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Thread:W12Q5 – Application – Example #1
Post:Re: W12Q5 – Application – Example #1
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Saturday, December 8, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
David says “The sale would most likely stand, but depending on what the owner had given the employee in regards to responsibility could in turn become a whole separate issue. If the employee did not have permission to make the sale, he may have to worry about a lot more than just losing his job.”
I think I smell a tort case on the docket. 😉
j.
Thread:Week 12 Summary – Thread
Post:Re: Week 12 Summary – Thread
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Saturday, December 8, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
I think I’ve said enough – at least that’s what I’ve heard through the grapevine. 😉
I just wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you to our teacher and my classmates for a great semester of discussion, dialogue, and debate that resulted in lots of learning.
Happy holidays to all of you, unless any of you specifically don’t celebrate anything in December, in which case I’d say please enjoy your winter break, if you get one.
John.
Thread:W12Q7 – Start-Stop-Continue
Post:Re: W12Q7 – Start-Stop-Continue
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Saturday, December 8, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asked “START – what is currently missing from the course, which should be included or started, and that would help in your learning?
STOP – what aspects of the course do you feel added little value to your learning, and that you would suggest removing it from the course activities or materials?
CONTINUE – what parts of the course were the most effective to your learning, which should be continued.”
Tim, I’d start finding ways to integrate new technologies that would help to bridge the interpersonal barriers that are the nature of text based discussions, including tokbox, youtube, meebo, flickr, slide share, and others. these tools can help students who are struggling with the missing personas of students outside of their writing style. I know that you made an effort yourself to do this, but I’m talking about student participation.
I would have loved to have had the opportunity, for instance, to gain a few points of extra credit (to balance points lost via now obvious mistakes in papers) by using new technologies in innovative ways to supplement my posts.
I’d stop allowing everyone to only provide personal opinions in posts. Personal view is valuable to some degree in presenting an idea, but it’s not as strong as an academically supported idea. It’s very often useful to not only provide an answer, express an opinion, and share an example, but also to cite your ideological sources, so that you are sharing an academically sound finding, not just your own possibly strongly biased view. I understand that this is not necessarily a popular view, but being forced to practice citation is something that is uniquely possible in distance learning, and is a great way to assure yourself that your ideas are valid.
I’d continue the style in which you conduct all of your communications: in a positive, reinforcing, and resourceful way. You are by far one of the most affirmative teachers I’ve had in all of my academic career.
Thanks for a great semester, and I look forward to working with you again soon.
John.
Thread:W12Q5 – Application – Example #1
Post:Re: W12Q5 – Application – Example #1
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Saturday, December 8, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
David asks ” What if the inexperienced sales clerk did not have permission to sell the rock, but did without his manager knowing…Also, who priced the stone? Did the sales clerk make it up? I think there are a few ways that the store may be able to piece together an argument to legally rescind on the sale, but it would certainly be a stretch. I would expect the sale to be upheld.”
David asks some great questions, but the answers really only would inform from a case analysis standpoint. If the inexperienced employee was given the authority to register purchases, and the pricing of the stone was indicated by some price tag or other ‘official’ indicator and not simply the inexperienced employee making up a price, then the sale is almost surely final from the seller’s standpoint.
I do see a potential litigation action between the owner and employee, depending on some of David’s answers, though.
If the employee guessed at the value of the gem and sold it at what he thought it was worth rather than at the actual value, the sale might stand, but the manager may be able to sue the worker for overstepping his or her bounds.
John.
Thread:W12Q1 – Standard Form Contracts
Post:Re: W12Q1 – Standard Form Contracts
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Friday, December 7, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Andrea says “Not only did we want to get the hell out of there when we closed, but we began to clean the machines and shut down the registers, so making an exception for a late customer was just not an option. I suppose my original point was that bending the rules or going out of one’s way to help out a customer certainly has its time and place…it does not apply to every situation and I did not mean to imply that.”
I wish there was a better way to imply tone in text based posts. You were just giving an example, and I was just giving an example – we were both sharing. It’s all good.
You were very clear in your post and your example was quite valid – I was just adding on to your idea, I promise I wasn’t trying to debate it. 😉
John.
Thread:W12Q1 – Standard Form Contracts
Post:Re: W12Q1 – Standard Form Contracts
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Friday, December 7, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
I just saw a photo on flickr that shows a balance sheet of a giftcard being depleted without the holder’s use over time from ‘maintenance fees’ – one of the comments on the flickr page is that you should always read the fine print. 😉 In case you can’t see the photo in this post, it’s available at http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=2092275599&size=o Happy Holidays! Don’t get your loved ones gift cards that do this. John
Thread:W12Q2 – Elements of a Contract
Post:Re: W12Q2 – Elements of a Contract
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Thursday, December 6, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Lauren says “I just went through genetic testing and was required to speak with a counselor for a very lengthy time regarding what the tests mean and then sign paper work that I understood the implications to the testing before they would draw the vial of blood.”
I’m glad to hear of the counselor requirement – it’s reassuring to know that they wanted you to know as much as you can about what you’re involved in.
John.
Thread:W12Q2 – Elements of a Contract
Post:Re: W12Q2 – Elements of a Contract
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Thursday, December 6, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Andrea says “When signing my lease at my home in Philadelphia, I took my sweet precious time. I read over everything very carefully, asked questions, and looked for any loopholes.”
Amen.
By the way, in case anyone is ever thinking about buying or selling a home, I have some advice: spend $500 and get yourself a lawyer to be present at closing – it was one of the most important single decisions of my adult life – have a lawyer there backing you up. Some people will tell you it’s a nicety and optional. I’m telling you it may save your financial life.
John.
Thread:W12Q2 – Elements of a Contract
Post:Re: W12Q2 – Elements of a Contract
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Thursday, December 6, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Daniel says “Situations like this really raise suspicion and makes you wonder if the doctors make not be as experienced or qualified as you may think. I think there needs to be some sort of moral discretion when asking someone to sign a contract, and this example shows how professionals sometimes cross that boundary.”
I think in my case, this office had seen people walk out because they hadn’t yet had the eye drops, or because it hadn’t been their third visit or whatever. In my case I think that my treatment was a result of learned behavior – if you want a patient to sign the document, wait until it’s the least likely time that they will walk out on the procedure, then hand them the pen.
They might have tried to sell it to me as a ‘we’re giving you one last chance to reconsider, and letting you know that there are risks with this procedure that we can not foresee the outcomes of’ but that would not have likely worked out any better for them. 😉
As it was, they basically said ‘we’ll do the best we can, but if you’re blind in ten minutes, sorry about that. It’s on you. ‘
John.
Thread:W12Q1 – Standard Form Contracts
Post:Re: W12Q1 – Standard Form Contracts
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Thursday, December 6, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Phyllis says “The biggest problem – and John I’m sure you’ve heard this one – is the statement that they can change without notice – well, that just confirms that reading the lengthy document was a waste of time”
Hopefully, this phrase isn’t seen as carte blanche for a company to have a white board and a dry erase marker where they keep the latest changes to the policy – I’m sure that if changes occur to policy, they are made for the right reasons and made with appropriate due process and critical thought on the company’s part.
I would say that it’s still good to know the policy as it stands on your ticket/contract, because even if a change occurs, it’s not likely to be an all-encompassing change, but rather a tweak.
We hope. 😉
John.
Thread:W12Q1 – Standard Form Contracts
Post:Re: W12Q1 – Standard Form Contracts
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Thursday, December 6, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Andrea says “For instance, I once arrived at the dry cleaners 5 minutes after they closed. I knocked on the door and the woman let me in to get my clothes. She easily could have said, “sorry, we’re closed”, but she chose to be nice and let me in”
I think your example is about common courtesy – the owner of that dry cleaner, for instance, might be very upset if they saw an employee turn away a customer after closing just because it was after closing. It’s not likely dry cleaner policy to ‘lock and bar’ the door at 5 pm, etc, and more likely up to the employee whether they want to help out the customer or not.
Let’s say that instead of a dry cleaner it was a bank and you got there at 5:01 when the bank closes at 5 on the dot.
In that situation, there might very well be a security policy in place that strictly forbids customer access after a certain time, to avoid interruption of national computer account information downloads, distracted staffers trying to close out their stations, etc.
You would still potentially have a very upset customer who absolutely had to get the checks in the bank that day, but in this case it wouldn’t be up to the guy at the door to choose to let the customer in – it might be a matter of bank branch security.
The customer might be upset but the policy has a more all encompassing whole organization need to meet.
John.
Thread:Setting Expectations & Best Wishes
Post:Re: Setting Expectations & Best Wishes
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Thursday, December 6, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim, thanks, as always.
Happy holidays to you and yours, and best wishes for the future.
Thanks to everyone in the class for being honest, generous in sharing your examples and ideas, and accepting of others views.
It’s been a pleasure learning with all of you.
John.
Thread:W12Q1 – Standard Form Contracts
Post:Re: W12Q1 – Standard Form Contracts
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Thursday, December 6, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Andrea says “However, I also think that sometimes compassion needs to make an appearance. I’ve been in numerous situations where an employee went out of his or her way to help me out. They certainly didn’t have to do what they did, and policy practically told them not to, but I certainly appreciated their kindness. I suppose one just has to be careful as to when they are making exceptions for the wrong reason and when they are doing the right thing for someone in need.”
This is indeed a dilemma. There have been times that I have been helped as you have by a policy breaker who saw no damage in the act.
There have been times when I’ve broken policy myself in order to help the needy customer or wayward end user.
The problem is this – you don’t always see all of the possible outcomes – good policy will be developed, redeveloped, and revised over time to meet contingencies, foresee worst outcomes, and prevent them.
If the policy actually needs to be changed, I think that we as customers or as conscientious effective followers must work to make those changes happen.
However, while a policy is in effect, I think that very often we must trust that the policy was develioped over time, reworked to prevent disasters, and has a collective knowledge and experience that is greater than our own in the moment.
This of course does not account for senseless, poorly designed, or legacy policies.
Back at the beginning of this semester, I brought up the issue of bypassing the registrar’s policy on giving class location information over the phone, and at the time I was very torn on whether I was in the right to give out the info, or whether I had broken policy, just to be a nice guy to a needy student.
The truth is I made a mistake – I was trying to solve a problem for a student who should have taken the time to find out the information long before she called me. If the student was actually someone else, and I gave information away about the student to an angry ex, etc, and something happened, I would be responsible.
Policies are often put in place for good reasons – they should be followed or reviewed for change, but they should not be ignored or bypassed.
John.
Thread:W12Q1 – Standard Form Contracts
Post:Airline – the reality show
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Thursday, December 6, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Here’s a clip of the show Tashira and I are discussing – in this clip, a drunk passenger is being banned from flight.
Thread:W12Q1 – Standard Form Contracts
Post:Re: W12Q1 – Standard Form Contracts
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Thursday, December 6, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tashira says “John I also watched that show and thought it was as close to the truth as it could get but there were times when you could clearly see the employees were following policy only for the cameras. There are many times during a business day when as you said policies need to be broken in order to keep the customer happy. I am fine with that but it should be equal for everyone”
I liked that show quite a bit – like many shows in America, it started as a show in Great Britan that was migrated to American television – it was just as good in the original series.
The cringe factor on the show when customers berate and scream at employees over policy shows the viewer how policy can affect the customer and how it protects or damages the company’s reputation, legacy, and ability to provide service.
I really was saying that policy is often broken by some workers for the reasons I listed (I used to do this myself), but within my own personal moral code, I prefer to follow policy now, because going off of policy too often will put you in a situation of explaining yourself:
When your boss asks you “The policy is X, so why did you do Y?” you had better have a fantastic answer – one that will stand up to the review of all keepers of the policy, attending to all the ways that going off of policy could have gone wrong, including lawsuits, lost customers, angry customers who had the policy applied who find out that the policy isn’t being applied equally to all, etc.
I think that the policy is in place for just the reason you state regarding special treatment – the policy is in place to avoid special treatment.
John.
Thread:W12Q1 – Standard Form Contracts
Post:Re: W12Q1 – Standard Form Contracts
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks ” In other words, even if the airline thought it may have a legal right to charge your friend, it may have been a prudent business decision to accept her explanation, and to refund and correct the flight.
What are some of the reasons an organization may make such “business decisions”?”
They might ‘break their own policy’…
in order to keep customers happy,
in order to follow personal morals over business ethics,
in order to begin a discussion to modify policy with precedent,
the dangers to this for companies and employees are that breaking policy may be actionable, and may cause the company to fire or otherwise punish an employee who decides to act outside of policy, even if it’s the right thing to do, a bad policy, or hurts the customer’s feelings about the company.
A really great reality show that I used to watch was a show about Southwest Airlines and their day to day operations. They would show footage from their day to day activity that would include customers who were shaking with anger, customers who were drunk and disorderly, and customers who needed special attention up to and including adult diaper changes.
Southwest followed policy to the letter on the show, and very often to the dismay and great anger of the customer, but to the overall best outcome for the entire operation.
John.
Thread:W12Q2 – Elements of a Contract
Post:Re: W12Q2 – Elements of a Contract
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Daniel says “Doctors are expected to be perfect and if something goes wrong people look for someone to hold responsible. On the other hand it does seem that we could make the argument for medical practices taking advantage of patients in a venerable position. If there is a significant medical decision to be made most people are not in the state of mind to thoroughly read a long contract and then make the best decision. “
In response to Daniel’s issue of situational contingency, I thought an example might prove useful.
I woke up one day with flashing in my right eye, which means, I found out after visiting my doctor, that there may be a retinal tear, in which the retina begins to separate from the eye’s back wall.
After a few meetings with various doctors, I was referred to a laser surgeon to essentially weld my retina back where it belongs.
After 2 preliminary review meetings (with time off of work) complete with pupil reaming eye drops, the day of the surgery came (with time off of work). I was in the laser chair, the surgeon came in and turned on the machine, and then asked me to sign a sheet of paper telling me essentially that if he or I sneezed or laughed or jumped while we did this and I lost my vision in my right eye, it would be equivalent to an act of God.
Luckily they hadn’t put drops in my left eye, so I was still able to read the agreement.
I felt genuinely pressured to sign in that situation, and wondered at that exact moment if I had made a horrible mistake.
I wrongly decided I was in no position to argue. I signed, he smiled and welded the back of my eye to the back of my eye. Luckily, the surgery went fine (so far), and he had a steady hand.
I however, did not have a steady hand or anything else. I was very upset, and will think thrice before sitting down to eye surgery again. I will be asking to see all agreements ahead of time. I will refuse to sign what I can’t adequately review.
John.
Thread:W12Q1 – Standard Form Contracts
Post:Re: W12Q1 – Standard Form Contracts
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tashira says “I knew this because of the contract I had entered with them, it was very clear and legible. The ticket office at the stadium however did reprint the tickets because I had all of the information that was needed.”
It sounds like Tashira empowered herself by making herself aware of the contract she entered into. She was able to save time, solve the problem, and move on by being aware of the limitations and rights given to her by the contract.
Hope you enjoyed the game. 😉
John.
Thread:W12Q1 – Standard Form Contracts
Post:Re: W12Q1 – Standard Form Contracts
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Nicole says “Little did we know, when we returned to our car and attempted to leave the price that we thought was $20 changed to $45. We did try to dispute this issue as unethical advertising but the manager told us, there was an event near by in which causes the prices to increase. Then he told, as well as showed us on the back of the ticket where it had said “prices are subjected to change”. So even if we read the ticket once we received it, the garage would still have charged us the “event fee” for the “up to 1/2 parking” price. Basically we stuck paying.”
It sounds like this is a situation where the company needed to take proactive action at the drop off point to inform customers that the optional price increase due to events is in effect, such as with a big yellow sign saying
‘Please note: Event prices in effect’
but short of that, it sounds like you and many other people will choose to avoid this particular parking lot at all costs.
Maybe you could share the address of the lot.
Maybe you can use your rights to tell your friends and classmates about the dangers of patronage at this lot, and blog about it, you tube the issue, and let people know that you felt that you were treated unfairly. If you don’t have recourse in court, maybe you have a voice in the court of public opinion.
Anyone that does a Google search on “reasons to avoid waynesboro comfort inn” will see my blog post on why you should do just that.
The Waynesboro Comfort Inn wishes I had never stayed there.
John.
Thread:W12Q2 – Elements of a Contract
Post:Re: W12Q2 – Elements of a Contract
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Monday, December 3, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “Do you find your patients typically take the time to read this contract? Do you believe they are adequately prepared to make such a commitment … especially if they feel pressured to sign the contract in order to obtain the necessary medical care? Could it be argue the patient was misled or falsely entered into the agreement through coercion?”
As a sometime patient on the pen end of these agreements, I have had the unlovely experience of having an RN and in a few cases some front desk people roll their eyes or quietly sigh when I ask to actually sit for a few minutes to read what I’m about to sign.
Without review, and sometimes even after review, I do not feel that I am adequately prepared to commit to an agreement, especially where medical action is concerned.
I know that to them it’s a ‘standard contract’, and to them ‘there’s nothing dangerous about it’, and to them, ‘no one ever refuses to sign’, and to them, ‘why would I be here and decide to stop the treatment now?’, and to them ‘it’s just another waste of their time’.
(I’m talking in particular about the specific people in these specific situations, not anyone else. I’ve had other medical staff ask me to check over signature documents very closely for understanding before signing.)
It’s because I have the right, I might be the first to refuse on review of the terms, and my signature is my bond. It would be irresponsible not to look over a document you put your signature to.
John.
Thread:W12Q1 – Standard Form Contracts
Post:Re: W12Q1 – Standard Form Contracts
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Monday, December 3, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
There are very strong critics of these kinds of standard form contracts, especially where software is concerned (End User License Agreements).
One such anti-EULA is the one at reasonableagreement.org:
READ CAREFULLY. By [accepting this material|accepting this payment|accepting this business-card|viewing this t-shirt|reading this sticker] you agree, on behalf of your employer, to release me from all obligations and waivers arising from any and all NON-NEGOTIATED agreements, licenses, terms-of-service, shrinkwrap, clickwrap, browsewrap, confidentiality, non-disclosure, non-compete and acceptable use policies (”BOGUS AGREEMENTS”) that I have entered into with your employer, its partners, licensors, agents and assigns, in perpetuity, without prejudice to my ongoing rights and privileges. You further represent that you have the authority to release me from any BOGUS AGREEMENTS on behalf of your employer.
Address : http://smallprint.netzoo.net/reag/
If you read this, according to the logic of EULAs, you just entered an agreement with me.
Thread:W12Q1 – Standard Form Contracts
Post:Re: W12Q1 – Standard Form Contracts
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Monday, December 3, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Laurie says ” Could you ever imagine if companies had us read the fine print before buying the product. You would end up spending half your life reading legal jargon. Companies need to take away the complicated fine print and write the basics so that we can understand it. Not that they should dumb things down for the American public, but they should make it so that all consumers can understand what they are getting themselves into. “
I’m really surprised at how many of my classmates are saying that fine print is a scheme to get over on ticket sellers, et. al.
It’s like complaining that companies are sneaking in calories to food because we don’t read nutrition facts.
The tools are there, as a consumer, you should choose to use them.
The fine print is very often that way because the legal information regarding your rights at an event contained in a 2 inch by 4 inch space is hard to get across in 12 point type.
However, as you’ll see in the language below, the ticket isn’t exactly ‘legalese’
The back of a ticket conveys that you can be thrown out for bad behavior, despite paying $50 per ticket.
The back of the ticket says that if you say that you lost the ticket, but it’s actually in your pocket, it was your responsibility to know where it was.
The back of the ticket says you can’t sneak beer in, and if you try you’ll get thrown out.
The back of the ticket says a whole bunch of other stuff, and trying to convey it in a small space is hard to do at any size.
Companies are trying to make money, please customers, and get a return on their investment, while protecting themselves from ne’er-do-wells, schemers, and drunks who just want to think of themselves.
Tickets help them to do that.
The content of the back of the ticket for an NCAA event says the following (from a document telling NCAA venues what must be present in the language), for instance:
“THIS TICKET IS A REVOCABLE LICENSE
USER ACCEPTS RISK OR INJURY
The ticket purchaser/holder (“Holder”) voluntarily assumes all risk of property loss and personal injury arising during its use. Management may revoke the license and eject or refuse entry to the Holder for violation of ticket terms and conditions, facility rules, illegal activity or misconduct. Holder may not go into the competition area or interfere in any way with the play of the contest. Any Holder interfering with the play of the contest may be subject to ejection from the venue. Tickets reported as lost or stolen may not be honored and may not be replaced nor the price refunded. This ticket may not be duplicated. Holder may not solicit contributions or distribute literature on the premises. Every person, two years of age and older, must have a ticket to enter the facility. Entry will be at the venue’s discretion, unless proof of age is provided. Those under two must be accompanied by a person with a valid, admission ticket. Holder may not bring alcoholic beverages, bottles, cans or containers, laser pointers, irritants (e.g., artificial noisemakers) or strobe lights onto the premises. Promotional items (e.g., shakers, cups, flags, etc.) with commercial slogans or identification also are prohibited. Noncommercial signs, flags or banners that, in the opinion of the NCAA, reflect good sportsmanship, can be held by one individual and do not block the view of other ticket patrons, are permitted. No signs, flags, or banners of any size may be affixed to the facility. Holder shall not sell, transmit or aid in transmitting any description, account, picture, recorded transmission, video recording or other reproduction of the contest to which this ticket is issued. Holder expressly grants the NCAA and its licensees to use Holder’s image or likeness in connection with any live or recorded transmission or reproduction of such event. Unless specifically authorized in advance by the NCAA, this ticket may not be offered in a commercial promotion or as a prize in a sweepstakes or contest. The NCAA may choose to relocate the event to another facility. The NCAA shall not be responsible for punitive, incidental, consequential or special damages. This ticket may not be sold above face value. No refunds or exchanges will be permitted. No readmittance. (NOTE: PLEASE FIND OUT READMITTANCE POLICY FROM YOUR VENUE IN ADVANCE OF PRINTING THE TICKETS. EITHER LEAVE “NO READMITTANCE” LANGUAGE AS LISTED IN THE LAST SENTENCE OR STATE THE VENUE POLICY IN A VERY CONCISE MANNER, IF IT DIFFERS. IF THERE IS A READMITTANCE POLICY, OBTAIN APPROVAL FROM THE SPORTS COMMITTEE). Access to the venue listed on the front of this ticket (or substitute venue) by any person other than the original purchaser of this ticket may be denied. If access is denied, no refund of the ticket price will be due. Persons selling or reselling tickets in violation of any applicable city, county or state regulations, ordinances or laws are subject to arrest and prosecution. The Holder of this ticket agrees not to take any action, or cause others to take any action, which would infringe upon the NCAA’s rights. Purchase or use of this ticket constitutes acceptance of these terms.
TIMES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE.
Address : http://www1.ncaa.org/eprise/main/Public/mlp/promotions_special_events/pe_web/06_promo_manual/additional_pages/ticket_back.doc “
John.
Thread:W11Q1. Regulation
Post:Re: W11Q1. Regulation
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Sunday, December 2, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Phyllis says “If they knew the practice was wreckless, then they are totally unethical. Just because its legal doesn’t make it ethical. Its another situation where the taxpayers will bail out the industry – and the national debt keeps going up….. “
You’re right. The reverse is true too. Just because something is not ethical doesn’t make it illegal, and as long as it’s legal, people will do it. And we the people pay for it.
There are alternatives. Some people thought selling alcohol was unethical, and made it illegal, and look at how that turned out. 😉
John.
Thread:W11Q1. Regulation
Post:Re: W11Q1. Regulation
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Saturday, December 1, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “Were the bankers within their legal rights to offer these balloon-type mortgages? Were their actions legal AND ethical? Must an organization act in ways that are both legal and ethical? Why or why not? “
These bankers were well within legal rights, and many hoped that the borrowers would somehow be able to sustain payment despite the likelihood that a borrower who was looking at sub-prime loans as the only option to borrow may have been in that situation because of prior lending trouble or an unclear record of borrowing activity.
The banks were taking a risk, and so were the borrowers. In this country, buying a house is a big part of what we envision as success, and for someone who might not otherwise have the chance to get a loan without the sub prime offer, it was an opportunity to roll the dice.
The people who are in trouble now weren’t likely lied to, though they may not have been aware of all of the truths of the situation. The lenders may not have been obligated legally to explain to potential borrowers that it was a risk – it was likely something that was assumed. One of Law’s clearest concepts is that ignorance of the rule of law is never an excuse in court. The same is true of the rules of lending, borrowing, and unfortunately, forelosure and reposession.
If we begin asking if lenders were ethical in their actions, it gets more difficult.
Is it likely that lenders knew that sub prime borrowers would be unlikely to sustain payment? Probably.
Is it good business practice to tell a potential customer that they shouldn’t buy your product even if it is legally allowed? No.
Is it possible that sub prime borrowers could pay back their loans at balooned rates? Sure. Otherwise, the lenders would be taking on guaranteed loan failures, which would likely be actionable, and might have resulted in the banks having to ‘eat’ those losses.
John.
Thread:W11Q5. Form of Entity
Post:Re: W11Q5. Form of Entity
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Saturday, December 1, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Attached is a PDF of a pretty good comparison chart that I found at http://www.suncorpfilings.com/documents/Entity%20Comparison%20chart.pdf in which the forms of entity (Sole Proprietorship, General Partnership, Limited Liability, S Corporation, and C Corporation) are all laid out and compared as to the way each are formed, their size, their length of existence, their relative liability, their operational procedures, their start up costs, their management, their taxation, their handling of interest, capital acquisitions, and dissolution options.
It was very enlightening as to the reasons why you might choose one entity over another depending on the business prospect.
It even gives some examples, like a family ice cream shop choosing sole proprietorship (possibly because of the ease of dissolution) versus a 50 employee-owned business choosing an S Corporation (possibly because of the ability to contain 75 business owners in the entity). Analyzing this chart begins to answer Tim’s question in many, many ways.
John.
