Week 5 Blog Post 4 (Chapter 11)

On page 352 of the textbook, the authors discuss the concepts associated with individualist cultures and collectivist cultures. Individualist cultures, "such as the United States, revere the individual person and expect people to make their own decisions, develop their own opinions, solve their own problems, have their own things, and in general, learn to view the world from the point of view of self." In contrast, the authors describe collectivist cultures as those of China, who "revere good over elf interest, value group and family identity over individual achievement, adn tend to respect vertical status hierarchies". Through my experiences, understanding the differences between these two types of cultures makes it much easier to communicate with and relate to in the workplace.

For example, in a collectivist society like most Asian countries, the emphasis is on the "we" and the "us". People in the workplace are hesitant to speak up and express their opinion, especially if it is expressing a different viewpoint than what the boss, or leader just communicated. Maintaining group harmony is key. I recently had a group meeting where 4 out of 5 of us were Asian (I'm Indian but brought up in North America so I'm not including myself in the 4). A point was brought up by one of the members, yet everyone just kind of agreed with it even though we were discussing a controversial topic (health care in the United States).

In an individualist society, which emphasises the "I" and "me", people have no problem in expressing their individual opinion and speaking up on an issue they strongly believe in. If my group members were not people who just recently moved here from India and Japan, I know they would have expressed their thoughts and ideas even if they differed from what one person maintained.

At the end, we just went along with the one person's ideas. This has its positives and negatives. The positive aspects are that there was no conflict or disagreement in the group. The negatie aspect is that different ideas were not heard and so if there was a better idea, we will never hear about it.

Therefore, we must be sensitive to how people from other cultures communicate to increase the efficiency of the team and also to understand why they say (or don't say) what they say (or don't say).

Week 5 Blog Post 3 (Chapter 10)

On page 322 of our textbook, the principles related to Training and Development are discussed. The authors of our book convey that employee training and development "has always been a function of management" and that "business people have long recognized that there are benefits to identifying the best practices in performing any given job and then communicating these practices systematically to employees. This is a wonderful concept as long as it is applied in the workplace because employees really get to learn and be upto date on what the most efficient methods of performing a task.

In my most recent job at a non profit organization, there was virtually no training and the Director of the organization did not provide knowledge to employees regarding the best practices. The sales team was left on its own, the client services department was left on its own, and so were the therapists and aquatics staff. It's understandable if every employee within this department wasn't provided training, but even the managers in charge of each of these departments were not given any guidance or coaching on how to better do their jobs or even how to effectively lead, communicate, and manage those in their area. Maybe that's why this organization failed.

Week 5 Blog Post 2 (Chapter 9)

In Chapter 9 of our textbook, the authors discuss the concepts associated with Bullying in the Workplace. A long definition is provided in the textbook - you can find it on page 297. I am sure that you will agree with the definition and what constitutes as bullying. What I found most interesting about this topic is the question posed by the authors - "Why does bullying in the workplace persist when the majority of us would agree that it is unfair or unacceptable"? The authors convey that bullying occurs because bullies are not held accountable for their behaviour and also because victims do not speak up or are afraid to do so.

I can relate to the concepts associated with bullying because I have been a victim before. I had a very harmonious relationship with all of my coworkers when I worked for a nonprofit organization last year. There were only 10 of us in the office and we got along great. Then I got promoted to Sales and Marketing Manager and a woman who felt as though she she deserved it got upset. She bullied me by trying to intimidate me by the looks she gave, by not talking to me when I walked to her side of the office, by starting nasty rumors and gossiping about me, and also by calling me names to my face. Most of these were "non-verbal" forms of bullying but the name calling was a verbal form of bullying.

I decided to discuss it with my boss, the Director of Health and Wellness. However, it was clear that I came across as "whining", so I dropped it and dealth with it. After talking to my husband, I realized that I should just ignore her as the rest of the office did not believe her gossip and rumors and she was just a jealous person. It took me a long time to feel that way - I used to dread going to work for the longest time and it used to affect my productivity.

Week 5 Blog Post 1 (Web Lecture)

Hi everyone,

Wow, we are in our last week of blogging! I have to admit that I learned a lot from this week's web lecture, even though I don't usually care for things related to government or the concepts involved in a political science class. I don't know why but I have always found it kind of boring.

