Book report part 5

In the last segment of my book, The Culture of New Capitalism, the author discussed many things that dealt closely with our discussions regarding motivation.  The first thing that he focused his discussion on was what he described as narrative. Within this topic were a few sub-topics that made up narrative but were each individual and served their own purpose. First within the idea of narrative was the idea that there needs to be provided to workers “parallel institutions” which will provide workers continuity and sustainability. The main reasoning behind this is that currently there are not enough safety nets for workers in the modern economy. With how volatile the economy is in contemporary times there needs to be a better structure set up for workers that face situations such as unexpected unemployment, although this would be more of a solution to prevent unemployment in the first place. The author gives the example of the United Auto Workers Union as well as the Boston Secretarial Union as unions that are taking an innovative, proactive approach to assisting their members. For example, the Boston Secretarial Union has programs in place for single parents in place to help with communal needs (Sennett 185). This makes me think of our discussion on motivation regarding the motivator hygiene theory. Although some of peoples personal needs being taken care of an employer, or in this case their labor union, may not increase their satisfaction with their job, it can allow for the employee to have less to worry about in their personal life, resulting in a more productive individual in the work place. Another idea that the author discusses is a program called job sharing. This can also be beneficial to workers that are experiencing unemployment due to volatility in the economy. The idea behind this is that for jobs that would traditionally be carried out by one employee are split into duties to be carried out by two or three individuals. This allows for a greater number of workers in industries that are seasonal in nature to find employment during other parts of the year. It was explained that this system being used by the Dutch, which like the United States is negatively impacted by the vigorous use of outsourcing, alleviated some of the negative impact (Sennett 185). The author also touched on the idea of how welfare should be handled. He supports a system which he called “basic income.” In this system every citizen would receive an allotment of funds provided by the government. This amount would be enough to provide for a basic standard of living and everyone would receive this, rich or poor. It would be up to the individual to spend this money as they see fit however, if they were to run out of money, they would not be given any additional support by the government. I think this is a pretty radical idea. It may sound good in theory, although I do not see this working as a suitable substitution for our current welfare system. The second major idea that was discussed in this portion of the book was that of usefulness. This was the idea that people want to feel what they are doing on the job is serving a purpose. People feel more motivated when they are doing work they feel good about and as discussed in the book people are willing to work at jobs that they are not getting paid as much as they could be making elsewhere if they feel that their work at the less paying job is more worthy. This is an idea we have mentioned in class and has been apparent in some of the readings. The last main point that the author brought up was the idea of people considering craftsmanship in their work. He defines this is as doing something for the sake of doing it right. This was brought up previously in this book. It is important for people to take pride in what they do. This is a major factor in the motivation process. If people are doing work that they can enjoy they will have much more motivation to accomplish their work. These last two main points remind me of the nifty animated video we watched in class. These points of usefulness and craftsmanship reflect two of the main points brought up in the video, purpose and mastery. In the video it explained that these along with autonomy are major factors that contribute to highly motivated individuals. By combining these attributes people will be able to excel in their jobs as well as gain satisfaction in what they do.