Thread:W11Q6. Self-Interest
Post:Re: W11Q6. Self-Interest
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Friday, November 30, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Rosalind says “I believe many do use self interest and I believe this is how many get ahead in business”
Rosalind, this is an interesting take – it sounds like you’re saying that part of the potential success of CEOs is their willingness to think of themselves first? Would you go as far as to say that self interest over shareholders and other stakeholders could be good for a particular business?
OR
Was I reading your statement wrong, and you are actually saying that CEOs might use self interest to get ahead in business, even if it is at the expense of the business they themselves are leading?
John
Thread:W11Q1. Regulation
Post:Re: W11Q1. Regulation
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Friday, November 30, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tracy says ” I look at the state of education in New Jersey and how out of control it has become. This law has not made it better. In fact I think it has made it worse. All of these mandates have forces school boards to make major changes that don’t seem to be helping very much at all.”
Tracy – Some questions for you
Can you give me an example of why NJ Education is ‘out of control’?
Just to confirm: You’re referring to just educational systems regulated by NCLB, and not all educational institutions in NJ, right?
Can you give an example of why you feel that NCLB has made NJ Education worse?
Can you give an example of a particular mandate in NCLB that has forced boards to make a change that has resulted in a less helpful situation?
I think I agree with you, but I just don’t have anything solid to agree or disagree with in your post, just that NCLB is ‘bad’.
John.
Thread:W11Q1. Regulation
Post:Re: W11Q1. Regulation
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Friday, November 30, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tracy says “The regulations would have to be incorporated in those that are in place for outsourcing, because that seems like what these companies have chosen to do in this particular industry.”
Since forging steel and providing energy are so widely separate as industries, it only makes sense that they would have this work done by a third party.
One might think that the people who ordered the work to be done were aware of the working conditions, but the photojournal’s accompanying article said…
Address : http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/26/nyregion/26manhole.htm?_r=1&oref=slogin
Date Visited: Fri Nov 30 2007 14:00:40 GMT-0500 (Eastern Standard Time)
When officials at Con Edison — which buys a quarter of its manhole covers, roughly 2,750 a year, from India — were shown the pictures by the photographer, they said they were surprised.
“We were disturbed by the photos,” said Michael S. Clendenin, director of media relations with Con Edison. “We take worker safety very seriously,” he said.
Now, the utility said, it is rewriting international contracts to include safety requirements. Contracts will now require overseas manufacturers to “take appropriate actions to provide a safe and healthy workplace,” and to follow local and federal guidelines in India, Mr. Clendenin said.
This makes sense to me, though at first I figured this was a self-protecting reflex statement. But, then I thought: when I order a steak at my local restaurant, I never see the various acts that lead to the preparation, distribution or presentation of the steak, including the feedlots, the slaughter, the butchering, the shipping, the preparation, or the birth of the cow. If I saw some or all of these, I might never consider eating steak again.
In the same respect the companies who ordered the manhole covers didn’t think twice that the guy making the castings was taking his life in his hands.
John.
Thread:W11Q6. Self-Interest
Post:Re: W11Q6. Self-Interest
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Thursday, November 29, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Alyssa says “I have to argue, however, in the case of Apple lowering iPhone prices, was it just a spin that he wants to make the iPhone more affordable for holiday season? Or is there a possibility there was pressure from AT&T Wireless who is the carrier of the phone to lower the price of the iPhone so more people would sign contracts with AT&T or they wouldn’t carry the phone on their service anymore.”
The article I quoted from is in agreement with you, I think, Alyssa – there are many behind the scenes reasons why Apple made that move, but it’s clear that the move was made least of all for shareholders (who lost out after the announcement) and early adopters (who were quite audibly angry), and most of all for key stakeholders, namely new customers who were on the fence, and as you said, AT&T who wanted to have something good to say for a change, maybe at Apple’s expense.
John.
Thread:W11Q1. Regulation
Post:Re: W11Q1. Regulation
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Thursday, November 29, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Phyllis says “Or a big one for me is the practice of holding store owners responsible for under age smoking – how about parents? I don’t think a grocer should have to worry about children – his/her focus should be on quality, orderly, fresh products.”
I’m afraid I’m for having stores be responsible for the products they sell. Regulating tobacco distribution is really an extension of the argument for regulating gun distribution or arms distribution or drugs distribution or media distribution or other distribution that can have a destructive effect on consumers or those they interact with.
I knew of plenty of teenagers with fantastic parents who attempted to buy tobacco, weapons, drugs, and media approaching or exceeding obscenity when I was growing up. Many of them succeded
Each of the sales can be stopped at the dealer/proprietor/distributor level definitively, but it can’t necessarily be stopped by the most interested parent in the world, unless they are following their children around 24/7, which is simply unlikely and probably unreasonable anyway.
I’d have to ask the people who can stop unreasonable sales to do so – distributors, retailers, proprietors.
Respectfully, and with appreciation for the discussion,
John.
Thread:W11Q6. Self-Interest
Post:Re: W11Q6. Self-Interest
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “Do you think this model is idealistic, or do great companies understand this model, and thus, become great because of their embrace of this philosophy?”
I think that this model is idealistic, but not unattainable. In fact, I think that the triad should be more like a septad, because there are more stakeholders that affect and are affected by public companies than those 3 groups.
Besides, customers, shareholders, and employees, there are also suppliers and vendors, those impacted or otherwise affected by the products who do not use them, the federal government, local governments, international governments, observers and critics, and so on who may need to be considered by the CEO and BOD.
I would say if anything, the model is too limited in scope.
John.
Thread:W11Q6. Self-Interest
Post:Re: W11Q6. Self-Interest
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “Do officers and directors in public companies place their own self-interest above those of its shareholders? Explain your answers.”
I see a trend emerging in Tim’s questions, and my answers.
The question’s answer will change with each company and set of individuals that you ask this question about – for instance in the case of Adelphia, in which the personal purchases at the cost of stakeholders and shareholders was legendary:
While most of the alleged fraud took its form in hidden debt, the trial was also notable for examples of the eye-popping personal luxury that has marked other white-collar trials.
Prosecutor Christopher Clark led off his closing argument by saying John Rigas had ordered two Christmas trees flown to New York, at a cost of $6,000, for his daughter.
Rigas also ordered up 17 company cars and the company purchase of 3,600 acres of timberland at a cost of $26 million to preserve the pristine view outside his Coudersport home.
Address : http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5396406
Date Visited: Wed Nov 28 2007 18:08:42 GMT-0500 (EST)
However, if you look instead at a case like Apple’s Steve Jobs, it seems like he’s often making decisions in the interest of stakeholders like new consumers of the product over other stakeholders, like shareholders and even himself, as noted in this Macworld editorial:
So it shouldn’t be any surprise at all that Apple has cut the price of the iPhone. What’s notable, especially on Wall Street, which pummeled the price of Apple stock following Steve Jobs’ announcement (down $7.40 to close at $136.76, more than a 5-percent drop) — was the magnitude of the price reduction and the relatively short amount of time after release.
Why drop the iPhone’s by such a big amount?
Pardon me if I’m skeptical of Apple’s beneficence here in what Steve Jobs called the company’s desire to “make iPhone even more affordable for even more people this holiday season.”
Address : http://www.macworld.com/weblogs/editors/2007/09/iphoneprice/index.php
Date Visited: Wed Nov 28 2007 18:14:18 GMT-0500 (EST)
Still other officers seem to truly be most interested in anyone but themselves, which does not always make for the best business sense:
The fire that broke out at Malden Mills in the winter of 1995 was the largest fire Massachusetts had seen for a century. No one was killed. But the town was devastated. Malden Mills was one of the few large employers in a town that was already in desperate straits.
“The only thing that went through my mind was, how can I possibly recreate it,” says owner Aaron Feuerstein, the third generation of his family to run the mill.
“I was proud of the family business and I wanted to keep that alive, and I wanted that to survive. But I also felt the responsibility for all my employees, to take care of them, to give them jobs.”
He made a decision – one that others in the textile industry found hard to believe. Feuerstein decided to rebuild right there in Lawrence – not to move down South or overseas as much of the industry had done in search of cheap labor.
He also made another shocking decision. For the next 60 days, all employees would be paid their full salaries.
“I think it was a wise business decision, but that isn’t why I did it. I did it because it was the right thing to do,” says Feuerstein.
Address : http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/07/03/60minutes/main561656.shtml
Date Visited: Wed Nov 28 2007 18:22:43 GMT-0500 (EST)
So is this the moral of the story, that good guys finish first? Sadly, not so, at least not so far. Malden Mills, the company that rose from the ashes, became so mired in debt that it had to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
If Feuerstein is unable to satisfy the banks and other creditors, the company could be sold, or even worse, liquidated – leaving the town of Lawrence with yet another closed mill to join the dozens of other textile makers in the area that have shut down, or moved to the South or overseas.
Address : http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/07/03/60minutes/main561656.shtml
Date Visited: Wed Nov 28 2007 18:20:10 GMT-0500 (EST)
So it seems like each CEO or Director may have their own favorite stakeholder (shareholder or otherwise) at the front of their mind on who benefits most from business decisions, but it’s not definable in any sort of generalized way.
John.
Thread:W11Q2. At What Expense?
Post:Re: W11Q2. At What Expense?
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “If an individual or an organization has enough resource, they are able to continue a legal conflict, including the evaluation and use of all possible remedies. However, when the resources are limited, the individual or organization may be grossly disadvantaged … and therefore, more apt to have the “legal system” work against the individual’s or organization’s cause. Is this ethical and just? What are your thoughts about ways to improve upon the existing legal system?”
If I am a prisoner of the state for murder, mentally diminished and not only penniless but indebted, I am at the mercy of the legal system to provide adequate representation. Let’s say in (in first person omniscient voice) that I have been wrongly imprisoned, and that the only thing standing between me and my freedom is legal research, evidence combing, and dedication on the part of the defense. Let’s say also that the person who believes I killed the person in question is filthy rich, and has lawyers who are highly skilled in manipulating the legal system to their client’s advantage.
I may feel that I have a better chance in a higher court, but I may never get the chance, because I may be in a legal loop, being held down by a lack of legal time or funds for defense, or I may be pleading to an unsympathetic court.
The odds are stacked against me, because of a lack or surplus of money and belief, but justice hasn’t been served, and ethics are out of balance.
Maybe there could be a situation in which legal representation could be limited in cases where one or the other of the litigants is overwhelmingly rich or poor so that more of a balance existed between representation. In this scenario, the plaintiff in the case I suggest above could be limited to a $100,000 offensive in a case where the defendant has no money, which would make the plaintiff pick and choose how the lawyers were used more strategically, instead of maybe using them to play legal games to clog the system.
John.
Thread:W11Q1. Regulation
Post:Re: W11Q1. Regulation
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tracy says “Regulations in business brings to mind several different areas, the school system and the medical industry are the 2 that I can relate to. They both have so many regulations to follow that things seem to be more and more difficult and complicated”
Tracy, and class,
I’m wondering if you could give any specific examples where regulation and mandates make things more difficult and complicated, but don’t resolve a problem that exists without them?
In School systems, for example, I’m no fan of No Child Left Behind, because I feel that very often it just pushes the schools to make it appear they are in compliance, whether they are or not, but without it, schools might not pay attention to what they need to as a part of a standard.
Are there examples of unnecessary regulation in your minds?
John.
Thread:W11Q1. Regulation
Post:Re: W11Q1. Regulation
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tracy says “What have these regulations done for crime? It seems like the crime rate is rising as a result. Go figure…”
😉
In some surprising places, the crime rate is at a record low, as per this article from last Saturday’s Telegraph and other reports:
New York’s murder rate has dropped to its lowest level since police records first became available more than 40 years ago.
Its lingering image as a city plagued by armed robbers and trigger-happy gangs is further undermined by the fact that of the 428 murders recorded so far this year, only a small proportion – 35 of 212 so far analysed – were committed by strangers.
Instead, the vast majority of victims died in arguments with friends or acquaintances, with rival drug gang members or, more rarely, with a romantic partner, spouse or close relative.
advertisement
Criminologists believe that the New York Police Department will have difficulty lowering the murder rate any more as most killings now occur in people’s homes or between people who know each other.
New York’s murder rate has been sliding since 1990, when it reached a record high of 2,245, making it America’s murder capital.
Address : http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/11/24/wnewyork124.xml
Date Visited: Mon Nov 26 2007 22:57:28 GMT-0500 (EST)
So, I’m not sure that we can say that lawmakers are having an effect on crime, but for one reason or another, in some places, crime is way down.
John.
Thread:W11Q1. Regulation
Post:Re: W11Q1. Regulation
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Alyssa says “Without our government regulating those imports, many people, especially children and even pets, can become ill from using those products.”
It seems like the regulations on imports could also potentially benefit the foreign workers in those photos, by mandating requirements of working conditions used in the manufacture of import items.
However, in the story that accompanied the photojournalism, the foundry owner now fears that the American public awareness of his plant’s working conditions will only result in the loss of those highly lucrative jobs. The jobs are in India in the first place because of the relative quote on the job being so much lower compared to local foundry work, where the steelworkers might be unionized or considered specialized, skilled workers.
The American company that imports and installs those manhole systems were apparently shocked and disturbed by the working conditions, since safety is so strongly emphasized in the local working conditions at all times.
A leader could innovate and make a win/win of this conflict.
John.
Thread:W11Q1. Regulation
Post:Re: W11Q1. Regulation
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
When energy companies are unregulated, they can make use of foreign workers in ways that are potentially dangerous or harmful to the workers themselves, very often at the comparable cost of workers.
The next time you visit New York and step on a manhole cover look closely at what it says. What regulatory action could help this situation noted in Monday’s NY Times?
http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/nyregion/20071126_MANHOLES_FEATURE/index.html
Thread:W11Q4. Sarbanes-Oxley
Post:Re: W11Q4. Sarbanes-Oxley
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “How does the Sarbanes-Oxley legislation impose additional requirements on companies? Will these requirements lead to more open and fair reporting of company results?”
Sarbanes-Oxley sets forth new rules in 11 titles containing many sections for auditing public companies that clearly define the additional requirements, at least in legalese.
TITLE I — “Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB)” imposes the requirement of oversight on auditors.
• TITLE II — “Auditors Independence” creates rules for the behavior of auditors, specifically to avoid the most common conflicts of interest, like side jobs within a company they are paid to audit.
• TITLE III — “Corporate Responsibility” requires Officers and executives in a company to be committed to taking responsibility for the financial actions of the company. Section 302 of this title says specifically that the CEO and CFO should certify and approve their financial reports quarterly.
• TITLE IV — “Enhanced Financial Disclosures” requires the reporting style to be highly standardized and less susceptible to fraud.
• TITLE V — “Analyst Conflicts of Interest” is like TITLE II, but for securities analysts — it helps to prevent conflicts of interest.
• TITLE VI — “Commission Resources and Authority” gives the SEC the authority to censure or bar securities professionals and defines the due process for those actions.
• TITLE VII — “Studies and Reports” has to do with conducting research for enforcing actions against violations by companies and auditors.
• TITLE VIII — “Corporate and Criminal Fraud Accountability” describes penalties for fraud, malfeasance, and interference with the due process of compliance and investigation. It also gives protection to whistle-blowers.
• TITLE IX — “White Collar Crime Penalty Enhancement” defines increased fines and penalties for white-collar crimes, such as those committed by executives in the recent financial scandals.
• TITLE X — “Corporate Tax Returns” says that the CEO should sign the company’s tax return.
• TITLE XI — “Corporate Fraud Accountability” makes corporate fraud and records tampering criminal offenses and defines penalties for them.
In these ways, it becomes very clear that
1) additional requirements are certainly imposed on public companies, unless they were doing these things anyway before the legislation was signed.
2) If the companies are properly complying, it will likely lead to more open and fair reporting of company results.
John.
Source:
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=107_cong_bills&docid=f:h3763enr.tst.pdf
Thread:W11Q1. Regulation
Post:Re: W11Q1. Regulation
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Monday, November 26, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Laurie says “Lawmakers keep making new rules to keep the criminals from doing what they do, but yet the crime rate keeps rising.”
In some surprising places, the crime rate is at a record low, as per this article from Saturday’s Telegraph and other reports:
New York’s murder rate has dropped to its lowest level since police records first became available more than 40 years ago.
Its lingering image as a city plagued by armed robbers and trigger-happy gangs is further undermined by the fact that of the 428 murders recorded so far this year, only a small proportion – 35 of 212 so far analysed – were committed by strangers.
Instead, the vast majority of victims died in arguments with friends or acquaintances, with rival drug gang members or, more rarely, with a romantic partner, spouse or close relative.
advertisement
Criminologists believe that the New York Police Department will have difficulty lowering the murder rate any more as most killings now occur in people’s homes or between people who know each other.
New York’s murder rate has been sliding since 1990, when it reached a record high of 2,245, making it America’s murder capital.
Address : http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/11/24/wnewyork124.xml
Date Visited: Mon Nov 26 2007 22:57:28 GMT-0500 (EST)
So, I’m not sure that we can say that lawmakers are having an effect on crime, but for one reason or another, in some places, crime is way down.
John.
Thread:Academic Discussion on Group Presentations
Post:Re: Academic Discussion on Group Presentations
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Monday, November 26, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “A team can move through the “storming” phase by either encountering conflict … and/or preparing for conflict, and the ways to overcome such conflict… What are some of the ways your learning group used in order to work cohesively and collaboratively? Please cite examples to help illustrate your response.”
I would say that we were very lucky. If we had encountered conflict, we likely would have been able to dissipate it quickly.
We did not encounter conflict – mostly because there was a fairly laid back attitude. No one in our group was gung ho about ideas, tools, attitudes, approaches, or directions.
We came to decisions about pieces of the project like this:
1. someone proposed an idea or two, with requests for others.
2. another person agreed with one of the first options.
3. we set it tentatively and it stuck.
This happened, it seems, like 4 or 5 times. It happened with the idea for the paper, the choice of collaboration tools, the choice of method, the member roles, and other decisions.
If we had been set to work together 2 or 3 times, I think we might have invested in some storming, but as it was, I think we all saw our effort being more productive in norming. As per our discussions about the length of time that a group must come together determining the level of self-interest, that definitely played a part here. We just weren’t as interested in conflict as we were in getting the job done.
Some conflict might have made for a better paper though. As it was we pretty much gave each other carte blanche for each others’ sections, and the results are the sum of parts you might expect. It’s fine, it’s acceptable, but it’s not really as much as a collaboration as Tim might have expected or that the assignment might have warranted.
Conflict and resolution might have made us more effective, but that effectiveness would have cost more time and effort than I think we were willing to spend for what might have been only a nominal improvement in quality, but also might have transformed it into a fantastic and revealing article on the topic. I doubt it would have lowered the quality, but it would have made finishing more difficult.
John.
Thread:W11Q3. Responsibilities
Post:Re: W11Q3. Responsibilities
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Monday, November 26, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “How do the responsibilities of officers, directors, partners, shareholders, and promoters differ in various forms of business organizations?”
I gather from Tim’s lecture this week, though I’m not very clear on all the distinctions, that if a business entity forms as a partnership, an LLC, or a corporation, etc., that each of the roles he mentions in his question may have different powers, abilities, responsibilities, etc.
For instance, I imagine that in an employee owned company, the shareholders hold most of the power, but also come away with most of the liability. They also have various overarching responsibilities that they might normally be able to avoid as just employees that they can not avoid as co-owners. Employee owned companies might be more willing to fight against damaging behavior by a leader, since it may mean more than simply hurting the image or the outlook of the company — it hurts the image or the outlook of MY company. 😉
I was once a part of a 503c business in which I was an officer. The business was a public support and education group for an open source operating system. I had no financial stake in the business, and my sole role was to generate interest in the business from a marketing standpoint. The business was not only not-for-profit, we specifically avoided trying to make money because of the complications it would have brought – the business entity itself was generated as a way to protect against any officer’s personal liability in the event that someone lost data while we were trying to help someone (for free) with their computers.
I’m looking forward to learning more about what the various benefits and drawbacks are to the different types of business entities.
John.
Thread:W11Q2. At What Expense?
Post:Re: W11Q2. At What Expense?
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Monday, November 26, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “Does the “exhaustion of remedies” principle impair a person’s access to justice when harmed by an administrative agency?”
I can think of some cases in which a person may be kept from justice when harmed by an administrative agency – my example is alluded to in this quote from West’s Encyclopedia of American Law.
The exhaustion-of-remedies doctrine also applies in certain classes of cases where state remedies must be exhausted before a party may pursue a case in federal court. In these situations, exhaustion of remedies is a rule of comity, or courtesy, by which federal courts defer to state courts to make the initial determination as to all claims, federal or state, raised in a case. For example, petitions for habeas corpus (release from unlawful imprisonment) by an inmate of a state prison are not heard by a federal court until after all state remedies are exhausted (see Darr v. Burford, 339 U.S. 200, 70 S. Ct. 587, 94 L. Ed. 761 [1950]).
With this in mind, under what state jurisdiction do ‘enemy combatants’ fall while they are held in Cuba? In the many cries for habeas corpus by those being held for years without trial at Guantanamo Bay, is part of the reason that they are able to go unanswered because they have not ‘exhausted their remedies’ at the ‘state’ level, and can not move on the federal hearings because they are not being held by a state?
Regardless, when I saw this note in the entry about habeas corpus, I was thinking about how no remedy may exist for those being held there, because the normal rules just don’t apply.
Though, I think they should.
John.
Sources:
Law Encyclopedia. West’s Encyclopedia of American Law. Copyright © 1998 by The Gale Group, Inc.
Thread:W11Q1. Regulation
Post:Re: W11Q1. Regulation
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Sunday, November 25, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “Do you believe that we have too much, just enough, or too little regulation of business in this country? Explain your answer. Can businesses properly self-regulate in lieu of governmental regulation? As examples, consider motion picture ratings done by the MPAA and airline deregulation.”
I think that the question’s answer changes with the industry, and will almost surely be influenced by personal moral and organizational ethical beliefs.
If Tim were to ask “Do you believe that we have too much, just enough, or too little regulation of firearms sales businesses in this country?”
I would say ‘Not nearly enough’ because I feel that if you want to purchase a firearm, there should be as much opportunity for as many people as possible to investigate your expected, intended use of that item. I often hear the counter-argument that criminals will just go get the firearms somewhere else by some illegal means, but that doesn’t make me believe that gun sellers should be allowed to set up lemonade stand style firearms shops (gun shows) to make it easier on legitimate buyers to avoid background checks.
If Tim were to ask “Do you believe that we have too much, just enough, or too little regulation of creative businesses, such as governmental constraints on government driven fine arts grants in this country?”
My answer would be ‘Too much’ and that the arts should be able to appreciate funding and allow creativity without borders of ‘taste’ imposed by congress or other governmental bodies.
In response to the second question, some businesses can effectively and judiciously self-regulate, and some can not.
I don’t know enough about Airline deregulation to make an effective assessment, but I know enough about the MPAA to say that while they are making a strong effort to set up a consistent and enforceable standard of reasonable viewership for media, they are falling very short on the consistency part because of the wide disparity between the adult (violent, sexual, lingual) nature of some R rated movies and others, and the relatively high level of adult (violent, sexual, lingual) content in less restrictive ratings such as PG.
Again, the answer would change from industry to industry, and the answer would change with the sociopolitical experiences of the answerer.
Is there a ‘right’ answer?
John.
Thread:Academic Discussion on Group Presentations
Post:Re: Academic Discussion on Group Presentations
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Sunday, November 25, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
While I’m sure that we’ll discuss the content of the presentations, I think one of the best learning opportunities from the group work is the group work itself.
For Learning Group C, we had a very limited and straightforward discussion of ideas, very little conflict or power struggle (none, in fact, that I noticed), no in face meetings, one phone call with one other member, one short discussion over instant messaging, and a whole lot of trust. We also had a few emails, but most of our communication was in the discussion board and in Google Docs.
If all of my group work in graduate education goes as smoothly as it did with this group, I look forward to all other group projects. It does not always go this well, of course, and often requires a LOT more organization, pursuit, and maintenance.
In terms of group stages, I felt like we did very little storming, some forming and norming, and while we produced a paper, I don’t know that we ever reached a ‘performing’ stage, mostly, I think because our roles were well defined, but very separate.
This may have been because of the distance between us, the lack of time working directly together (I would say 15 minutes altogether between phone and IM) or the feeling that the paper was a sum of parts rather than a cohesive whole, almost by design.
I think that if we had gotten together once or twice, maybe like a preview session and a review session, the paper might have benefitted from more cohesion, direction, and proper closure. Communication is key to a project like this, but our level of richness on the communication channel continnuum was fairly low throughout.
It made the groupwork less stressful, but probably less effective too. I want to emphasize that I believe that this is more due to choice of process than effort. I feel like we all did our jobs and did what we set out to do, to the letter, but going beyond that would have required more interpersonal interaction, which we just didn’t pursue.
All that said, I want to thank Andrea and Laurie for strong, diligent work, and I look forward to working with them again, maybe with more voice or face time next time.
John.
Thread:GROUP PROJECTS
Post:LEARNING GROUP C
Author:Dusko, Laurie
Date:Saturday, November 17, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
RUNNING HEAD: Law and Ethics
Laurie Dusko, John LeMasney, Andrea Schimmel
Rider University
November 16, 2007
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) “is the trade group the represents the U.S. recording industry” (RIAA, 2007). Recently they have found themselves in a battle with consumers, artists and record labels regarding what is ‘right’ as far as downloading music goes and what should be said and shouldn’t in songs.
Members of the RIAA are comprised of the record companies who “created manufacture and/or distribute approximately 90% of all legitimate sound recordings produced and sold in the United States” (RIAA, 2007).
However many people believe the RIAA has a monopoly over the industry. Groups like Boycott-RIAA are taking a stand against the big record labels who believe the “recording industry continues its decades-long effort to lock up our culture and heritage by misrepresenting the facts to the public, to artists, the fans and to our government” (Boycott-RIAA, 2007).
Boycott-RIAA and similar groups work to let the public know the real facts and what is going on in the recording industry. These groups have “one true goal, that being the ‘take-down’ of the RIAA monopoly” (Boycott-RIAA, 2007).
