Power

This week has shown me a lot about power. Particularly the ways in which people keep and obtain power. A lot of power is through the institution. When you come into a position of power it really is because of your title. For example in high school when you have a substitute teacher you listen, or at least usually, to them as if they were your normal teacher; because they have assumed this position. The power is in the position rather than the individual. In the same way this can be applied to the workplace. When you have a manager you listen to him/her because of their title, not because of who the person is. And when that manager leaves and a new one comes in the power and authority is still there.
Another thing I have learned about power is power sticks together. Often times people who have power associate themselves with others in power. If a person has power they will wish to be associated with others who hold power and therefore this can in turn enhance their own power. Also because they can better identify with these people.

Presentations

I really enjoyed the Disney/Pixar merging presentation. I loved the pictures included on the slides of all the characters. It was interesting to me to learn about this merge because I had no idea as to the reasoning why the companies had come together. To be honest I thought they had always been associated but I guess that also goes along with my age. The information presented directly tied into course material which I also found interesting because it goes to show that what we learn has real world application.
The Toyota presentation also was interesting because I had no idea that that problem had occurred. That seems crazy dangerous that they were able to pass those cars through crash testing with that problem!

Intelligence as it leads to Power

Today in class we spoke about power, all of the different ways someone gains power, as well as all kinds of different types of power. However I found that every kind of power, as well as every means to gain power all linked back to one thing; intelligence. In order to have any kinds of skills that leaders possess one must be an intelligent being. For example in order to be a coercive leader a leader must be intelligent enough to outsmart the people he is wishing to coerce. Intelligence was defined as the ability to think things through in a way that others cannot, by definition alone it is a quality every leader must posses. Even the trait of being charismatic requires intelligence. A charismatic person is someone who can think about things in a different light than others, that is what gives them charisma and draws people to them, because they are unlike you, you are attracted. This parallels the very definition of intelligence. We also briefly spoke about practical versus analytic intelligence. While practical was defined as the ability to read social situations I think it is really what most people refer to as "street smarts". On the other side the analytic does well on S.A.T.S and carries a high G.P.A. I think both types of intelligence are important for a leader, because both outline different qualities mandatory to think through things in a way others cannot.

Stimulation

The stimulation debriefing in class raised a lot of questions and also brought about a lot of defensiveness. I tried to be a mediator in the entire situation and really was looking for everyone to get the most out of it. When we started to run out of time and everyone got flustered I admit I was a bad manager because I took a step back and just watched the rest unfold. I was trying to help both top management and my bottom group, but everyone else was looking out for their own interests above all else.
I thought it interesting that Dr.Goates proposed that students with higher G.P.A's are less likely to defy authority in this exercise. To me this makes complete sense. We discussed this in my accounting class. If you think about it, those with high G.P.A's have grown accustom to performing to a standard. This standard is set by the professor. For example if a professor comes into class the first day and says that attendance is 50% of your grade, any person with a high G.P.A, and wishing to maintain that, would not miss one class. Whereas if the professor came in and  said that attendance counted as 0% of the grade then students would be more inclined to miss class. A better example is that if a professor says that there will be tests questions directly from the reading and text book assigned most students will make a point to do the readings; in the same way if the professor assigns readings that are not directly related to tests or other assignments students will be less inclined to read.

Book Report Segment #5

The final section of my book, Global Women, is about how countries around the world survive through globalization. Specifically services that are extracted from third world countries to fulfill needs in the first world. Especially through women's work in domestic ways. The trafficking of women has become a large way to provide income to these under developed countries. One story recounted is of a 15 year old girl from Thailand who was sold to a brothel by her parents. One morning upon waking she is reminded of the 15 men she had slept with the previous night from the soreness in her body. This particular brothel houses 25 women and one pimp. Because this 15 year old girl looks particularly young she can be sold at a higher price because she looks "new" due to her young appearance. When she first entered the brothel she tried to run away however now they have broken her spirit and she seems to accept this horrible fate. Any debt incurred by a Thai family often results in selling daughters into prostitution or servitude. With the country's transition into industrialization has increased the amount at which this has happened. Slavery and prostitution have increased as a result of these changes. Parent's feel the need to keep up with the changing economy and buy more consumer goods. The sale of a daughter can help provide the funds needed for these purchases. The brothels needs for these girls also increases because this economic boom has also increased the amount of money laborers and workers have earned, and they want to purchase prostitutes with this new cash flow.

Another way that women are used for economic gain is through mail order brides. More than 40 percent of women who enter the U.S are marriage migrants. Men often pick highly educated women who come from their own countries (once they are already citizens). This usually happens through the two parties parents. The grooms parents will contact the brides and set up the proposal and the marriage. After this happens the brides family receives a "gift" or money amount for their daughter. This also helps the man who will receive a wife who can contribute to his own income.

Globalization has produced a new need for labor and changed the economic process as a whole. The number of highly paid professionals in third world countries are growing and they in turn are maintained by a low-paid service workers. The demand for these workers, especially servants and prostitutes has increased in conjunction with the economy. Women have emerged as crucial economic actors. The connection between countries through migration enables local practices to become global. These dynamics produce a strong need for migrant workers, servants, prostitutes on a global scale.