Book report part 4

In the third chapter of The Culture of New Capitalism, the author tries to convey the idea of consumerism and the hold it has on our society. Not only does he try to convey this idea but he also attempts to convey how political power is promoted through the same way as modern marketing techniques used for products.  The chapter begins by describing that there are two groups of individuals that have emerged in the new economy. First, there is the elite group of individuals that control the wealth. These people can be described as the executive type of people that are in control of business and have the means to control production of goods and services. The other group that is identified is the everyday working-class citizen. These individuals do not hold as much power and are dependent on the upper class in the sense of being provided work (Sennett 132). This notion is not anything new. This closely mirrors the economic perspective of Marx. Marxism first described an almost identical scenario referring to these parties as the bourgeois and the proletariat. With these distinct classes identified, the author proceeded to lay out how the control the elite class has on production leads to the heavy consumerist culture we have today. The first major point that was brought up was the idea of “gold plating.” This is an idea that even though there is a great diversity in the products we buy, take cars for example, there is no difference from one to another, they are merely marketed and repackaged to seem as if there are superior products when compared to each other. The author used Audi, which is owned by Volkswagen, as an example. When comparing the top luxury model to the lowest priced base model there is only a very small difference in these cars, they are about ninety percent the same car. Even though there is about a ten percent difference in the design of the car, the luxury model sells for about double what the base model does (Sennett 145). It does not seem logical that such a small difference in the materiality of what you are buying would cause such a dramatic increase in purchase price.  The way in which producers are able to pull this off is the way in which they present the product to the consumer.  The producers market these products so that the consumer is fooled into believing that there is a substantial difference in the products being offered. This can be done in a variety of ways including the presentation of a commercial or simply changing the packaging on different classes of products. A second main idea that was brought up was the idea of planned obsolescence. This is the idea that producers create an environment in which the consumers are tricked or forced into having the need to buy new things Sennett 140). The first way in which this is done is by consumers attacking consumers psychologically, they make them think they need the newest and best products. This is done by using simple tactics such as constantly coming out with new models of things as well as stressing new trends and fashions. Also producers can make products that are not of very good quality, making them wear out sooner, causing people to have to buy replacement goods. Another aspect of consumerist culture that the author discussed is the idea of what he called “branding and potency.” This idea is describes the nature of the products we buy. With so many advancements in technology and our ever-increasing distance from a self sufficient (as in individuals and families producing much of what they relied on) economy, many individuals know very little about the products they buy. The book explains that we should educate ourselves much better about the products we are consuming (Sennett 145). This does not mean that we need to know how to build it ourselves, but we should know how the products we use work. The reasoning behind this is that much of what we purchase is excessive beyond our means. This is not to say that we can’t afford these items, but their capabilities surpass our practical capacity. Take for example an IPod. The larger models of IPods are capable of storing up to 20,000 songs. It is possible to fill this to capacity, however, not only is It pretty unlikely, it is surpasses our mental capabilities as well. The average person would only be able to remember a fraction of this amount of songs to recall that they are even on their IPod, so having this many songs is effectively pointless. The author also uses the example of people in cities driving cars that are designed for extreme terrain such as a hummer, or driving a high performance sports car, just to end up spending a majority of their time sitting in traffic (Sennett 151). I think that all of these ideas can be directly related to the topics that we discussed this past week in class. The fact that companies use these techniques to sell their products and profit heavily from them may be seen as unethical practices. I believe this relates to the Machiavellian managerial ethic that we discussed. By using tactics to sell their products that some may say are deceptive, companies are helping to ensure their survival and gains. Companies that use these strategies clearly only have their self interest in mind. Although companies do need to sell their products and have gains, they can still accomplish these tasks, but use more consumer-friendly ways of conducting business. If companies took an approach to doing business in a way in which created good for all, this would be much more responsible. Rather than focusing on simply making as much money as possible, companies have the ability to create benefits for everyone depending on how they conduct business. Things that companies can do to create a shared benefit include ideas such as being environmentally healthy, providing high quality products at low prices and provide employees with a good work environment. Companies that consider the triple bottom line are shown to be more profitable in the long run than those that do not. Along with this notion is the idea that companies need to uphold their social equity and stakeholder concerns. If more companies took this approach instead of the Machiavellian approach then there would be fewer problems with the issues that have been discussed.