The on-going battle with the RIAA and consumers, artists, and record labels revolves greatly around the fine line between laws and ethics. What is “right” and “wrong” on the subject of downloading music is a hot topic for debate. Members of the RIAA are working to get rid of piracy, online and on the street. According to an article by Robert Seith, “The RIAA’s definition of copyright is the protection of the original expression of an idea, whether it is expressed in the form of music, a painting, or written material. A copyright is infringed when a song is made available to the public by…reproducing or distributing copies without authorization from the copyright owner”.
The laws against downloading music are pretty cut and dry, although they are faced with much resentment from the public. In the United States, copyright protection is guaranteed under the Constitution as well as the Copyright Act, but millions of people download music illegally everyday. This is where ethics come into play. People argue that downloading music is easy and it should be free, especially since the artists are already making enough money anyway. Supporters of Boycott-RIAA believe that the RIAA is monopolizing the music industry and jeopardizing our culture. For these reasons and more, people are continually breaking copyright laws.
Ethics play a major role in this situation. People take it upon themselves to decide what is right and wrong, regardless of what the law says, and do things in hopes that they just won’t get caught. The decision to break the law is based upon personal beliefs, morals, ethics, and values so that actions can somehow be justified. Boycott RIAA believes that the RIAA “cares nothing about our culture, the music, nor the artists that make it”. This organization certainly has the right to protest the RIAA and gain support for their cause, and their efforts could very well foster change. However, the legal implications cannot be ignored or replaced with what is ethically right or wrong.
The RIAA is the industry behind the lawsuits that fine people hundreds of thousands of dollars for the illegal downloading of music. While the law enables this industry to do so, an ethical viewpoint wonders who is getting sued and for how much? In September of 2003 in New York City, a 12-year-old girl was sued along with 261 others for copying songs via Internet file-sharing software. When the RIAA was asked why this little girl was among those they chose to sue, they could not provide an answer. The ethical question is, when does the RIAA decide to file lawsuits and how do they pick and choose who to punish? With the realization that breaking the law because everyone else is doing it is not a legitimate excuse, the RIAA should have a consistent method in place that makes sense and is fair to the public.
The RIAA defines its own societal duty as protecting the interests of copyright law, its own members’ rights, and the preservation of the future of American music itself, which it contends that piracy threatens (RIAA, 2007). On its own web site, it says that its mission is to “foster a business and legal climate that supports and promotes our members’ creative and financial vitality” and that “[i]ts members are the record companies that comprise the most vibrant national music industry in the world” (RIAA, 2007). With this in mind, one might be led to believe that without the presence of the RIAA, American music would dry up and simply disappear. Others, such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation or EFF, ” the leading civil liberties group defending your rights in the digital world” (Electronic Frontier Foundation, 2007) would say that it is the societal duty of the RIAA to recognize that new technologies demand a new way of thinking about the exchange of audio between artist and patron. The EFF also argues that groups such as universities are in a unique position to foster and shape that change while still insuring rewards for artists for their work (von Lohmann, 2007). For instance, one possible solution is for the university to pay a fair blanket price for licensed use of media (von Lohmann, 2007) and this assumes that the responsibility for the actions of student’s, lies with the university they belong to.
If we are to consider the standards of the industry of musical recording, we have to consider the paradigm shift that has occurred in the recording methods employed and how those new methods, such as the shift from analog recording processes and techniques to the digitization of the recording process, led in part to the issues that the RIAA is grappling with now. The fact that exact audio copies may now be made digitally, and shared immediately with millions of unknown peers, negates the idea that making an analog, cassette based audio recording greatly reduced the quality of the original audio and therefore kept a certain amount of unique value associated with the original, while keeping shared copies amongst a closely knit group (Brain, 2002).
Digitization changed everything for the average home audio consumer in terms of recording, enjoying, and sharing music (A Digital Audio Primer, 2000). The easy usage of software and hardware that allows for the listening of digital media, such as Apple’s iPod and iTunes, made many users who were not technically savvy enough to participate in piracy to become quickly able, along with the inexpensive and widespread distribution of digital storage media. Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO said of the iPod’s role in the way that digitization changed music “By enabling music lovers to carry their entire music library with them at all times, iPod is clearly changing the way we enjoy our music, much the way the Sony Walkman did decades ago” (Over Two Million iPods Sold, 2004).
Also, high bandwidth networks allowed the quick transfer of relatively small media files, which made the act of sharing these digital audio and video files a quick, simple matter with a low learning threshold. All of these technological and ideological advancements led to the conflict that the RIAA has with their consumers, and now the need is to mediate and come to innovations. These innovations must balance the reality of what people are capable of technologically with the need of creative artists to be properly compensated for their work. It is not yet a resolved issue (RIAA, 2007; Electronic Frontier Foundation, 2007).
The RIAA should have a code of conduct that supports its mission and any decisions that the organization makes. The idea behind the RIAA is to protect its members’ property rights by striving to put an end to piracy. The RIAA helps to do this by monitoring and reviewing state and federal laws, regulations and policies. As a group that represents the U.S. recording industry, it would make sense for the RIAA to have a set of regulations and policies of their own. First and foremost, an organizational code of conduct should include the RIAA’s mission statement. In addition, considering the fact that there are plenty of legal and ethical issues tied to the distribution of audio files, a code of conduct should also include the laws by which they are empowered, such as copyright laws. Some of these policies may be complicated for, let’s say, a college student who downloads music in his/her dorm room. Having these laws spelled out in a code can help to clear up any confusion and the common excuse of, “I didn’t know”. Another aspect to be included in a code of conduct might be a structure in which lawsuits are distributed and carried out. Lawsuits originating from the RIAA seem to be quite random and unorganized. Not to say that the lawsuits are not justifiable, but the RIAA may receive less public scrutiny if they provide a method to their madness.
The RIAA has an obligation to the longevity of American Music and the preservation of the culture it helps to create. It also has a responsibility to finding a balance in its approaches between managing changes in available technologies and human nature, and methodologies they employ to find proper compensation for the artists it represents. The standards that have existed up until now in technology, copyright law, media issues, and capability are all quickly changing. The RIAA and their many stakeholders are faced with leading through the resulting conflict, or possibly dissolving their bonds into a kind of intellectual property chaos. This chaos may be the best thing for all, especially if it leads to new definitions for media, ownership, creation, representation, and responsibility as they all relate to American Music.
References
A Digital Audio Primer. (2000). Retrieved November 15, 2007, from http://www.teamcombooks.com/mp3handbook/11.htm
Boycott-RIAA. (2007). Boycott-RIAA. Retrieved November 15, from http://www.boycott-riaa.com
Brain, M. (2002). Howstuffworks “How Gnutella Works”. Retrieved November 15, 2007, from http://computer.howstuffworks.com/file-sharing3.htm
Electronic Frontier Foundation | Defending Freedom in the Digital World. (2007). Electronic Frontier Foundation | Defending Freedom in the Digital World. Retrieved November 15, 2007, from http://www.eff.org/
How To Not Get Sued for File Sharing | Electronic Frontier Foundation. (2006). How To Not Get Sued for File Sharing | Electronic Frontier Foundation. Retrieved November 15, 2007, from http://www.eff.org/wp/how-not-get-sued-file-sharing
Over Two Million iPods Sold. (2004). Retrieved November 15, 2007, from http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2004/jan/06ipodmomentum.htm
RIAA. (2007). RIAA. Retrieved November 15, 2007, from http://www.riaa.com/aboutus.php
Von Lohmann, F. (2007). A Better Way Forward on University P2P | Electronic Frontier Foundation. A Better Way Forward on University P2P. Retrieved November 15, 2007, from http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2007/06/better-way-forward-university-p2p
Thread:Week 10 Summary – Thread
Post:Re: Week 10 Summary – YouTube
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Saturday, November 17, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Thread:Week 10 Summary – Thread
Post:Re: Week 10 Summary – Thread
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Saturday, November 17, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Here are some quotes from this week’s posts, to be followed with a YouTube based reading. Happy Thanksgiving!
John said
Law is one way that the government can define the boundaries and acceptable practices that a business might otherwise exceed while staying in their own ethical/moral allowances.
Ethics and morals can also be so strong in the minds of groups and individuals that they can cloud what’s right for the many, and focus on the few.
The law department has become an important filter for much of the public action of companies and organizations, because it is so important that companies not make moves or statements that immediately and irrevocably put them in harm’s way due to an otherwise unforeseen legal issue. The law department is there to review and approve purchases, agreements, and other decisions that can have a long lasting negative effect on a company if not ideologically and legally vetted. So many of our company destroying headlines and scandals and stories of the last 30 years might have been effectively nullified and avoided if a great team of lawyers had intervened between action A and media expose B.
The law can promote free enterprise and capitalism by protecting the interests of entrepreneurs. For instance, copyright law says that if a person comes up with a marketable idea and wants to profit from that idea, they can patent that idea and promote it as their own, exclusively, for a time, so that someone less innovative can’t simply come along and benefit from another’s expensive research and development for free by stealing and re-manufacturing the stolen idea. The law can hamper free enterprise and capitalism by protecting the masses from companies looking to cut costs at public expense. For instance, a company may be closer to a river than to a dump, and the dump may have a fee attached to the service of accepting waste, while the river does not have a monetary fee, but rather a less visible, latent fee of sickness or death downriver. The law protects the community downriver from the company who may believe that dumping a certain amount of toxins just isn’t that bad, but that protection may restrict the company by adding what it sees as profit cutting expense to the process. The law helps clarify the issue for a company with a cloudy moral pool.
Alternative Dispute resolution involves using techniques such as mediation to conclude and resolve disputes without using litigious methods. Since the extravagant lawyers fees that are a part of the litigious process and the ‘red tape’ that go along procedurally with pursuing a court case can cost so much time and money, ADR can potentially save both. Less anticipation and worry can result, potentially helping to ease the resolution process. Less stress is definitely a pro. However, since the tried and true long standing traditions of litigious protocol are left behind, the alternative methods can lead down untread paths, with hidden traps, unvetted rules, and unplugged loopholes. What’s more, if the alternative dispute resolvers like the process and it finds some success, the ease of starting the process and lack of associated monetary costs may lead to an unforeseen increase in disputes being pursued using the process which would otherwise be too expensive or time consuming with litigious processes. This might actually result in an increase in disputes being brought to light, but not necessarily being resolved any more readily.
Thread:W10Q6. Attorney Fees
Post:Re: W10Q6. Attorney Fees
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Saturday, November 17, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Phyllis says “John, the courts will provide legal support for those unable to get it on their own. Also, while it is time-consuming, you can always go pro se and represent yourself. If the case is nonsense as you stated, I think we hold our judges and juries to higher standards.”
I forgot one very important key to my theoretical case: My alter ego with all the cash and free time made it all up – no one spit in my food, but I paid my lunchmate to purjure herself to say that she did.
If I am using the courts to simply pay for a public forum to humiliate and cause pain and expenses for the defendant, I’m abusing our system without a doubt.
Even in a situation where a public defendant or Pro se solution is used, the defendant, who is wholly innocent, must take time off from work, go through a lot of trouble, and may lose his or her job due to circumstantial evidence.
Let’s go further to complicate things.
Let’s say my alter ego in the case and the McClerk are both former lovers, and that we share some intimate disease that requires the passing of saliva.
Now, let’s say that the case is one of infection via spittle, which I as the plaintiff say occurred over the counter, and the defendant says happened at some earlier time.
The stakes become much higher. If I am the defendant, do I still choose a pro se defense? Will I suffer from choosing a public defender?
I don’t know — I’d like to think that the system would work it out, but I have a feeling, at the very least, the defendant would be paying for some defense, some humiliation, and some stress from going through this process.
Thanks for discussing, as always, Phyllis.
John
Thread:W10Q4. Size
Post:Re: W10Q4. Size
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Saturday, November 17, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Lauren says “Traditional neighborhood lemonade stands though are not a business or organization so I don’t think the laws should apply (I’m speaking of the traditional ones like my kids at ages 6 and 8 did outside the front of the house selling lemonade for 25 cents and maybe they made 3 dollars).”
Again, this troubles me, because there then exists a threshold at which the law applies.
However unlikely it might be that someone could take a parent of a six year old to court over a lemonade stand, it must be possible so that parents do due diligence towards their children’s activities in the same way that a profit seeking corporation must monitor its employees.
A lemonade stand is a good example because it seems so innocent, and a bad example because only a few things might go horribly wrong, but suppose:
1. The lemonade is spiked with something?
2. The environmental conditions around the lemonade stand are unsanitary and a whole lot of people get sick?
3. The children are selling drugs and using the lemonade stand as a front?
Who is responsible? The buyer? The parents? The kids? Since a contract can’t exist with nonadults, some agreement must exist with their parents, I’d imagine.
Let’s say they aren’t six, but rather seventeen. Should the law be different? Is age a factor in applying law? Are the kids of sound mind?
When a soft pretzel vendor sets up on the side of the road, should she be held to any laws?
Shouldn’t the same laws apply to the lemonade stand?
What about a bake sale?
How about Girl Scout Cookies?
I’m just saying, giving more license due to size is a questionable threshold to base that license on.
Lauren it was fun seeing you yesterday!
John.
Thread:W10Q4. Size
Post:Re: W10Q4. Size
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Friday, November 16, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Laurie says “The laws should apply to everyone, but not the young kids with lemonade stands or babysitting, they are not real businesses.”
Laurie’s statement is interesting!
I can see why she might say that, but if that is her logic, I wonder how she’d answer these questions:
They’re getting real money and they’re benefiting from selling. If we stop at children running lemonade stands or babysitting, in what other businesses should we draw the line?
If a 17 year old can sell more ‘lemonade’ by some illegal means should they be free of liability from the outcome?
If a 14 year old babysitter is in a responsible role for my child and something happens, who’s liable?
If I get sick from the lemonade, who is responsible?
Let’s say ‘Laurie’s Law’ goes into effect. Wal Mart shuts down the in store snack bar and opens up an independent lemonade stand in its place run entirely by 16 year olds. Should they be able to escape the normal constraints applied to that business of food handling and follow ‘Laurie’s Law’?
I think that damages should be related to the level of pain or loss or damage inflicted, rather than the size or relative ‘legitimacy’ of the company?
I think that the respective law has to be universally applicable within a certain jurisdiction protected by that law, otherwise, we have large companies trying to appear like mom and pops to benefit from a loophole.
Thanks for the POV, Laurie!
John
Thread:W10Q6. Attorney Fees
Post:Re: W10Q6. Attorney Fees
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Thursday, November 15, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “Should the losing party in a civil lawsuit, such as a discrimination claim, always be required to pay the attorneys’ fees, expenses, and court costs of the prevailing party? Explain your answer.”
I don’t think it’s ethical, though it may be legal to require.
Let’s say that I am filthy rich. You with me? Good.
Let’s say that I decide to bring an unfounded but arguable discrimination case against a clerk at Mcdonald’s (as a personal attack because I don’t like the way they sold me my quarter pounder).
Let’s say the case is that I say that the clerk spit in my food and my lunch mate saw him do it.
This is something I can do because hiring a lawyer to develop a case may cost me lots of money, but I have more money than patience for the defendant’s attitude and “I’m lovin it” hat.
If my opponent isn’t independently wealthy, but is required to hire a defense against the nonsense case, which I won’t have to pay for even if I lose, then I gain something in making the defendant suffer regardless of the outcome.
All I lost was some money, but the defendant probably lost some hair, some sleep, some money, and some face.
That just doesn’t seem right. Though it might be legal.
John.
Thread:W10Q7. ADR
Post:Re: W10Q7. ADR
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Thursday, November 15, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks us to “tell the CEO some of the advantages and disadvantages of using ADR to try and settle a case like this one.”
Alternative Dispute resolution involves using techniques such as mediation to conclude and resolve disputes without using litigious methods.
Since the extravagant lawyers fees that are a part of the litigious process and the ‘red tape’ that go along procedurally with pursuing a court case can cost so much time and money, ADR can potentially save both.
Less anticipation and worry can result, potentially helping to ease the resolution process. Less stress is definitely a pro.
However, since the tried and true long standing traditions of litigious protocol are left behind, the alternative methods can lead down untread paths, with hidden traps, unvetted rules, and unplugged loopholes.
What’s more, if the alternative dispute resolvers like the process and it finds some success, the ease of starting the process and lack of associated monetary costs may lead to an unforeseen increase in disputes being pursued using the process which would otherwise be too expensive or time consuming with litigious processes. This might actually result in an increase in disputes being brought to light, but not necessarily being resolved any more readily.
Source:
Employer Guidelines to Alternative Dispute Resolution: Pros and Cons : On-Line Employment & Labor Library : Wildman. Retrieved November 16, 2007, from http://www.wildman.com/index.cfm?fa=news.libArticle&artid=5A35C4D6-BDB9-4A10-5EA8BFE33C14CBCA
Thread:W10Q1. Law & Business Decisions
Post:Re: W10Q1. Law & Business Decisions
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Thursday, November 15, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim says “Can you imagine the size of the storage and archrives in this case? However, can you also appreciate that a single document, may be the piece of evidence necessary to decide such a case, and therefore, in the billion dollar stakes of this trial, how important it was to maintain accurate records? What are your thoughts and reactions?”
In our business law text it talks about the discovery process and how in cases where it is impractical or impossible to deliver key documents in the case to be reviewed at the courthouse or at the lawyer’s offices, that special arrangements are made so that those documents can be reviewed onsite.
Tim, in this case, how was proper review for discovery accomplished? How many people need to see these stacks and stacks of documents in a case like this, and how did that come to pass to each side’s satisfaction?
John.
Thread:W10Q1. Law & Business Decisions
Post:Re: W10Q1. Law & Business Decisions
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Thursday, November 15, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “Just as the documentation can help an individual in his or her dispute, can someone actually be harmed by documenting?”
Of course, we’ve all read the stories in which emails, memos, and other documents clearly implicate a person in a crime, and despite the best intentions of communication, posterity, or record-keeping for its own sake, the documents which might have been thought of as unimportant or only marginally important at the time of creation very often are used as evidence against the author or their organization.
It’s one of those things where you begin to ask yourself:
If a reporter who was interested in exposing your workplace was to look at your browser history right now, would there be a story?
If a person who wanted to gather ways that they could damage me in a human resources office was able to look in my email folders, would there be actionable offenses?
Have you googled yourself lately?
How many of us have said things about our workplace or co-workers that we’d never want repeated? What if it was indelible, in textual, audio or visual format?
When you got your last PC upgrade at work, what steps did you take to wipe the hard drive? Did you use multiple pass erasure DOD style overwriting techniques, or simply format the drive? Did you at least format the drive?
You have choices: either be an absolute angel, with good intentions, having made no mistakes, and having kept a clean nose, or know what you are leaving behind for people to find and potentially use against you or your company.
Your friend, the technologist,
John.
Thread:W10Q4. Size
Post:Re: W10Q4. Size
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “Do you think this is right and fair for all parties involved in a dispute? Have you ever experienced a similar situation?”
I don’t think it’s fair, and I think that it might be easy enough to remedy, at least theoretically if not practically:
1. Might Microsoft be restricted to having a limit to the length of time that it could continue to hang on to a particular firm?
2. Might there be a state based rule that said that you might not be able to carry over conflict of interest restrictions over state lines?
Actually neither of these seem to make much sense, now that I’ve typed them out – but I’m wondering if anything could be done in a similar fashion, to restrict the power that a nationally present, omni state, heavily litigious firm like Microsoft has?
John.
Thread:W10Q1. Law & Business Decisions
Post:Re: W10Q1. Law & Business Decisions
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “When I started in the corporate world, the law department seemed to be a hidden organization without much of a role on the surface of the company. Do you think that has changed over the past three decades? Why or why not? Also, have you noticed a trend in which many of the corporate leaders are rising from the ranks of the legal profession. Why might this be the case?”
The law department has become an important filter for much of the public action of companies and organizations, because it is so important that companies not make moves or statements that immediately and irrevocably put them in harm’s way due to an otherwise unforeseen legal issue.
The law department is there to review and approve purchases, agreements, and other decisions that can have a long lasting negative effect on a company if not ideologically and legally vetted.
So many of our company destroying headlines and scandals and stories of the last 30 years might have been effectively nullified and avoided if a great team of lawyers had intervened between action A and media expose B.
I had not noticed the trend of corporate leaders rising from the legal profession, but I’ll assume it’s accurate for our discussion. I just don’t know. 😉
This may very well be the case because a corporate leader who puts plans into motions, motivates people, inspires with vision, and brings profit and productivity to the company as parts of her job may do well to be well versed in the law, so that the ideas, actions, and plans that a company commits to are legally sound from the top down, or properly vetted at the dotted line by the expertise and experience of a lawyer.
John.
Thread:W10Q1. Law & Business Decisions
Post:Re: W10Q1. Law & Business Decisions
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Andrea says “Dealing with ethics can be wishy-washy because right and wrong can seem so undefined, but when laws come in and give rules and standards, there can be more assurance that the ‘right’ thing will be done.”
Ethics and morals can also be so strong in the minds of groups and individuals that they can cloud what’s right for the many, and focus on the few.
Ford may see their willingness to hold off on a recall as a boon to investors, a protection of legacy, a way to get the most whole truth, a way to prevent the company’s death by 1000 cuts.
The objective rule of law can see what’s best for the public at large, the people affected by the lack of recall that do not stand to benefit from either Ford’s profits or losses, only from their righteous actions.
John.
Thread:W10Q5. Arbitration
Post:Re: W10Q5. Arbitration
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Monday, November 12, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “”
I found the following sample arbitration provision as an example of my ideas that follow.
Sample Contractual Arbitration Provision
In the event of any dispute between the parties which arises under this Agreement, such dispute shall be settled by arbitration in accordance with the rules for commercial arbitration of the American Arbitration Association (or a similar organization) in effect at the time such arbitration is initiated, and subject further to the provisions of the Virginia Uniform Arbitration Act, incorporated by reference. A list of arbitrators shall be presented to the Claimant and Respondent from which one will be chosen using the applicable rules. The hearing shall be conducted in the City of Manassas, Virginia, unless both parties consent to a different location. The decision of the arbitrator shall be final and binding upon all Parties.
The prevailing party shall be awarded all of the filing fees and related administrative costs. Administrative and other costs of enforcing an arbitration award, including the costs of subpoenas, depositions, transcripts and the like, witness fees, payment of reasonable attorney’s fees, and similar costs related to collecting an arbitrator’s award, will be added to, and become a part of, the amount due pursuant to this Agreement. Any questions involving contract interpretation shall use the laws of Virginia. An arbitrator’s decision may be entered in any jurisdiction in which the party has assets in order to collect any amounts due hereunder.
Address : http://www.unclefed.com/AuthorsRow/Newland/arb_prov.html
My feeling is that very much in the same way that wealthy corporations can use litigation in order to strongarm and otherwise control and manipulate the outcomes of court cases against lesser prepared litigants, the same may be true of arbitration in which agreement to ideas such as “The prevailing party shall be awarded all of the filing fees and related administrative costs” which may make even the most self-justifying plaintiff think twice about entering arbitration, since they have agreed to the idea that hey – if you lose, you’re gonna be paying for a long long time, and that just not as big of a deal to us as it is to you, Joe Homeowner. How much does this issue mean to you now?
This provision may do a great job of keeping people out of the courts over small disagreements, but it may also hinder legitimate complaints from being brought against corporations acting in the wrong.
I do not feel that arbitration provisions adequately protect the rights of consumers, and may very often remove and nullify their rights.
But I’m no lawyer. 😉
John.
Thread:W10Q4. Size
Post:Re: W10Q4. Size
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Monday, November 12, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Daniel says “While the law seems to apply to everyone, the more wealthy businesses have the ability to manipulate situations and withstand the consequences that come with breaking it.”
This extra wealth gives an upper hand – a license to hold out on justice – that many lesser litigants just don’t have.
John.
Thread:W10Q1. Law & Business Decisions
Post:Re: W10Q1. Law & Business Decisions
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Monday, November 12, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tashira says “For example, all the recalls that businesses have like Ford with the tires a couple of years. If they were in a position where they were not obligated to notify people of these faulty tires and they did not many people may have died. The laws also are made to protect the businesses from consumers who are out to get over or scam them.”
I think that this is exactly what Tim is playing with in his initial questions – it is exactly this issue – recalls by Ford – that are deeply examined in Case 9 (Weiss, pp. 158-165) in which Dennis Gioia examines in essay form his decisions as field recall coordinator for Ford during the early 1970’s why the Pinto car fires (low speed impact explosions) were not an open and shut case for recall at the time.
It is very often that the monetary impacts of recalls are considered against the relative legal cost of human life – it is this grisly and humanity questioning process that is examined in the case.
This case made me ask: If it were not for the law, what chance would we have of big business considering doing the right thing? This is why law and business must be intertwined and the role of each in the relationship must be re-examined continuously.
John.
Thread:W10Q4. Size
Post:Re: W10Q4. Size
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Sunday, November 11, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “Should laws only apply when an organization reaches a certain size (in dollars, employees, or consumer complaints)”
This has got to be a trick question. Anyone with an opposing view, please enlighten me – I don’t get it.
Laws should be applicable to a mom-and-pop as well as Wal-Mart, right?
If I only have a Lemonade stand, I should be held to the same ideological, environmental, and health standards as the local restaurant. Would it be any more acceptable for me to have (insert something disgusting here) in my lemonade than McDonald’s?
John.
Thread:W10Q3. Free Enterprise
Post:Re: W10Q3. Free Enterprise
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Sunday, November 11, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “How does the law promote free enterprise and capitalism? How does the law hamper free enterprise and capitalism?”
The law can promote free enterprise and capitalism by protecting the interests of entrepreneurs.
For instance, copyright law says that if a person comes up with a marketable idea and wants to profit from that idea, they can patent that idea and promote it as their own, exclusively, for a time, so that someone less innovative can’t simply come along and benefit from another’s expensive research and development for free by stealing and re-manufacturing the stolen idea.
