Lanthanum – atomic number 57, symbol La. Name comes from the Greek ‘to lie hidden’ – discovered in the 1850′s.
Not actually that rare but found in relatively high amounts (32ppm – I said relatively!) in the Earth’s crust.
Triple A Learning IB Blogs
November 17, 2010
February 12, 2010
Bowing to the power of ‘Culture’
As the world’s economies become increasingly interdependent, the power of social norms and cultural values become ever more important – as has the need for businesses to train their employees in the skills of international business negotiation and closing the deal. Students like PEST analysis, but the ‘social/cultural’ aspects are often vague and lacking in specific exemplars. However, one excellent illustration of the social/cultural dimension is the traditional Japanese apology bow.
In Japan, the bow has a PR value, but few legal implications. That has made Japanese companies very happy to use the gesture when something bad has happened. But they forget that they are global companies and that these things mean something abroad. The important thing to remember about the Japanese bow is that, when it comes to saying sorry, there are several contortions. Degree and length of hold are the key measures: the theatre is important here, not the actual regret. There is the momentarily-held 10-degrees (gosh, was that your toe I trod on?), the briefly-held 25-degrees (sorry, we’ve run out of tuna) the 2-second, 45 degrees (I know you’re the Best Man, but the flight is cancelled) the 5-second 45 degrees (I’ve just backed over your dog, boss), the 20-second 90 degrees (our widget blinds kids) and the “dogeza” kneel on the floor (evacuate your village, the plant is exploding).
February 4, 2010
Toyota in crisis management over faulty brakes and accelerators
A firm’s reputation is built over many years. That reputation, however, can be undermined almost immediately by an unexpected turn of events. How management deals with a crisis underpins the maintenance of a corporate image. In the case of Toyota, the world’s biggest carmaker, the latest alarm follows worldwide recalls of almost eight million cars. The problem is two-fold — the first technical, the second managerial. Toyota models have suffered from two distinct but related problems with the accelerator. Initially, the problem seemed to centre on faulty floor mats that caused the accelerator to jam. But in fact the problem extends to the malfunctioning accelerator pedal itself. Toyota, having clung to the first explanation, has now issued a second recall of 4.3 million cars worldwide due to floor mat and pedal problems. Toyota’s managing officer, Hiroyuki Yokoyama, said although the company had found a clash between the anti-lock brake system (ABS) and regenerative braking, more investigation needed to be done before deciding on whether to issue a recall on the Prius.
Building an empire is painstaking; ruining it is easy. It took 70 years of imagination, graft and ambition to make Toyota the largest car manufacturer in the world. But that astonishing achievement may be quickly undone if Toyota continues to react so contrarily and clumsily to safety concerns about several of its models. A brand based on reliability is proving to be unreliable at both a practical and corporate level. The latest crisis affects the symbol of the automaker’s engineering prowess. Angry customers are also demanding to know why recall notices have only just been issued when Toyota has known of the accelerator defect since last winter.
