Drift Racing Past, Present, and Future - Essay Example

Running Head Drift Racing – Past, Present and Future DRIFT RACING The Industry – Past, Present and Future Affiliation: add your own   This is Drifting …. Skidding and sliding around a race track in a car may not be everyone’s idea of fun but it forms the backbone of a huge sunrise industry. ‘Drifting’ is a driving technique where the driver of a car employs the handbrake, accelerator, and the steering wheel to take the traction of the car to the very edge and causes the front tyres of the car to slip (skid) at a different speed compared with the rear tyres making the car seem to travel sideways and forward at the same time. Drifting is usually done to enter and exit corners at high speed and sometimes while going along a straight stretch of track. Drifting is accompanied by a huge amount of screeching and smoke from the overheated tyres, which combined with the high speed and derring-do of the drivers, gives it so much spectacle and thrill value, especially for the young male. This is one of the few races where timing is not the deciding factor in deciding who wins; form and style are the main arbiters of victory or the distinguishing feature of the good and the indifferent. (Formula D) This method of driving was seen as a stunt in some films and shows. Some sportsmen in the car racing arena have used this to advantage. Drifting only became popular in Japan when a motorcycling legend named Kunimitsu Takahashi perfected the art of drifting in the 1970’s. A street car racer named Keiichi Tsuchiya gained a huge reputation as an expert drifter, and in 1977 a video was produced on Tsuchiya’s drifting. This video became immensely popular and inspired a number of drivers to take to drifting and drifting became recognised as a sport in itself with its own organisation, rules and events, and its own ‘language’ (Wikipedia). Drifting was mostly an underground activity, being banned by the traffic laws and regulations. The western public could only see pirated DVD’s and read about the sport till it hit their shores in the early 21st century. Once exposed there was no looking back and the industry has grown at a rapid pace since then. Drifting is essentially illegal unless done on designated race tracks, but in Japan it became a night sport where the young people would get together at the docks and drift, since these were isolated places and there was no chance of causing harm to anyone - the police looked away. The sport took an official status only in October 2000 when the ‘All Japan Professional Drift Championship’ was held in Eibisu, Japan and soon became known as the ‘D-1 Grand Prix’ (D1GP) . This first event attracted a crowd of 3000 people. When the first demonstation of the sport was held in the US in Irwingdale in 2003 it pulled in a crowd of 10,000 spectators. The sport was demonstrated at Silverstone in October 2005 marking its official entry into Europe. Today drifting events attract very large crowds and has become a business (Gonzaga S, 2006). Drifting was limited to Japan and it was only in 1996 that the first ‘event’ was held outside Japan when the magazine ‘Options’ sponsored a race at Willow Springs race track in California. Since then it has seen a mushrooming growth in popularity in North America, Europe and Australia. Drifting itself has evolved into a motor-sport with a huge following and spreading its tentacles into a host of other industries as well (Wikipedia).Drifting is gaining popularity at an explosive rate and has spawned a plethora of businesses related to drifting. Today, from special cars being built for the sport to video games and motion pictures to memorabilia all aspects of the entertainment industry are hitching on to the drifting bandwagon. This makes it a marketing professionals dream and a typical study in the applications of management theory in the modern world. Smoke Storm…. “Drift racing is red-hot right now” said G4 president Neal Tiles, “It is emerging from its ‘underground’ roots and is captivating the young guys everywhere…” It is an extreme motor sport and was introduced to the US by Formula Drift, Inc in 2003 and has become a ‘cultural phenomenon’ (prnewswire, 2003). The sport has attracted the attention of the elite in the sport casting and promotion businesses like Fox Sports and ESPN. The sport has caught the fancy of the young American male like no other fashion or fad in the recent years and is fast emerging as the brightest new star on the business horizon. Like any other business of this nature it offers a great opportunity for companies to cash in on the popularity of the sport and enter business in the main and related fields. It also gives a view of the development of an industry in its nascent stages. There is no parallel to be drawn from in recent times or compare the development and business methods with. Spinning Out… Like any other fad or fashion, drift racing is showing the usual growth associated with such trends, and is presently in the near vertical growth stage, presenting a tremendous opportunity for business to cash in on the popularity of the sport. This, especially with the background of what has happened recently in the other motor sport arena – the F1 circuit, is a rare platform for business which has everything going for it (Saward J, 2003) The spin offs from the business which are already emerging and continue to come through every few days include special promotions of products and services allied to the sport. Cinema, TV serials, video games are fast the order of the day. Sponsorships, Advertising and Branding are the main business platforms that would be able to exploit the popularity of the sport. Since this sport attracts the young male, and now some females, it shall be an ideal base for lifestyle products positioned to target such a customer. The drifting business…. The management of the sport is presently in the hands