The law can hamper free enterprise and capitalism by protecting the masses from companies looking to cut costs at public expense.
For instance, a company may be closer to a river than to a dump, and the dump may have a fee attached to the service of accepting waste, while the river does not have a monetary fee, but rather a less visible, latent fee of sickness or death downriver.
The law protects the community downriver from the company who may believe that dumping a certain amount of toxins just isn’t that bad, but that protection may restrict the company by adding what it sees as profit cutting expense to the process.
The law helps clarify the issue for a company with a cloudy moral pool.
Thread:W10Q2. Litigation
Post:Re: W10Q2. Litigation
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Sunday, November 11, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “What are some reasons why business disputes usually result in litigation? Is our country becoming more litigious?”
Like many other institutions in our country, litigation is often a way that a corporation with deep pockets or the government itself can use their money, power, position, standing, connections and other forms of status in order to gain an upper hand in a situation.
In the same way that an amoral candidate with billions in personal holdings can sustain a successful political campaign in our country much longer than someone with great ideas, fine morals, and the best intentions, but no money, a corporation that is in the wrong can win in litigation simply by bleeding expendable cash in the courts against an opponent or opponents that can’t sustain the same kind of court battle.
If a corporation foresees losses in out of court settlement that are greater than losses in a court battle (won or lost) then the company might see the court battle as the right way to go, especially if they benefit from the publicity, have a chance at winning the court battle, or will be able to win by default if the opponent’s court battle sustaining funds are wiped out.
With this in mind, two comparably endowed corporations may see it as more beneficial to try to settle it out of court, but a corporation that can hire the best lawyers may see little reason not to become litigious with a lesser opponent in funding, legal prowess, or other forms of longevity.
John.
Thread:W10Q1. Law & Business Decisions
Post:Re: W10Q1. Law & Business Decisions
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Sunday, November 11, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “What role does law play in how business decisions are made?”
Law is one way that the government can define the boundaries and acceptable practices that a business might otherwise exceed while staying in their own ethical/moral allowances.
For instance, a religio-political organization may feel justified in showing a building sized poster of an aborted fetus across the street from a preschool in order to gain ideological acceptance for their cause. The law might counter that showing explicit or violent imagery in public is unacceptable.
Despite a company wanting to do (and feeling morally justified in doing) something, they have to consider the legal limits and jurisprudent ramifications of doing so.
I once saw a mobile advertising truck of just this kind of imagery in Rider’s parking lot, and wondered how long it would have before getting pulled over and fined exorbitantly.
The law protects members of the public from the ideological whims of business from encroaching on their rights as citizens.
John.
Thread:Starting the paper
Post:Re: Number not in service.
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Sunday, November 11, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Sorry about the issue. Check your Rider email and email us (Laurie and John) with your feelings on our direction laid out in the email I sent you on Friday at 5. We’ll go from there.
John.
Thread:W9Q2 – Using the Internet
Post:Internet as extension of lifestyle.
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Saturday, November 10, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
I would say that the Internet has become a major component of my life and lifestyle.
I have many parts of my life archived online, including audio, video, presentations, documents, photos, and many aspects of my work life in a portfolio of sorts.
When I want to share something, the first place I share it is online. Google ‘lemasney’ and you’ll get some idea of what I mean.
When I want to explore an idea or learn something new, the first place I look is online.
When I want to research or reinforce my idea with vox populi, I can do that by finding the throng of voices to do so online.
When I am looking for that elusive song or video or text that carefully and explicitly expresses with finesse the exact idea that I’m trying to convey – I can find it online.
We are all creating a presence online – feeding and teaching a collective – and many people are still not a part of it – but they are becoming less every day.
I thought you might live to see one of my favorite videos on the topic of how the internet is changing the way that we communicate:
John.
Thread:Starting the paper
Post:Number not in service.
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Friday, November 9, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Sorry – this was meant specifically for Andrea –
7346441028 is saying that it’s not in service.
Thread:Starting the paper
Post:Re: Friday at 5 pm (or later) by phone or in person?
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Friday, November 9, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
The number you have here isn’t letting me through – give me a call at 609 896 5000 x7145
Thread:W9Q2 – Using the Internet
Post:Re: Squeaky wheels of service.
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Friday, November 9, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Stacey says “They may fall into this false sense of security in which they begin to believe that nothing could go wrong with their computer or device. When something does go wrong, they just can’t believe that it’s failed them.”
It’s pretty apparent too, from a technology service and support standpoint, that people often equate myself and the people I work with with the technology itself – when it works as it should and provides the service as intended, I’m a good worker and I’m diligent in my service. When it fails, I sometimes get the impression that people think that I’ve failed them. Sometimes technology fails and it’s got nothing to do with me.
Stacy says “There are some people of the older generation who dislike the way technology has changed people’s lives. It’s apparent that technology evokes various emotions from people…”
I have not seen the divide between the ages in technology acceptance, usage, and understanding that many other people see – I think that this idea is an assumption and perception for some people that needs to be more closely examined.
I know plenty of young people who are afraid of or reluctant to use technology, and many older people who jump right in and grok the possibilities.
I find that people’s personas – their willingness to try things, their willingness to use tools for productivity’s sake, and their willingness to ‘break’ things has a much greater impact on their expected use of technology than their age.
John.
Thread:W9Q1 – International Negotiations
Post:Re: International Deal Breakers
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Friday, November 9, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Phyllis says “I’m glad he submitted and completed the task – I bet he grew with the effort.”
I’m glad too – he’s a great student worker, and everyone in this office has grown quite a bit by his and other student presence.
John.
Thread:Starting the paper
Post:Re: Fri at 4:30 3 way phone conf?
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Friday, November 9, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Great tty@4:30.
Thread:Starting the paper
Post:Re: Fri at 4:30 3 way phone conf?
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Friday, November 9, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Great tty@4:30.
Thread:Starting the paper
Post:Fri at 4:30 3 way phone conf?
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Thursday, November 8, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Okay – how about 4:30 on Friday – I’ll call everyone.
Deal?
Thread:W9Q1 – International Negotiations
Post:International Deal Breakers
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Thursday, November 8, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
David says and asks “It sounds petty, but not understanding an organization’s culture, both internally and externally can be a deal-breaker. Does anyone know of any examples of this happening? I think it would be interesting to hear about a negotiation failing due to cultural differences or lack of practical knowledge of the organization’s home country…”
I have a related example. It wasn’t a deal breaker, but had there been less flexibility it might have been.
We at Rider enjoy a strong relationship with Sanda University in China, including a large student influx. We in my office have tried to benefit culturally from this by hiring student workers from Sanda who are interested in Technology, and have been rewarded significantly with cultural enlightenment, checked perceptions, and a little bit of beneficial culture shock. However, it’s not all pretty.
We have a student technology certification program for students we accept as workers in our office, in which we ask them to perform technology tasks, such as taking and modifying photos, recording digital audio, and blogging, so that they’ll be able to help our clients to do the same.
The blogging task has a writing component in which we ask students (all students from all cultures) to write a structured poem – namely a haiku.
Early into our experience with Sanda student workers, we had a student ready to leave the program over this poem assignment, because he aid that the Chinese people who he revered did not appreciate or practice Japanese cultural forms. He explained that it was an insult to him, and that he felt that it was a biased request. He asked for a substitution assignment. We refused.
I explained that in our culture we do not allow or appreciate racial or cultural prejudice, and that if he refused to try to open his mind to practice any and all forms of expressions regardless of their cultural origins, that his service would no longer be needed.
To his credit, he was able to see past his own boundaries, and open himself to a new form of expression. He is by far one of our best students we’ve ever had work for us, and I feel that both he and I appreciate cultural awareness more now.
John.
Thread:W9Q1 – International Negotiations
Post:Re: W9Q1 – International Negotiations
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Thursday, November 8, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “What are the basic differences between a negotiation that has an international component and one that does not? If you were a manager, how would a negotiation that has an international component affect your negotiation perspective? How would you evaluate the following statement from a negotiation perspective: “When in Rome, do as the Romans do”?”
A negotiation with an international component has the added responsibility of researching cultural differences, in addition to the normal due diligence required to prepare for any negotiation – knowing the conflict, knowing the views, discovering many solutions and outcomes, etc.
As a manager, an international component in a negotiation means that it is my additional responsibility to inform myself and my reporting employees who are involved in the negotiation of the potential cultural pitfalls.
I evaluate the phrase concerning Romans as having some value in reminding us that knowing the ways of your international contacts can help you to find the common ground that so much negotiation theory relies on for finding resolution for conflicts.
John.
Thread:W9Q1 – International Negotiations
Post:Re: W9Q1 – International Negotiations
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Thursday, November 8, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Alyssa says “If you go into a situation having that negative outlook, then you probably will have a negative experience. But if you go into a situation, like a negotiation, with an open mind and show respect, you will get that in return and are more likely to have a positive outcome.”
While this was specifically about your experience in other countries, it has so much to do with everyday life – choosing your attitude is so very key to the outcomes you perceive. It’s very wise, insightful, and well said.
Thanks!
John.
Thread:W9Q1 – International Negotiations
Post:Re: W9Q1 – International Negotiations
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Thursday, November 8, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “Do you consider a copy such as IBM, McDonalds, Microsoft or Coca Cola as domestic or American companies … or are these organizations GLOBAL organizations? If these organizations are global, why wouldn’t the leadership seek to negotiate for the best combination of resources … as a way of becoming a low-cost provider of product or service?”
I consider these companies as American based multi-national companies. I feel like while they may have started in the US, they have adopted, modified the cultures of, and reacted to and from the countries and cultures in which they participate so that the company is no longer purely American. Coca-Cola seems like a world brand, rather than an American brand, as opposed to Pepsi, for instance.
Hopefully these companies would do everything they can to improve their business, improve their customers’ and workers’ lives, and improve their bottom line.
Through an honest stakeholder analysis, it may be found that hiring workers overseas may be beneficial to many stakeholder groups, including American workers and consumers, and so making that choice is likely ethically, monetarily, and dutifully sound.
John.
Thread:Starting the paper
Post:Fri at 5 (or earlier) 3 way phone conf?
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Thursday, November 8, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
I think I can solve this with a phone conference – I can call each of us in, without anyone having to leave early, travel anywhere, or anything like that.
Can we agree to 5 pm on Friday? Would 4 or 4:30 be better? Confirmation would be very helpful.
I will call Andrea at the number given.
Laurie – can you email or post me a number?
In case anyone should wish to call me the best way is at my extension at Rider – 609 869 5000 x7145.
John.
Thread:W9Q2 – Using the Internet
Post:TokBox
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Daniel says “With transactions being completely online as mentioned, the customer may not even talk to someone over the phone. With the convenience and ease of completing business and transactions online, the intimacy of a personable relationship with a representative is lost.”
What if the intimacy and communication channel richness were increased via technology? What if you were able to use newer technologies in order to surpass the intimacy of a phone conversation?
There is a new service being put into beta by the original makers of YouTube called TokBox, where you can sign up for a free account with a site that essentially allows people to begin a video based chat with little more than a web cam.
I have a site on TokBox at http://tokbox.com/John32 where people can come and click on a button to start a live video chat with me almost as easily as we might start an instant message session. How long until I begin to offer this as a way to connect with me for support?
The technology has reached a level of sophistication comparative to previous incarnations where the threshold for initiation is fairly low, very inexpensive, and becoming widespread in adoption.
John.
Thread:W9Q2 – Using the Internet
Post:Re: W9Q2 – Using the Internet
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Chadi says “I believe a combination of the two, face to and face and the use of the internet, during negotiations are beneficial for all the parties involved.”
I feel like the idea of video based asynchronous discussions begin to achieve the combination that you’re speaking about, Chadi. You theoretically get the benefits of physical cues and facial, emotional reinforcement, as well as the message incubation and delayed, thoughtful response of Internet based messages.
John.
Thread:Starting the paper
Post:Friday at 5 pm (or later) by phone or in person?
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
I’m sorry Laurie – I figured you were still at Rider. Considering the commute, maybe Andrea and I could meet in person and have you on the phone.
Alternatively we could use the voice chat features of GTalk or Skype to have a conference.
I could do a meeting tomorrow or Friday – we should try to meet in some form, even if just for a few minutes, to establish a game plan.
How is everyone for a 5 pm (or later) meeting on Friday by phone or in person or via chat?
We almost have this. 😉
John.
Thread:W9Q2 – Using the Internet
Post:Squeaky wheels of service.
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Andrea says “I think that when it comes to technology, people tend to be quick to criticize instead of honing in on the benefits.”
It’s so very true, but it’s a good thing.
What has been surprising in my role as technologist here at Rider is how often the most active, effective, and prolific users of technology can be the biggest voice of critique, and what compounds that surprise is how much of a benefit that is to us as a learning organization (not to be confused with an academic institution ) that is interested in growing and benefiting from past experiences, mistakes, and problems.
Without those staff and faculty who call to say that something just doesn’t make sense logically or technologically, we would be able to simply sit back and let the troubles build en masse.
We need the squeaky wheels, although we might not always like the squeak that day.
John.
Thread:Starting the paper
Post:Re: Meeting? Pretty please?
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
I’m available at 5 today, but Thursday just filled up.
I’m available at 6 basically every night, as long as I can bring my 3 year old. I imagine it will be a quick meeting regardless – 15 mins to 30 mins.
Looking forward!
Can we agree to a place? I have a beautiful meeting space here in Fine Arts 137 with internet access and plenty of space for 4. If you are interested in meeting today, please send me an email at lemasney@rider.edu.
I’m also going to send an email to all of you with this message.
John.
Thread:W9Q2 – Using the Internet
Post:An example
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Thread:W9Q2 – Using the Internet
Post:Re: W9Q2 – Using the Internet
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “Potentially, they can now received responses from any where and from any one in the world… How do you imagine this “less than intimate” system changed the ability of suppliers to negotiate and demonstrate their “value propositions” to the would-be decision-maker?”
It is exactly this lack of intimacy that allows one person or business to simultaneously talk to thousands, with a potential shotgun effect of hitting their target. Intimacy in business ventures can be detrimentally limiting in scope.
If you have a small business, and could not possibly respond to a worldwide cache of customers, or if you intended to have local customers/partners/employees only, or were a business or organization that was specifically attached to a radius, such as a municipality (though I’ve some arguments why municipalities should be reaching out to the world — I wish mine was) then it may not make as much sense to make in-roads into world wide business.
On the other hand, if you are looking to grow your business, or if your already large business wants to reach it’s greatest potential respondent base, why would they limit themselves to the local market or only with established partners? It seems like that would be a self-limiting, vision-lacking venture.
John.
Thread:W9Q2 – Using the Internet
Post:Re: W9Q2 – Using the Internet
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “What are the merits of using the Internet to conduct negotiations? What tools or techniques would you employ to more effectively negotiate on the Internet? What are the long-term implications of Internet negotiations on global business transactions?”
In the article by Van es, et al., some of the merits of Internet based negotiations are listed, including the idea that asynchronous negotiators had the opportunity to have their messages be fully read, re-read, reflected upon, and responded to after a period of incubation in the recipient during which the respondent had an opportunity to alter their perceptions and refine their arguments. The result was that communicators and message recipients were more likely to comprehend the intended message, avoid interruptions, and negate message-confusing emotional content.
Considering the article’s report of some of the ways in which Internet Communication based negotiations can be less effective than face to face negotiation, namely a lack of emotional and facial cues, and that people prefer talking to typing, I would suggest that instead of using a text based discussion board as the primary channel of communication over the internet, a tool like YouTube is used to record and host video that is structured in the same way as a discussion board:
You get the benefits of asynchronous discussion (reflection time, full message without interruption, message incubation and response tweaking), as well as the benefits of face to face discussion (ease of talking, reinforcement of physio-emotional cues, and the ability to use persona in your delivery of your message).
You likely saw this coming from me. 😉
Since we are moving more and more into an international and time-shifted world business model, internet based communication tools will become less aof an option and more of a mandate. Given this future, it is in our best interest to learn how to use these tools effectively, find the benefits of electronic communication over face to face communication, and learn to celebrate and emphasize those benefits.
John.
Thread:Starting the paper
Post:Meeting? Pretty please?
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
I like the RIAA topic, but I think since we all have ‘easy’ physical access to each other, getting together for :30 might be the best way to start, before jumping into GDocs.
Past experiences may be influencing me. 😉
Does anyone have any time this week?
I’m fairly open and flexible right now on scheduling.
Lunch times might be good.
Early evenings, like 6 pm are good too.
Mornings at 10 or afternoons at 3 are okay for me too.
We have to establish who’s doing what, how we are proceeding, and some deadlines, etc. That might be a lot easier in person than over email/phone/gdocs.
Looking forward to availability.
John.
Thread:W9Q3 – Best Practices
Post:Re: W9Q3 – Best Practices
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Monday, November 5, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “What negotiation “best practices” have you learned? Which “best practices” will you be able to apply in your work place? Based on emerging trends, what new “best practices” do you think will be needed?”
I think that over time, and with the help of classes and resources like the Daft and Gerzon texts, that some of the best practices I’ve learned have been to practice active listening, check perceptions, commit to careful message encoding in communication, to discover the true nature of the conflict, to provide as many possible solutions as possible (not just mine and theirs) and to find ways to create innovations that benefit as many as possible, rather than simply defeating an opponent.
In every meeting, in each presentation, in so many encounters during the day, I try to apply these — hesitating to speak over or through others, making sure that I’m speaking and thinking with an open mind, as opposed to simply selling my point of view, asking questions and committing to inquiry as a practice, and not settling for the first, most obvious answer.
Considering the increase in the rate of change many of these practices, especially active listening, will be challenged, but I still believe that due to tools like discussion boards and other asynchronous methodologies, we may be able to integrate delays to slow down the change, properly process and encode messages, and embed opportunity for reflection.
John.
Thread:WEEK 8 LECTURE
Post:’Negotiation Centres’ and Gender Roles in Negotiation.
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Sunday, November 4, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
I found the information on ‘negotiation centres’ very useful as a model and hope that it becomes a trend even in the ivory towers of Academia, so that we might enjoy these at Rider.
Even more interesting to me, though, was some of the material on study based gender related differences in negotiation styles, considering our discussion (and my dissent) of such differences. It talked about how differences in negotiation ability between genders can be dissolved:
“Access to information, and effective use of
information, produces a better negotiator. For
example, gender differences often disappear when
men and women are provided with the same
information about “going rates” for jobs. Therefore,
women (and men) should seek to find out how much
comparable workers are paid, or what benefits and
working arrangements others have negotiated (Stamato, 2004).”
Thanks for sharing Tim, and it’s great reading for the gender discussion we were having, Tashira, Lauren, and others.
John.
Thread:Week Eight Summary – Thread
Post:Re: Week Eight Summary – Thread
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Sunday, November 4, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
I learned quite a bit this week:
We discussed negotiation styles and intervention strategies. I realized that I usually choose avoidance, though I most often wish to choose either cooperation or collaboration, and sometimes compromise.
Unearthing the true issue, applying strong listening skills, and determining many possible outcomes are key to conflict resolution. How to choose the best outcome is a matter of the mediator’s assessment, approach, and skill in leading the parties to that end.
Whistleblowing and individualistic vs. inclusive leadership/followership styles were discussed. I had great discussions with classmates about the idea of choosing to put yourself at risk for the benefit of the company, the customer, and the world.
Both the length of the existence of a team and the length of the existence of an outcome can affect the willingness of the team to compromise.
We had many great discussions about the idea of removing personality and ego from the workplace, and I remained on the side of dissenting against the idea, since I feel that being an expressive employee very often makes me a more productive employee. I fell that it makes me work better, and makes my work more helpful than if I were less emotionally and personally expressive.
We touched on the idea of an emotional redline, in which overexpression could be detrimental – the point at which anger becomes rage or love becomes obsession. The intent of emaotion is to move us to act in ways that result in a successful and productive outcome. Going over the line with emotions can be counterproductive to these ends, whereas staying within reasonable expressions of emotion can elevate our abilities to accomplish goals.
I also dissented on the idea that expressiveness, negotiation ability, peacekeeping, passivity, or other psychological abilities were more generally achievable by women than men.
Poppycock! If anyone wants to challenge me to a peace-off, I will diffuse and quietly disassemble the challenge as well as anyone else. Yes, you read that correctly. 😉
And on that note, good night, and thanks for a great week of learning and discussions.
John.
Thread:W8Q2 – Negotiation Styles
Post:Gender roles in America.
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Saturday, November 3, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tashira says “We have been raised to be the more submissive when it comes to men but it has nothing to do with genetics. Although there are the exceptions i.e. John who are able to compromise also”
Thanks, Tashira.
There’s a key point in what you said there: you were raised to do something in a particular way, and we all are taught to ‘be’ men or women from our first blue and pink booties. It’s one of the things that I feel is constraining in our culture, and something I try not to enforce on my son: gender roles.
If my boy wants to be a (insert gender-driven stereotype job here) it will be his decision to do so, and he may be the best (insert aforementioned stereotypical gender related job here) there is.
When a father tells his son that men don’t cry or discourages him from playing with a pink teapot or tells him that dancing is ‘girly’ or to not play with dolls or that real men play football, etc, it’s damaging and limiting to the boy, in my opinion.
By allowing non-stereotypical behavior to play out, you might end up with a young man interested in being a great chef, a fine counselor, a great writer, or a great father.
It’s also the reason why it’s widely believed that girls are more compromising than boys — generally, we in America teach boys to be tough and uncompromising, at their peril and to our own misfortune. But you could just as easily create an uncompromising little girl, and many do.
(Gets off soapbox) 😉
John.
Thread:W8Q1 – Sources of Conflict
Post:Re: Emotions: Anger
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Saturday, November 3, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Andrea says “I think there is a line between tuning in to one’s emotions and letting them completely take over, but how we feel should be just as important, or regarded just as much as what we think.”
I think that’s so key to the idea – it’s when anger elevates and inspires rage or violence that it becomes less useful or counter to its purpose. You could probably attach excess to any emotion and have it turn bittersweet – when love becomes obsession or dependence, or when fear becomes horror or disabling, it becomes less useful.
Andrea says “…I always follow my gut and my instincts, along with what my brain says, and I think that is a pretty decent way to go about life”
It sounds pretty right on to me – we always talk about the importance of active listening when discussing what’s most important in communication, and I think that we often overlook the idea that it is important to perform active listening internally too – to listen deeply and fully to our inner voice, and be attuned to the message it is delivering.
Thanks for your exchange, Andrea!
John.
I had a lot of great undergrad classes at Bucks County Community College and University of the Arts, but that one on interpersonal communication made some of the most impact on my life.
Thread:W8Q1 – Sources of Conflict
Post:Re: The self, the company, and the world.
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Saturday, November 3, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “In other words, I believe when entering into a negotiation, there should be a clear setting of expectations. And to the extent these expectations can be present in a succinct manner (particularly if they represent the PARAMETERS and/or confines of the negotiations) I say let’s get them on the table as soon as possible. After all, why waste each others time if there are immediate “show stoppers” to the negotiations?”
I think my first reaction was amusement at the idea of that level of straightforwardness in an interview or other kind of negotiation, in which one might be asked a series of questions, each one building on the last to determine a great solution/fit/hire.
The reason I was amused, I think, is that it never really happens this way – things like interviews, especially, seem to be mired in trying to trip someone up, discover flaws, feel out personality, etc., rather than asking the most important questions, like:
1. Are you willing to work past 5, sometimes until 10, sometimes all night, in order to get the job done?
2. What is the lowest possible number you are willing to accept in this negotiation?
3. What is it that you are looking to achieve in this project?
Instead, it seems like we beat around the bush, hold back information, and generally let information out as necessary, rather than up front. Sometimes this is for self preservation, sometimes to exercise power, sometimes to keep some control.
‘Holding back’ is never likely done to make a better outcome, develop innovations, or to establish trust.
I agree, Tim, that this would be a better way – transparency, openness, clarity.
John.
Thread:W8Q2 – Negotiation Styles
Post:Re: W8Q2 – Negotiation Styles
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Saturday, November 3, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tashira says “That is the difference between men and women, we are the peace keepers and usually the ones to comprise.”
The difference between men and women starts with the presence of the Y chromosome, and seldom diverts very far except for societal experience and its effects.
I am a male of the species, and am capable of peacekeeping, I promise you. 😉
j.
Thread:W8Q1 – Sources of Conflict
Post:Re: Emotion and persona in work.
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Saturday, November 3, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tracy, thanks for the opportunity to dialogue.
j.
Thread:W8Q1 – Sources of Conflict
Post:Emotions: Anger
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Friday, November 2, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Stacey said “I wouldn’t want to remove my personality from my work. If I did, then I’d be walked all over by people. I’m opinionated and stand up for myself. I’ve been that way for as long as I could remember. Removing your personality from work is a disadvantage. If everyone did this, we would all be like cookie cutter people from the same mold.”
Hear hear.
As an undergrad, I took a class in interpersonal communications where we studied emotions, and when we were talking about the emotion of anger, in our early discussions, we all agreed that anger was a ‘useless emotion.’
The teacher smiled and reminded us that anger serves the purpose of moving us to act for what we know is right, pursuing what we believe in, and to assert our rights as humans and organizational participants on many levels. It also allows us to figure out when it’s our turn to go at a four way stop.
I’m paraphrasing, but it was a great lesson. It reminds us that emotions, even the bad ones, have a place in negotiation and in work.
Without anger, we’d all get walked on and over all day long, in a constant predicament of aversion and avoidance, hoping not to meet someone with a strong will, for fear we’d have to give in.
John.
Thread:W8Q1 – Sources of Conflict
Post:Re: Emotion and persona in work.
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Friday, November 2, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tracy says “I would have to question though whether a person’s emotions and personality should stand in the way of negotiations… I think at some point, everyone should be able to compromise for a solution… What do you think about emotions and personality during negotiations?”
I would say that exhibiting persona and emotions don’t have to be negative, and can have positive effects on negotiations, conflict, and communication.
I would say that an effective communicator who introduces flair and emotional elements into a negotiation may be (or may not be) a much more effective negotiator than one who does not (Daft, 2007).