However, as I was reading this, I was able to understand the terms thanks to the table in the web lecture that provided definitions. I never knew that there were so many different types of democracy and assumed that all of the types of democracy were "participatory democracy", which according to the web lecture - "requires requires that people do more than vote - they must actively engage in cooperative activities that will help the group achieve its goals.". A weakness of this democracy is the unequal distribution of power, which totally makes sense to me. There is no way that we will be able to allow all of the constituents of the nation or area that we are trying to make a decision for, and not everyone will want to, because for this model to truly work, individuals need to become very informed about all aspects of the potential decision, and "consider others opinions and ideas, and articulate their own views".

I have experienced participatory democracy in various classes which involve group projects at school. In one of my Business classes (Management Information Systems), we had a group project with 10 other group members. We had to come up with a business model for an organization and define and discuss its various operational goals. At our first meeting, we decided that for the next week, we should go home, research ideas and then we would come back and brainstrom what we found. One member of the group recorded all of the groups ideas when we met. However, it seemed that this participatory democracy did not truly work because it was evident that about half of the group members had not done their research so could not really participate in the group discussion. Additionally, a couple of the extroverted Type A personalities took over and wouldn't let some of the other group members get their ideas in.

The idea of a participatory democracy is a good one but in reality it does not always work because the views of the "stronger and opinionated" people get heard more, and also, not everyone wants to participate.

Week 4 Blog Post 4 (Web Lecture)

Virtual or Real Communication?

In this week's web lecture, an interesting question is posed - "If team members meet online, such as via email, chat, or discussion board, does that mean the communication isn't real?"

I thought this was a very interesting topic because as students of San Jose State University, each and every one of us communicates via email on a daily basis. Additionally, there are a lot of us who take online classes and participate in a discussion board or chatroom setting. So does that mean that when you email your professor to ask a question, that you are not really communicating?

According to Webster's Dictionary online (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/communication), the term "communication" has several meanings, two of which include "an act or instance of transmitting" and " information communicated in a verbal or written message" . When we meet online in an email, chat, or discussion board method, we definitely fit the definition of communication according to the dictionary.

So in my opinion, of course the communication is real.

Week 4 Blog Post 3 (Chapter 8)

The title of Chapter 8 is "Teams and Networks". On page 254, the authors of our textbook discuss the concepts associated with "A Retreat from Teams". They discuss that in order for a team to be successful, the following factors must occur:



1. Teams are only as good as their members; the careful selection of team members is thus essential.

2. Teams must be trained in group discussion making and communication.

3. Only some descisions can be assigned to teams. Simple tasks are best assigned to individuals.

4. Some members of a team have more expertise and experience than do other members; therefore all members do not contribute equally.



I can relate to the above through my work experiences. The first point is something that is very critical. A team is only as strong as their "weakest link". So even if 4 of out 5 members are very motivated, hard working, and results oriented, the team will not succeed if the 5th member is lazy, unmotivated, and does not contribute. I have experienced this on my former sales team, whom I managed. Although everyone on the team was well educated and had a similar level of experience, there was one member (Claudia) that constantly performed below the others because of her lack of motivation. Although there were pay incentives associated with reaching your goals, her family was very wealthy and she was not motivated by money or goals. Therefore, our total team sales numbers were not as high as other teams beause she brought us down.


I also agree and have experienced the second point because without training in group communication, people will struggle and there will be tension present. I think it would be really beneficial for all SJSU students to have to take a group communication class their first semester of school to avoid conflict.

Week 4, Blog Post 2 (Chapter 7)

On page 203 of Chapter 7, the concept of "work/life conflict" is discussed. Specifically, the authors of the book convey that the term "refers to the simultaneous influence of work on members' lives away from work - at home, at leisure, and in families and in communities - and the influence of personal life responsibilities and aspirations on members' experiences at work." The authors go on to discuss how the work/life conflict has been of great importance when studied by feminists because of the ability to study things like childcare.

I can relate to this principle pretty well. I am 30 years old and have been married for 5 years. I have recently decided that I want to become an elementary school teacher. I work as an Aide or Instructional Assistant in a classroom during the school year so I can get experience. I won't be done my teaching credential for about another 2 to 2.5 years. My conflict and the one that my husband and I always have is having children/babies and keeping a balanced life between me having kids and focusing on my career goals. It's something that a lot of my female friends that are my age or so have to deal with these days - how long do you stay home from work after having the baby? Do you do what's better for your child at the expense of hurting your career? For some of my friends, after school care is a huge concern too - my best friend is a lawyer. She does not get home from work until about 7 pm. Her husband and the child's father is a doctor. They make a LOT of money. So what is best for her child? To have a mommy who is at home and always there for the little one, or someone who works a lot and can make sure the child has the best of everything, including a private school education in this very expensive Bay Area we call home?

It's hard to keep a balance.