2015年4月29日水曜日

In RW classes of this week, we covered the content of the corporation, and some important  points in writing an essay. The film, the corporation, presented idea that the corporation does not care about the environment and the people, for example during Vietnam War, American corporation Monsanto sprinkled toxic chemical for human body in order to clear the forest which disturbs marching, and it left enormous effect to the Vietnamese civilians.

But I feel that such extreme example does not completely match today's situation. Though it is true that many global big companies produces their products cheaper by operating factories in developing countries or they are responsible for current environmental problem, today's corporations much more care about public views or opinions.
I think corporations can no longer survive without consider those views in this information society, which huge number of people check the movement of corporations through the Internet.
Of course I don't know the true condition of corporations, or whether this world is becoming better, but I believe the situation is changing constantly. 

2015年4月27日月曜日

In the last RW class, we learned one of the key concepts of the corporation. It is to get around the rules, and it means finding loopholes in rules in order to get more profit in management. In the class, we  dealt with one example of The Body Shop.

As I think about other examples, the current dispute between two Japanese big beverage companies, Suntory and Asahi over their products is one kind of example.
Both Suntory and Asahi are prominent corporation in Japan, but in this year, Suntory sued Asahi for one of the Asahi products abusing the patent of producing the non-alcohol beer. Asahi completely denied it, and the fight in the court between two corporations is unavoidable.
Though this is very big issue, I feel this dispute is like first come, first served.
Because they hold top share in the field of non-alcohol beverage both has become heated to preserve their honor, but the original subject of their products' quality is not seems to be cared so much.
Like getting around the rules, they just see their profits.

2015年4月24日金曜日

The Relation of Museum and Corporation in Japan

In Wednesday’s RW class, we watched beginning part of the documentary film, The Corporation.
It shows many experts and executives’ opinions about corporation, and the strong point of this movie is that it presents various ideas of corporation from both supportive and opposing side.
But the core idea is that the primary aim of the corporation is to pursue a profit, in order to return it to their stockholders.


As I learned this idea by the film and the book with same name, the corporation, I wondered the situation in Japan.
In Japan too, though many corporations appeals their friendly image or social responsibility,the prior intention is profit. But as I think about it, I remembered that there are many corporation-owned museums in Japan like Bridgestone Museum of Art, or Suntory Museum of Art.
Such corporation-owned museums are famous and attract many visitors, because they hold various exhibition with collecting art works from within the country and abroad. Many such museums are as good as Japanese national museums on the points of exhibition, architecture and service.
I can say such services are also one of the industries of big corporation, but I feel those museum management is somewhat different from other industries. And it can be seen that those corporation-owned museums, especially ones which have corporation name in their name, are distinctive in Japan, because I can’t mention many museums in U.S. and European countries which are owned by corporations or have corporations’ name.
In the situation of Japanese museums, I think corporations supply the services for the public people which cannot be fully covered by national or local government.
So I feel that we can see and find the contribution of corporations for the society in some aspects, as we think about each country's situation.

2015年4月22日水曜日

Social Media and Japan

In the last RW class, we learned about Japanese situation of introduction of digital technology and social networking service into education and business.
I learned that Japanese current use of such devices is very poor, compared to Western country and some Asian countries. 

I think one of the reason is that SNS or digital devices are not so much familiar with the generation who governs university or companies. 
Most SNSs were deviced and developed in Western country and introduced into Japan, but I think such services like Facebook were uncomfortable with Japanese at that time, because Japanese people are sensitive to their privacy and tend to avoid exposing their information online. 
But these days, more and more people, especially the young generation, use SNS with their tablet devices or smart phones. Many university students have their Facebook account, Twitter account, etc. So I feel that potentially,Japanese universities and companies and whatever will use SNS or digital devices in their field in the near future, with alternation of generations. 
Though I don't think such future is necessarily good, sooner or later Japan will match up with other countries in the field of social media and digital devices.

2015年4月20日月曜日

The Danger of the Internet?

In the last class, we studied about the danger in using the Internet and digital tools, such as hacking or leaks of personal information, and learned some application softwares which can be possible solutions of such problem.

As I learned the potential risk factors of the Internet and digital tools, I felt some kind of foggy uncomfortableness. I think the Internet or devices like computer or smartphone were invented and have been progressed for making our life more convenient and comfortable in the first place, but I feel that modern people are exposed to more and more risks just by the Internet society.
We can apply more strong and stable protection for let security certain, but can't we do anything without using the power of the Internet or digital technology itself?
Had I become unable to do anything without using technology in this world?
I feel that the Internet gives me limitations unconsciously at the same time it gives me a lot of information and possibilities. 

2015年4月16日木曜日

April 15th's RW Class

In today's RW class, we covered some chrome and other browser's settings, information about online lectures such as ones given by the Open University and website like FutureLearn, and tips about Feedly and Blogger. 

 I have never thought seriously about taking online lectures, but I learned today that some courses are free, and I can apply for them by just enrolling online. I think the idea is fascinating, because I can take lecture I like at home, and some courses are given by special lecturers like prominent writers.
Though I am not sure whether I'll take those courses now because currently I am busy with my study at the university and some hobbies, I want to consider it if I could have time to spare.I am not a person like to be very progressive,  innovative or assert own theory on current issues, but I want to learn many things and opinions, and want to understand different views of others, so these stuffs will be very valuable for me.

2015年4月14日火曜日

Today's RW Class

Today, we started dealing with the corporation, written by Joel Bakan. Before start reading the content, we searched for 3B about the book. 3B is an abbreviation of Background, Biography and Bias. We looked for the content of the book, the author, the movie and the directors of the movie.

The author is a university professor of law in Canada, and we found that the content of the book is about the innovation of the cooperation today. Because modern corporations put emphasis on profit rather than individual happiness, the author argues that the cooperation should be changed as more liberal and people oriented institution. This also became a documentary movie in Canada with directors, Mark Achbar and Jennifer Abbott, who directed documentary movie of gay marriage. 
As we searched for information, we could find that the author is rather liberal, and approaches the issue from the point of law. I think that information will be very helpful in reading the book, and identify the author's position about the topic.