COMM 144

Week 3 continued.. : Post 4

2009-07-04T13:45:00.000-07:00

It is kind of funny to me that it took Ford, who wasn't around until the industrial revolution, to come up with the beginnings of progressive capitalism. Progressive capitalism is described in the book as equalizing the pay of employees, to be able to purchase the product that they are producing. Ford thought that the only way that he was going to be able to sell cars to the masses was to pay "the masses" enough money to be able to afford them. His employees were the target audience for the product. It is funny that this wasn't realized before this. I guess it sort of makes sense why this made the industrial revolution so successful.

Chapter 11: Post #1

2009-07-03T22:15:00.000-07:00

The North American business' values associated with ethical communication recommend trusting one another, treating each other with respect, recognizing the value of each individual, keeping your word, telling the truth: being honest with others, acting with integrity, being open to change, risk failing in order to get better, and learn; try new ideas. All I have to say to this is... HA! If any major American corporation really believes that they follow these values, I would suggest that they talk to the majority of the people that make up their country. I am sure they tell themselves this is what they are doing, but I highly doubt that it is ever completely the case.

Chapter 10: Post #1

2009-07-03T21:58:00.000-07:00

Targeted selection is an obvious concept, but like the book points out, it is hardly every accomplished. Again, I would like to compare this idea with my experience at Starbucks. This company did quite a good job at constant reinforcement of their number one priority: customer satisfaction. Some stores obviously took this idea way more seriously than others (as I sure most people would be able to identify just by visiting multiple stores). But I did admire that this company really tried hard to follow through with this priority way more than other customer service jobs that I have had. It made it seem as though this company really did care about their customers.

Chapter 9: Post #1

2009-07-03T21:44:00.000-07:00

The first page of chapter 9 conveyed a negative opinion about trying to articulate leadership skills. I find this especially interesting because I have been enrolled in "leadership" classes since I was in eighth grade. I was (along with the rest of the class) in charge of producing the activities throughout the school. This included hosting dances, lunchtime activities, and even included fundraising. The class however insignificant it may have seemed at the time, really did improve my ability to delegate and work with a team. I think these are vital skill that need to be learned in order to have a successful leader.

Online Lecture: Post 1

2009-07-02T19:42:00.000-07:00

This lecture struck a nerve with me. I realized that this idea can be applied to many things, not just organizations. More specifically, this can be applied to personal relationships. In order for relationships to flourish, the participants must be open and honest about their feelings, beliefs and goals. The lecture pointed out that in order to have a successful democracy, participant must commit to dialogue. "A passion for dialogue requires a commitment to self-expression and thoughtful listening to others' perspectives." This means that there is no point in trying to communicate half-heartedly. In order to maximize the potential of the system, honesty with yourself and others is key, just as in a relationship.

Chapter 8: Post #1

2009-06-27T20:27:00.000-07:00

To relate another concept to Starbucks, I would like to focus on the "quality information must be widely distributed" idea. This was done to a T at Starbucks. We were required to have at least 15 minutes a shift a week to dedicate to catching up on all the reading material that was sent out weekly. This would often include training updates too, but most often I saw the majority of the material a bragging and propaganda to the Starbucks team. The material would be about the charity that this store did, or donations that that store had made, or top selling stores that week. The reading material was a way to keep the workers motivated, but I never really saw it as effective. I guess I didn't like my job enough.

Chapter 7: Post #1

2009-06-27T20:16:00.000-07:00

The first thing that struck me in this chapter was when the chapter talked about organizing difference in organizations. The one that I found as most amusing was "defining a person by defining other". When I first read the title I thought of how at Starbucks, everyone in the company were referred to as partners. This was to create an "everyone is equally important" vibe. This was something I found to be trivial since there were also secondary position names that were used. However, with the explanation of the meaning, I really saw a lot of "truth" as far as what people do. But I would think that these definitions of titles usually come on a more personal level, not so much official

Online Lecture: Post 2

2009-06-27T20:04:00.000-07:00

Virtual or real communication ended confusing me a little bit. I feel like after reading the online lecture, it seems like only the people participating in the communication can label whether it is real or virtual. I have always thought of real-time communication as face-to-face communication but now with cell phones, skype, and instant messaging, it is a little harder to distinguish. I personally enjoy hearing and seeing the person that I am communicating with. I feel like it is more personal and I am worth their time. However, I do understand that businesses must be quick and efficient and that doesn't always leave time for personal communication.

Technology and Teams: Post 1

2009-06-25T15:07:00.000-07:00

The pervasive communication environment idea struck a chord with me because I regularly talk about this exact idea with people of an older generation in my life. I am often asked why I am so attached to my cell phone or my laptop, or why I have to answer my phone, even if I am eating dinner (I guess it is pretty rude to you present company). But the funny thing is, my generation, for the most part, grew up with this constant connectedness need. Actually, to be more specific, I was just at the age of being interested in constant connection when the technology really took off (about 12 years old). For example, I remember being on AOL every day after school instant messaging with all my friends that I just spent my day with at school. Then I got my pager, and spent hours deciphering the pager code that was used to send the first text messages. The most ironic thing about this pervasive communication environment is that it rarely fails to encompass everyone. Even my mom just downloaded a facebook APP to her iPhone.

