering in McGill this fall. Like my fellow classmate, I agree that mechanical engineering has been rough, but there's always summer to boosts our grades. I am planning on completing my bachelor's degree and continuing with a MBA after graduation and a bit of work experience. My hobbies; hanging with friends, hockey, jogging or exercising, working on projects in engineering, watching movies at work, playing poker, and just about anything that gets me out of the house. My interests; anything that has to do with mechanics or computers. I enjoy traveling and am hoping to be on my way to Israel by the end of June. I also like to try different types of cuisines found in abundance across our great city of Montreal. I have also just recently developed an interest in business and management through a course that I just took this past semester; Engineering Economy.
The most appealing aspect of this course is the extensive interaction between classmates and from what I hear, it just might be one of the most engaging courses in McGill. Like all engineers, I like challenges and I like working on projects because you get to meet new people and work together to accomplish a common goal; needless to say, a rewarding experience. I'm much looking forward to meeting and getting to know everyone.
See you soon.
david's intro blurb
Hello everyone! My name is David, I was born in Montreal and haved lived here since then. I am currently wrapping up my first year studying management in McGill. I have not yet declared my major but my interests include Information Systems as well as Operations Management. I would say I am quite studious, but during my spare time I play the drums in a band, I play basketball, and I enjoy watching TV and movies. I also have a part time job in Accounting for the Just For Laughs festival in Montreal this July. I look forward to meeting some of you, for the group projects or otherwise!
David
David
w e i - j u
My name is Wei-Ju Chen and I am from Taiwan. I was born in Taipei, Taiwan and I moved to Boston when I was two years old. I studied in the United States until I was 7 years old. After that I moved back to Taiwan. I stayed in Taiwan for 4 years until I was 11 years old and came back to Canada to study. I lived in Vancouver for 7 years and after I started studying in McGill I began living in Montreal. I am a student in Microbiology and Immunoloy and next year will be in my third year in McGill. So far I am enjoying McGill very much. In additional to my science major, I hope to obtain a minor in management. During my spare time, I enjoy chatting with friends, reading books, magazines, the news and different people's blogs online, orgami and different arts and crafts.
So far, I am finding management classes very different from science classes. Management classes are much more interactive and the classes are much smaller so there will be a higher chance for everyone to get to know each other. So far, we've only had 3 classes together but I hope too get to know each and every one of you in this class.
your OB classmate, Wei-Ju
So far, I am finding management classes very different from science classes. Management classes are much more interactive and the classes are much smaller so there will be a higher chance for everyone to get to know each other. So far, we've only had 3 classes together but I hope too get to know each and every one of you in this class.
your OB classmate, Wei-Ju
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Aiwa's intro
My name is Aiwa Zhu, and I am a Mcgill student in management program. My major is accounting. I am an optimistic and confident person. When I was a kid, the important part in my life is performances on the stage. Now, my favorite activity is to become a volunteer for Olympic 2008, and I will perform my service on August. Currently, my personal goal is to finish bachelor degree in Mcgill by 2009. I love music very much, and I play piano and saxophone in my spare time. I like to make friends because as it is said, “every person has his own character, if you know how to read them.”
Bronwyn James
Hello all - my name is Bronwyn James. I’m 19 and from Toronto. I am majoring in finance with a concentration in accounting. I love (almost) all things about the Faculty of Management, from the academics to Carnival. This summer, I am working at a hedge fund in Houston, Texas, for July and August (assuming the U.S. government accepts my work visa application).
Starting this month, I am VP Communications of the MUS. This means I’m the person who sends out mass emails to you every week during the year. If you have any questions or concerns about the MUS, including how you can get involved, please feel free to ask me. Talk to me in class or email me at vpcomm.mgmt@mail.mcgill.ca.
Who I am?
Hi everyone!! My name is Benoit Arsenault and I am 23 years old. I am from Rimouski a city located in the East of the province of Quebec. My parents still live there and I have a sister who is studying at Laval University in Quebec City. I am in Montreal since two years, so I am a U2 in B.Com (major in finance). I am also part of the Redmen hockey team. I am really happy to study at McGill because this university gives me the opportunity to improve myself in a lot of domains. I have interest in finance and everything related to different stock markets, and I also like meeting people from all around the world and open myself to their culture. I love sports thus every day I try to keep myself active in a way. It can be hockey, golf, tennis, gym, bike… on the other hand to get rest and work my mind I read, listen music, watch movie or go on internet. In the future, I would like to be a broker for a firm in the province of Quebec and I hope to be able to travel around the world.