The biggest connection that I have drawn between this book and class is through culture. The culture of third world countries has been globalized along with it's women. The women who migrant from all over the world to our country each bring with them different artifacts, values, and beliefs. The end of my book also connected directly with motivation. The motivation of the 15 year old prostitute from the book can be outlined by Maslov's Hierarchy of Needs Model. Her deficiency needs, once sold into the brothel, had been changed. Her physiological needs for food, air, sleep, etc are all met minimally by the pimp at the brothel. Her need for safety and security in her eyes was not being met until she they broke her spirit and after that point she prayed she would not extract HIV because she would be thrown out on the street to starve. Her safety and security needs change and are then met because she finds the brothel as her new security. Her need for loving and belonging also changed in a similar way . Intimate relationships with clients comes to fulfill her needs for loving and belonging. Similarly her esteem needs are met because she is seen as a prize. Because of her young appearance she is chosen first by most men and can be sold for a higher price. This helps her to gain the recognition and acceptance needed to fulfill her esteem needs. All of these things that come together to meet her deficiency needs meet her utmost priorities. Because all of these needs are met she is motivated to fulfill her growth needs of self actualization to make the most out of herself. She is able to do this through accepting that she is stuck in the brothel and realizing it is a better alternative to starving she becomes motivated to make the most out of her abilities and be the best prostitute she thinks that she can be.

Application of classroom material?

I usually think that what i'm learning in my classes is somewhat unrelated to the real world. However this week has shown me differently about the skills we've learned in this O.B class. I have used the negotiation skills, that I learned from the article required for class a few weeks back, in two of my other classes application projects.
 In my labor relations class we were put into groups, both union and management and told to negotiate a new contract. Thanks to the skills I learned about negotation I felt I could actually compete and I was able to have some leverage. We used starting, resisting, and target points to ensure that our demands were met. We also used a starting point that was well above what we actually wanted in hopes of anchoring the management team.
In my accounting class today we were also asked to negotiatie. I used similar tactics as in the above exercise and my partner and I were succesful. We started at almost double our target point, and the other team was floored that we would ask for that. This made them reconsider their numbers and gave us the upper hand. Ultimately we decided not to make a deal because neither side could come to an agreement but because of what I learned in O.B we held our own and knew what to look out for in opponents. We bluffed them, as well as calling their bluffs to ultimately save ourselves from losing money.

Management

On Monday in class we did an activity that split us into groups. This activity gave management much of the power, or so they thought. Being in the middle level group for this activity made me aware of what was really happening. The top managers thought they had the upper hand with information, but when the company came down to speak with the bottom level employees they quickly lost their upperhand. The workers under me realized that they could sell their slogans directly to the company, and take the entire profit, rather than going through two levels of managment with their ideas and splitting the profits. I urged them to play fair but told them that the decision was ultimately theirs. Management was unorganized in their attempts to get the slogans in time so my workers took matters into their own hands and took the direct profit. They also split some of this with me. I am interested to see how we debrief this activity.

Book Report Segment #4

The fourth section of my book consists of two chapters. These chapters included, “selling sex for visas: sex tourism as a stepping-stone to international migration”, and “among women: migrant domestics and their Taiwanese employers across generations”

The first chapter of this section outlines the reasons and justifications that women place on sex work, and how it leads to international migration. The chapter focuses on Dominican sex workers from the small town of Sosua. When interviewed these women made the distinction between marriage por amor and marriage por residencia very clear. This is marriage for love verses marriage for visas. These women are not only using sex work for survival financially, but also for the hopes of advancement. The aim of this strategy is marriage for migration. While the sex trade in Sosua is dangerous, the women are able to somewhat control their working conditions because in Sosua the sex work is not tied to pimps or the drug trade. Sosua sex workers target the European tourists who visit the bars and will hopefully take them along when they return home. The reality of this event happening however is slim. Still the possibility that it may happen keeps the women’s hopes alive and makes them continue to do this kind of work. The sex workers in Sousa are also different because these women experience financial gain through this field of work. Usually pushed into these careers because of poverty and single motherhood, the women in Sosua’s sex work earn significantly more money than other job a Dominican woman can obtain in either service or domestic careers. Some young women also pointed out that hanging out in the tourist bars and making money is a better use of their time than waiting in line at the U.S embassy. The internet has increased the traffic of sex tourists into Sosua and similar areas, increasing these women’s hopes of one day obtaining a visa and leaving the country.

Among these sex workers, they have created a sort of culture. The assumption of these workers is that Europe can provide a better life for them. These women value relationships, more importantly marriage. The artifacts are the visas that they can obtain through marriage, which will allow them to travel to Europe. Another artifact the women receive are “letters of invitation”. These letters are the first step in receiving a tourist visa. The women often communicate with tourists whom have returned to Europe through faxes. From this, women value reading and writing skills, which they do not all posses, but often times collaborate with someone who does. From these values the same assumption is made, that Europe will provide a better life for them.

The next chapter of this segment shows how globalization has transformed the relations between Taiwanese women. When the local culture meets global labor, there are three types of labor that produce kin ties. First is “filial kin work” which is care work conducted in order to maintain intergenerational ties. The duty of caring for aging parents is transferred from the son to his wife, creating a gender transfer. Next the daughter in law outsources this care to a migrant worker, which involves what is called a market transfer. The next kind of labor is “kin labor” which is care provided by someone in extended kin to maintain familial ties. These types of labor include unpaid labor offered by mother-in-laws to care for grand children. However many elders do this in order to stay close to their sons rather than out of a love for grandchildren.  The last kind is “fictive kin” which includes non-family migrant workers who provide care like a family member for older adults in lieu of actual kin.

