The Global Economy

While I was reading my book for the book report due this week, it touched on an interesting subject that I think is important to discuss. It doesn't really have anything to do with what we have been discussing in class but it is still important to talk about. The author talked about how American business has been diminishing over time. One of the factors to support this idea is that we have been losing our competitiveness in the global market. There are many countries around the world that are emerging as major players in the global economy. Brazil and China are key examples of this. Not only are there countries that are substantially increasing their GDP but the US is also lagging behind many countries in efficiency and innovation. This is bad because factors such as this may lead to a heavy decrease of US goods bought by foreign consumers. Another factor that relates to these ideas is the fact that systems such as education are behind so many other countries around the world. It is essential that the United States takes the initiative to reinvigorate its business and bring us back before we lose the top spot in all of these areas. I think that this is essential as a culture because for us to maintain our standard of living and lifestyle we will have to start making better advances than we have been in the past.

Book Report Part 1

            For my book report I am reading, “The Culture of New Capitalism.” The book begins by giving an overview of the leftist view of the sixties of wanting to make a move away from big business and the strength associated with businesses. The book then leads into a discussion of the boom of business during this period and the creation of wealth associated with growing business. Along with this wealth however, also came a growing gap of economic inequality in the country.  The fact that our country experienced this abrupt change in business had far reaching social implications. According to the book it created a situation where rather than relying on having a single skill or trade for people to make a living, they instead are valued for their knowledge and potential contributions to be made to a company. This creates a highly volatile system in which people are constantly moving around in the workforce. The book lists three traits that are essential for prosperity in this “fragmentary social condition.” The first is how to manage short term relationships and oneself while moving from job to job, task to task and place to place. Second, you need to know how to develop new skills and mine potential abilities as realities demands shift. Also, it is necessary to let go of the past. Although it may not seem apparent at first, all of this is very relevant to the ideas we have been discussing in class the past few weeks. The basis of the book’s discussion is the effects of globalization as well as the evolution of the business world. The first trait necessary for success relates directly to our discussions on teams. It is necessary to be able to quickly adapt to the relationships you will have to create an efficient work environment. This is because you will constantly be encountering new individuals and team members, and these teams may be short lived as you are assigned to different tasks and projects. This also serves as an explanation of why you need to be able to manage short term relationships. Another topic we have discussed this relates to is diversity in teams and the workplace. With such a diverse workforce in the United States it is important to be socially aware and be able to effectively communicate with diverse individuals as well as be willing to accept ideas other than just your own. The third characteristic needed may seem confusing at first but is very logical after further explanation. The justification for needing this attribute is that even though you may have worked at a company for a very long time, it seems to be increasingly frequent that this does not hold any value. Although you may have been with the company for a long period of time, you may be just as disposable to the company as a new hire. When you think of this possibility it is somewhat worrying. I feel that this is not always the case in the real world but I do see the point the author is trying to convey. I feel that his main point is that in the ever changing work environment there is always the possibility of being replaced. Overall I think that there are several good points made in this book so far. It is important to take into consideration the fact that the global job environment is changing so much. With all of these new changes come new opportunities as well as new obstacles to success. It is necessary to carefully examine one’s environment so that they can be successful in today’s business world.

Decision making

After examining the case on whether or not to race and reading the scenario it was actually based on there were several things I began to contemplate. First, after first reading the article I did not realize there were so many factors in making the correct decision as there really were. The discussion and review of the case in class made it clear that you need to take into consideration every possible outcome before making a decision. I think that it is crucial that you know the impact of any possible outcome you may choose. Also, I found it interesting how many people initially said that they would race. It was even more interesting to see how many people changed their minds after all of the factors were taken into consideration. I think this is a great example of how actually working out the numbers involved may have influence in decision making. In regards to the article on the space shuttle, it is concerning that such an educated group of individuals could make such a dire mistake with something so important. The facts seem to point that this group suffered from groupthink and as a result caused the problem it did. With groups falling victim to groupthink with such critical matters shows the pervasiveness of this problem. the key points that I took from this example is that someone in the group needs to question the current viewpoint of the group. Also it seems extremely crucial to have diversity within the group, and this does not mean cultural diversity. As the article stated the group needs diversity of thoughts. I think that this is a good point because if people within the group differ in the way they think they will be able to come up with better solutions to problems.

group activity and groupthink

At first I really didn't see how the activity we did in class was educational at all. after the discussion however, I realized many things about teams and their interactions that I had never given any thought. the first major thing was the fact of how we were simply oriented around the tables led to having an influence of how our structures were built and who may have taken charge over the process. Not only was there this aspect of this activity but the fact that we had a pretty limited time for the activity at hand. I think that this lead to an accelerated chain of events that to allow for group norms emerge in a very short amount of time rather than being apparent after a prolonged period of time. Even when just taking these factors into consideration, this makes me think that when groups and teams are formed to accomplish tasks, it is important for the team to lay out and examine all factors that may have even a slight effect on processes that lead to a final outcome. As far as the idea of groupthink, I think that it is important that teams take careful precautions to avoid this phenomenon. If groupthink emerges I feel that it is very detrimental to the objectives of the group and can even result in complete failure. Not only can it create a situation of failure but may give results that are even worse than the original position the team was in. I think that if there isn't already, that a model be created to prevent organizations from finding themselves in the scenario. Overall there are many factors that groups should immediately consider so that they can properly accomplish their tasks and not be hindered by outside factors.