Chapter 6: Post 1

2009-06-20T11:09:00.000-07:00

I found the portion of the text that talked about myths to be very true. Myths can be positive or negative, but we use these myths as a guiding force in our lives. I think about all the things I would like to do when I win the lottery or make millions of dollars at my regular job (both unlikely to be true), but we are told that we can believe in it because it happens to some people. If it happens to some people why can't it happen to me? There are also myths that can be negative that we still know to fear. For example, whenever I am babysitting, if the phone rings or the doorbell rings, I might get scared because I know that bad things happen in movies with babysitters. I don't actually know of any specific instances myself where bad things have happened when someone is babysitting, but I've heard the "stories" enough to know to be scared.

Chapter 5: Post #1

2009-06-19T12:01:00.000-07:00

I found the book's example of material consequences of organizational cultures interesting. While the explanation made a lot of sense, it made me consider the differences between men and women. While I am sure it helps men if they are attractive, I think the expectations of women are a little bit higher. This might be a result of many things, (most of which are influenced by the media) but I just find it interesting that these unfortunate realities cross over into every discipline (including organizational communication).

Online Lecture: Post 1

2009-06-17T20:50:00.000-07:00

Speaking as a former employee of a business that used workplace surveillance, I can say that it can make for an uncomfortable work environment. While we were already aware of being monitored, we never really were okay with it. It made us feel like we always needed to watch our backs and it provided an overall uneasy feeling. While this may have kept our work more efficient, I think it proved to us just what the manager felt about us. The surveillance portrayed the feelings of management towards us as untrustworthy and unreliable. Needless to say I am very pleased that I no longer work there.

Chapter 4: Post #2

2009-06-13T15:22:00.000-07:00

Weick's idea of partial inclusion or multiple system's membership is interesting. I see it as problematic for the company or workplaces themselves, because you are then losing the focus of an employee, however, I would also like to think that a company would want well rounded employees to work at their company and potentially represent the people in which the company might be targeting. You would think that they would both be important, but maybe a more realistic member of society might be more desirable.

Chapter 4: Post #1

2009-06-13T15:08:00.000-07:00

The system perspective is an interesting idea about businesses, marriages, families, or teams. With the example of the BMW advertisement we are show that it is no one thing that makes the BMW great, but all of the components together that create its greatness. This idea is similar to the idea of you are only as strong as your weakest link. An entire business relies heavily on the relationships between the employees along with the working product itself. I find this to be very true in personal relationships. You can't consider your relationship with a significant other as a positive relationship if it can be physically abusive once a month.

Chapter 3: Post #2

2009-06-13T14:54:00.000-07:00

Symbolic Interaction seems to pioneer the way for new understandings of human behavior. While behaviorism believed that a stimulus caused behavior, symbolic interaction believes that interpretation causes behavior. I found this particularly interesting because it's obviousness makes it seem almost mundane. It is funny that we have to be so specific in communication studies. However, the mundane is obviously relevant because we now understand that everyone will not always have predictable reactions to everything because interpretation is never the same from one person to the next.

Chapter 3: Post #1

2009-06-13T14:28:00.000-07:00

The first thing that stood out to me in this chapter was when the authors are talking about Benjamin Franklin's popularized notions of empire and pragmatism. These concepts are interesting in that they could still be considered relevant in current corporations. The one that stuck out to me the most, however, is the "Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise." I know that this is so true for me. Whenever I am making sure that I am in bed at a reasonable time and up at a reasonable time I know I am more efficient throughout the day.

Work Story

2009-06-02T18:40:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,

I have worked a few jobs as a 22 year old. When I was a young teenager, I was a competitive softball player, and managed to convince the league to let me put on pitching clinics for the younger girls. I was only payed a little, but it was my first job. My next job, which was my first legitimate one as far as the government was concerned was when I was 14. I worked at my local Cold Stone Creamery for approximately four weeks over the summer. I really wanted to start making my own money, even though my parents didn't want me to work. I got a good taste of hard labor (making waffle bowls should be considered a form of torture), and decided I didn't like it.

My next job was a camp counselor over the summer at 16 years old. I worked for the city of Palo Alto and worked the really young camps in the mornings and the middle school kids in the afternoon (which is when I realized I don't like middle school kids). I continued to stay employed with the city into the school year and was able to chaperone city sponsored middle school dances.

My next job was working as a cashier at a barbeque restaurant for the summer before I went away to college. I worked there as a 17 year old, which ended up being problematic at some times since I wasn't old enough to sell alcohol according to California.

My next job was working for Starbucks. I started working there as an 18 year old and worked there for two and a half years. It was a pretty good job, pays relatively well. But I am so glad I don't work there now.

My current job is an internship at a PR firm. I don't work very often, but when I do, I learn a lot. I am hoping to increase my hours at the firm next semester since I have a light load t school, (because it's my last semester! yay!) but we'll see.