                  Culture is shown through the women of Taiwanese families because the author outlines the change of a culture. This culture used to specify the duties of eldest sons to care for their aging parents, but with the increase of two-income families we see this start to dwindle. Sons, who often pass this duty off to their wives, or hire migrant workers to care for parents, are becoming increasingly independent from linage. The daughter-in-laws who have received this duty from husbands hire migrant workers in their place because they are also working and do not wish to attend to mother and father-in-laws. However some of the culture still remains because these women are careful to make sure mother-in-laws are not threatened by these new workers. This change in culture has urged the government to change its policy. The government has been considering implementing social security benefits, public pensions, and subsidized care for these elders. 

Lincoln, Machiavelli, and Plato

During the discussion on the excerpts from the prince piece I drew many parallels with another class I am in, Advanced Government and Politics. On Wednesday in my PLS class we were speaking about the president. The public has many ideas of the president, and we wish for him to be all things to all people. We expect our president to be warm, caring, and compassionate, but at the same time ruthless and clever. We expect him to be confident but not arrogant, and to maintain traditions while creating new order. This was similar to the ideas the author held of a leader. He says a leader should be a contradict in similar ways. The key in both instances is the balance of the two traits you are trying to master.
The Machiavellian way is self interested. The Lincolnian way is making oneself an agent for the people. The Platonian way is doing what is best for all. The Lincolnian leader reminded me a lot of an attorney. While Lincoln held his own values about what was right, he also understood that he was an agent for the people and aimed to do what they wanted as a whole. In the same way a defense attorney may have his own ideas about whether or not his client is innocent or guilty, but he has to put these aside and do the best he can to prove his client's innocence, or at the very least make sure that guilt beyond a reasonable doubt is not established.

Incentives

Incentives and punishment fuel everyone. The example we looked at today was Doctors; the punishment of a law suit combined with the incentive to enhance business is enough for doctors to produce type II diagnosis. This is telling a patient they are sick when they are actually well. The consequences for the patient in this case are minimized because it is mostly psychological. Compared to the other scenario, type I where they would tell patients they are well when indeed they are sick. In this case a patient may experience grave consequences from lack of treatment. The question becomes how can we minimize these two types of diagnosis since they are both ultimately false. We discussed briefly, changing tort law, or changing the consequences for mal practice claims. While this may or may not be a suitable solution, I think the better solution would be education. In educating doctors even more, they can become more confident, and make false claims less often. I know that no one can be right 100% of the time, but it is possible to be right a good majority of the time, especially if you're trained in even more instances. By education I am implying longer residences for doctors. This means they will have more on the job training, which will expose them to more experiences and therefore make them better equipped to handle all sorts of situations. 

I really think education can be a changer for all incentive based situations. The reading states that every living organism seeks to do things that warrant rewards, and not do things that cause punishment. Being more educated on a subject can help to better understand the underlying rewards. In a doctor's case these underlying rewards may be satisfaction of saving more amounts of lives, or reputation of providing just treatment. As well as help us to avoid punishment. The more you know about any one thing, the more likely you are to know all the routes that will lead to punishment. No two situations can be exactly the same therefore the more education an individual posses, the more chance they have to pick the route that will lead them to favorable outcomes instead of the unfavorable.

Equity Theory

The equity theory , based upon the equity ratio is derived around the idea that inputs should be equal to outputs. When we have the notion that outputs are unequal to inputs, we want for them to become equal. I have personally seen this theory in action. I have been with my company for 3 summers now. I was hired as summer help, but have had the privilege of being invited back the following two summers, and also over winter breaks. When I first started another girl , my same age, started that summer as well. She and I did the exact same work and had the exact same start date. The only difference between us was that she was a Senator's daughter. Halfway through the summer I found out she was making a dollar more than I was. Even though our job descriptions and hours were identical. I was furious, but there was nothing I could do about it. Instead I blew it off and did not change my work efficiency. She did not return after that first summer. I returned, along with a girl I had befriended the first summer. This was her 3rd summer, and my 2nd. I found out that summer that she had received a raise and was making more than I did. This did not bother me because she was there longer than I was. After that summer she was not invited back, but I was. Because of this I was sure I was going to get the raise at this time. However when I returned for my third summer this past year, I was surprised to find my rate was exactly the same. This made me extremely angry, but there was not very much I could do about it. I also felt that my work performance had been way superior to hers ever was. Because of this, my work efficiency definitely dropped this summer as compared to others.

Motivation

In class yesterday, we spoke about motivation, and how motivation can be broken down into different categories and sub categories. We also spoke about the idea behind companies who supply their employees with a work space equip with extra curriculars. Companies do this in order to diminish any other motivators employs might find that will distract them from their work. This is based on the idea that what I want you to do, and what you want to do are essentially the same thing, I just need to eliminate the distractions. We watched a video about Google, and the things the company offers employs at work.
This morning I was watching T.V and came across a commercial for a Honda plant. The commercial started out by the spokes person saying "mmmm what's the smell", in reference to the eatery. This plant boasted a cafe, that apparently had wonderful fragrances, a putting green, a walking path, and even a delivery service for errands.
All of these things are meant to draw employs in, and then give them no reason to leave. It was very interesting to me that I saw this commercial today after we had just spoken about the motives behind these things in class, I definitely looked at it in a new light. Before this discussion I would have thought how bizarre it is that a company would have all of these things to distract employees, when really it is mitigating other distracting motivators, to help employees find more motivation to do their work.