of different groups and companies that handle the various aspects of the business. There is no central agency like in Formula 1 racing. It also needs to be clearly understood that this sport, like many other extreme sports before it will be a passing fancy and will die down to a low profile once the present generation involved in it have grown and some other fad catches the fancy of the next generation. Therefore it does not seem to be an ideal platform for a long term brand building strategy. Since this is a business which can not be compared with any traditional management model it can only be discussed through drawing parallels with other similar businesses like motor and horse racing and other extreme sports. On the macro level there is no concept of managers and managed. The motivation comes from within the individual and the only way to attract more adherents is to make it more spectacular while constantly improving on the safety aspects even if this sounds contradictory. Working on the hype is necessarily a work of the individual companies involved in the sport directly or indirectly and most importantly word-of-mouth publicity. Unlike Formula 1 racing this is a comparatively low budget sport and does not need extensive investments in equipment and facilities. At present drifting is done on remote mountain roads, drifters prefer these places since they, due to their location do not cause any traffic problems and the risks of causing harm to other people are relatively small, yet they offer many S-Turns that the drifters love. The second place where one can find drifters is old and desolate parking lots and asphalted areas of tarmac. These two locations are not very relevant while examining the management aspects of the sport since the activity is illegal in any case and due to the remoteness of the ‘arenas’ and their sporadic choice does not offer much in terms of business promotion activity, except for the local suppliers of equipment, mainly cars, and related services. The third area of drifting is the most important from the management viewpoint in that this is the organized part of the sport and where maximum spectators are to be found – and they pay to get in too! Organized sport has many things to recommend it as well as numerous drawbacks. It is well to recommend organization in sports which have a long history and large followings like football, Baseball and athletics, which shall have a following at all times and find a much wider base of followers. Drifting as a sport shall have to continue to be unorganized, as it is now and only have a nominal central authority that lays down the rules and regulations of the game and maybe organize a few formal events as showcases. Largely it will have to be private businesses that have some stake in the sport, for example tyre manufacturers and carmakers, which shall have to take a lead in managing the activities. The Road Ahead…. Drifting is likely to be the rage among the younger generation for some years to come and will evolve into a more sophisticated and organized form for its survival. This is the right time for entering any area of the variety of opportunities that are offered and make a place in the minds of the fan following. The businesses themselves shall have to evolve strategies to stay ahead since motor sport in one form or the other shall continue to have its special charm and will always find followers. The other aspects of spin-offs from the business are also important and many companies have already made large investments in the field. The most important of these are the cinema and video games angles. Given the overall popularity of video games, and the popularity of drifting itself, games based on drifting will find excellent response from customers. The target customer who is an avid follower of the sport is also an aficionado of video games making this a potent combination. The drivers, especially the successful ones become celebrities in their own right, this will attract more sponsorship and this writer believes many of the car makers will come on to form, fund and promote their own teams to add brand value to their line of manufacture. We may very well see a Michael Schumacher and Ferrari like combination in drifting soon. Promotion of allied products like tyres, fuels and lubricants and spares to name a few through this sport will bring in more money into it making it more attractive for big business to step in and maybe organize the sport and give the companies a springboard to foray into this business. Large scale events featuring other formats of motor sports and entertainment catering to the likes of the drifting crowd will attract more people to the sport and increase business on all sides. New drivers will need to be trained in the sport giving an opportunity for training academies to be set up and make the market grow from the supply and demand aspect and the sport to take root in the Western markets. There is considerable scope for the market to grow laterally also since large areas the developed world remain unexposed to drifting and of course the other half of the population on the other side of the sex divide remain to catch the bug. The Industrial Revolutions in the US The essence of the Industrial Revolution lies in the change of thought from the midieval system of regulations covering production and distribution to the new mantra – ‘Competition’.The Industrial revolution in the US was one of the two great Industrial Revolutions. The fist happened in England in the eighteenth century and was primarily influenced by the four stages in thought that evolved in economics. The first of these was Adam Smith, who advocated that “The great object of political economy of every country is to increase the riches and power of that country”. Maltheus directed his thinking to understand the cause of poverty as opposed to the cause of wealth and found this in his theory