I think that persona, emotion, negotiation and compromise are all able to be used cooperatively and effectively by the same person. In fact, my own belief is that by utilizing the emotions of love, surprise, and anger can all be effective in moving negotiations forward, since all of these emotions can help to express what’s important to people, how people feel about ideas, and can unearth the unknown to promote finding (Gerzon, 2006; Daft, 2007).
John.
Thread:W8Q1 – Sources of Conflict
Post:Re: The self, the company, and the world.
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Friday, November 2, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
David says “To add on to this, there are also times when it becomes evident that fellow co-workers are acting unethical. Even worse, there are times when they do it to enhance their pay by doing illegal acts via credit cards, payments received, etc…As a fellow employee, do you tell management about this? Is it your place to? Do you think to yourself, how come management does not recognize this behavior?”
The answer to whether it is your place to act upon the malfeasance is contingent on whether you are trying to be an effective follower, that is, beneficial to yourself, your leader, your co-workers, the company and the world.
If you are just there to get a paycheck and get out, then sit quietly.
Allowing your peers to do illegal acts via credit cards, payments received, etc to benefit themselves may not hurt you in obvious ways, but it hurts you in so many various hidden ways:
1. You could just as easily be the victim – don’t you hope that in companies where you are the customer being mistreated that someone is blowing the whistle for you?
2. If the malfeasance is found out, and someone determines that you knew about it and said nothing, you could be an accomplice.
3. These actions hurt the company, which in turn hurts you.
4. These actions hurt the customer, which in turn hurts the company, which in turn hurts you.
David says “It is a situation that has come up in my place of work a few times, and eventually the people were caught by management, but not before significant damage was done…”
If you had spoken up about the misdeeds, how might it have changed the situation? Would “significant damage” still have been done? If so, wouldn’t you have had at least the intrinsic reward of having done the right thing?
Great example, I think, David.
John.
Thread:W8Q1 – Sources of Conflict
Post:Re: The self, the company, and the world.
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Thursday, November 1, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Laurie says ” I did have an interview once where the person that would be my boss started the interview with telling me the salary range. If that wasn’t ok then the interview would end there and if it was then we would continue.”
Could you imagine a whole interview like that, in which question after question was a fork, in which one direction was continuing with the interview, and one direction was stopping right there.
Salary will be 100K – Continue Y/N?
You must manage a team of 30 people – Continue Y/N?
You get no weekends off – Continue Y/N?
You must wear a nametag – Continue Y/N?
and so on.
I wonder if anyone ever had an interview like that?
John.
Thread:W8Q1 – Sources of Conflict
Post:Re: W8Q1 – Sources of Conflict
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Thursday, November 1, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “where do we draw the line between not concerning one’s self with the same details, and empowering a team to make decisions?
Isn’t that a form of motivating?”
In Hersey and Blanchard’s Situational Theory, if you have skilled workers who are able to readily handle the task at hand unassisted or merely peripherally directed (a high degree of what the theory calls Readiness) then theoretically they will be more motivated by a highly considerate, democartic leadership style than a directorial, autocratic, unilateral leadership style. By giving the (smart, able) workers the opportunity to have voice, you engage their intrinsically valued sense of self-direction and involvement.
With highly Ready workers, a democratic leadership style may be more likely to result in motivated workers.
Alternatively, a worker who thoroughly knows how to accomplish the task will be unmotivated by a micromanaging, autocratic manager.
John.
Thread:W8Q1 – Sources of Conflict
Post:Re: The self, the company, and the world.
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Thursday, November 1, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim says “It is my personal opinion that the individuals used poor judgment, and it is highly unlikely they will be disadvantaged when it comes time to negotiate the requests. In other words, their poor judgment may have sealed their fate in the act of negotiating.”
It sounds like you are describing an example of the idea that there is a proper time and a place for negotiation, and it should be kept to those concerned, and choosing the wrong time, place, or group in which to negotiate can greatly affect the outcomes.
I’ve been in a project meeting where some (6) but not all (10) of those present were integral to a second project that could have used its own meeting, but getting that meeting would be a difficult task, since calling together 6 people can be hard.
After bringing up a topic that would have been appropriate for the second project meeting but was not in line with the concerns of all present at the first project meeting, I was told, abruptly and quietly, that it was not the right time.
I only did it once, and don’t plan on doing it again.
There is a time, place and set of people to attend to a topic.
John.
Thread:W8Q2 – Negotiation Styles
Post:Men, women and peacekeeping.
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Thursday, November 1, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Lauren says “Sometimes I think as women we are often first to settle being the “peace keepers” and I have had to learn to sit still a bit at times before offering to be the one to compromise or else I may feel taken advantage of.”
Lauren, I missed you very much while you were away. 😉
With that said, generalizations about gender without citations of supporting statistical reinforcement are hard for me to swallow and should be used with caution. Honestly, I’d have trouble with that one if there was a supporting study.
You indicate that the presence of my y chromosome makes me theoretically less capable of peacekeeping, and that’s just… unsupported.
We may be primarily diverse, but we could probably act as equal mediators.
With the utmost respect,
John.
Thread:W8Q2 – Negotiation Styles
Post:Re: W8Q2 – Negotiation Styles
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Thursday, November 1, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tracy asks “Do you think you have this particular negotiation style because of the field you are in? It may be easier for you to fix a technical or system problem yourself instead of asking others to do it.
If you were in another field, say health care or education, do you think you would have the same negotiation style?”
Tracy, I am a technologist first, but I have many other roles, including that of an educator. This Avoidance negotiating style extends to those other areas for me – I see it as something I must work on as a leader.
You’re right that it’s very often that it is simply easier for me to solve the technology or relational problem without alerting others, but that is not usually the reason I don’t alert them.
The reasons are that I don’t want to appear flawed amongst my peers, I don’t want to deal with the ‘red tape’ of following the proper channels of solution, and I don’t want to find out that I’m really, truly wrong. I want to take care of the issue and get things back on track right away. However, not involving others can lead to all of these anyway.
If I were to follow the proper channels, act as the ‘cog’ that I’m being asked to be in the ‘machine’, and if I were to be open to relying and depending on others in my organization, I’d make the organization, the system, and myself much stronger and reliable. A cog is not often a strong system in and of itself.
If I run a system in secret, and I let people use it, and suddenly I have a series of users who are depending on it, but the system is unsupported by others, including the security specialist, because they just don’t know about it, it can be an issue. When the system gets hacked, and the security guy says – I didn’t even know about this system. The system gets shut down, users get put out, and the network gets compromised in the process.
Ask me how I know. 😦
Not involving everyone who should be involved in a project can be detrimental to everyone, and not just in technology.
John.
Thread:W8Q1 – Sources of Conflict
Post:Re: Removing personality and ego from work.
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Thursday, November 1, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Melanie says “John, in my job you should not be showing your whole personality, it would be unprofessional. You shouldnt show everything at work because them people could use things against you.”
I’m not saying that anyone should be doing anything unprofessional in the workplace, I’m saying that showing emotion does not equal being unprofessional.
I’m not sure what about showing your whole personality would be unprofessional – I would hope that professionalism is an ingrained part of my persona.
If there are things that people could use against you at work, you may want to eliminate those things from your persona anyway. If they aren’t actionable things but rather just things your co-workers might use against you because they don’t care for you, there may be a different issue at play than persona. It may be a relationship problem.
Melanie says “Do you not act a little conservative at work? it would be a bit unethical if you act at work as you do with your friends.”
I’m not a very good conservative — in fact, I’m fairly liberal. 😉
I may be completely oblivious, but I think I act pretty much the same whether I am with my friends or with my co-workers – in fact I try to keep some continuity in my personality across all stripes of my life, including being a husband, father, speaker, technologist, and student.
Can you give me a hypothetical example of something I might show persona-wise with my friends that I might not show with my boss?
John.
Thread:W8Q1 – Sources of Conflict
Post:Re: W8Q1 – Sources of Conflict
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Thursday, November 1, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “How does open and honest communication help to minimize or remove conflict from an organization?”
A major set of sources of conflict for many organizations is confusion, missing information, lies, gossip, misunderstanding, bad message encoding, bad message decoding, bad communication channel choices, speed of change, broken chains of communication, and misperceptions.
If my manager doesn’t communicate what she knows on a regular basis, I may never know what I need to succeed.
If my peers tell me what they want me to believe, rather than what is true, I may commit to bad choices based on those falsehoods.
If 6 new concepts that have a major impact on my work are available, but I only have the opportunity to know and learn about 3, I may not be appropriately prepared to do my work.
Open and honest communication between me, my peers, my organization, and my expertise are all ways that those issues could be resolved.
John.
Thread:W8Q1 – Sources of Conflict
Post:Re: Removing personality and ego from work.
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Thursday, November 1, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
David said “There are many people that would rather blend in, so they in turn take personality out of the workplace and ‘do a job’. It can be done this way I suppose, it’s just not my cup of tea.”
I agree – this can be an effective way of working – putting your head down, quietly doing the job, and getting out of there – I know people who do this to great success, and I applaud them. It’s not for me, and would be hard for me to do.
David said “Conflict can inflict pressure and disappointment at times, but it can also produce change if you can recognize a problem and find a way to implement a new plan enabling the organization to succeed better. Sometimes conflict is necessary in order to improve.”
This is exactly what I mean re: conflict — conflict’s benefit is in its aftermath and outcomes, if the conflict was properly processed, listened to, learned from, and used as a basis for innovation.
Thanks for speaking to this, David.
John.
Thread:W8Q1 – Sources of Conflict
Post:Emotion and persona in work.
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Thursday, November 1, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Melanie says “Do you think people play their emotions to get all the attention and to do as little work as possible, even though it will interupt the progress of an organization?”
This sounds like it might be a perception for you: that people wear their emotions on purpose, in order to get attention, to get out of doing work.
Avoiding work may interrupt the progress of an organization, but connecting that to someone simply showing emotion is quite a leap for me.
I show emotion in my work. This is by design. When I train people I get excited about the things I talk about – some might call me a technology evangelist – and I use that emotion in order to try to get people excited and involved in the concepts and ideas that I’m talking about. With technology for most people, excitement doesn’t come naturally. Without emotion, it would be much harder for me to do my job effectively.
I promise that am not showing emotion to get out of work. I am not showing emotion to simply get attention, though attention is part of training. I am not showing emotion, really, even as a choice, but because I honestly feel strongly about the ideas I’m discussing with people.
Both in this class in a few instances and in my own work life very recently I’ve heard a lot of suggestions to remove emotion and persona from the workplace, and I believe that without emotion or persona, I’m just another tech support guy, and that’s not equal to extra added value, progress, effectiveness or productivity.
John.
Thread:W8Q1 – Sources of Conflict
Post:Re: W8Q1 – Sources of Conflict
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Thursday, November 1, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “If someone … even a leader … embraces a laissez-faire behavior, does that necessarily mean he or she is unconnected or unconcerned?”
I think that if a leader steps back and stays out until it’s appropriate or necessary to say something it may be one of many positive reasons.
It could be a sign of executing flexibility in leadership (looking at all the available options).
It could be a consideration style of leadership in which democracy is emphasized (allowing followers to push and pull things in a direction and then helping that process).
It could be that a leader is specifically trying to stay in the background to allow for unbiased or undirected action to occur.
In a lot of ways, I think that Tim’s own leadership style in this class could be construed as laissez-faire to the uninitiated.
I think we all now know the benefits of being able to speak freely without a lot of directorial influence, but for those who are used to a more traditional teacher-student relationship, I think it may have created some culture shock at first.
It did for me, but then when I realized the empowering aspects of that idea (being able to speak as much as or more than the teacher, and with everyone in the class simultaneously), I was able to run with it.
We all get a voice here, and that is empowering to the follower, and less empowering to the leader, resulting in a balancing of power.
John.
Thread:W8Q1 – Sources of Conflict
Post:Removing personality and ego from work.
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Melanie says “I feel personality and ego should be outside the work place, there should be no conlficts during the work time, especially if it is all toward the common good of the organization.”
This is very interesting! I have some questions I hope you all can help me to answer.
1. (How) can you remove your personality from your work?
2. Why would you want to?
3. What are some benefits to conflict?
4. Can conflict cause some good for the organization?
5. Is there any organization in existence free of conflict? Would you want to work there?
This is why I’m surprised by the idea:
In my job, personality is the defining factor of my potential success – if I were to try to remove myself as a person from what I do, I would only be as good as an instructional video – I’d be a training automaton.
When we encounter conflict in work, it is most often due to differences of opinion on the importance of an issue, or confusion or miscommunication, rather than something just about ego or persona. In fact, persona is very often called on in my work to diffuse and dissipate existing and potential conflict.
John.
Thread:W8Q1 – Sources of Conflict
Post:Re: The self, the company, and the world.
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Lauren says “So in essence, should the two concepts converge at some point, then yes, of course, your case is made that one needs to do the ethically correct thing for the greater whole of society, all the time realizing and accepting the consequences the whistleblower will suffer.”
My post was a reaction to the idea of pitting me vs. team and making a choice before we know the issue.
My point was only about taking care not to make ‘rules’ about always choosing the team (or anything else) over the individual (or anything else) which to me seems like an easy answer that does not always apply evenly.
Ethics is tough, in my opinion. I just don’t know if it can be that easy to predetermine allegiance at any level (individual, team, company, or world.)
I would say that we should try not to pre-prioritize our allegiances where ethics are concerned.
If it is in the best interest of ethics to be true to self, true to the team, true to the company, or true to the world (or hopefully all at once) then we should follow the path that leads to the best ethical outcome, which is also hard (impossible?) to predetermine.
But I can appreciate what you’re saying, definitely. I would also agree that very often choosing the team view over the individual view can be very beneficial for building the team and averting conflict, but it can have its costs too.
John.
Thread:W8Q1 – Sources of Conflict
Post:Re: W8Q1 – Sources of Conflict
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Stacey says “Others may be more laissez-faire about it and not care about compromising if in a short term group. This particular person may feel this way because he/she may think that it is unlikely that this group will ever be together again. To me, this is selfish thinking because you are hurting other people in the process. Also, what if that group did have to get together again?”
I agree, Stacey, that the person who pulls a my-way-or-the-highway on a working team because they believe that they will “never have to work with these people again” is being short sighted and individualistic in their approach.
I think we all may have run into these people in our work lives, those who have only this infrequent project based opportunity to exert some pressure and control on people, and though it may be just a small amount of control, they take the opportunity because to them it is the only control they have all day long.
I like your ideas on “each member discussing his/her expectations for the project and the goals that should come from it. Each member could also voice their opinion on how the project should be completed” and think that incorporating a democratic, cooperative, considerate approach amongst team members is a strong way to help dissipate conflict.
You also said that “I believe that conflict should be avoided in any situation, regardless of time length.”
In this one regard, we disagree — avoiding conflict is not nearly as effective, in my opinion as engaging it and working through it.
Although my own negotiation style at this time is avoidance, I know it’s not the most effective.
If conflict exists, it needs to be dealt with, like a festering sore needs to be attended to. If left unchecked, you may end up having to amputate. Ew!
And that’s my chilling, horror filled Halloween reference for the day. 😉
John.
Thread:W8Q1 – Sources of Conflict
Post:On the persistence of outcomes and the two dimensional model of conflict behavior.
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Nicole says “When dealing with short term projects, people are more willing to put all that side and is willing to compromise. This is because people know that it’s only temporary, and if the project is very important they will be more in tuned to the overall goal that they are trying to reach.”
If the outcome persists with some permanence, despite a short lived team that decides a question, does it change the amount that people in the team are willing to compromise?
A team is going to work on a project for a week, but the results of the project will have to be lived with for a year. If a question, let’s say the name of the project that will be etched in a sign telling people how to get to the project site for a year-long period, is contested by two team members, how hotly is it contested?
If, instead, the sign was going to be up for a week, now how hotly is it contested?
I’m not sure, but I feel like the length of the team’s union is only one factor in determining cooperative negotiation style — there’s also the persistence of outcomes.
Also, of course, there is the conflict behavior grid with the continua of cooperativeness and assertiveness to contend with (Cosier & Ruble, 1981) which is where we get the five negotiation styles that Tim asked for.
These styles may have more to do with the cooperativeness of team members than and issues they decide.
References
Cosier, R. A., & Ruble, T. L. (1981). Research on Conflict-Handling Behavior: An Experimental Approach. The Academy of Management Journal, 24(4), 816-831. Retrieved October 29, 2007, from http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0001-4273%28198112%2924%3A4%3C816%3AROCBAE%3E2.0.CO%3B2-B
Thread:W8Q1 – Sources of Conflict
Post:Re: The self, the company, and the world.
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Daniel says “When a company challenges your personal ethics it can be quite a situation. These situations make it difficult to do the right thing but a person must think of the individual instead of the team. That person must also deal with the realization that they could lose their job because they spoke out. Being a “whistleblower” usually has the right intentions but could come with undesirable consequences to the individual. “
I agree, Daniel, that the difficulty you reference can indeed arise from doing the right thing. Still, I think we both believe it’s important to think of us (all of us) first.
We may be challenged to leave a position at a company that’s performing wrong acts. We all want to be able to live with ourselves, be a part of humanity, and enjoy the work that we do and how we do it.
When we can’t do some or all of those things, it may be time to move on anyway.
If we have the ability to help others in our organization, community, and world to preserve the birthrights of working and living in sound, complete, human ways, I think we should, even if it means that we start with the trouble that is closest to us.
Thanks! John.
Thread:W8Q1 – Sources of Conflict
Post:Re: W8Q1 – Sources of Conflict
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Chadi says “Due to poor communication and a limited amount of time (everyone was trained during the summer) employees and students have encountered numerous problems with the software. Yet the administration refuses to reinstate the old software until the errors (randomly dropping students, mixing up personal ID numbers, etc.) have been fixed in the new software.”
From a technology perspective, it is often extremely difficult to go back to a previous state, version, or installation of software that’s shared.
For example, we are planning to upgrade Blackboard to version 7 from our current version of 6.3 over winter break. We have been testing it for a while, and like it quite a bit.
There will be many who do not like the changes, who want the same tools in exactly the same places, and who will generally be upset with the upgrade despite security, functionality, and usability improvements. We will work to communicate changes and training opportunities to minimize this.
We will be offering training to faculty over the month of December, and students will be able to get help if they like, but students will likely be affected by the upgrade in only small ways, while faculty will see more changes in the interface.
My point in relation to your post is that once we move to 7, it would be nearly impossible to move back to v.6.
Making changes is hard, but changing back to what was is harder for a lot of reasons.
Good luck with PeopleSoft – we’ve enjoyed it here, though we’re only using it for position management.
John.
Thread:W8Q1 – Sources of Conflict
Post:The self, the company, and the world.
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Monday, October 29, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Daniel says “People need to understand that they are part of a team and should be thinking about the organization as a whole. When people begin to view issues on an individual level, that is when problems occur.”
Daniel and class,
Is it always in the best interest of the individual to think of the whole? Is there ever an instance in which it is best to think first of the self?
What if a company (your company) stands to lose money (more than would be lost if nothing was brought to light, anyway) due to lawsuits and damages resulting from whistleblowing that you wish to perform in order to defend your right to work in a clean and healthy environment?
What if the whole is the whole world, and your ethical action supports the world but not your company?
Is it thinking of the ‘self’ rather than the ‘team’ to bring a damaging light to company deeds in order to benefit the greatest good (the ‘league’, so to speak)?
Just some thoughts I had on reading your statement, Daniel – thanks!
John.
Thread:W8Q3 – Intervention Strategies
Post:Re: W8Q3 – Intervention Strategies
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Monday, October 29, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks
Kochan and Jick tell us of two sets of strategies in which we as mediators can plan for effective negotiations, some which are called for in any mediated negotiation (noncontingent) and some which are used in special situations (contingent)(Kochan and Jick, 1978).
Amongst noncontingent strategies are “obtaining the trust and confidence of the parties in the mediator” (Kohan, et al, p. 216) so that mediation will not be hindered by a lack of it.
Secondly, a “diagnostic or search process must take place” (Kohan, et al, p. 216) in order to unearth unknowns and gather data on the conflict.
Third, the mediator must “assess the underlying attitudes (and frustrations) of the parties toward their adversaries” (Kochin, et al, p. 217) in order to create an open flow of truthful information from all sides. This must be done with a fine degree of grace and patient listening, rather than by some confrontational or interrogation technique.
Contingent strategies are those that are chosen after the universal, noncontingent strategies above are used to create the right environment for mediation.
A strategy should be developed here that is specifically attuned to the dispute at hand, though there is no magical formula for this (Kochin, et al, p. 217).
This process should be accomplished by developing a list of alternative solutions and outcomes and polling and re-polling the acceptability of the outcomes amongst parties. This requires patience and creativity, as well as intent listening and open mindedness. This can be done in a few ways:
Kressel’s directive strategy is one in which the parties are pressed or pressured for acceptance or modification of many possible suggested outcomes (Kochin, et al, p. 218). These tend to be used in more confrontational hard edged conflicts, like international disputes or union contracts that have stalled.
There are also nondirective strategies (much more party driven solution alternative finding approaches) that can be employed, and in situations that are nonconfrontational despite their conflict, these are preferred (Kochin, et al, p. 219).
I’m not sure if these are the five, but I thought they were useful as strategies.
John.
References:
Kochan, T. A., & Jick, T. (1978). The Public Sector Mediation Process: A Theory and Empirical Examination. The Journal of Conflict Resolution, 22(2), 209-240. Retrieved October 29, 2007, from http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0022-0027%28197806%2922%3A2%3C209%3ATPSMPA%3E2.0.CO%3B2-R
Thread:Tutorial: YouTube QuickCapture.
Post:Tutorial: YouTube QuickCapture.
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Monday, October 29, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
I made a short tutorial on using YouTube. It is in Flash (SWF) format, and should be able to be viewed in any modern browser with the Flash Player installed, e.g, most browsers.
Click on the attachment here and try opening it with your browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, etc.)
For those of you who have a MacBook with the included built in iSight camera, or anyone with a $15 webcam and microphone, YouTube (free for all to use) is one way you might consider enhancing your distance learning experience with interpersonal visuals.
John.
Thread:You Tube Clips
Post:Re: You Tube Clips
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Sunday, October 28, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
BTW, Tim, in iLife 08, you can use iMovie to record and edit a clip of yourself and then upload it to youtube without ever leaving iMovie.
You might want to try it. I’m still working on a screencast. Congrats on picking up Leopard!
John.
Thread:W8Q2 – Negotiation Styles
Post:Re: W8Q2 – Negotiation Styles
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Sunday, October 28, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “What are the five negotiation styles for managing conflict? Which style do you typically use when negotiating? Why? Which style is most effective when negotiating in the organizational setting? Explain your answer.”
From an assessment available from http://www.swlearning.com/management/holley/lrp8e/Negotiating_Style-Final.rtf
we learn that the five negotiation styles (with descriptions) are
Competing – Negotiators that exhibit this style are results-oriented, self-confident, assertive, are focused primarily on the bottom line, have a tendency to impose their views upon the other party, and in the extreme can become aggressive and domineering. This style is high in Assertiveness and low in Cooperativeness.
Avoiding – Negotiators that exhibit this style are passive, prefer to avoid conflict, make attempts to withdraw from the situation or pass responsibility onto another party, and fail to show adequate concern or make an honest attempt to get to a solution. This style is both low in Assertiveness and low in Cooperativeness.
Collaborating – Negotiators that exhibit this style use open and honest communication, focus on finding creative solutions that mutually satisfy both parties, are open to exploring new and novel solutions, and suggest many alternatives for consideration. This style is both high in Assertiveness and high in Cooperativeness.
Accommodating – Negotiators that exhibit this style make attempts to maintain relationships with the other party, smooth over conflicts, downplay differences, and are most concerned with satisfying the needs of the other party. This style is low in Assertiveness but high in Cooperativeness.
Compromising – Negotiators that exhibit this style aim to find the middle ground, often split the difference between positions, frequently engage in give and take tradeoffs, and accept moderate satisfaction of both parties’ needs. This style is both moderate in Assertiveness and moderate in Cooperativeness.
My negotiation style is generally Avoiding, I’m sorry to say.
Of the things that I think I do very well as a leader, negotiation isn’t one of them, but it is something I want to work on.
When I run into a major conflict or problem, I tend to try to resolve it myself quietly, have someone else solve it, or ‘fix’ the problem as painlessly as possible, and with as little public alarm as possible, but at the risk of lacking communication.
I specifically try not to compete in negotiation. I tend to collaborate or accommodate as a secondary choice, and compromise only when necessary, though I know that choosing this priority structure is a bad choice for organizational negotiation. Like I said, I’m working on it.
Collaboration is likely the best, most effective choice when possible for organizational negotiations, since it relies on open communication, creative solutions, and calls on negotiators to create alternatives.
John.
Thread:W8Q1 – Sources of Conflict
Post:Re: W8Q1 – Sources of Conflict
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Sunday, October 28, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “In other words, if the team is simply comprised for the purpose of completing a task, and then will disband, do you think the members will be more or less willing to compromise? Why or why not?”
A short term or single task team might be much more willing to compromise than a long term team who makes multiple decisions with long lasting impacts.
For instance, in our course teams for our group project, I imagine that on most things we will be able to quickly compromise, since we can all see that arguing over small decisions (like what tools to use or what times to meet) would require more effort with less reward than just making do for the short term.
We likely have little to gain from choosing anything less than a friendly and team oriented attitude. If we had to commit to a single ongoing team with multiple projects over two semesters, we might have to establish stronger views or stronger relationships in order to do effective work over the longer term.
If a short term team is trying to decide a single question that has long term impact, members might be much less willing to compromise if they feel strongly about not having to live with the outcomes in one way or another.
Alternatively, if short term team members feel very strongly in different directions and do not foresee having to work again with current team members, they might feel that they can/must force/voice their view, since the negative consequences of burning bridges might appear to have little effect on future work relations.