Groups and Teams

As I was reading the article on groups and teams as well as the one on diversity within teams, I continually made connections with points in the article and the internship I currently work at. First, the article on differences between groups and teams made more sense when I connected it to work. This is because I am constantly having to work on obtaining certain pieces of information or work on projects with people from all over the organization. This really made the difference between groups, pseudo-teams, etc. more apparent. This is because I have interactions with different people on many levels. Sometimes group work is short lived and we only have to collaborate to come up with certain figures for a spreadsheet. Other times there are daily interactions in an attempt to solve a in depth problem within the company. The article helped in realizing the importance of the interactions I have with others at work and how to improve the quality of work that is accomplished. The diversity article was also very relevant to the company I work for. We have manufacturing plants on every continent and there is heavy interaction between all of them. Almost daily I see visitors from another country and many of my coworkers have daily phone conversations with foreign colleagues. This reiterates the fact that in this type of global economy it is important to be aware and sensitive to foreign customs and how to conduct business. I feel that this is extremely crucial for those taking part in foreign business to take these factors into consideration. this is so crucial because as stated in the article, something that may seem minor could offend someone enough to be a multimillion dollar deal breaker. Also I think it might be important for, at least college curriculum, to put emphasis on this aspect of the business world.

Personality

While reading the article on personality and taking the personalty tests I realized that I don't really agree with them. Although I don't fully trust in their methods I do think they can be somewhat useful in certain situations. For example, I do not think they can determine something such as how good of a worker someone may be. I do however think they may pick out certain traits of individuals to better understand something such as how they will fit in with a certain company's culture. I have taken the Myers Briggs test before for another one of my classes. I thought that if you know the background behind these tests and the general type of person you are and how you think, you will likely be able to determine the outcome before even taking the test. A "phenomenon" of these tests is that I think they are somewhat self fulfilling. I had to take this test for one of my accounting classes. Not too surprisingly myself along with over half the class fit into the personality type that fit "the typical accountant." this relates to my next point which is also a criticism of these types of tests. I think that if you are taking a test like this for something such as a job interview you are very likely (even if subconsciously) to answer the questions in a way that fits into the position you are applying for. For these reasons I don't think that these tests are completely accurate and they often create skewed results. 

Something I found interesting about this article was how the psychologist was able to make such an in depth interpretation of his subconscious based on the stories he made about the pictures. I had somewhat of a similar experience while reading the article. (this may not make sense to anyone other than me so sorry if you dont understand what I'm trying to explain)  While reading, about halfway through I thought to myself I am really not enjoying reading this and I dont really feel its relative to anything of importance to me. then I realized that I might feel this way because of my personality type, based on these tests, of wanting to be able to analyze information and come to a clear cut conclusion. An article on psychology does not really have a clear "answer" to it so this is probably where my frustration over this article comes from.

Those Low Grades in College

Being an accounting major, I found the article, "Those Low Grades in College" particularly interesting. The reason I found it to be intriguing is because of the immense stress placed on GPA within my major. I can remember that from the beginning of freshman year having professors and advisers say that it is the most important aspect for job placement and success within my field of study. This, in turn, has caused me to put good grades as my first priority academically.

I think that the article brings up several very good points. I would have to agree with Johnny Taylor in saying that GPA is the single most important aspect when it comes to prospective hiring or admissions. Although I have this viewpoint I do not think that it is a single determining factor. Since the beginning of high school the importance of extracurricular activities has also been heavily embraced. As important as I believe GPA to be, I think that an array of extracurricular activities can outweigh a below par GPA. In many instances I have been told by potential employers that someone with a not as good GPA but is involved in a lot of other activities has a better shot than someone with a 4.0 that has nothing extra to offer. I think that it is beneficial to use tactics such as Jeff Man did in playing up his major GPA so that employers are aware of beneficial information that may not be apparent while glancing over a resume.

One major factor of gaining employment that this article did not really touch on is the interview itself. I find this to be the most important part of job seeking. It is one thing to make a fancy resume that sells yourself but it is much more difficult to impress someone in the high stress environment of an interview. Being a senior, I have had many interviews for internships and jobs and as a piece of advice I highly recommend for anyone starting this process to take time to prepare for interviews! As much as I thought I would be ready for any question that was thrown at me, there is at least one question that you may not necessarily expect.

In conclusion I think that there was something to get out of each persons view in this article but having a good resume is only part of what you need in preparation for applying for internships and jobs.

Here is a good list of interview questions, many of which I have been asked.
http://www.jobinterviewquestions.org/questions/general-questions.asp