Book Report Segment #3

The third section of Global Women focused on the commodification of domestic labor and household rules and relations. The relationships that exist between household laborers and the woman whom employ them are often between women who are of different races, nationalities, and social classes. The employer’s use these racial differences to justify the kinds of work they demand.  The laborer depends on the employer for more than just a paycheck, because they are often in the U.S illegally, and likewise the employer relies on the employee for more than her “elbow grease”. Women use these workers to show their comfort and leisure to the world. The number of women who do not work outside of their homes, but still employ domestic help, is rising. The book states that while working households may need to bring in help to care for children or the elderly, no one has to employ a household cleaner in the same way. However employing these workers shows a household’s status by displaying financial resources. The book goes on to discuss live-in help. The reason people often employ immigrant workers is because they are more likely to comply with living in the employer’s house. From an employee’s perspective this is because they do not have to worry about lodging; from the employer’s perspective this is because live-in help is generally less expensive, because their rooming and board can be set against their wages. Also it becomes easy for the employer’s to ask for “favors”. Being a live-in employee gives domestic workers a label of “family”. It is easier to ask a family member for a favor rather than an employee. These employees are therefore required to work long hours and have permanent availability. This often entails waking early in the morning with children, and staying up late into the evening for entertaining guests.   

Domestic workers outline the differences between themselves and the family’s they work for, or at least the differences that the families quickly outline. Workers are usually told that they are “part of the family” but are treated as anything but that. The workers are required to wash their clothing separate from the family’s, eat out of separate bowls, using distinct utensils, use different bathrooms, and are outcast by children. The family’s also use this excuse that the workers are part of the family by telling them they should understand when they cannot afford to pay them more, or appreciate the financial situation. This idea coins labor as a social, not just an economic process.  Family’s also use this idea of family to control their employees. The book looks at employed domestic laborers in Hong Kong. Often time these workers are required to comply with certain regulations that the employer sees fit. Examples of these include, cutting their hair into male hairstyles, refraining from wearing make-up, or finger nail polish, and access to limited showers. The employees are told by their employment agencies to suppress their own wants and desires and to always assume their employers are doing things to protect them. Some employers enforce strict curfews, or lock their employees in their home, from the outside. This is all seen to be a way of “protecting” their employees like they would their own daughters, but are more likely another form of control. One employee recounts that when she ate dinner with the family that employed her they all ate out of a large bowl set in the center of the table, while she was served her own individual bowl. At the time she thought this was because the family respected that in her culture this was not practiced and seen as uncleanly. Later reflecting though, she realized that this was actually because in their culture eating from the same pot symbolizes a shared identity of members of the same lineage. Providing their employee with her own bowl was really a form of exclusion.

This section of the book spoke a lot about culture. We have been speaking about culture and the different levels that make up culture, including artifacts, values, and beliefs. Global Women outlines the household labor that has become part of our culture. Americans use household laborers as a sort of artifact, to show status and to demonstrate to others comfort and leisure. Bringing in hired help also displays that the lady of the house, especially if she is not employed herself, has more important things to do with her time. The book continues to look at domestic workers in Hong Kong. An employer here says that the employees, whom come from the Philippines, need to be taught how to behave properly, due to cultural differences. The employer said that there is a difference between laziness and being slow. In the Philippines they are said to do things at a slower pace due to the hot weather, while in Hong Kong, where it is cold, people move fast and that is what they expect to see in other people. They believe the Philippians need to be taught how to budget their time to fit in with Hong Kong’s fast paced daily life. They also justify the long hours and hard work by believing that housework is not real work in their culture because they are expected to be hard workers; if employee’s  budget their time wisely, they will find time to relax.

Preppies and Culture

On Wednesday we discussed for a long time the article "If Preppies Took Over Wal-Mart". From this discussion I started to think about what Wal-e executives are aiming to do. I think they are really aiming to change their culture, by introducing new artifacts that will in turn change their culture's values and beliefs. Wal-Mart execs. want to change their "dowdy" appearance to one of high-class and luxury. I can understand why Wal-Mart would seek this change; personally I do think of Wal-mart as "dowdy". When I ask myself why this is all I can think is that this is the way it is presented itself to me. Wal-Mart has been so focused on slashing prices that appearance has gone to the way side. Is this starting to catch up with them? I guess the argument could go either way. We discussed how when Wal-Mart started it's target costumers were people from rural areas, who needed a discount mega store. If this was still the company's aim than I don't see why they would aim for the new look. However we also discussed that they believe they have exhausted their resources in these areas and need to focus on ritzier areas where this new look seems to be essential. Either way, I believe changing their uniforms, while it may create more of a high class feel, will cause other areas to suffer. If the smocks that say  "how may I help you" are gotten rid of the company's value that costumer service should be held of the highest importance may be knocked down a peg or two.

