Low-Cost Strategy

The low-cost strategy Is a strategy a company devises to offer their products at the lowest cost possible for the consumers. The book provides examples of low cost strategy with discount stores and generic products.
For me, the problem with low-cost strategy is that I do not look for the lowest price for most products. I am one of those customers that goes off of brand preference. I buy a product not by the price, but because of past experiences with the product.
Also, the book shows that a problem with the low-cost strategy is keeping manufacturing costs down which can be hard

Situational Leadership

Situational leadership is a style of leadership where the leader responds to his/her employees depending on the situation. There are four types of situational leadership: telling, selling, participating, and delegating. These four types are determined by the maturity of the group. Group members that need telling are the members that are less mature; no this does not mean less mature in personality necessarily, but it does mean members who have not gained the experience to be able to work on their own. As members become more mature they move through selling and participating in order to get to delegating. As a leader if your team reaches the delegating point, the leader becomes more of a group member as well.
Now as I was reading this, I thought that it sounded like a good form of leadership. You earn your way up by working hard and being responsible and you should hopefully make it to the point where tasks are being delegated to you. Well as the book points out, there are three flaws of situational leadership. The first is that this style doesn't provide a way to choose leaders who are flexible and able to adapt. The second problem is that it does not identify a way to choose people who can communicate with diverse people. The third problem is that it lacks motivation and inspiration.

Pervasive Communication Environment

Pervasive Communication Environment allows people from all over the world to talk to people from across the country. This is great for organizations because it allows them to set up sub-sections in other cities, states, or countries and still be able to communicate with them. The only difficulty would be the time differences.
Last year my group of friends made friends with the foreign exchange students from Australia. Once they had to go back home, there was no way we could talk to them through phones, but facebook and skype became a very helpful tool in communicating with them. It really helps because instead of losing friends we made because of distance, we can now still keep in contact with them and get quick responses back from them.

The four factors of a successful team

Chapter six discusses why companies are starting to move away from using teams. To summarize the reason is that companies feel that teams take too much time to make a decision and team members shield themselves from responsibility. The book specifies four factors that should lead to a successful team, but if they aren't within the group, the group may fail.
The first factor is that the team is only as good as their weakest link. In order for a team to be good, all members should be top performers. This allows the team to have the skills to succeed.
The second factor is that the team must be trained in working as a group. This includes that they must know how to make group decisions and communicate. In order for group members to be on the same page, they must know how to talk with one another.
The third factor is that a company must assign the team with the right tasks. Small tasks, given to a team, are a waste of time and money. A company should assign the team with a challenging outcome that impacts others.
The fourth factor is that the team members must understand that some members will contribute more than others, it all just depends on the task at hand and the person's expertise.

Team-Based Organization

Chapter Eight explains the concept of team-based organizations and the advantages of them. Team-based organizations are teams that have a group of employees with a wide variety of expertise. These people come together and form a group in order to work on a project. This group is effective because the exchange information with one another and bring a different outlook to the group. The groups should be self-managed and the workers are dedicated to self-improvement, positive results, and collaboration. The team-based organizations increase productivity which result in higher job satisfaction amongst employees.
My belief is that by bringing a wide array of employees into a group, including manufacturers, sales, and engineering, the group will avoid group think. Group think is common in groups and happens when the group goes along with one persons idea even if they think something is wrong, it is to avoid being the odd man out. By bringing in people with different perspectives, ideas will be out of the box and provide greater results.

Gender Differences at Work

In Chapter Seven, I was reading about the gender differences at work. The text says that men and women communicate differently; men are constantly trying to vie for status, while women are seeking connections when they communicate. Men are known to use report talk while speaking, where as women use rapport talk. Report talk is a a demonstration of skill, knowledge, ability, and instrumentality. It demonstrates command and is direct and assertive. Tends to demonstrate terms rather than personal experiences. Rapport talk is the opposite where women try to relate by using matching experiences, provides support, responsiveness, tentativeness, and is personal. These differences cause trouble talk, when men and women have different ways of interpreting the conversation.
I can relate to the description used for women in this chapter, I do talk to gain support or give support, I am always listening carefully to others, and it is normally about personal aspects of my life. On the other hand, when it comes to a work environment I tend to be very assertive and direct. I like to get my point across and be straightforward. When reading the descriptions I also related to how the men are and I think that is because of my dominant, blunt personality. This makes me think that women are able to use report talk, especially when at work.