Tim also asks “Furthermore, what recommendations can you offer, for a newly organized team to PREPARE for conflict … prior to it occurring? For example, each student in this class was placed into a learning group, for the purposes of completing a group assignment. Did the learning group agree upfront how they would handle conflict … should it arise? Why would this be a prudent step?”
From my past experience with these group projects, I’d say that very often the democratic method can be applied to resolve conflict. In other words – a question is asked, and the majority rules. In my previous groups, we chose a leader to help to break ties and to choose directions. We have not yet done this in our group, but we have started some democratic direction taking. We are still in an early forming stage, and have not even come together physically or vocally yet. When we do, these will be good issues to confront.
John.
Thread:WEEK 8 LECTURE
Post:Re: WEEK 8 LECTURE
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Sunday, October 28, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim says “Conflict management organizations exist to provide educational resources, management skills, and staff support to organizations and practitioners. These national organizations accept members (some have student chapters) and provide fee based services, as well as free services. A review of one or more of these organization’s websites will provide a student with a more robust picture of the resources that are available to address the issue of organizational conflict.”
Can you give an example or a resource that lists or reviews some of these Conflict Management Organizations that have student services/affiliations/chapters? I’m very interested as both a student and a member of an organization. (How) does a conflict management organization differ from an employee behavioral services organization?
John
Thread:You Tube Clips
Post:Re: You Tube Clips
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Thursday, October 25, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
I’m excited about Leopard, most definitely.
I’m in Seattle right now for the Educause conference, but upon my return, I think I’ll be making a screencast to explain what you should see and expect visually when making a video for youtube using quickcapture.
Talk to you soon.
John.
Thread:W7Q3 – Integrative Bargaining
Post:Re: W7Q3 – Integrative Bargaining
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Thursday, October 25, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tracy says “I might also add that in integrative bargaining bridging may occur as well. Gerzon talks of bridging as partnership building among two parties. In this type of negotiation both sides find ways to create positive outcomes that will make for lasting relationships.”
I would say that all of Gerzon’s 8 tools for the Mediator are well suited as integrative mediation tools – while some could be used in distributive bargaining, such as presence, conscious conversation, and dialogue, it seems like all of the tools would be great (if not essential) applications for integrative techniques.
John.
Thread:W7Q3 – Integrative Bargaining
Post:Re: W7Q3 – Integrative Bargaining
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Thursday, October 25, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tracy contests that “I do think it is in their best interest to give the buyer some of the things they want so they can get the sale and earn the commission from it. They will also want the buyer to return or refer family and friend to the them for purchases as well. In a way there is a sort of win/win result in this approach in car sales. They may not have direct contact or an ongoing relationship with the customer, but they are indirectly connected to them. They want to have the customer leave the showroom happy so they can be happy with their check. (WIN/WIN)”
I think that my statement about buying a car being an example of a situation in which integrative bargaining doesn’t make sense is more applicable to a small operation used car lot situation than your local Toyota Dealership.
You are not likely to want or need to continue a relationship with Jimmy from Jimmy’s Used Car Gold Mine, but you may show back up at Team Toyota for maintenance, repairs, warranty policy claims, and payments, etc, and so it may make more sense for an amicable and value added integrative style at the dealership.
Jimmy just likely wants to ‘make the sale’ and get you out the door. 😉
John.
Thread:W7Q2 – Distributive Bargaining
Post:Re: W7Q2 – Distributive Bargaining
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Thursday, October 25, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “Do you think celebrities put their popularity and celebrity status ahead of the welfare of the children, or do you think it is the case the media exaggerates the negotiations for the purpose of sensationalizing the story? How would you recommend solving their respective disputes?”
I think that making any sort of statement about whether celebrities in general put their status above their children values wise is difficult – it’s contingent on the celebrity in question. In the two cases you mention, I’m more familiar with Federline/Spears than Richards/Sheen, and it appears to me that in the case of Federline/Spears the children are being neglected, used almost as an afterthought, and may have lifelong damages psychologically due to the way that these ‘parents’ are treating the children. From the way that Britney melted down publically to the way that Federline has continued to try to build a career when parenting should be the focus shows that any way you look at it, the children are off to a horrible beginning. The recent opening number where Britney seemed barely there as a performer shows that she needs to find a new focus – and I’d say that her children might be a good place to start.
That being said, the media is assisting in the public meltdown, and greatly benefitting from it.
John.
Thread:Assignment suggestions
Post:Re: Tally so far
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Thursday, October 25, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Sounds good to me – I’m actually at a conference in Seattle right now, but I’ll be back on Saturday.
John.
Thread:W7Q3 – Integrative Bargaining
Post:Re: W7Q3 – Integrative Bargaining
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “What is integrative bargaining? What are the key differences between integrative bargaining and distributive bargaining? When might integrative bargaining be counter productive? Explain your answer using examples.”
Integrative bargaining is a negotiation technique in which stakeholders in the negotiation are interested in coming out of negotiations with not only their own needs addressed and met, but all needs addressed and met.
This technique will often result in more value than the stakeholders started with – the whole divisible ‘pie’ with some unexpected whipped cream on top, or an extra slice for all to share a bite of.
In integrative bargaining, the parties come together to create a new benefit that perhaps no one knew existed – an innovation in Gerzonian terms.
In distributive bargaining, in contrast, there is one pie, and no one expects anything more, and so they grab at the pieces, and when it’s gone, it’s gone. What’s mine is mine and what’s yours is yours, and that’s that.
Integrative bargaining might be counter productive in situations where an investment of time, effort, and relationship building that is integral to integrative bargaining wouldn’t make any sense – such as a one time relationship to negotiate the price of a car, or a situation where there is a single known item (X) at stake, and there is little chance of creating something more to be shared in the outcome.
John.
Thread:W7Q1 – Stages
Post:Re: W7Q1 – Stages
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asked “What are some of the ramifications someone could experience, if he or she enters into negotiations without preparations?”
They could be ambushed with potentially devastating new information, they could end up looking foolish, they could do harm to themselves as a stakeholder, they could affect the way that others view them (negatively).
John.
Thread:Assignment suggestions
Post:Re: Tally so far
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
I just added you to my buddy list, Andrea. (lemasney on AIM)
Thread:W7Q2 – Distributive Bargaining
Post:Re: W7Q2 – Distributive Bargaining
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Monday, October 22, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “What is distributive bargaining? When is distributive bargaining appropriate to use? Why? What might be the effect of distributive bargaining on long term relationships?”
Tim explained in his lecture that distributive bargaining, as opposed to integrative bargaining, is a negotiation where involved parties are pursuing a win/lose outcome, one in which nothing is necessarily gained or newly created in the process, but all available stakes are awarded. Distributive bargaining is best in situations in which only short term relations are expected, like a one time sale of an item, or in which adversarial behavior is expected or allowed such as in a murder trial.
Distributive bargaining is antithetical to successful long term relationships, since sustaining a long term relationship expects that involved parties will help each other to grow, gain, and improve, whereas competitive relationships expect competitive behavior like that defined in distributive bargaining.
A divorce may make use of either distributive or integrative bargaining, but in a situation where children from the marriage creat some necessity of continued contact and relation, it my be in the parties’ best interest to avoid distributive bargaining and pursue some integrative bargaining, so that despite the outcome of divorce, perhaps some positives might emerge to help to grow a new (albeit different) kind of relationship.
John
Thread:W7Q1 – Stages
Post:Re: W7Q1 – Stages
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Monday, October 22, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “What are the stages of negotiation? What are the three most important steps in the negotiation planning process and why? What steps would you add or delete from the negotiation planning process to make it more effective. Why?”
Tim explained in the lecture this week that the steps and stages in negotiation are to identify, define and frame the problem, then to identify the stakeholders and each stakeholder’s interests and needs, and finally to be able to generate innovative, alternatives to the expected well-defined outcomes in order to help all involved come to a suitable agreement, without which solutions will be shallow and possibly short standing.
I might say that one missing addition to this planning process as defined might be to generate feedback at regular intervals, in order to check perceptions and garner progress in the negotiation process.
We may also want to have regular timed breaks from the action built in, so that we may step back from the negotiation to see things from a new perspective, have some guaranteed time to reflect, and come back into the negotiation with a fresh outlook.
John.
Thread:Vent About Next Semester
Post:Re: Vent About Next Semester
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Monday, October 22, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Stacey says “I’m actually curious how anyone is graduating this May from the program. I guess if you were in a different concentration then it was possible. Who knows. Is there anyone else experiencing any difficulties?”
Stacey, as you might have seen from my posts in this forum about the limits of LEAD concentration distance learning courses, I’m kind of upset that it does not look like I’ll be able to finish completely online, which was one of the reasons I chose this particular program. I feel a little bit let down, and am wondering why this program seems so badly mismanaged in this respect.
Upset here too.
John.
Thread:You Tube Clips
Post:Re: You Tube Clips
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Monday, October 22, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim says “Now, I can log on, and it does connect to the server. After a slight wait, it begins to RECORD. I can see the seconds/minutes count, and I see the audio oscillation. However, the videos never load into MY VIDEOs.”
One of two things is going on – the first is that you must click ‘finish’ in order for the video to actually be saved and uploaded. Otherwise, if you just close the browser and navigate away the video will jut go into the ether. However, if you successfully saw your video before, you know this.
Second possibility is that your videos are finishing and uploading, and you are simply not waiting the 10 minutes for them to be processed. If you go there now, you might see them, and that might have been all it was.
One way or another, it sounds like you’re just on the cusp of success. You should know that I’m going to be in Seattle this week, so if you were to call my desk, there would be little chance to talk, but I will be checking my email and Blackboard, so let’s keep working to get your videos up.
Continued movement towards success.
John.
Thread:Week Six Summary – Thread
Post:Re: Week Six Summary – Thread
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Saturday, October 20, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Here’s a reading of this week’s summary – John.
Thread:Week Six Summary – Thread
Post:Re: Week Six Summary – Thread
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Saturday, October 20, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Here are some selected quotes from my posts in this week’s discussions. Keep an eye on a reply to this post for the YouTube presentation of the content.
Some of the elements of negotiation are giving a forum to each of the viewpoints of the various ‘sides’, making sure there is active engaged listening, having a plan for ‘breaking a tie’ or having a neutral third party, making sure that negotiation participants are devoted to beneficial outcomes, and making sure that all views an voices get an ample chance to be heard and understood.
When we go into a negotiation expecting only to come out with or perfect outcome, we’re usually setting ourselves up for disappointment. If we instead enter a negotiation with the idea that we don’t have all the answers, but that we want everyone to come out getting what they can out of the negotiation, every concession will be in the interest of the goal — a means to a better end.
Here’s some rules that come to mind that might have solved past issues in negotiations. 1. No more than one person speaks at a time. 2. No hitting below the belt verbally, e.g. name calling, calling others’ ideas ‘stupid’ etc. 3. Each point of view should have equal time to speak, with the option of giving up time for another’s view. 4. ‘Fouls’ should be able to be noted with some sort of quiet motion, such as a yellow flag, and be chosen to be acted upon by the omnipresent neutral party. 5. Either party should have to opportunity to call a 5 minute time out at any time, to avoid tensions or outbursts that might irrevocably harm relations. 6. Depending on the level of the importance of the issues at hand, a contract to abide by in the negotiation should be drawn up and signed by all interested parties. There should be clear values and penalties for positive and negative actions defined.
People often take statements of things like price, grade, pay, rules, and definitions at face value, and expect that they are factual and immovable. There are certain contexts and environments were price negotiation is expected and warranted, such as a yard sale/garage sale/flea market/craig’s list but when you walk into a sears and you see a price tag on a vacuum cleaner, you expect to pay the price on the vacuum cleaner.
Based on my past experiences, the two most common perception problems are a lack of intent listening, and a closed mind. Having a perception is a given – everyone has their existing perceptions, but if you: 1. Never try to hear dissenting or differing opinions from your own, or 2. Choose to never allow your perception to be modified then in my experience, your perceptions will get in the way of successful, fruitful negotiation. Some safeguards you might employ to cmbat these issues are to insist on rules that: 1. respect and enforce the act of listening, such as no interruptions, timed responses, no side conversations during statements, etc. 2. Do as gerzon suggests and implement some inquiry in order to find some common ground, which will help parties to see that there are things that bind people despite their differences, which may create opportunities for opening minds with set perceptions.
Logically, there’s probably little reason not to commit to inquiry about any unknowns in your work life. However, emotionally, getting answers to questions can be disappointing, surprising, and can confirm things that you don’t know to be true, but that you fear might be true. I may believe in my heart that my leader may not want to (or be able to) give me a raise. I may also wish to enjoy the hopeful feeling that she may be able to and want to. I may actually rather think that it’s possible than to know that it’s not.
John
Thread:W6Q1 – Elements of a Negotiation
Post:Re: W6Q1 – Elements of a Negotiation
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Saturday, October 20, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tracy says “Every year, without fail, I have customers who want me to practically give my stuff away. They bargain and bargain until they are just about leaving with the item from nothing. This is really annoying!! Not that I am trying to get what I paid for things, but I don’t expect to give it away. If I wanted to do that, I would find a worthy cause to donate to. “
Tracy, I’m afraid I may be creating expectations in the marketplace for this to be acceptable behavior. When I participate in a flea market, a yard sale, or a garage sale, it’s very often more for me to meet people, have some idea of where the things I am letting go of are going, and to just enjoy interacting with people in what I find to be a fun transaction.
I seldom intend to make any money on these ventures, and so I delight in seeing people light up at getting things for little to nothing.
I apologize to you, but not to my customers. 😉
John.
Thread:W6Q1 – Elements of a Negotiation
Post:Re: W6Q1 – Elements of a Negotiation
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Saturday, October 20, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “Do you agree with the suggestion that you will never know what you can negotiation … IF YOU DON’T ASK? What is the risk of being direct and upfront with people, as you attempt to negotiate?”
Logically, there’s probably little reason not to commit to inquiry about any unknowns in your work life.
However, emotionally, getting answers to questions can be disappointing, surprising, and can confirm things that you don’t know to be true, but that you fear might be true.
I may believe in my heart that my leader may not want to (or be able to) give me a raise. I may also wish to enjoy the hopeful feeling that she may be able to and want to.
I may actually rather think that it’s possible than to know that it’s not.
Sad, but true.
John.
Thread:W6Q1 – Elements of a Negotiation
Post:Re: W6Q1 – Elements of a Negotiation
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Saturday, October 20, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “Given [store managers] are typically measured on Profit-and-Lost (P&L), the manager can negotiate a deal that he/she believes is good for the business.
What are some of the ways an organization can benefit by negotiating? (e.g., good will, public relations, future business, etc.)”
Well, with that added bit of insight, there’s little reason not to consider negotiating on price.
A store manager who’s willing and able to negotiate on price with a customer has a lot of power with that customer.
If I go into a store with evidence that I can purchase an item which is for sale in the store for less money elsewhere, and the manager is willing to accept that price for the item, the item is likely to get sold at the store rather than elsewhere.
As a customer, it may make me feel as though my time and effort is being considered.
If the alternative price comes from an online seller, there are added benefits to purchasing in the local store. As a customer, it gives me the added benefit of dealing with a person in a real, physical location who I can quickly interact with in order to resolve issues with the purchase should they arise.
If I get the manager to make a ‘special deal’ with me on price or some other negotiated factor of a purchase, it may endear me to that business more so than to one that does not, increasing the likelihood of future continued business.
John.
Thread:W6Q1 – Elements of a Negotiation
Post:Re: W6Q1 – Elements of a Negotiation
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Thursday, October 18, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Andrea says “you don’t know if you don’t ask”
It’s so true, and so often we think we’re not ‘allowed’ to ask.
John.
Thread:W6Q1 – Elements of a Negotiation
Post:Re: W6Q1 – Elements of a Negotiation
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Thursday, October 18, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Mini asks “What does everyone think about negotiating when you are the seller…? Negotiation plays a very important role when you are trying to sell an itme also. Only that in this case you are trying to get the best bargain from a seller’s view poing”
Mini, great question. I think it depends on what I’m selling.
If I am selling items at a yard sale, I usually have the idea going in that I don’t care to make any money, but rather just give away things and get a few bucks, and maybe as a bonus make some new neighborhood friends. When this is the case, I usually take a ‘name your price’ attitude, and watch a buyer’s delight when I offer a slightly lower price. They almost always refuse and give me the amount they suggested, as though they’re keeping a contracted agreement. Selling in a bazaar style is a fun and special circumstance.
On the other hand, I’ve worked in plenty of retail operations, and no such ability existed. I would have quickly been asked to leave my associate position if I were to start negotiating prices with buyers on the floor, unless my managers/organization/contract specifically gave me some allowance to do just that.
Otherwise, I’d be acting against a behavioral agreement and maybe not in the organization’s best interest.
John.
Thread:W6Q3 – Personality
Post:Re: W6Q3 – Personality
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “Additionally, are you more comfortable and confident in these other settings? And, if so, when negotiating, do you think it is advisable to CHANGE the setting, towards your advantage?
What are your thoughts and reactions about these suggestions?”
In my opinion, setting and environment is almost like another person in the negotiation.
If you are in your ‘home base’ for the negotiation, you will feel like you ‘own the place’ and you’ll feel free-er to do and say as you please.
If you are in a neutral place, or in the away team’s space, this can change the negotiations too.
We just recently renovated the training space at Rider to be more like a lounge in the interest of creating a more comfortable training environment for faculty and staff.
We did this becausewe felt that when you are comfortable, it’s likely easier to focus on the task at hand without the distractions of discomfort, glaring lights, or bad gut feelings that might be associated with a more industrial place or space.
John.
Thread:W6Q3 – Personality
Post:Re: W6Q3 – Personality
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “What is the importance of personality in negotiation? How do the “Big Five”* personality factors affect negotiation? Based on your personality and the “Big Five”, what would be your negotiation strengths and weaknesses? “
Personality has so very much to do with the way negotiation will go. It’s very often why a third party is brought in, to fill in a personality gap in the negotiations. If your main representatives are kindly and soft, and what you need for a particular negotiation is to stand firm, you may want to search that out in a representative.
Based on Daft’s explanation of the concepts in The Leadership Experience (2007, pp. 99-102), a great negotiator would likely be Extroverted in order to talk with people, Agreeable in order to get along, Conscientious in order to be achievement oriented, Emotionally Stable in order to keep a calm head in heated moments, and Open in order to check hier own and others’ perceptions.
I myself took the Self-Insight quiz on p. 99. On a 15 point scale, I got a 8 for Extroversion, a 7 for Agreeableness, an 8 for Conscientiousness, a 7 for Neuroticism, and a 15 for Openness. With a grand total of 75 possible (which would indicate a great negotiator), I got a 45, so I imagine I’d have to do some improvements on my personality in order to be a great negotiator.
John.
Thread:W6Q1 – Elements of a Negotiation
Post:Re: W6Q1 – Elements of a Negotiation
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tashira says “but that may also be fun, LOL”
We could try, I guess. I can see it now, Tashira up at the counter saying “I’ll give you ten bucks for that XBox there.” 😉
John.
Thread:W6Q2 – Perception
Post:Re: W6Q2 – Perception
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “What is the role of perception in negotiation? Based on past experience, what are two most common perception problems in negotiation? What safeguards would you employ to avoid misperceptions in negotiation?”
In negotiation, perception is each representative party’s point of view. In a negotiation between a faculty union and an administrative staff, perceptions may vary on the importance of training for effective teaching, the rights of the faculty to control their academic freedoms, and the increased costs of living predicted in the next 5 years.
Based on my past experiences, the two most common perception problems are a lack of intent listening, and a closed mind.
Having a perception is a given – everyone has their existing perceptions, but if you:
1. Never try to hear dissenting or differing opinions from your own, or
2. Choose to never allow your perception to be modified
then in my experience, your perceptions will get in the way of successful, fruitful negotiation.
Some safeguards you might employ to cmbat these issues are to insist on rules that:
1. respect and enforce the act of listening, such as no interruptions, timed responses, no side conversations during statements, etc.
2. Do as gerzon suggests and implement some inquiry in order to find some common ground, which will help parties to see that there are things that bind people despite their differences, which may create opportunities for opening minds with set perceptions.
John.
Thread:W6Q1 – Elements of a Negotiation
Post:Re: W6Q1 – Elements of a Negotiation
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “When and why would someone seek assistance in negotiating on their behalf? Please cite examples to help clarify your response.”
Some reasons you might want to call a neutral 3rd party or non-neutral assistant include:
1. you needed expertise on your side which you yourself did not have, or which the other side excelled in
2. the situation had degraded to an emotionally draining point and a neutral perspective is necessary
3. You foresee problems in the negotiation process due to a power struggle and want to fortify the structure of the negotiation process with a neutral 3rd party to ensure a power balance
John
Thread:W6Q1 – Elements of a Negotiation
Post:Re: W6Q1 – Elements of a Negotiation
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Laurie says “In some situations it takes more time to negotiate then it does to just buy the item. The time spent bringing down the price could be used for other things I have to get done. Time is valuable and I need to make the best of my free time.”
Even if I had the free time to barter with a sales associate at WalMart, I doubt it would do any good.
If you were at the flea market, and someone wanted $5 for something you thought was worth $2, and you wanted the item, wouldn’t you ask for a $3 reduction?
John.
Thread:W6Q1 – Elements of a Negotiation
Post:Re: W6Q1 – Elements of a Negotiation
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “Why in these places, is it “common” to negotiate over the price of everything from a bottle of water … to purses, clothing, etc., when in other stores we don’t even think of negotiating?”
I would assume that it is because the written, unwritten, and behavioral rules of the organizations allow or disallow the act of bartering.
In a flea market, the seller has full control over the price fluctuation.
In a WalMart, prices have been determined in advance down to the penny per item, resulting in deals worth millions for one company and possible bankruptcy for another. For a store associate to even attempt a bartering session over a tagged price might lead to quick dismissal.
In short, bartering can happen where the rules allow for it — or where the individual seller universally controls the price herself. When a corporation of thousands are affected by the ways items are sold, prices are less flexible.
John.
Thread:Distance Learning in LEAD at Rider
Post:Distance Learning in LEAD at Rider
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Hello, LEADers.
I attended the LEAD program student tea this afternoon and was disturbed to find out that, contrary to advice I got when I first considered the program, it is now very possible that the LEAD program will not be possible to be finished completely by distance learning. The concentration classes, in particular, are in jeopardy for distance learning.
I heard this from the program’s newly hired chair, Elizabeth Watson, and was stunned and upset, to say the least, to hear this news.
I might not likely have invested time and effort into the program if I did not think I’d be able to complete the program online, and now it appears that I and you may not be able to.
I love the time I’ve spent in these online classes, and would not have it (or have been able to do it) any other way. While I might at least have a choice because I live locally, how do those of you who live remotely feel about the prospect that you will not be able to finish the program online?
You may want to call Elizabeth in order to discuss the issue. Here is her contact information, which considering that you are a part of her program, you may wish to have handy anyway.
Dr. R. Elizabeth Watson
office: (609)896-5348
email: ewatson@rider.edu
John.
Thread:You Tube Clips
Post:Re: You Tube Clips
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Hi, Tim.
What exactly is the problem you’ve been encountering? Have you not been able to start the recording process or is it something else?
In other words, does the recording page say that you’re waiting to contact the server, which never happens? If so, you may have to go back and try again – this happens from time to time, especially during busy periods.
Looking forward.
John.
Thread:You Tube Clips
Post:Re: You Tube Clips
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Hi, Laurie,
There’s a great tutorial page on how to use YouTube embed codes.
Enjoy:
http://youtube.com/sharing
John.
Thread:W2Q4. Diversity
Post:Re: W2Q4. Diversity
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Rosalind says “Whenever there was a picture of an event that we hosted, only caucasian families and caucasian staff members were represented. I questioned it and, not without a fight, the pictures changed. I think diversity and ethics are related because diversity seeks inclusion of all differences and that is the “right” thing to do ethically.”
Good for you, Rosalind – you clearly understand the importance of diversity awareness and are making the right efforts to strengthen that diversity. Kudos, especially for your courage in what seems like it might be a tense environment in relation to the issue.
John.
Thread:W6Q1 – Elements of a Negotiation
Post:Re: W6Q1 – Elements of a Negotiation
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Good tools, Tracy.
j.
Thread:W6Q1 – Elements of a Negotiation
Post:Re: W6Q1 – Elements of a Negotiation
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “What are your thoughts about why people are relunctant to negotiate? Have you ever attempted to negotiate a price/service/feature with a sales person at a retail store such as Sears? Why or why not?”
People often take statements of things like price, grade, pay, rules, and definitions at face value, and expect that they are factual and immovable.
There are certain contexts and environments were price negotiation is expected and warranted, such as a yard sale/garage sale/flea market/craig’s list but when you walk into a sears and you see a price tag on a vacuum cleaner, you expect to pay the price on the vacuum cleaner.
The closest thing to negotiation in a Sears is seeing if they have a policy like ‘lowest price guarantee’ where you can prove that you can and will buy the same item elsewhere at a lower price, at which point you can purchase the item at that lower price. With internet price checking in full effect, this practice has become less popular in most retail stores, since internet warehouses don’t have the same overhead as many physical retail stores.
You also might be able to negotiate a price with a local mom-and-pop shop where the prices don’t have to be in check with a national chain of stores. This is one of the few remaining advantages of a mom-and-pop, but since it’s likely that the big box retailers can command much lower prices due to increased buying power, even that seems less likely.
This concept of the way big business changes old stereotypes of negotiation reminds me, too, of the Sopranos episode (ep. 73 – Johnny Cakes) in which Patsy tries to shake down the new Starbucks for protection money, only to find out from the manager that it wouldn’t be worth it to the mobsters, the manager or the company – the books are watched too closely, electronically, by remote overseers, and if the manager was injured or murdered for refusal to pay for protection, he’d be replaced the next day with another closely watched manager. Patsy says in response “It’s over for the little guy”
John
Thread:W6Q1 – Elements of a Negotiation
Post:Re: W6Q1 – Elements of a Negotiation
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Let’s try to answer each of your questions in relation to me suggesting that most negotiations can go towards a win/win end and all parties can try to believe that they don’t know all the answers going in:
Melanie asks “what about a divorce negotiation? dont you think that both parties has an idea of what they want or how to split it up already?”