The Nacirema

On Monday we discussed the Nacirema. Although I had read this article in the past for another class I re-read it for OB. It still amazes me how changing a few words can change our perception of something. The first time I read this article, I first assumed the Nacirema were a strange uncultured peoples who practiced strange voodoo rituals. I was shocked to find out that we infact were the Nacirema people. However going back to read the article with that thought in mind, you can place a name to every "strange" ritual you read.
I think this is mostly due to the layers of culture we discussed. The artifacts of a culture are the smallest part of the structure but they are the only part that can be physically seen. Once we found out the values and beliefs that were behind each Nacirema ritual, the rituals have a meaning to us. Our initial thoughts must be similar to how archaeologist feel when they uncover artifacts from a extinct culture, and must find meaning behind it.

Researching

Yesterday we listened to a lecture on researching. Something most of us have been instructed on for the past three or four years now. While Dobbs was very helpful and personal it was mostly the same old thing. I did learn that there are certain ways to research that sometimes produce better results though.

I also was reminded yesterday how frustrating it can be to work in groups. Coordinating schedules and relying on others are both difficult concepts to grasp. However because the class is organizational behavior I am taking this whole experience as a life lesson. Ironically the topic I was focusing on yesterday was communication in organizational behavior.

"Individual commitment to a group effort - that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work."
Vince Lombardi 

Decision-Making and Stereotypes

The Decision-Making Quiz we took in class on Monday was interesting in more than one way. Problem number 2 that asked whether a student studied Chinese studies or psychology. This question added that the student was small and shy, this question tried to lead readers to believe these characteristics were a part of the person's major. This showed us the decision making heuristic in action. The logic should have been that the undergraduate major of psychology is more likely a choice because the students who choose this course of study are higher in percentages than those who choose Chinese studies.
This lead me to believe that the decision making heuristic may also lead to some stereotypes that people hold. This heuristic is a device used to make shortcuts in decision making. Therefore when we see someone we may link them to a category of people that they really do not associate with. For example if someone is intelligent we may automatically assume they are nerdy or that they spend all their time studying because that is what we have linked intelligence to in the past, but is not true for this individual. 

Book Report Segment #2

The second section of my book, Global Women, first focuses on conflict; conflict between nannies and their employers. The relationship between the two women of the household, nannies and the lady of the house, is often one that is very strained. The author describes the tension that builds between the two parties until eventually a conflict arises. When this conflict does arise the tension that has brewed under the surface often amounts to feuds that end a relationship, end an employment, and hurt feelings. Things are often said in these instances that would otherwise not have been spoken, but both parties feel threatened by the others resistance to change. In one instance the author retells, the nanny had been employed by the same family for eleven years, and had raised the family’s children from birth. After a major blow-up and hurtful words from the lady of the house telling her that she should “remember, you’re just a maid”, this said nanny decided to quit. After the incident, she took a job with a nightly hospital cleaning crew, making almost 50% less than what she had been receiving at her house job. However she can be quoted as saying “What matters most to me is feeling good, seeing that they like my work…money is important for material things. I know that without money you’ve got nothing, but I can’t expect to earn the same as I was before.”

These blow ups make people say and do things that are both out of character and also blown out of proportion. But there can be a solution. When the two parties can address their interests, or in these instances what is in fact bothering them, they can come to an understanding and find a solution that will benefit everyone, rather than the latter which leaves one out of a job, and one out of help, important to their everyday life. This idea of finding common interests is something that we have been speaking about in class. Interests were proven to be the most effective way to resolve conflict because it maximizes utility for both parties. In one example in my book, the woman of the house quit her job in order to spend more time with her family, but kept the nanny in order to maintain her house and children. The nanny felt as though her job was being infringed upon, while the woman of the house thought she was making the nannies life easier by helping out. The nanny decided at this time to ask the respective family for a raise. The family consented to the raise on the condition that the nanny expanded her duties to regular babysitting hours on Friday and Saturday nights. This caused a blow-up between the two women, and things were said by both parties they willingly admitted after the fact that they didn’t mean. Later however the two parties reconciled and laid their interests out for the other to see; the nanny wanted her job to be respected and not infringed upon, and the woman wanted her household to continue to run efficiently. The two decided that the nanny would work three days a week for the family, and two days elsewhere, but remained living with them in order to save money on rent and bills.   

Another alternative that nannies have to quitting is quitting through an alibi. These nannies tell their families that they must return to their own families in their respective countries. This is their way of avoiding conflict. These women seek to leave on a peaceful note and avoid the blow ups they have seen countless friends encounter. Normally the women have just found a new job, or are simply fed up with that family.

The other part of my book for this segment discussed the idea of housework from an individual employee’s perspective or a company’s perspective. It points out that 40 percent of our countries wealth is owned by 1 percent of the population. The bottom 20 percent are living with negative assets, which means “the degradation of others is readily purchased”. It also says that more than 80 percent of Americans still clean their own homes, but the minority who do not are the nation’s “media decision”; they are the makers, political figures, talking heads and all kinds of celebrities. Housework is becoming politics to these people, framing house-workers as women of certain race or class. One thing that made me extremely concerned was that Zoe Baird, a lawyer, who boasted earnings of $507,000 yearly, and was a media spokesperson for promoting the rights of nannies, was paying her own household workers only $5 an hour. 