of population. Ricardo’s principles of political economy and taxation, 1817 explored the principles of distribution of wealth. While Adam Smith demonstrated how wealth could be produced Ricardo showed how it could be distributed. It is here that we see the first glimpses of socialism beginning to creep into the thinking of the great economists of that time. John Stuart Mill’s ‘Principles of Political Economy’ drew the distinction between the laws of production and those of distribution and he attempted to answer the question of how wealth ought to be distributed. Competition heralded by Adam Smith is still the dominant idea of our times (Toynbee, 2004). The American Industrial Revolution made a vital difference to the economic development of the United States and covered the period from 1820 to about 1870. The revolution that took place was centered round the basic principle of manufacturing activity which moved away from hand and home made to machine and factory made goods. Earlier goods were produced in the homes of the manufacturer who took some raw materials to his cottage (hence the name – cottage industry) and using just a few workers, if any, goods were produced. This took along time to produce any quantity and therefore the products were expensive, non standard and the supply was not dependable. From Eli Whitney’s mechanization of spinning and weaving, using machines that were operated by water and steam power, to the second revolution led by pioneers such as Henry Ford, Andrew Carnegie, and Robert Fulton changed the face of America to an urban industrialized country. The initial push to the revolution came from the passing of the Embargo Act in 1807 that stopped export of American goods and stopped the import of goods from other countries pushing the people to concentrate on production of all requirements within the country and manufacturing began to expand. A prime example of the revolution is the invention of the gin by Whitney enabling dispatch of larger quantities of cotton to the north; Francis Lowell brought spinning and weaving together in the same factory large volumes of cloth began to be manufactured. In 1846 Elias Howe invented the sewing machine and clothing now began to be manufactured in factories rather than at home and the textile industry was born. Some of the major changes that took place during this time were (American History): Eli Whitney’s concept of machine-made, interchangeable parts that could be assembled at the end of a production line. Muskets were produced thus in 1798. The Invention of the steel plow and the reaper to revolutionize even agriculture. As industries and business began to gravitate towards the cities the population started migrating to the cities leading to overcrowding, disease and pollution. Communications improved with the invention of the telegraph in 1844 and the telephone 1876. Road transportation improved, the Cumberland Road (now part of Interstate 40) was laid down in 1811. Movement of goods by river received an impetus with the development of the steamboat by Fulton. Railroad networks commenced being set up. Henry Ford’s creation of an assembly line totally revolutionized the way goods were produced. Now mass production at low cost of standard quality goods became possible and capitalism was born. The revolution continued and many new inventions and discoveries changed the shape of the society dramatically. One change followed another at such rapid pace that society and the environment came under tremendous pressure. The second Industrial revolution was heralded by the harnessing of electric power. Faraday demonstrated how electric current could be produced and now power was available to provide light and to drive machinery. Communications improved with the discovery of radio waves and the radio. Telegraph and telephone systems had the power required to drive them Petroleum and its derivatives began to find increasing use in generating power and to drive transportation. New discoveries such as Portland cement, vulcanized rubber, petroleum based products and inventions like the light bulb, internal combustion engine, the automobile, the steam engine and the first flight of the Kitty Hawk marked the second Industrial Revolution. Medicine also saw a huge change and beginning in the 1760’s new medicines, vaccinations, and surgical methods developed. X-rays now helped doctors diagnose ailments much better. Pasteur discovered a way to eliminate all germs from milk thus delaying the fermentation or curdling of milk. Many chemicals were analyzed and processes developed to manufacture them, the art of metallurgy also saw great changes. While the Industrial revolution brought about many changes in the technology and manufacturing processes it is essential to understand the downside of the process. Rousseau said "Civilization spoils people," but here was a case of people spoiling civilization. With the industrialization the congestion in the cities worsened and people were living in squalor, working unthinkable hours for very meager pay. Children and women were working under very harsh conditions while the capitalists flourished. It took many legislations and an element of socialism to step in and correct the way things were going. Pollution and degradation of the environment and mindless destruction of natural resources was fallout of the Industrial Revolutions. Robert Owen was one such thinker, who despite being a textile mill owner raised wages, stopped children from working and improved the working conditions for his workers. This had remarkable effect on productivity, crime and disease rates (American History). While the changes that came about during the Industrial Revolutions were largely for the benefit of mankind the side effect also made irreversible changes in society and the business environment. Development of Management Thought  Management is a relatively new science having its roots