Actually, I think that the perceptions that both parties have going in may be out of sync with reality, and if steps are taken to clarify reality and check perceptions, which requires both husband and wife to concede that they may not know everything, the outcome can be better, and might indeed be a win/win. It also might be a zero-sum game, as described as an alternative to a win/win situation by Tim in his lecture.
Melanie asks “How would selling a house or boat getting what they can? Its possible that you may think about it differently but i wonder how you would make that statement in every type of situation.”
Each party should be able to get something positive and rewarding out of a meaningful negotiation. In the case of a person selling their boat or car or house, I would hope that both parties come away feeling as though they both gained something, and maybe lost something.
Are you saying that buying a house can’t result in a win/win?
Melanie asks “Or how about negotiating a person going to jail either for 25 years or for life…… how would you percieve that? How about “a means to a better end”? How would you relate that to both situations?”
I wouldn’t necessarily consider a sentencing a time for negotiation, but if we were to consider it, I’d have to hear the specifics of the case. Did the person do the crime? Is there evidence? Was there a video of what I’m assuming was a violent act? If there is DNA evidence or something else linking the defendant to the act, and they pleaded innocent, then their negotiating abilities are much less powerful, most likely.
A means to a better end in this case would likely be them finding a way to serve their time peacefully, which I’m assuming could still be negotiated, even if all else was lost.
I still say finding a win/win is the best possible outcome, and that going into a negotiation it will likely help to think with an open mind, rather than to go in with all of the answers intact. Even if you think you already know all the facts of the negotiation, you might try to suspend your knowledge of them and relearn them in the context of the negotiation.
John.
Thread:W6Q1 – Elements of a Negotiation
Post:Re: W6Q1 – Elements of a Negotiation
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Andrea says “I agree with my classmates that rules need to be in place in order to create the potential for a successful negotiation, however, this is where additional conflict may come into play. Who makes the rules? Are the rules fair to both/all parties? Does rule-forming in itself require negotiation?”
I think that due to the issue that Andrea raises, it’s important for the rules of negotiation to be agreed upon by the parties, and if there is an opportunity, maybe each of the parties can have an opportunity to write and revise the rules together, even if it means that they are in separate rooms while doing it, with delivered updates until a compromise in the rules is reached.
John.
Thread:W6Q1 – Elements of a Negotiation
Post:Re: W6Q1 – Elements of a Negotiation
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “What are some of the options parties can take, when and if there attempts at negotiation fail? How doe these techniques help to increase the likelihood of a compromise?”
Interested parties could threaten to walk away, strike, call in a view-biased negotiator, call in a neutral negotiator, or they could go another direction and offer up actual compromises, as in I’ll give you list item 3 if you give me list item 6.
Each of these techniques begins to increase or decrease pressure, so that instead of tug of war style negotiation where each side is strictly pulling for themselves with some equality, you can add or decrease the tension on the line allowing for real movement to happen, or you can have everyone simultaneously just let go, and the rope ends up in the mud.
John.
Thread:W6Q1 – Elements of a Negotiation
Post:Re: W6Q1 – Elements of a Negotiation
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “Can you provide some examples of the rules you would recommend in establishing fair and positive negotiations?”
Here’s some rules that come to mind that might have solved past issues in negotiations.
1. No more than one person speaks at a time.
2. No hitting below the belt verbally, e.g. name calling, calling others’ ideas ‘stupid’ etc.
3. Each point of view should have equal time to speak, with the option of giving up time for another’s view.
4. ‘Fouls’ should be able to be noted with some sort of quiet motion, such as a yellow flag, and be chosen to be acted upon by the omnipresent neutral party.
5. Either party should have to opportunity to call a 5 minute time out at any time, to avoid tensions or outbursts that might irrevocably harm relations.
6. Depending on the level of the importance of the issues at hand, a contract to abide by in the negotiation should be drawn up and signed by all interested parties. There should be clear values and penalties for positive and negative actions defined.
All I can think of right now, off the cuff. Great question.
John.
Thread:W5Q2. Learning Organizations
Post:Thanks Re: W5Q2. Learning Organizations
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Thanks, Andrea! I’m sure we all appreciate the extra effort.
John.
Thread:W5Q1. Globalization & Ethics
Post:Re: Dell Call Handlers Overseas
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Phyllis says “I think your level of expertise w/computers makes you a bit out of touch on this issue. When a layperson (as myself) needs assistance, it is very, very frustrating to call for help and reach an individual we cannot understand.”
I really don’t think my level of expertise with computers has anything to do with this at all. I think this may have to do with my level of openness to other cultures and willingness to accept and work with differences.
I would also say that globalism is increasing (in more than just the technology industry), rather than decreasing, so I am glad that I am open to hearing lots of different kinds of voices when I’m calling for help, because it’s not likely to decrease.
John.
Thread:W6Q1 – Elements of a Negotiation
Post:Re: W6Q1 – Elements of a Negotiation
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Daniel says “It is also important that people have the freedom to express their views in a negotiation. People need to be able to express their views clearly. There needs to be a flowing exchange of ideas to make a negotiation successful. These aspects are very important in carrying out a successful negotiation.”
I think we have spoken here as a group about the notion of it being more important to be heard than to be right. I think Daniel speaks to that here.
I think even in sessions where there are not two or more sides looking for a compromise, there is room for the need to be able to express ideas.
Very often if a team is looking at new ideas for some project, a great technique can be a mind mapping or brainstorming session in which ideas are included in the collection process no matter how unlikely or seemingly unrelated they are to the project – this willingness to be open to any idea and to let everyone have a voice can allow teams to make creative and innovative discoveries.
In situations where a team was throwing out ideas, and the person doing the recording on the whiteboard would be selective about which ideas he or she felt belonged or were worth recording, much less creative ideas flowed, and some people felt quickly shut out of the process, myself included.
This sometimes amplified ingroups, for example.
I think that’s one of the reasons that I like distance learning so much – we all get a voice, and it’s everyone else’s choice to listen or not, but the voice is there to be heard.
John.
Thread:W6Q1 – Elements of a Negotiation
Post:Re: W6Q1 – Elements of a Negotiation
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Melanie says “Negotiating has many sides to it, but when you think lightly about it, you can get your way or you dont. if you get your way you are happy, and vise versa. Everything in peoples lives deal with negotiating.”
I think that this is why it’s so important for both sides to try to focus on a win/win, as opposed to getting their way.
Gerzon has a lot to say about the concept of negotiation and debate versus council and dialogue in his choosing your communication chapter.
When we go into a negotiation expecting only to come out with or perfect outcome, we’re usually setting ourselves up for disappointment.
If we instead enter a negotiation with the idea that we don’t have all the answers, but that we want everyone to come out getting what they can out of the negotiation, every concession will be in the interest of the goal — a means to a better end.
I really like your ideas about small scale negotiation – things like what hours we work each week can definitely be made into win/win outcomes.
John.
Thread:W6Q1 – Elements of a Negotiation
Post:Re: W6Q1 – Elements of a Negotiation
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Sunday, October 14, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “What are the elements of a negotiation? What are some of the problems you have experienced when negotiating? How would you address these problems?”
Some of the elements of negotiation are giving a forum to each of the viewpoints of the various ‘sides’, making sure there is active engaged listening, having a plan for ‘breaking a tie’ or having a neutral third party, making sure that negotiation participants are devoted to beneficial outcomes, and making sure that all views an voices get an ample chance to be heard and understood.
Very often, the problems that I’ve encountered in negotiations center around one or more elements listed here being missing or unattended to.
In order to address these problems, there can be guidelines, a timeline, and a referee of sorts to step in and clarify the agreed upon rules when one of the involved parties feels that there has been an offense.
For instance, in the past, I’ve negotiated for responsibility in regards to certain services or technologies, and argued for my rights as a system administrator to do something or other on a system.
When an opposing view is allowed or encouraged to interrupt, raise their voice, or make unproven claims, there can be problems in the negotiation.
These are issues that can be handled properly when committed in the shadow of a set of rules, but without rules or a neutral party to enforce them, true negotiation just won’t happen.
John.
Thread:Week Five Summary – Thread
Post:Re: Week Five Summary – Thread
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Saturday, October 13, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Here’s this week’s YouTube recording of my week 5 summary.
Enjoy! John.
Thread:Week Five Summary – Thread
Post:Re: Week Five Summary – Thread
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Saturday, October 13, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
This week, I feel like we went from Norming to Storming. I’m looking forward to Performing.
While we talked about several topics, the obvious focus was on outsourcing support overseas and the effects of that decision on various stakeholders, including the company owners, employees, shareholders, customers, vendors, the outsourcing service supplier, and the various countries involved.
However, most of the discussion was about one stakeholder only: the customer.
In reality, the customer can become satisfied if the reasons for their upset is resolved, and most of these are resolvable: language can be studied and improved, technical skills can be learned and improvisation can become second nature for any seasoned call handler. There’s a point at which scripts can be thrown away, and since outsourced support is still in its infancy, that time hasn’t arrived yet.
The other issue I heard, which is harder to satisfy, was the dislike for outsourcing itself because of the loss of American jobs, etc.
If those jobs are replaced for Americans with new and better jobs, outsourcing may be seen 100 years from now as a catalyst for a great shift in the quality of American (technology?) jobs.
The people who lost the technology support jobs may take the things they learned in that service and gain and apply new creative skills that command better, more enjoyable, more intrinsically rewarding jobs.
Or, outsourcing could be seen as a failed experiment that either wasn’t given a proper chance, or was not the right thing at the right time to be successful.
Despite my own job being threatened by outsourcing, I truly feel that it is a motivator for me to achieve a level of service that can not be easily emulated or improved upon by someone who is 1,000 miles away – I focus on gaining personal relationships with the people I support, looking beyond simple answers to problems to develop improvements to workflows, and searching for opportunities to strengthen the interpersonal aspects of my work relationships, so that it will not be easy for someone to answer: Why couldn’t we just have John’s extension ring someone’s desk in Spain?
I could also work in conjunction with outsourced supporters so that simpler issues and questions could be answered by them to free me up to research and trubleshoot much more detailed problems, more interesting and rewarding work, and secondary tiered issues.
In fact, this is very much like the existing model we have at Rider with our helpdesk, except that our helpdesk is locally employed.
At any rate, the issues that people here have experienced with outsourcing may simply be experiential growing pains, and if they are resolved, outsourcing could be a strong way of providing support at a relatively low cost, which allowing workers at home to focus on prime work.
Thanks to all who engaged in the debate.
John.
Thread:W5Q2. Learning Organizations
Post:Knowing Organizations
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Saturday, October 13, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Laurie says “We can learn from anyone anywhere but it is when we decide that we are to smart to keep learning that we are in trouble.”
I think that when a learning organization becomes a ‘knowing’ organization, they cease to be a learning organization.
It’s one of the dangers we face as students: when we get another degree, as we get promotions to higher ierarchical positions, as we gain stature and stabilization in our positions, it becomes easier to focus on that which we ‘know’ and rely on our ‘expertise’ rather than continually staying open-minded, open to new directions, able to take in and contemplate new ideas, and be willing to react to changes.
The minute we dig into the streambed, looking to set roots, we are in danger of drowning.
Or something. 😉
John.
Thread:W5Q1. Globalization & Ethics
Post:Re: Dell Call Handlers Overseas
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Saturday, October 13, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Phyllis reports that “[w]e want to hear someone like the salesperson or the person on the commercial” and that “its difficult to understand people from different parts of the US. “
Myself, I quite enjoy an accent – it’s exciting, it can be a surprise, like seeing a new shade of green I’ve never seen before, or seeing a familiar scene from a new height or from another perspective.
My wife has a Virginian accent, and it’s one of the things that first attracted me to her, part of a long list of interesting and special qualities. I don’t really hear it anymore. I have to listen intently for the accent now, trying to remember the newness of it so long ago.
There’s no one in the world that either of us understand better than each other, and so, in our case, our differing locales of origin did not negatively affect our ability to understand each other.
John.
Thread:W5Q1. Globalization & Ethics
Post:Re: AA experience/dell exp question
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Saturday, October 13, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Mini says “Finally I sat and let out my anger and frustration in an email to customer service, client relations, public relations and who all I could. I copied and pasted my one email request to all the available options I had. Well,guess what in less than 3 hours, I had a response, and not only any response, but a very positive and apologitic response satisying my request.”
This sounds like a case where email was the best communication channel vs. phone calls.
Email may be a step down in channel richness along the communication channel continuum, but it was in exchange for a step up in clarity, time for reflection, and the ability to study the encoded message so that communication might occur more completely.
Sometimes a visit does the best job, sometimes a phone call, sometimes an email.
This is why for me, Dell still has a great sales tool in their quote builder, in which I very seldom have interacted with a human in order to set up a computer the way I want, purchase it, or have it delivered.
I also very much enjoy using the well-designed Wawa deli kiosks, in which I communicate exactly how I want my sandwich without saying a word to the deli worker. However, there’s somethign to be said for the great design of this particular system – the kiosk system at Rider leaves a lot more to be desired.
John.
Thread:W5Q1. Globalization & Ethics
Post:Re: Dell Call Handlers Overseas
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Saturday, October 13, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Thanks for your reassuring post, Mini. I appreciated it very much.
John.
Thread:W5Q1. Globalization & Ethics
Post:Re: Dell Call Handlers Overseas
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Saturday, October 13, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Whew! 😉
John.
Thread:W5Q2. Learning Organizations
Post:Re: W5Q2. Learning Organizations
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Friday, October 12, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Andrea says “Peter Senge states in his article, “…in situations of rapid change, only those that are flexible, adaptive, and productive will excel.”
Senge is the definitive thinker on this topic, as far as I can tell, with his “The Fifth Discipline” being a landmark work on Learning Organizations.
I had trouble finding articles by Senge in JStor – only books which I did not have access to online. Can you share where you found your article and if it is available online?
John.
Thread:W5Q1. Globalization & Ethics
Post:Re: Thresholds of language and spending
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Friday, October 12, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Stacey says “He feels that only the Chinese know how to make authentic chinese food. I don’t agree with this because anyone can become a skilled chef when it comes to making chinese food.”
This speaks to the idea that anyone from anywhere can become an anything and be the best anything there is given the opportunity.
It’s limitless potential, and I absolutely love it.
Thanks, Stacey.
John.
Thread:W5Q1. Globalization & Ethics
Post:The best food in the world
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Friday, October 12, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tracy said “I have avoided certain restaurants because of the difficulty to communicate. Not because I was upset with them or anything, I just want to spend my money where I feel comfortable.”
I have found that some of the best food in my palate’s history has been served to me by people who looked blankly at me when I went off the script of English that they knew and expected. Then I said thank you and they smiled again. We were still communicating.
If I had stopped to consider my own discomfort with that inability to speak with the representatives naturally, I would have missed out on some of the best food of my life.
In the same respect, if I shy away from other opportunities (food) in life because of a language or other difference of diversity (background, race, language, political stance, educational background, level of expertise, age, gender, power difference) I only cut myself short, limit my own potential, and hide great outcomes from myself.
This is the potential power of diversity awareness and openness to globalism.
John.
Thread:W5Q1. Globalization & Ethics
Post:Re: dirty jobs and the second class.
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Friday, October 12, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
David says “Instead, the wages are being made by those who have not paid their debt to American society. Therefore, despite them being prisoners, do they deserve to not have these positions over people who aren’t even citizens?”
David, I’m afraid that very often there are equal distributions of illegal immigrants, the working poor, and recent and recovering convicts, and others who have fallen from grace in these kinds of positions. We might call this second class, collectively, ‘the downtrodden’.
I don’t think that there is anyone looking hard to get a hold of a job at McDonald’s or Jim’s Lawn Service or an institutional cleaning crew, but it’s more likely that someone who speaks the local language will get to stand at the register, while someone who can’t speak it gets to clean out the grease pit. At least on the lawn crew, everyone can get a shot at the weed whacker.
So even within this second class, the downtrodden, there are subclasses.
John.
Thread:W5Q1. Globalization & Ethics
Post:Life, death, and technology.
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Friday, October 12, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Melanie says “Example: if i were to arrive on a scene of a motor vehicle accident with injuries, how would it look for me to say please hold while i check what i need to do. That is why there are classes we must take to keep our certifications.”
I don’t know if that’s ‘fair’. 😉
I doubt that when Dell was considering outsourcing their support, that anyone at the table said “But what if a computer is almost ready to ‘die’, and our overseas service rep miscommunicates and asks the customer to pull the plug? Heads will roll!”
In life or death situations, the ability to communicate is of the utmost importance. It is, in fact, a matter of life or death.
In tech support situations, the ability to communicate can be ‘reasonably good’ and still be quite effective.
That being said, some of the best English I’ve ever heard spoken in conversation has been on service calls with overseas support representatives, and some of the worst has been, well, a lot closer.
John.
Thread:W5Q1. Globalization & Ethics
Post:Outsourcing to create new jobs.
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Friday, October 12, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Laurie says “I think that we are selling Americans short by outsourcing, it doesn’t seam to be worth the hassle and there are plenty of Americans who need honest jobs.”
What if the outsourcing of menial support jobs for a lower corporate cost actually frees up corporate money to create more creative and interesting jobs for skilled workers?
What if the money saved by outsourcing is used to support research and development in new technologies that may revolutionize the technology industry and create a series of new positions?
John
Thread:W5Q1. Globalization & Ethics
Post:Re: Dell Call Handlers Overseas
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Friday, October 12, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “Do you see a parallel between our discussions of globalization and Dell Computers and India, to a few decades ago the outrage of job transfers from PA to NC? What does this suggest?”
I think I’ve demonstrated that I feel that this is part of what’s going on. Many people prefer situations in which the people that are most like themselves (which could mean closest to themselves geographically, most like them culturally, close in age, gender, language) get the best the most and the preferable treatment and situations because it lends to the idea that they themselves might be treated in the same way.
Many people also despise change as a means, no matter what the end.
In this particular case, Dell outsourcing to India, it’s a situation in which people would like to believe that the reason that the service is so poor is due to the language and location of the people providing service.
If the people providing service were in the same state, of the same age, the same gender, nationality, and level of fluency in English as the caller, but were only as capable with technology as the call handlers in India, I wonder how people might feel about the service.
Those comparative outcomes might speak to how much diversity is affecting our perspectives positively or negatively.
John.
Thread:W5Q1. Globalization & Ethics
Post:Re: dirty jobs and the second class.
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Friday, October 12, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Thanks, Laurie – sounds like a sad story, and likely has ethical lessons in it.
John.
Thread:W5Q1. Globalization & Ethics
Post:Alternatives to outsourcing.
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Friday, October 12, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “Do you think Dell or any company is ethical, if they trade off the quality of service they provide their customers, for cost savings? If you were leading Dell, what criteria would you consider in making decisions as to how and where to provide customer service functionality?”
It may be an ethical choice to make this trade off of quality of service for cost savings if they are passing the cost savings on to the consumer and not just reaping profits.
Let’s say that Dell had the option of getting the 100 best ranked technology support specialists in the world to run a new call center that was designed to be a model for support in terms of communication, service, and quality.
Let’s say that in order to command this elite team it meant an additional $10 million must be spent in order to keep them happy, picking up phones, and knee deep in free Mountain Dew.
Theoretically, no scripts would be read, no issues would be unresolved, and English would be a standard primary, fluently spoken language amongst the crew. (Let’s not even address the idea that this works against the idea of diversity) Better yet let’s say that each person, in order to be on the team, must speak more than one language fluently and English primarily. But their real ability must be in understanding and troubleshooting technology in a knowledgeable way.
The $10M has to come from somewhere. It ends up coming from extra support costs, cut corners in workmanship, cheaper parts, and increased product pricing.
Now, all of these factors begin to hurt Dell’s bottom line.
People want the cost of support to be free, but with the geek-elite, that’s not possible. People want great looking boxes, and quiet, well constructed cases and laptops, but that’s suffering, because quality control budget has been diverted to the geek phone corps.
People want the best in audio, video, and other peripherals, but in order to keep prices manageable, cheaper peripherals are being used.
And of course, the easiest way to get new money to do what you want is to add a few hundred dollars on to your product price. So instead of finding a great machine for under $1000, you get a pretty good one for $1299.
None of this seems particularly ethical to me either.
It seems to me that it would be cheaper to have overseas support call centers compete in ways to prove their superior capabilities in support in order to gain contracts, and those contracts should be reviewed and renewed or not based on customer feedback.
If the Dell support calls that each of my classmates were talking about were accompanied with a feedback form in which you explained that the support was the reason you weren’t going to buy a Dell next time, I bet Dell would begin to see that they have a problem before it affects their bottom line so significantly that they can’t fix it.
John.
Thread:W5Q1. Globalization & Ethics
Post:Re: Dell Call Handlers Overseas
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Friday, October 12, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Mini says “It is up to the organization to make sure that if they are outsourcing their call centers then they reps should be adequately trained to meet the customer service standards of the country where the business is orginating.”
This is the heart of the matter, and well put.
It seems like the issue has been focused solely on the language issues of the outsourced support call handlers, but an issue like effective communication can be repaired if the company makes the effort to fix it.
If the call handlers were given the tools, training and abilities and opportunities to be the best support call handlers, we’d be grateful that the work was outsourced – we’ve all had bad support from fluent English speakers.
My bottom line is that it is not the fault of the host country of outsourced work, or it’s workers, but the company who does not commit due diligence to make sure the work is done in a superior way.
I’ve enjoyed the debate, and I applaud everyone for sharing their views.
John.
Thread:W5Q1. Globalization & Ethics
Post:MacOSX: Unix based
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Friday, October 12, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim says of his MacBook
“First of all, mine is light weight, and it has an awesome battery life of approximately 4 hours. On the Apple OS X operating system side, there are no DRIVERS I need to worry about, as everything I plug into it (e.g., printer, camera, mouse, hands-free pointer, etc.) are all “plug and play”. The machine is obviously a breeze with interacting with i-Tunes, and I have easily made i-Movies and i-DVDs of family members’ weddings with the built in CD and DVD burners. Finally, the Apple is fully compatible with the Microsoft Office Suites, which I purchased for the Mac, and there are no known major viruses on the Mac side. Additionally, I have also loaded a software program called Parallels, which has allowed me to set up a virtual partition of my hard drive. In this manner, I can either toggle between the Apple OS X operating system, or to Microsoft’s XP operating system. Admittedly, I also installed a Microsoft version of Office Suites, as well as virus protection on the XP side of my machine. “
I would add that one of the most powerful aspects of the MacOSX operating system is that they run a version of Unix underneath the graphical user interface.
This makes it easy to enjoy not only MacOS software and now Windows software via BootCamp or Parallels, but also thousands upon thousands of open source and traditional Unix and Linux software packages.
You can also install Linux directly on your MacBook, in the same ways that you install MacOSX or Windows on a MacBook now, but you can get many of the benefits of installing Linux without installation by just using some of the absolute overload of powerful software it provides in the following ways:
Use Open Source Software:
http://www.ajaxflakes.com/open-source/top-100-best-open-source-mac-software/
Use the Fink Package:
http://pdb.finkproject.org/pdb/index.php
Of course if you are on a Windows machine you can do much of this in the same way:
Use Open Source Software:
http://www.ajaxflakes.com/open-source/a-list-of-the-best-free-opensource-software-for-windows-xp-and-vista/
Use the Cygwin Application:
http://cygwin.com/ported.html
Hope you all enjoy.
John.
Thread:W5Q1. Globalization & Ethics
Post:Re: Vista and Blackboard
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Thursday, October 11, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
I believe it, and I’m very sorry to hear it. It sounds as if whatever the Blackboard issue was, it was related to Dell or Vista and not necessarily Blackboard itself.
If you still have any issues with Bb, I hope you give me a call so I can try to make things right.
John.
Thread:W5Q1. Globalization & Ethics
Post:dirty jobs and the second class.
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Thursday, October 11, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Laurie says “It is so hard because America officially doesn’t have a language. Although English is spoken by the majority, nowhere does it say that it is the national language.”
I agree whole-heartedly. I think it would be counter to our ‘melting pot’ cultural values to have English declared a national language, and would make many feel even less welcome here than they do now.
When you don’t speak English in America, although it’s seldom written anywhere, you are a part of a subculture, a second class, automatically.
Laurie continues “There has to be a better way for us to help those in third world countries, to make their quality of living better without them coming to America to take our jobs for less money.”
I did not see the story that you’re referring to, Laurie. Maybe you could share a link or clip an excerpt and post it here.
I feel that our country’s businesses should give opportunities where they can, including jobs to people from every country and culture if the people are able to do the job and the businesses are able to offer it.
I feel that many people in this country have stopped wanting to do jobs like trash collection, cleaning, landscaping, and others in which hands get dirty. We all want to be executives with keys to washrooms.
As a result, those dirty jobs, which still need to get done desperately, get done by illegal immigrants, the uneducated, the convicted, the downtrodden, and the poor, despite a public outcry against it in many cases.
The jobs still need to get done. No one else wants to do the jobs. These ill-provided-for people are willing to do the work, and still need jobs. Idle hands and no opportunity may make ethics secondary to survival.
Isn’t there a win/win in bringing those groups and those jobs together?
John.
Thread:W5Q1. Globalization & Ethics
Post:Vista and Blackboard
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Thursday, October 11, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tashira says “In December when the Vista was sent to me I had a ton of issues and blackboard was one of them. I contacted Dell repeatedly and everything I called I got a different person, in a different country and my problem was never resolved.”
A Blackboard issue is still unresolved? Can I help?
j.
Thread:W5Q1. Globalization & Ethics
Post:AOL call handler incompetence.
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Thursday, October 11, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Stacey says “They were call centers in India. So they could not understand a complicated situation such as this.”
I would suggest that there are plenty of people who live and work in India, in call centers and other Indian industries, who were able to understand much more complicated situations. I’ve spoken with them, though no one else here has, from what I’m reading.