Integration and the 999

The idea of an integrative agreement seemed to make the most sense to me. If by moving from thinking about positions to thinking about interests two people can both reach their maximum utilities why is this approach not used more often? I understand that often the two parties will have similar interests and this solution will not be possible, but when this is a viable end I cannot fathom why it wouldn't be used. Maybe because I am more of a passive rather than an aggressive person is the reason why I associate most with this solution to negotiating. I am not very good at being deceptive, like asking for more than you need tactics, and I would much rather be up front and honest to solve a conflict. However I am learning that this is how I will get taken advantage of. I am working on these skills, and my job now is a lot of negotiating ( I call people and ask them for money for the university). I am realizing it is not always a negative thing like how I used to perceive it.

Another interesting point of discussion was the mention of Herman Kanes 9-9-9 plan. We discussed the logistics of this plan tonight in my economics class. What I came to find is that this plan sets out to have a 9% tax for corporations income, personal income, and sales tax. This plan would completely get rid of payroll tax. Because the government currently operates on a marginal tax rate for both corporations and personal incomes  this would change things quite a bit. The average income tax rate currently is 13.6%, while the current corporation tax is 17.5%. This plan would make both of these a steady nine across the board. This would tip in favor of the wealthy, because they would be giving away a lesser proportion of their wealth (keep in mind wealth and income are two separate ideas) than the average or even poor population. Likewise the 9% sales tax would benefit the wealthy because it would be regressional in the sense that poorer people would be spending a larger portion of their income on things requiring this tax. The saving grace is the idea of eliminating payroll tax altogether which would ultimately tip the scale back in the other direction. The question then comes in finding the balance. This of course is a very simplistic view, only considering these taxes without outside coefficients.

Negotiation

The idea of negotiation was presented in the articles we were supposed to read for class this week, and use in class. From the article the main point that seemed to present itself to me was holding the power. The idea of interests and rights were also discussed. The article about getting disputes resolved outlines interest as the best way to solve a dispute, however I believe power is the best way to negotiate a deal, well a good deal for yourself that is. 

Negotiating a deal almost always goes in favor of one party, the article outlines the idea of making both parties feel like they have gotten a good deal, but without knowing what you're counter parts ZOPA is, it is impossible to  know if they feel like they've gotten a good deal, so you must worry about yourself. 

The article discusses different ways to take this power. I think the most effective way to gain power is through anchoring. If you are negotiating a deal on price you will never get the price you want for something unless you state well above that price. Just as you don't know what your counters' ZOPA is, they also usually do not know yours. This works to your advantage so that you can set the anchoring point well above your ZOPA to give the illusion that it is higher than they think. Another way you can take the advantage is having your counter make an offer first, then you can gauge where their ZOPA really is, assuming they also make a marked up, or down (depending on the side) offer. 

I thought of this like buying a car. The salesman marks up his prices assuming that in bargaining he will get less, but if he doesn't set this high price he will get even less than what he is comfortable with. If he set his price for the lowest he is willing to take for the car than he will walk away with a loss. 

This brings up another very good point the author made about walking away. He says you will never be able to get something for a good price unless you are willing to lose it. This is so true, when you set a price that you will not go above, or below, prior to negotiation, it is easier to stick to that price and that price will help you keep your head in hectic or emotional situations. 

Some Wise Assumptions

I was very happy that the author touched on the things that confrontation can change. The section entitled: "a 'residue' that changes things" points out that "it takes two people to cooperate, but only one person is usually required to make a mess of a relationship". Things are often said and or done in the heat of the moment that would not be otherwise. I'm sure we have all said something in the heat of an argument that left us feeling not only horrible, but also knowing that we did not mean it at all. He gives the example of physical arguments; when caught up in the moment physical attacks seem warranted but they end up leaving scars that are irrevocable unlike the initial conflict. I thought about this like a relationship. A relationship cannot withstand differing opinions without both sides commitment to produce a resolution, but it definitely only takes one person to make a relationship end, or to force it to that point. Usually this end warrants some kind of fight that ends in unintended hurtful exchanges. After such things are said, regardless of the validity, it is impossible to forget. These things are always remembered and even if the couple can reconcile their feelings, the hurtful words are always kept in the back of your mind. This in turn leads to the ultimate demise of a relationship, or at least a failing one.Once words are exchanged it is impossible to take them back or right the wrong.

Book Report Segment #1

I am reading the book Global Women: Nannies, Maids, and Sex Workers in the New Economy. The first section of my book talks about nannies and about love being a resource, to be more accurate, an unfairly distributed resource. Love has become something that is extracted from one place in order to be enjoyed somewhere else. Women from all over the globe leave their families in order to be a care taker in another part of the world. These women do this in order to better provide for their families at home. However when they leave their families to attend to other families they are often times leaving their own children who consequently end up being raised by family members or neighbors. This book outlines the harsh cycle that occurs in the United States due to this import of care. Nannies come from various other countries to care for American children while the American parents go to work full time. These women from other countries leave their own families in order to provide for them, in turn they take care of the families we leave in order to care for. It is a never ending cycle and is rapidly increasing as time continues.

The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of the Child states that all children have the right to an atmosphere of happiness, love, and understanding. The book makes the claim that the more we love and are loved, the more deeply we can love. For this reason love is not a fixed resource, but rather a renewable resource. However these foreign nannies cannot return to their own families at the end of a long day so they are forced to love from a distance and in different ways. Consequently these nannies love the children they care for so much because they are tunneling the love for their own children towards them. The more they love and attach themselves to these new children, the less they can love their own children at home; in this sense love seems fixed. The book decides love is instead a “distributable resource”.  You cannot withdraw or invest feeling, so therefore it is instead redirected. These nannies redirect their love to the children they care for because they cannot love their own children the way they want to. The book recounts stories from nannies that are in this situation and have traveled to America in order to work in order to provide for a family back home.

