BUS576-4

Power Hungry? 

This weeks readings were about power, conflict, and negotiation within organizations. The reading by Jeffrey Pfeffer examined the changes in the workplace due to a younger workforce and the effects the younger workforce has on workplace culture and hierarchy. I found this piece interesting because I am a millennial and my exposure to the corporate world is limited. I often forget how different and perhaps rigid the corporate world of my grandparents would have been because now when I think corporate I partially think of Google offices where you can bring your dog to work and play pingpong whenever you would like. Pfeffer's research shows that although businesses are starting to boast a hipper, more laid-back workplace employees still choose a more traditional hierarchy. Pfeffer's research was also about cognitive dissonance. According to Pfeffer people are motivated to reduce cognitive dissonance by removing "discrepant cognitions".

The second reading was also by Pfeffer and it was about power. My outstanding question about Pfeffer's article "Power Play" is what if everyone in the world has all the right tools and motivations to be powerful. Then what would happen to the workplace dynamic. Don't we need some individuals who are better at following than leading and some individuals who are not so powerful? I think that "Power Play" gave some very excellent tips on how to approach business confidently and achieve your goals but I wonder if everyone became power hungry if there would be too many egos to balance. I would like to see an article about respecting individuals even if they do not seem powerful.

Image Source: http://leftycartoons.com/category/feminist/

A large part of our discussion and EIAs this week dealt with gender issues in the workplace. I wanted to tie in the chapter on leadership with this weeks discussion on gender. With the 2016 presidential election gearing up I would like to talk about our female leaders and how they are presented and critiqued. This is an interesting article over at Huffington Post about how we talk about female leaders. The article has a great graphic that shows you the most used adjectives used in the media to describe female leaders. As part of my personal thoughts I just don't understand how certain individuals do not think gender roles and heteronormativity play a role in business and the success of women. I found this info graphic from Entrepreneur.com that shows the success that women have experiences in the workplace. However, even though there have been improvements we cannot stop until women receive equal pay and receive equal career opportunities worldwide!

BUS576-3

Teamwork Shouldn't Mean More Work! 

This weeks readings and EIAs have been about teamwork, leadership, and communication. These are topics I find very interesting because they are a part of everyday life. Teamwork is a part of almost everything I do, leadership is a necessary part of teamwork, and without communication neither teamwork nor leadership would function. Teamwork is best defined as a group of people working towards a common goal. Pfeffer and Sutton summarize how important leadership is by sharing how many books about leadership there are on Amazon.com and that since 1975 there have been over 15,000 peer-reviewed articles about leadership published. Clearly leadership is a topic that many want to know more about and many are willing to pay to become better leaders.

Pfeffer and Sutton discussed what bad and good leaders do but they did not discuss at length different leadership types. I found this article by Robyn Benincasa about the six leadership types and when to use them. This article poses that management and leadership are two different things. According to Benincasa managers are there to make sure the team has everything they need to be successful and get the job done smoothly. A leader can prove useful to the manager and a leader is based on talent and is inspiring to the team. Benincasa cites a 2000 Harvard Business Review study by Daniel Goleman on kinetic leadership (Goleman, 200). Kinetic leadership basically means knowing when to use different leadership styles; assessing the situation and applying the best leadership method with a degree of fluidity. The image below is a matrix of Goleman's six different leadership styles.

Image Source: http://www.comindwork.com/weekly/2013-08-12/productivity/the-six-leadership-styles-goleman

I wish that Pfeffer and Sutton would have written a little more about different leadership styles so I am glad I found this article by Goleman. It is safe to assume after looking at the research that a good leader is flexible and can apply these different types of leadership styles during moments when they are needed.

My reflection this week is more about the followers rather than the leaders. In every group I have worked in there is usually one or two people who are shy and do not find sharing their thoughts easy or enjoyable. I wanted to find an article that spoke specifically on how to best lead these team members without making them feel uncomfortable. I found this article on how to best encourage quiet employees to speak up. Also I really enjoyed the piece about Pentland's research because I am always making an argument for how important communication is and one of my personal goals is to become a better communicator in all areas of life. This week's readings are helping me to achieve that goal.



Benincasa, R. (2012, March 29). 6 Leadership Styles, And When You Should Use Them. Fast Company. Retrieved July 15, 2014, from http://www.fastcompany.com/1838481/6-leadership-styles-and-when-you-should-use-them

Goleman, D. (2000, March 1). Leadership That Gets Results. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved July 15, 2014, from http://hbr.org/product/leadership-that-gets-results/an/R00204-PDF-ENG

BUS576-2

Financial Incentives and Decision Making 

Image Source: http://www.maclife.com/article/news/microsoft_offers_financial_incentives_app_developers

I believe most of our ears perked up when reading chapter 5 because this week's reading and EIAs were about money. More specifically this week was about how financial incentives are used to increase employee motivation and how those incentives succeed and sometimes fail. According to Pfeffer and Sutton a financial incentive is a tool used for aligning employee behavior with an organization's goals. This can be done by essentially offering employees better or more pay to work harder. This is an interesting concept to examine because superficially it sounds like a great idea but financial incentives can carry a number of faults. For example, Pfeffer and Sutton use an example of trash collectors who received an 8-hour work day's pay for completing their work as fast as they can. This resulted in trash collectors carrying illegal amounts of trash and drying unsafe trucks. Before installing financial incentives companies should be very careful what they wish for. To assist with the understanding of individual motives there were some great Ted Talks this week in the EIAs dealing with motivation and psychology. It is important for companies to first understand how to best motivate employees before putting into practice a financial incentive system. 

Some of my outstanding questions and thoughts this week have to do with what money can buy us. Pfeffer and Sutton say that people are motivated by money but I would like to dig a little deeper and examine what people buy with that money. Of course there are the basic human needs, such as housing, food, etc, but what else motivates humans besides money and words of positive affirmation? Also, I would like to point out that financial incentives are likely most successful in capitalist economies where social capital is valued less than monetary capital.

I found this interesting infographic that easily and attractively displays what really motivates employees based on Gallup research. This Gallup research supports the research presented by Pfeffer and Sutton; financial incentives are not the only incentives that lead to productive and happy employees. The best method of motivating employees is a mix of positive affirmations, acts of service, quality time, physical touch, and tangible gifts.

Image Source: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/225560

My personal thoughts for the week are similar to the comments I made on the Week 2 Discussion VoiceThread. This summer I have three jobs. I have two unpaid internships and I waitress. For the internships there is no chance of financial incentive. The only reward or incentive I receive is words of affirmation and hopefully I will have two strong letters of recommendation from my bosses when I graduate from Chatham and start job searching. On the other hand, I waitress and the only money I make is tips. Waitressing relies heavily on finical incentive. I do a lot as a waitress to ensure that I receive a good tip from a table. For example, studies have shown that female servers who wear makeup usually receive higher tips and I am nice to tables even if they are rude to me in hopes that I will still receive a high tip. Here is an interesting article from Psychology Today about what waiters can do to receive higher tips. Also, note how the article is gender biased. There are tips on here for women such as touch customers or wear accessories, that are not suggested for men. Just something to think about!