in the Industrial Revolutions. Adam Smith, in his ‘Wealth of Nations’ 1776, destroyed the old world concepts of management of business and launched the world towards industrialization. He argued that markets and competition should be the regulators of economic activity and that labor provided management with the opportunity for increased productivity (Pioneers of Management). We need to study the ideas and thoughts of some of the early pioneers in management theory to understand the development of modern management theory. We have already discussed the concepts of the Scottish businessman Robert Owens, who, repulsed by the abject poverty and the squalid conditions in which his employees worked made drastic changes in the way his textile mill worked. Priority was given, for the first time to labor over machines; child labor was stopped and limited the working hours that the workers had to put in each day. Charles Babbage, whose achievements included the invention of the first computer, in his book ‘On the Economy of Machinery and Manufacturers’ discussed the principles of manufacturing and analyzed the operations and suggested ways for improvement. Andrew Ure and Charles Dupin were the pioneering authors of concepts such as time study and balancing of workloads to improve operations. Some of the earliest writers on management theory were engineers who wrote primarily on ways to improve productivity and division of labor to match skills and capabilities with the work requirement and also on methods to determine wage and incentives. Some of them that need mention, and their more famous works, are: Henry Towne ‘Evolution of Industrial Management’ Fredrick Halsey Henry Metcalfe ‘The Cost of Manufacture and the Administration of Workshops, Public and Private’, Daniel McCallum, Fredrick Taylor ‘Shop Management’ and ‘Principles of Scientific Management’ Henry Gantt who was the first to bring in graphic aids to assist management Frank and Lillian Gilbreth, the latter’s ‘Psychology of Management’ is the earliest book to address the human side of management Harrington Emerson ‘Twelve Principles of Efficiency’ Morris Cooke ‘Our Cities Awake’ wrote on the better management of public organizations specifically Municipalities. Hugo Munsterberg ‘Psychology and Industrial Efficiency’ the book contains three essential parts – the best possible man, the best possible work and the best possible effect The emergence of modern management theory commenced with the writings of Henri Fayol the first to divide management into separate functions like planning, organization, command, coordination and control. Fayol believed management could be taught. Max Weber propounded the essentials of good management and the need for managers to be professionals rather than owners. Peter Drucker developed management thinking on the lines of Fayol but consolidated the managerial functions into three basic areas; 1) Management of a Business, 2) Management of Managers and 3) Management of workers and work and emphasized that all managerial decisions must place emphasis on the economic outcome of the decision. The ‘Hawthorne Experiments’ 1924-1932 conducted at the Hawthorne plant of Western Electric was the first attempt to understand the behavioral aspects of management. These experiments were conducted by Elton Mayo who believed that productivity was directly linked to the attitude of the group of workers who evolved into a social unit. The studies carried out demonstrated that the workers had social needs in addition to the physical needs. Mary Parker Follet advocated the integration of workers with the management as a way to reduce conflict without compromise or domination. Her book ‘Creative Experience’ gained wide popularity when published in 1924. Chester Barnard in his ‘Functions of the Executive’ described a theory of organizations and the need for cooperation between the different elements of the whole. According to Barnard “Effectiveness deals with goal achievement and efficiency is the degree to which individual motives are satisfied”. Modern thoughts on management have been propounded by a variety of writers. The most important development during the latter half of the 20th century was the theory of quality management and was led by the quality gurus, W Edwards Deming and Joseph M Juran. Contemporary management theory and the history of management thought have been chronicled by some important historians such as Arthur Bedeian, Alfred Bolton and Daniel Wren. For the entire section above heavy reliance has been placed on the information culled from ‘Pioneers of Management – Early Management Thought’ accessed at the website listed in the references. The exact citations have not been mentioned at individual points to improve readability of the text. References: American History; accessed from the website on 23 May 2006 from americanhistory.about.com/od/industrialrev/ Formula D: the official website of the Formula D Drift League accessed on 24 May 2006 from: http://www.formulad.com Gonzaga S, 2006 ‘Spinning Out, American style’ news article retrieved on 24 May 2006 from the website: http://www.presstelegram.com/portlet/article/html ‘Pioneers of Management – Early Management Thought’ accessed on 23 May 2006 from the website: http://www.refernceforbusiness.com/management/Or-Pr/Pioneers-of-Management.html Prnewswire, 2003: ‘FORMULA D’ News Bulletin datelined May 1, 2003 accessed on 25 May 2006 from the website; http://prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/05-01-2003 Saward J, 2003, News Feature ‘The State of the Union’ accessed on 24 May 2006 from the website: http://www.grandprix.com/ft/ftjs054.html Toynbee, JA; ‘Lectures on the Industrial Revolution in England’, 2004, Kessinger Publications ISBN 141912952X Wikipedia – the free Encyclopedia Web Page accessed on 23 May 2006 from: http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drifting_(motorsport) Read More