Who's Vinthan?
Hi there!
My name is Vinthan Asokanathan and this is my 1st year at McGill in Physiology (in the Faculty of Science). I was born in Montreal and I love pretty much every square inch of this city (with exceptions of course). At night, it's like heaven filled with tons of lights and music! I used to go out and enjoy the night time plenty UNTIL university dawned upon me and I am sure it's the same for the most of you! In my spare time, I enjoy keeping active and going to the gym or playing sports or even just running around, lover playing pool and poker (not a gambler!), watching comedies and documentaries and I'm a tech buff! I hope to one day work in the Telecommunications sector. I'm not much of a bookworm unless it's related to technology. I did want to pursue Medical studies but everywhere I look there always signs pointing me towards doing Management as I'm more of a social guy who likes working with others rather than in a lab alone, so I think I'm gonna follow my calling, since Physiology is a killer.
That's all folks! :)
My name is Vinthan Asokanathan and this is my 1st year at McGill in Physiology (in the Faculty of Science). I was born in Montreal and I love pretty much every square inch of this city (with exceptions of course). At night, it's like heaven filled with tons of lights and music! I used to go out and enjoy the night time plenty UNTIL university dawned upon me and I am sure it's the same for the most of you! In my spare time, I enjoy keeping active and going to the gym or playing sports or even just running around, lover playing pool and poker (not a gambler!), watching comedies and documentaries and I'm a tech buff! I hope to one day work in the Telecommunications sector. I'm not much of a bookworm unless it's related to technology. I did want to pursue Medical studies but everywhere I look there always signs pointing me towards doing Management as I'm more of a social guy who likes working with others rather than in a lab alone, so I think I'm gonna follow my calling, since Physiology is a killer.
That's all folks! :)
greetings to everyone
hello peers,
my name is Kenneth Lim and I'm in my first year at Mcgill. I am majoring in either marketing or finance (can't make up my mind). my hobbies include online gaming, basketball, jogging, small group socializing and travelling.
i believe that i am rather easy going and easy to approach. so feel free to talk to me if u want to. i was born here in montreal, but i've also been to and lived in USA and SOUTH EAST ASIA. therefore, i cannot quite say that i belong anywhere yet. rather i have a mixed perception on my ideal way of life (conservatism of the east and liberalism of the west).
in any case, i look forward to learn as much as i can about new things and also to have a wonderful time with u guys.
smile always,
Ken
my name is Kenneth Lim and I'm in my first year at Mcgill. I am majoring in either marketing or finance (can't make up my mind). my hobbies include online gaming, basketball, jogging, small group socializing and travelling.
i believe that i am rather easy going and easy to approach. so feel free to talk to me if u want to. i was born here in montreal, but i've also been to and lived in USA and SOUTH EAST ASIA. therefore, i cannot quite say that i belong anywhere yet. rather i have a mixed perception on my ideal way of life (conservatism of the east and liberalism of the west).
in any case, i look forward to learn as much as i can about new things and also to have a wonderful time with u guys.
smile always,
Ken
Hello. Introducing Myself...
Hello. My name is Chan Sung Kang from Korea. Since it's hard to pronounce, you can call me Jason. This is my 2nd year at Mcgill, and I'm majoring in accounting. I was born in Seoul, and I came here, Canada, 5 years ago. Before coming to Montreal, I was living in Vancouver, and I'm thinking about going back to Vancouber after graduation. Although I've been in Canada for a long time, I still have Asian accent. My hobbies are biking, swimming and listening to music. I can say that I'm pretty honest and sincere (and I like sincere people), but, as you will see, I'm less sociable. From this course, I'm expecting to learn how to be active and how to cooperate with others in doing works. Also, I'm expecting to learn how to think creatively. The course is only for 6 weeks (only 5 weeks remaining from now), but I'm really anticipating great experiences from this course. Nice to meet you all. Thank you.
self-introduction
My name is Aiwa, and I am a Mcgill student in management program. My major is accounting. I am an optimistic and confident person. When I was kids, the important part in my life is performances on the stage. Now, my favorite activity is become a volunteer for Olympic 2008, and I will perform my service on August. Currently, my personal goal is to finish bachelor degree in Mcgill by 2009. I love music very much, and I play piano and saxophone in my spare time. I like to make friends, because every person has his own character, if I know how to read them.
