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!