Ideology

In chapter six, I learned about ideology. This is our assumption on how things should be within our society. It is apparent through our words, actions, and practices. When ideology is brought into an organization, it hinders the company. If a supervisor believes that men are only suitable for a certain job he will ignore capable women. We all have our ideologies that have been ingrained in us from birth through our experiences.
The other day I was in my marketing class and my teacher was trying to explain to the class that the automotive industry's marketing focuses on women. I responded by arguing that the automotive industry is geared to the men and although women make more decisions for their husbands, males still dominate this industry. This is my belief because since I was born men have been the main workers within that industry. If a woman goes to buy a car, most will bring a man with them. My sister bought her car and brought my dad because although she was the one buying the car, the salesman would only speak and bargain with my dad. If this industry is not male dominated, then why would this be the case?

The Three Stages of Socialization

The book emphasizes socialization is the way in which people learn the norm of society within their culture, which means how the society works. There are three stages of socialization: 1) anticipatory socialization, 2) organizational assimilation, and 3) organizational turning points.
1) Anticipatory socialization has two forms which are vocational and organizational. Vocational is the form that happens while growing up, they are the values and beliefs instilled in us from birth. My parents taught me to work hard and play hard, to be respectful to everyone, not to make judgements, etc. These are all examples of vocational forms of anticipatory socialization. The organizational form is specific towards your job and is what is learned from the internet and the interview process. I worked at a construction company doing secretarial work. When I interviewed, I learned this company is the middleman in construction and finds all the companies needed to work on a project. I learned that the company deals with many plans and bids, which I would be in charge of organizing. This was the type of work I would be doing and that is and example of the organizational form.
2) Organizational Assimilation is when an employee first arrives to their job and learns their roles and the typical behaviors of the staff. When I walked in for my first day at the construction company everyone was dressed nicely and I was dressed in my typical jeans, t-shirt, and sandals. I then realized I needed to dress up everyday, so on Friday I come in slacks and a nice shirt only to find out it is casual Friday. They find it comedic to do this to new employees. I learned about how the company work; it is a relatively small company. There are the partners in the company that deal with comadeering projects and smooth talking everyone over, then there are the project managers who are normally on site at the jobs or making sure that every company is on task. There are the partners secretaries that send out memos to companies for expected projects, and then there was me being a secretary to a secretary. I had to make copies, calls, file and organize. It was the typical secretary job.
3) Organizational turning points are points within your life or career that change your perception. They include career choices, job transfers, and your life's purpose. The only turning point I have experienced is figuring out what I want to do in life, public relations.

Eight Common Characteristics of Successful Companies

In Chapter Five, eight common characteristics were highlighted after Thomas Peters and Robert Waterman Jr. researched the sixty-two most successful companies. The eight common characteristics that were found are: 1) a bias for action, 2) close relations to the customer, 3) autonomy and entrepreneurship, 4) productivity through people, 5) hands-on, value-driven, 6) stick to the knitting, 7) simple form, lean staff, and 8) simultaneous loose-tight properties.
1) A bias for action means that the company makes decisions quickly.
2) When a company has close relations to the customer, their customers are accustomed to quality service, innovation, and reliability.
3) A company that practices autonomy allows their employees to take risks and assume responsibility.
4) Productivity through people means that employees are on task.
5) Hands-on, value-driven companies have a common vision that guides employees.
6) Stick to the knitting means that the company sticks to what they know and are good at.
7) Simple form, lean staff happens when a company keeps a relatively manageable work group and their is a simple structure throughout the group.
8) Simultaneous loose-tight properties promote individual and group making decisions.

The company I worked for is successful, but they were hanging in there and making ends meet. I am going to examine the eight characteristics and see how well they fit with my company.
The company was not action oriented. All decisions had to pass through my boss and she was extremely wishy-washy when it came to making a decision. The company had close relations to the customer and clients were always coming in to the office to express their gratitude. There was very little autonomy within the company because my boss micromanaged you, which lead to less productivity among workers. All employees knew the common focus, which was the kids, and because they wanted to help the kids they were value driven. The company stuck to what they know and never strayed away from swimming. There was a simple structure and a small staff, but they were not able to make individual decisions. I would say that my old job possessed about half of the quality characteristics, which may explain the reason as to why they are barely hanging on.