Salutation to Everyone!
Hello Everyone!
My name is Sara, I am second year student and my major is Accounting. I am living in the
I am only taking one class this summer. I am glad to be taking this Organizational Behaviour class because it is a great opportunity to develop a new way of thinking and to get a better understanding of the 21 century which will be very helpful for our future career.
I hope to be getting to know all of you more!
Sara
something about Ou
Hello everyone:
My name is Ou(pronounced like the letter "O", not the "ou" in french :) ). This is my 3rd year at McGill already and Im graduating next summer, hopefully. I am doing a major in Finance and concentration in Accounting.
I am a chinese girl and moved here in Montreal 4 years ago with my family. Next year after I graduate, I may continue my study in MFE or MFS, probably in the united states, cuz my family is planning to move again to the states.~
Some of my hobbies are piano, saxophone, painting, design and travelling. I also love parties, clubs, shopping and hanging out with friends~
I think this course is amazing and this class is amazing, too~ so I am really looking forward to meeting every of you and hope we will all have a great summer time
My name is Ou(pronounced like the letter "O", not the "ou" in french :) ). This is my 3rd year at McGill already and Im graduating next summer, hopefully. I am doing a major in Finance and concentration in Accounting.
I am a chinese girl and moved here in Montreal 4 years ago with my family. Next year after I graduate, I may continue my study in MFE or MFS, probably in the united states, cuz my family is planning to move again to the states.~
Some of my hobbies are piano, saxophone, painting, design and travelling. I also love parties, clubs, shopping and hanging out with friends~
I think this course is amazing and this class is amazing, too~ so I am really looking forward to meeting every of you and hope we will all have a great summer time
Hello All
Hi guys, my name is Anastasia. I am entering my second year at McGill next Fall, majoring in Finance and minoring in international relations. I was born and raised in Russia, moved around the United States for a while and now I am here in Montreal.
I am very interested in politics, both international and domestic (although I must admit I know more about the US than Canada). I play the flute, love cooking and am really looking forward to expanding my knowledge here in Montreal this summer, through this course and by exploring the city.
Hope to be getting to know all of you better in these next couple weeks!
I am very interested in politics, both international and domestic (although I must admit I know more about the US than Canada). I play the flute, love cooking and am really looking forward to expanding my knowledge here in Montreal this summer, through this course and by exploring the city.
Hope to be getting to know all of you better in these next couple weeks!
A Quick Guide to Emily
Hello class! This is my last semester at McGill, and soon I will graduate with a degree in Anthropology. Though it will say anthropology, I venture to say it should say that I really studied archaeology- anthropology insinuates I study living cultures. However I enjoy learning about dead cultures, hence archaeology. This is my first summer staying in Montreal, other years I have gone off excavating in obscure places such as northern Finland. In September I am going to South Korea to teach English with some friends. Until then, unless I am in class, you will probably find me either i. sitting on the steps of my apartment building, ii. in the library, iii. aimlessly wandering around Montreal or iv. crashing into objects while rollerblading. I also enjoy experimental archaeology, which means I make stone tools.
Jessica's Intro
Hello Everyone!
My name is Jessica and I am a first year management student majoring in Accounting. About myself, well, I was born in Montreal and have lived here since. I am of Italian, Irish and Scottish decent. Some of my interests and hobbies include playing sports, reading, watching movies and spending quality time with my family and friends. I’m glad that I’m taking this course because it gives us the opportunity to learn from different perspectives and it will definitely prepare us for our future careers.
I’m excited to learn from each one of you, through your different views and experiences. As well, I’m hoping to learn more about myself.
I look forward to getting to know all of you better!
Jessica
konichiwa :D
Hello everyone. My name is Megumi, straight from Japan!
I came to Montreal 4 years ago and am in Marketing and Psychology major.I will be graduating this year and will go back to Tokyo, working at a consulting company (hopefully....) Since I love to travel and to meet people, I will go to France for a vacation. Very excited!
If you are interested in Japan, Tokyo, or me...feel free to talk to me! I love musics, arts, foods (eating and cooking), sports...etc.
What are you guys plans for summer? I will be in an internship program in Tokyo office and will get some experiences!
See you guys soon.
Megumi
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