The book also outlines stories from children of these migrant workers. Some children feel that what their mothers are doing is a great sacrifice, and this in turn drives them to do better in school and attend universities in order to in a way repay their mothers sacrifices. Many children admitted that the monetary support their mothers provided have made their lives easier. These children still admitted the sadness of not having their mothers present in their daily life. Other children interviewed held resentment towards their mother’s after they leave. These children tend to fall behind in school, and almost none attended universities. These children admitted feelings of abandonment and neglect, even when left in others capable care.

The book summarizes this thought pretty accurately by saying “one cannot simply assume that the care leaving disadvantaged nations is surplus care. What is a solution for rich nations creates a problem in poor nations.”

I have seen the transfer of care in the form of a resource in my own life. I have visited Guatemala twice on a mission’s trip with my church. We stay and work at a children’s home. On this property there are four separate houses that house the children who can best be thought of orphans who live at the home. These houses are split up by gender and age; a young boys house, an older boys house, a young girls house, and an older girls house. Some of these children are not actually orphans, meaning they have live parents, but in every other sense of the word they are, either their parents couldn’t take care of them, or they were in danger. The difference between the children’s home and an orphanage is that these children cannot be adopted; they live in this place until they are old enough to support themselves. Many of the children come to this home young and therefore spend their entire childhoods here. At this home there are four house moms, who each live in one of the four perspective houses with the kids. Some of these moms live there full time, while others leave at night. The two that stay with the younger children live there fulltime. The two moms that live in the older children’s house leave at night to go back to their own families. One of the houses moms that lives there full time has grown children. In her case she needed a place to redirect her love, she loves these children like her own because her real children do not need this kind of love anymore. The house moms who work at the home during the day are leaving their children at home in order to go to work to provide a better life for them. They distribute their love and care to these children and spend all day long with them, making all their meals, and handling all their activities, leaving only while they are sleeping; instead of spending this time with their own children. This is all due to the vicious cycle of having to be away from your child in order to provide a better life for them. 

The Columbia Disaster

"Instead of making people wiser, being in a group can actually make them dumber"

I found this exert from the reading especially interesting. This is of course referring to small groups. The article goes on to state that much of our lives are spent in small groups and consequently many important decisions made. Afterall, as the article reminds us, Juries are small groups of people who decide if people will go to prison. When a group is small, like the MMT group was, the influence of one member on the entire group is inevitable. This can be seen in any situation where a small group has formed. This is due mostly to the size of the group. When a group is small each member has a ability to have a distinct voice and there is not enough diversity for any voices to be quieted. We can see from the example of the Columbia's fate and how the small group at MMT was influenced that when one member of a small group makes a claim the rest of the group often readily takes this claim as fact. When McCormack decided to act as if the problem with the piece of foam was inconsequential, it became inconsequential for the entire group. The group took her claims to be fact.

I think that the idea that a group may make you "dumber" may actually be bad word choice. A group doesn't make someone dumber but it does make them behave dumbly. By this I mean often times, especially with small groups, people are persuaded to do things they would normally stand opposed to, or accept something they would normally question. When someone is a part of a large group they feel more comfortable speaking out because they think there has to be at least one other person who thinks that way too, where as in a small group that kind of diversity often times does not exist.

Experts Cause Failure?

The Carter Racing statistics were something that we were all asked to analyze. Some of our classmates said that the company should indeed not race. While others of us thought they should. Thinking that these statistics were for a racing team the resounding point behind our race decisions was coming from, "we're racers, that's what we do!". However when told that these statistics were actually from the space rocket launch I think many of our minds changed. The idea that a rocket could have almost a 30% chance of engine failure seems to change the book.Experts had all the data that we were provided with and they choose to launch the rocket. What were they thinking? They put lives in danger on only a 70% rate of success, this does not seem large enough for them to make a yes decision. While I realize the experts had more information than we did, they were still presented with the same realities that the space ship did not have all the kinks worked out. The Challenger launch caused 7 people to lose their lives while the entire country watched. I cannot understand what these experts were thinking.

Managing Multicultural Teams

The reading, Managing Multicultural Teams names one of the main challenges on a multicultural team as the form of communication, either direct or indirect. The article states that Western communication is direct and explicit where as in other cultures meanings may be embedded. The article goes on to talk about a Japanese-American multicultural team that had communication issues. 

I can understand this problem fully because I have experienced it. I have gone along on two missions trips to Guatemala. Once there we stay and work at a children's home. At the home we work along side American missionaries who run the home. Sometimes we work outside of the home, or take the children on trips into Guatemala City or Antigua. There is a distinct communication difference not only when we travel outside the home but also inside the home. The children are split into houses on the property by gender and also by age. Each house (there are 4) has what is called a home mom. These are Guatemalan women who live in the houses with the children. We eat dinner inside their homes while we are there. I have communicated with the home moms who speak some English. I experienced the same kind of situation the article describes; when they nod along with what you're saying it is their way of telling you they understand you, not that they are agreeing with you. Similarly when they furrow their brows at me they are saying that they don't understand my English not that they are confused by what I am saying like it would mean in America. 