Domination Metaphor (Lecture Notes)

The domination metaphor refers to how an organization tries to control its employees and the affects that this control has on employees. Organizations impose themselves on their employees by making the employee accessible at all times. There needs to be a medium between work and a person's personal life, but now organizations are crossing the line. Work place surveillance was the example given for organizations controlling their employees. Organizations have the technology to monitor their employees at all times and keep them on task. This is a good way of keeping employees on task, but at the same time it is reducing productivity. It decreases productivity because employees cannot focus on work for eight hours straight; they will become sloppy. Pagers and cell phones are intrusive. Once an employee goes home, they should not be bombarded by work.
When I was the manager of a swim lesson program I worked from 8 in the morning until 8 at night, five days a week. I had never worked so hard in my life and when I got home all I wanted to do was relax, eat dinner, and go to sleep. On average, I would get a call from my boss after I got home so that she could tell me how to do things the next day. Not only was I being micro-managed, but my down time away from work was being taken away. My boss wanted to control everything that was happening and in return she reduced my productivity. By the end of summer, I dreaded every single day of work.

Learning Organization

In Chapter Four, Peter Senge highlights five distinguishing focus point for learning organizations. The five points are: systems thinking, personal mastery, flexible mental models, a shared vision, and team learning. The two points I am going to focus on are shared vision and team learning.
Shared vision within an organization is where group members act together in order to accomplish a common goal. This helps by bringing cohesiveness within a group because it unites the group towards working together for the one goal. The team must work together in order to accomplish a goal and this leads to group members being on task and helping each other out when it is needed.
Team learning is when communication leads to the group making intelligent decisions. This is necessary in order to avoid group think. Group think is when a group makes a bad decision because no one would voice their opinion and all group members went along with the voice of one person. Intelligent thinking involves collaboration among all group members.

Scientific Management Perspective of Goals

The scientific management perspective of goals is that individuals and organizations direct their activities and behavior towards reaching their goals. This is the most effective way to obtain a goal.
Each and everyone of us should set goals that can be reached. The should be slightly beyond your grasp so that you have to work for them, but they should be attainable. It is important to set goals because it gives a person something to strive for and work towards; it is a motivator.
My personal goal, when it comes to school, is to get straight A's. This motivates me every day and that is why I try hard and go to class. On the average day I need a reason to get out of bed, and my goals are the reason I get up. If I don't set goals then there is no motivation for me to do anything. I set goals to see how far I can push myself, and some goals are not attainable, but I try and that is all that matters.
Goals change your attitudes. Since they are motivators, they require you to be productive and happier. When you are working towards something, you know you are trying to accomplish something which makes it easier to put in the effort. Goals are a necessary part of life.

Scientific Management

Frederick Taylor was a visionary and all though his theory didn't work according to plan he did focus on the relationship between managers and their subordinates. Managers give their subordinates tasks and they must be done.
In my Fundamentals of Behavior and Organization Business class, my group did a research project on self-management. How this works is a manager gives their employees tasks and goals. Once the employee has their task they are sent off to do it with little micro-management. They ask for assistance when it is needed, but otherwise they are on their own. This gives the boss time to accomplish their own tasks. We found that this is a very effective way and increases job satisfaction and productivity for employees.

The Three P's

The three P's to think about while reading about theories are partial, partisan, and problematic. When thinking about a theory and if it is partial, one must take into account if the theory is complete or if there are still parts of the story that have been left out. It is like the game telephone. After a phrase has been passed around to a number of people the phrase has been altered either completely or parts of the phrase have been left out. This is a common occurrence when a story is being traveled by word of mouth. People interpret things differently and that is why a story can be partial.
When a theory is partisan, it means that it is biased. The theory is told from the view point of the teller and may leave out the view points of others, which skews the information. When a theory is partisan it is also partial, but there is no way to be able to capture every persons view point. Say you are telling your friend a story. You are only going to re-enact the thoughts and actions that you yourself did. A person is not about to think about how the person in the corner felt about what happened to you because they do not know how that person felt; this is how a story becomes partisan.
The third part of examining a theory is determining if it is problematic. A theory is problematic because not all questions are answered. Have you ever been watching a child and they ask you why? And then you respond and they ask you why again? It is a continuous battle and no one can answer all the why's. It is a never ending battle and because of this people must interpret why for themselves.
The three p's are all interrelated and that is why a theory can change depending on the eye of the beholder.