Managerial Ethics

When I was reading the articles in preparation for today’s discussion I was not really following along that well. Two of the articles I found kind of difficult to follow along with, and did not have a very good understanding when I was done reading them. After the discussion we had in class though, I feel as if I understood them pretty well. There were three different sets of ideals that we discussed. In the pursuit of self interest I can see why someone might favor any of these doctrines over another. Obviously if you are looking out for yourself a Machiavellian approach would seem quite logical. By using this method you are going to benefit more than anyone else. Not only do you benefit from this but it is going to help ensure a perpetual benefit. I think that the Wal-Mart example we used points this out pretty well. The fact that the company is exploiting their employees to benefit another group shows their disregard for all stakeholders of the company.  Also the fact that they are spending such a large amount of money to give the façade of actually being a caring company exemplifies one of the main points in the Machiavellian ideal. With regards to the Agent approach taken by Lincoln, I think there is an interesting dynamic going on here. Although I do think that all of what Lincoln conveyed in his message is truly how he felt, I feel that the justifications for his actions could be twisted if used by others to seem as if they are doing what is right, but actually to be in self interest. Lincoln said the only reason he wanted to free the slaves (a self interest of his) was that in would help achieve saving the Union (agent duty). By using a justification system like this it is apparent how someone could act as if they are performing their agent duties but actually acting with their own interests in mind. Even though the Agent and Platonic ideals seem as if they are acting for the good of all, I feel as if though there is a paradox and they are inherently flawed to allow for those in charge to act to benefit themselves. An example of this is with the Platonic way of doing things. If there is an elite group that is chosen to make the decisions for a group, it is natural that those in the position of power will not want to give up this power and will act in a way to perpetuate that power.

Motivation Theories

Through our discussion on Monday regarding the case we have been assigned I realized that the four theories on motivation we have learned about are pretty sufficient to explain essentially any situation regarding why we are motivated, or not motivated to do something. I think that Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is a good model to help understand the psychological aspect behind our decisions.  I know all of these theories are based at least somewhat on psychology, but I feel as if this one relates very closely to what we value within ourselves. Even though we are all similar in that we all need these same needs fulfilled, we all go about fulfilling them in different ways. Also I think that some of us may be able to fulfill certain needs easier than others. By this I mean that people may be able to fulfill needs at any level of the hierarchy rather than having to fulfill them in a specified order. I think that the hygiene motivation theory is the most interesting theory that we discussed. The thing I found surprising about this theory is that salary is considered a hygiene factor. By it being categorized as this it means that people do not see it as a motivator. Before we discussed this theory I thought that it would have been the most motivating factor there was. After the discussion however, it makes sense that people will be more motivated by factors other than money. Up to a certain point, money will not motivate someone. Ways in which to get them to be more productive are to do things such as give them opportunities for achievement and recognition. I think that the equity theory is a good tool to help explain motivation related to workplace inequality. It makes sense that people who putting in the same amount of effort but not receiving as much in return will feel they are getting the raw end of a deal. Because of this, it is logical that they would take steps to make their equity ratio equal to that of others.

Equity Theory

I think that our discussion today about equity theory is something that everyone can relate to. It seems pretty logical that in our social interactions we would want to at least attempt to convey a sense of equality if we have the better end of the relationship. Considering we focused more on if we are receiving the less advantageous end of a deal this is what I will focus on. I have experienced something similar to the example we discussed in class of being paid less than coworkers. I found out that people who were working at my job much shorter than I had been were being paid more than me. Even though the amount they were making more than me was very small, this frustrated me a great deal. I considered myself a very loyal, hard working employee and I felt cheated by my circumstances. Even though I definitely think that the equity theory is valid and I agree that one would want to equal their equity ratio with others, this is not really how I felt about the situation. I didn’t really fell that I should put less effort into my work just because I was not making less than some of my coworkers. I think an explanation for this is that, since it was a pretty menial job that did not require a great deal of effort or mental exertion I had an outlook that I am already stuck at work so I mine as well just do my job since it might take as much effort to consciously slack off. This makes me think that equity theory and equity ratios may be more applicable to work and jobs that require more effort and/or mental capacity. Even though I mentioned this point in my last post I think it is worth noting the fact that money is not the always the most motivating factor for people. I think it is very interesting that up to a certain point it will be but once that point is reached people want to gain things that are going to be valued from within.