In working with the house moms to prepare dinner I also experienced the trouble with the trouble with accents and fluency , I can understand some broken Spanish, however I need someone to speak it to me  slowly and break up their phrases, however the house moms will tell you to do something just speaking regularly, they think I don't know how to do what they're asking but really I can't understand them. 

Team structures.. a product of personality?

In reading the assigned document, "The Wisdom of Teams", it occurred to me that the make ups of the team performance curve may very well be a product of personality. The reading discusses the five different frameworks that make up different teams. The way this article describes the different structures made me draw the assumption that the make up of each group relies heavily on the personalities present. The Myers-Briggs personality test that we were all supposed to take for our papers placed us into categories based off of our preferences. The test put me into the category of Protector:
"Protectors make up as much as ten percent the population, because their primary interest is in the safety and security of those they care about - their family, their circle of friends, their students, their patients, their boss, their fellow-workers, or their employees. Protectors have an extraordinary sense of loyalty and responsibility in their makeup, and seem fulfilled in the degree they can shield others from the dirt and dangers of the world"


This led me to believe that protectors are most likely to follow a real team or even high-performance team make-up. The real team framework says it contains people who "are equally committed to a common purpose, goals, and working approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable". The protector looks out for his co-workers security and safety, meaning they are likely to fall into this category. 


Likewise other personalities are more likely to be self-serving.  An example may come from the personality of an inventor:
"Inventors are keenly pragmatic, and often become expert at devising the most effective means to accomplish their ends. They are the most reluctant of all the types to do things in a particular manner just because that's the way they have been done."


Inventors like to figure things out for themselves and do not like to follow exact procedure, but rather try new things, meaning they may be more likely to fall into a work group category, where "members interact primarily to share information, best practices, or perspectives and to make decisions to help each individual perform within his area of responsibility".


I also found this particularly interesting from the reading "Political concerns almost always overshadow performance considerations". This too I think falls into personality types, some personalities are more self-serving than others, but there are certain personalities that are actually more group oriented and focused that this would not be true for.

Judgers vs Perceivers

From the reading, Personality Plus I found parts of the MyersBriggs Type Indicator, or M.B.T.I. test, to be interesting; especially the part about Judgers/Perceivers. The test operates on the belief ...

" Judgers 'like to live in a planned, orderly way, seeking to regulate and manage their lives,' according to an M.B.T.I, guide, whereas Perceivers 'like to live in a flexible, spontaneous way, seeking to experience and understand life, rather than control it.' "


I found this part particularly interesting because my boyfriend and I often have this conversation, however neither one of us i'm sure, realized the categories we very closely resemble. I often get upset when plans change because it throws off the schedule I hold in my head for each day. He on the other hand is terrible at making plans and likes to fly by the seat of his pants. I realize now that I am a judger, I like order, and regulation in my life. I set a plan in my head every morning, complete with time slots and transportation time pockets, about what will need to be done that day and in what order it needs completed. When these plans are disrupted or thrown off I often become upset, not because things aren't happening like I want them to, but rather because my brain has a hard time adjusting my schedule to the change and my thoughts become flustered. Often times my plans are disrupted though, dating someone who I now see is a perceiver causes my daily schedules to be thrown off quite often. He lives by the idea that things will happen when they do, and if somethings meant to happen it will happen eventually. He is always flexible and does things in his own time and when he feels the need to. I always thought I just had control issues but I know realize that I am a "judger" while he is a "perceiver" and this is where the difference lies. However I am getting better and becoming more flexible from spending time with him, holding true to the thought I've always held that other people's personalities can and do rub off on you, both good and bad traits. 

Those Low Grades in College...

I completely agree with Mr.Taylor's conclusion that a high G.P.A "demonstrates a strong work ethic and smarts"; in order to get good grades I believe you must either be an intelligent person or a hard worker, and most times a little bit of both. I'm sure we have all heard the phrase that someone is "book smart" usually this refers to someone who puts a lot of time and effort into getting good grades, studies a lot, and reads their textbooks. On the other hand are people who are just naturally highly intelligent, if you will, who can sit in class and listen, and do well on tests just from the information they have absorbed. The later are students most of us despise because it comes so easily to them. Most of us however will fall in the medium of having a relatively stable level of intelligence but must also put in a sufficient amount of time in order to succeed. I'm happy to hear that businesses are looking closely at G.P.A because personally I work very hard in order to achieve the grades that I do, and appreciate that it will not go unnoticed. Also it makes sense that G.P.A is now regarded more highly because if two people take all the same type classes but one has a higher grade point average that person obviously retained more information for examinations and assessments, and hopefully also carried more information out of school with them.

I can also see where Ms. Steinfield is coming from with the need for an emphasis on social skills, I also agree these things cannot be measured the way G.P.A can and they are also important; but that's what interviews will solve. If you find applicants with higher G.P.A's and interview them you will be able to see communicative and social skills, and be able to have the best of both worlds. However if you interview applicants based solely on communicative skills you will miss out on the good work ethic that a high G.P.A usually entails, the exception being those with naturally high intelligence stated before however high levels of intelligence will not go unnoticed in a company either.

No more problem

"One day, someone showed me a glass of water that was half full.  And he said, "Is it half full or half empty?"  So I drank the water.  No more problem." 

~Alexander Jodorowsky