Stacey said “This is not a rant against their intelligence. The case is that they cannot communicate their intelligence due to lack of knowledge about the English language. It’s extremely frustrating when you feel as if you are not being understood.”
I would say that not all Indian call handlers have this difficulty with the English Language.
I would agree that it is frustrating to not be understood, and it is AOL and Dell’s and any support provider’s responsibility to make sure that the specific persons (regardless of country)who they choose to answer these American English speaking support, trouble, and sales callers should be able to communicate fluently with the people who they serve, in whatever languages that might require.
Also, I wanted to give those of you who might not have ever had the chance to hear it the infamous audio clip of a man trying to cancel his AOL account with a lot of resistance. Both participants are fluent English speakers, but regardless of this, communication is not taking place. Hear for yourself at the link below, and be warned that the language becomes obscene quickly.
Source: The Best Thing We Have Ever Posted: Reader Tries To Cancel AOL – Consumerist
Address : http://www.consumerist.com/consumer/aol/the-best-thing-we-have-ever-posted-reader-tries-to-cancel-aol-180392.php
Date Visited: Thu Oct 11 2007 09:19:10 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time)
So here’s the summary: “Cancel the account. Cancel the account. Cancel the account. CANCEL THE ACCOUNT. CANCEL THE ACCOUNT. CANCEL THE ACCOUNT. FOR (jl removed) SAKE JUST CANCEL THE (jl removed) ACCOUNT.”
After every period, insert a few minutes of AOL CSR John trying to ‘help’ Vincent somehow figure out a way to keep on paying… generally through the ingratiating method of straight out calling him a liar.
John.
Thread:W5Q1. Globalization & Ethics
Post:Re: Thresholds of language and spending
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Phyllis says “Yes, I do avoid establishments where I cannot communicate with the staff. I have checked out of hotels, left restaurants, etc. I do eat Thai, Chinese, Mexican, etc. but I expect that if they chose to open a business in America they can communicate with Americans.”
Phyllis, thanks for answering. I appreciate your candid answer, and think it’s interesting to know what other people value – it helps me to put my own values into perspective.
John.
Thread:W5Q1. Globalization & Ethics
Post:Re: Dell Call Handlers Overseas
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Phyllis asks “Have you ever tried to reason with an individual in a foreign country (in my case, it was somewhere in Africa) about a miss-billing? Well, this person couldn’t grasp the idea that a companys records could possibly be in error.”
I have reasoned with people in other countries – Italy, China, Egypt, and India – very often in fact, electronically, about money issues, ideological issues, and technology issues, and have had great success in being listened to, dialoging, and coming to new conclusions. I don’t assume that I will be able to reason with anyone, no matter their country, but I’ve had success with people from here and elsewhere.
Like most any other interaction with humans, in some cases either I or they were right or wrong, in some cases we were both wrong, and in some cases we both were right.
It comes down to the suggested idea that ‘an individual in a foreign country’ can’t be capable of reasoning that I take slight offense with. I don’t think it’s fair to count specific people out before I give their entire country a chance.
John.
Thread:W5Q1. Globalization & Ethics
Post:Re: Dell Call Handlers Overseas
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tracy says “No matter what the case, I want good customer service. I don’t care what language the person speaks, my point is… Dell should provide workers who can effectively communicate with the people in the areas in which they market. A good customer service person should be able to pick up on the caller’s attitude, especially if it is frustration and not keep going on and on about other products.”
We are in agreement. I am assuming that by this statement that having outsourced workers doing support would be fine in your opinion, as long as they are trained properly to serve you, regardless of their primary language, race, or location.
In other words – it is not having outsourced, overseas workers at issue for you, it is the way that they interacted with you that you disliked.
If so, then I truly misunderstood your original statement, and I appreciate the clarification.
John
Thread:W5Q2. Learning Organizations
Post:Peter Senge on Learning Organizations.
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
After doing some more research I found one of the often repeated names associated with the theory of Learning Organizations, Peter Senge (Dilworth, 1996; Hale, 1996).
In his book, the Fifth Discipline, he talks about what it is that makes up a Learning Organization, which is likely the source of the five elements Tim is looking for to define a Learning Organization, though there are many definitions with varying values.
A website that gives some information on Senge notes the 5 elements of a learning organization according to Senge.
Source: peter senge and the theory and practice of the learning organization
Address : http://www.infed.org/thinkers/senge.htm
Date Visited: Wed Oct 10 2007 10:56:22 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time)
The dimension that distinguishes learning from more traditional organizations is the mastery of certain basic disciplines or ‘component technologies’. The five that Peter Senge identifies are said to be converging to innovate learning organizations. They are:
Systems thinking
Personal mastery
Mental models
Building shared vision
Team learning
Tim asked “How is the concept of learning related to the evolution of the global marketplace? How does organizational learning ensure that we are prepared for global operations?”
Systems thinking speaks to global issues, because is we apply systems thinking we think about issues outside of our country’s border and our continenent’s borders to the system that we all belong to as humans.
Personal Mastery is assisted by global awareness since the more we know about everyone, the more we know about ourselves.
Global issues challenge our mental models because while we expect in our culture that something ‘should’ happen a certain way, being aware of how others do things can introduce us to better and more innovative ways, or at the very least allows us to compare methods instead of assuming our way is the only way.
Global awareness allows us to begin to build a truly shared vision. A shared vision amongst several like minded people is not as powerful as a shared vision amongst all humans.
Team learning is assisted by global practice because the strength in teams is in diversity of awareness, diversity of skills, and diversity of views. A team of cloned thinkers may not be as productive or powerful as a team of diverse thinkers. Global teams can help to introduce that diversity.
John.
References:
Dilworth, R. L. (1996). Institutionalizing Learning Organizations in the Public Sector. Public Productivity & Management Review, 19(4), 407-421. Retrieved October 10, 2007, from http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=1044-8039%28199606%2919%3A4%3C407%3AILOITP%3E2.0.CO%3B2-E
Hale, M. M. (1996). Learning Organizations and Mentoring: Two Ways to Link Learning and Workforce Development. Public Productivity & Management Review, 19(4), 422-433. Retrieved October 10, 2007, from http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=1044-8039%28199606%2919%3A4%3C422%3ALOAMTW%3E2.0.CO%3B2-J
Peter senge and the theory and practice of the learning organization. Retrieved October 10, 2007, from http://www.infed.org/thinkers/senge.htm
Thread:W5Q2. Learning Organizations
Post:Re: W5Q2. Learning Organizations
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “What is a learning organization? What are the five elements of a learning organization? How is the concept of learning related to the evolution of the global marketplace? How does organizational learning ensure that we are prepared for global operations?”
Fiol and Lyles, in their paper on Organizational Learning talk about 4 contextual factors that affect the probability of organizational learning taking place :
Corporate culture conducive to learning, strategy that allows flexibility, an organizational structure that allows both innovativeness and new insights, and the environment. These have a circular relationship with learning in that they create and reinforce learning and are created by learning (p.804, 1985).
If all of the above are present, it allows for the introductions of new ideas and the openness of organizational mind to accept them as valid.
With that openness of mind, other cultures can be considered as sources for inspiration, inclusion, and innovation. We can learn from them.
In a closed thinking environment, one that does not emulate the learning organizational model (we might call it a knowing organization) no such improvements or innovations can take place, because the organization may feel that it already knows the best way – the only way – its own way. The global marketplace has no entry into a “knowing organization”.
Organizational learning allows us to be prepared for global operations because the vision of learning organizations does not stop at the front door. It sees clear across the world.
John.
References:
Fiol, C. M., & Lyles, M. A. (1985). Organizational Learning. The Academy of Management Review, 10(4), 803-813. Retrieved October 10, 2007, from http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0363-7425%28198510%2910%3A4%3C803%3AOL%3E2.0.CO%3B2-Y
Thread:W5Q1. Globalization & Ethics
Post:Dell Call Handlers Overseas
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tracy says “They use scripts as a lot of companies with call centers do these days. But this wouldn’t be so bad if you understood what they were saying. It’s like they are rambling on and on.
I also had bad experiences with them. When I called to order a computer, I got the feeling that they get commission on the sale, because the person was trying to add things that I did not want or need. That really made me angry because I was having trouble understanding the dialogue and they are trying to add more stuff!!”
Tracy, in your second sentence above, who is ‘they’ who make things bad? Who was frustrating you?
Is ‘they’ all, most, or some people in Dell Support call centers abroad? If ‘they’ equals ‘all’, it appears to be a generalization and a pre-judgement to assume that all of these call handlers are not understandable. It may very well have been your experience, and there does in fact seem to be a trend in our group supporting your view, but I’m afraid that sometimes we want something to match our perception, and so we generalize to make it so.
I know I’m risking offense here, but I honestly don’t wish to offend. These are questions about culture and diversity.
Also, I’m wondering if people who are hired here, work here, and spend their money here, but were born in another culture with another language which influences their accent when speaking English would also be ‘bad’?
More to the point, if you called a local number and got someone with an accent, would you want to hang up?
On your second point about pushing additional purchases, this is something that is stressed by Dell, and I believe it would be stressed whether it was a native English speaker or a overseas call handler. The script insures it. Dell makes a hard sell now, but it wasn’t always that way, and it’s really just that call handler’s job to do it, according to that script. It’s unfortunate, to be sure.
I would agree that Dell’s service is suffering, but I would say that it is not outsourcing support that is at fault by itself, but rather that Dell is losing sight of many of the things that put it in the position it is: actively listening to customers, balancing sales and support as equal goals, and quality products. I think they still have pretty good products, but the others are clearly lacking.
I would also say that if there is an issue with a majority of call handlers and clarity of communication, Dell needs to survey, investigate, and address it, but for us it should remain a question, and not an assumption.
We can assume, however, that clarity and support are co-dependent.
John.
Thread:W5Q1. Globalization & Ethics
Post:Thresholds of language and spending
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Phyllis says “My personal response it to hang up or walk out when I confront situations where I cannot communicate with the representative or salesperson. It often costs me a little more such as @ gas station. I cannot knowingly support workers who I know send all their profits to another country and don’t circulate their earnings in America.”
Phyllis, it sounds like you’re saying that you choose to go to only gas stations, etc., where you 1) are able to effectively communicate in English with the attendant, and 2) know that the attendants are using (recirculating) the money here in America.
I may be misunderstanding, but if this is what you are saying, I have some questions:
1. How do you know that a particular worker is using their money here or not?
2. Are there any businesses you would consider using in which none of the workers spoke English, other than enough to provide the service at a basic level?
For instance, my favorite Chinese restaurant makes fantastic meals at a great price, but I have to order by number, because the minute we get into a verbal exchange past ordering, things are lost in translation. It’s well worth any communication difficulty, in my estimation.
Also, I have no idea if the money is being used locally, or being sent in a big envelope to China.
However, it matters very little to me, because I enjoy the service they provide, and I am assuming that no harm is being done with my money. I don’t like gambling, but if someone uses my service payments for gambling, I’d only be able to protest if I knew the money was being used for gambling.
I’m intrigued to what degree you follow these guidelines regarding where your cash goes, and whether people who help you can speak our native tongue.
Thanks for discussing!
John.
Thread:fwd: LEAD students, time for tea
Post:fwd: LEAD students, time for tea
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
In case anyone missed the email…
Dear John,
You are invited to attend:
Organizational Leadership Faculty-Student Tea
When?
Wednesday October 17 from 3:30-6:00
Where?
Memorial Hall, 2nd Floor
What?
Have a bite to eat, chat and get to know each other
Who?
OL students, OL faculty and faculty of the Department of Graduate Education, Leadership and Counseling.
Why?
Many reasons – The OL program is growing fast, with more new students and new concentration courses. This May, the first MA OL degrees will be granted. Students and faculty are working hard. The new Program Coordinator, Prof. Watson, is on board. So…
It Must Be Time For Tea.
Thread:W5Q1. Globalization & Ethics
Post:Lists containing Wal Mart.
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Stacey said “I don’t think Wal-Mart will be in the “Best 100 Companies to Work For” category anytime soon.”
Stacey is right – they are absent from the 2007 list of best companies to work for:
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/bestcompanies/2007/full_list/index.html
Here’s the lists that Wal Mart did make:
#1 in Fortune 500 in 2007: http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2007/fortune/0704/gallery.500top50.fortune/index.html
#1 in profits and revenue in the industry of General Merchandisers:
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2007/industries/General_Merchandisers/1.html
#13 in most profitable companies:
http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2007/fortune/0704/gallery.F500_profitable.fortune/13.html
Among the Most Admired (by other companies):
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/globalmostadmired/2007/snapshots/2255.html
#1 and 5 other spots in the 101 dumbest moments in Business:
http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2007/biz2/0701/gallery.101dumbest_2007/index.html
They’re making plenty of money, and getting some accolades for it, and now the question is: when are they going to start treating their employees in rewarding ways?
John.
Thread:W5Q1. Globalization & Ethics
Post:Re: Wal Mart
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tashira says “What is ethical or moral about that, you must need to have black heart in order to be CEO of these types of ventures”
I think so often that these CEOs look at what they’re doing as truly helpful to the communities, and the fact is that for some time, as long as it benefits the company, it may be: bringing new money into the local economy, generating local jobs, and bringing lots of new products into an area that might have been specialty products or internet purchases before.
What’s not talked about is what happens to the underpaid workers, the area’s decline and subsequent move-out by wal-mart to the next struggling town, the cut-throat pricing tactics and the way that supply companies must compete by taking losses in the hopes that their products will catch on and exceed supply with demand so that prices can go up, which likely never happens, since wal-mart is all about ‘cutting’ prices.
I stopped going to Wal Mart and cancelled my Sam’s Club membership several years ago, purposefully, as a personal protest after a particularly bad visit to the store in Levittown, PA.
While I can’t say that I haven’t been in one since my protest began, (my friends and family don’t always share my protests, nor should they) I can say that I’ve not spent any money in one, and don’t intend to ever again.
Thanks for talking about it, Tashira.
John.
Thread:W5Q1. Globalization & Ethics
Post:Re: Wal Mart
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tashira said “Recently, I have taken a dislike to the owners and operators of Wal-Mart after viewing a documentary that showed a factory in the middle east where the pay was extremely low and the living standards where for the employees was inhabitable.”
Thanks, Tashira. I have seen a few of these documentaries on Wal Mart’s counter employee practices, (I included a clip below) and I have to agree.
From their resistance to unionization, to their acceptance of sub par working conditions in supplier factories, to their relentless choice of low-rent, low income, lack-of-dreams towns to set up shop in, they use commercialism as a badge of honor and try to make people believe that having more for less is really the point, even when you’ve got essentially nothing.
I’ve seen this in my own areas where I’ve lived, where the town is basically down on its luck, and in comes Wal Mart to purchase the lot for next to nothing, bringing McDonald’s, Lowe’s, and other big box ventures in to make a ton of money from people who don’t have it.
I’ve also seen it in towns like Waynesboro, VA, where the town center was formerly a park, but is now the Wal Mart, where 2 years ago, there was an empty field. Business is thriving right now, and people LOVE it, they saw Wal Mart as a savior who came in the rescue the town from certain drabness.
Now everyone dresses the same, all in Wal Mart clothes. They all have the same stores they do everywhere else, and now everyone there complains about Starbucks coffee too, until they get a taste for it.
At any rate, an extended scene from one documentary shows some of the issues with Wal Mart raised by a former employee. Here it is.
John
Thread:W5Q1. Globalization & Ethics
Post:Floridians vs. foreign fruit workers.
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim noted “During a recent visit, I noted on the evening news was a report in which many Floridians resented foreign workers being hired to pick the fruit … however, it was also noted that many residents within the state REFUSED such work. In fact, many of the people surveyed suggested they would rather live on Welfare Aid, than to work in the fruit orchards.”
I would say that I’m seeing some red flags about the way that the media is presenting the stakeholder views. This news outlet may have been looking for way to exploit a hot button issue, and so they found ‘many Floridians’ who resented foreign workers doing manual labor, and then found many Floridians who were not willing to do the work either.
I imagine that in order to have any consensus on whether a group of Floridians would rather work on a fruit farm or get welfare aid, you’d have to ask the question in some semblance of science. Was that done with a poll? How many were polled? Was it man-on-the-street? Was it a web site poll, where any anonymous fool can click the ‘welfare’ answer all day long?
Those trees don’t pick themselves. Maybe these geniuses who are protesting foreign work could devise solar powered fruit picking robots to solve the issue. Maybe they could give up citrus juice. One has to happen for their wants to be balanced.
This smacks of bias in both directions, which may be the work of the media outlet.
Tim asks “Doesn’t the organization have an ethical responsibility to protect the longevity of the organization … and if that means making decisions to ensure a timely production of the product, and at competitive costs, shouldn’t the leadership of those organization do what they believe is the right thing?”
The organization should protect itself in the same way that humans should try to protect themselves. We have a basic underlying will to survive, as do organizations.
I’m not sure why anyone would protest the hiring of foreign workers to do work that isn’t being done by anyone else.
A third question should be asked: Would Floridians rather see foreign workers get a better quality of life, raise their family in some comfort, share in humanity and American prosperity, gain the benefits of legal status and legitimacy,
OR
see the fruit trees wither, die, and rot?
There’s bias in my question too, obviously, but the proposed argument just seems like a self-centered, thinly veiled excuse for media sponsored racism. It also seems like only lose/lose options are being presented by the news outlet.
John.
Thread:W5Q1. Globalization & Ethics
Post:Outsourced vs. Local support.
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Monday, October 8, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim says “In fact, the Service Rep called me on three consecutive days from India, to provide me updates on the shipping status. After I received the product, she called back to ensure my complete satisfaction.”
I have had both good and bad experiences in technology service responses. These experiences have been mixed amongst Americans talking to me from somewhere I assume was in the US as well as what I could only assume was someone talking to me from a call center in someplace like India. There has not been any consistency that I can see from my experience in good or bad calls coming from a certain place vs. another.
I would suggest that believing past performance is equal to future expectations is an exercise in futility.
The worst technology service occasions I can think of were from 4 companies: CDW-G, Blackboard, AOL, and Microsoft. Neither Blackboard or AOL have outsourced support that I know of, but none of my worst experiences with any of them were with anything other than native English speakers.
In my case, fluency in English was never at issue, but fluency in technology, courtesy, and responsiveness were.
My all time worst experience in terms of technology phone, sales, or support has to be CDW-G.
Despite thousands of dollars spent by my organization to get their products with CDW-G, I was repeatedly insulted by their lack of service, communication, follow-up, and general ability to think.
Everyone at CDW-G speaks beautiful English. They just don’t speak it to me, anymore.
Regarding Dell, though we buy quite a few Dells at Rider, I can’t remember the last time I ever spoke to anyone there, because they have such a great online system configuration and purchase tool on their site that I usually don’t bother with a phone. Plus, we do our own support here. 😉
John.
Thread:W5Q1. Globalization & Ethics
Post:Spraying Poppies in Afghanistan
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Monday, October 8, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “What are some ethics issue uniquely related to globalization? What moral values or perspectives would you apply to resolve the issue and how would you apply it? What would be a reasonable outcome? Would it be positive or negative for your organization and why?”
Well, I’d like to talk about Blackwater, but I can’t begin to think of how it should be resolved, so I’ll talk instead about the NYT article today about the potential cropdusting by America of poppy fields in Afganistan grown strictly to produce heroin and sustain farmers there.
FYI: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/08/world/asia/08spray.html?em&ex=1191988800&en=48003a80fd83baac&ei=5087
It’s about globalization in the sense that we have a product and its effects both ‘good’ and ‘bad’, and they both affect many countries outside of either the US or Afghanistan.
If you were to approach the issue from the moral values of Americans, you might say: Afghanistan is growing Poppies in order to feed the monetary supplies of the Taliban, and it makes a product that destroys the lives of millions with its devastating effects on individuals and families, many of which are American. Let’s destroy the fields as quickly as possible, whatever the consequences.
If you were to approach the issue from the moral values of the Afghan people, you might say that the crops bring the only way that many people will survive, and that by destroying the crops by herbicidal cropdusting, the adjoining fields containing food may also be destroyed, possibly starving or poisoning people who did no wrong at all, other than eating some food.
The Afghan President has been resistant to cropdusting with herbicides for reasons just like this, despite good potential outcomes.
As a third party resolutionist, I might want to find a much more precise way to destroy the poppies, without endangering legitimate crops or adding harmful chemicals to the soil that might have long lasting effects on the groundwater or other pathways to humans.
A reasonable outcome would be finding a way for poppy farmers to make a living of growing something else that wasn’t nearly as destructive.
A reasonable outcome would be finding a way to remove the crops without killing anyone directly or indirectly through poisoning, starvation, or other effects of dusting.
If my organization is the US, it might be positive in the sense that heroin would be much harder to get, and would therefore make it more difficult to use. It might also make it harder for certain terrorist organizations to get additional funds. If handled badly, a negative outcome would be that there was one more reason for a large group of people in another country to feel like the US was trying to kill them off, this time with poisons, almost like a chemical attack.
John.
Thread:Week Four Summary – Thread
Post:Re: Week Four Summary – Thread
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Monday, October 8, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Nicole said “What I can take away from this discussion is that, I can be a leader in anything that I do. being a Leader isn’t based around status, it based around how you affect others.”
Nicole, I think this is very insightful and wise.
I think one of the best ways to get into a (positionally powered) leadership role is by demonstrating that you would be good at it if you had the chance.
We lead right now without the title, so that when the title comes we are ready.
John
Thread:Week Four Summary – Thread
Post:Congratulations!
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Monday, October 8, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Wow, Tim – congratulations! That’s great news regarding your new roles.
Re: technology – I’m looking forward to speaking with you, and I look forward to sharing what I know about how to use it.
John.
Thread:Week Four Summary – Thread
Post:Re: Week Four Summary – Thread
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Monday, October 8, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
It would be great to see you too. 😉
John.
Thread:Assignment suggestions
Post:Tally so far
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Monday, October 8, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
So far, regarding topic, we have one vote for RIAA and one vote for Nutrition.
Sukhi, do you have a preference about either of these?
I’m really willing to go wither way, since I offered these two topics. 😉
John.
Thread:Week Four Summary – Thread
Post:Re: Week Four Summary – Thread
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Saturday, October 6, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Again, I wanted to try to use YouTube in order to give some additional interpersonal dimension to my reflection on this week’s learning. Thanks to all for another great week of discussion.
John
Thread:Week Four Summary – Thread
Post:Re: Week Four Summary – Thread
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Saturday, October 6, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Funny you should say that, Phyllis. I had planned to do another YouTube upload, and indeed I did. Here’s to hoping that facial expressions add some beneficial dimension to my posts.
John.
Thread:W4Q4. – Work-Life Balance
Post:Re: W4Q4. – Work-Life Balance
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Saturday, October 6, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Chadi says “I believe when organizations provide employees with flex time, professional training opportunities, tuition reimbursement, or childcare resources employees are able to limit stress and find the right work life balance.”
3 out of 4’s not bad. At Rider, we don’t have childcare services, but everyone asks the question at one point or another (usually after the first child) “So, why doesn’t Rider’s education program have an experientially driven preschool and early childhood teaching program yet?”
The answer is mostly insurance, from what I’ve heard.
John.
Thread:W4Q4. – Work-Life Balance
Post:Re: W4Q4. – Work-Life Balance
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Saturday, October 6, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
David says “Unfortunately many employees bring personal problems to work which can become a severe distraction to not only themselves, but fellow employees because of sheer human interest and concern.”
David, I wonder if a disagreement with a leader or peer would fall under the category of ‘personal.’ How about an angry exchange with a customer, where the customer threatens the life of a salesman? Is that a business concern or a personal concern? If an employee loses their mother to cancer, I can see how that could have an impact on productivity that week.
I can see how it might be easy to ask an employee, for the sake of the company, to keep his feelings out of his sales calls. But who does that benefit? Do we have whole employees, or workers from 9-5 and something else the rest of the time? If so, is that separation helpful to work life balance?
Gerzon talks about integral vision and systems thinking – I think part of that is seeing our living as a whole, and seeing how work affects life and vice versa. If we are unbalanced at home, it will affect our work, and shutting it out or turning it off may do more harm than good.
Gerzon also talks about having presence, and I think that’s where you and he agree – if you are distracted, it will affect your ability to interact with the work – being present requires a quiet, focused mind.
It’s an interesting question – I’ve never been able to turn off my emotion, and some would say that it’s hurt my reputation, and I can see that, but I also think there’s a flip side in being able to tap into that emotion for creativity’s sake. That’s the trick – being able to control that flow and direct it in a healthy, powerful way.
Thanks for the insight.
John.
Thread:W4Q4. – Work-Life Balance
Post:Re: W4Q4. – Work-Life Balance
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Saturday, October 6, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “When you consider the supervisor’s decision in allowing such a request, what are your reactions to his or her leadership? What does this example say about how a relatively small thing can result in such huge benefits for the individual and the organization?”
I’d say that the leader is insightful, considers out-of-the-ordinary as possible, and not out-of-the-question, and that he has used motivational theoretical understanding in recognizing the valence of this right for the employee.
because this is such a unique request, this employee will possibly work harder, stay longer per day and per career, be happier in the work, and will think twice before upsetting organizational balance, because at this job, she gets to bring a friend. Not to mention, it defines the organizational culture as one of understanding, companionship, consideration and life balance.
Somebody give that leader a leadership course.
John.
Thread:W4Q4. – Work-Life Balance
Post:Re: W4Q4. – Work-Life Balance
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Saturday, October 6, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “What is the role of work life balance in managing stress? What are the responsibilities of management to balance productivity with personal emotional needs? How can productivity and respect for personal and emotional needs be ethically balanced and addressed by an organizations leadership?”
Work and Life must be balanced in order to keep your life from creating the stress of being without the productive meaning of work, and also to keep your work from creating the stress of not having a personal life due to work. Too much play or too much work makes Jack(ie) a stressed out worker-person.
Management must do their part in the work-life balance by looking for ways to make work manageable for workers within reason, by recognizing and responding to worker emotional and physical needs and boundaries, and providing workers with assistance in creating the balance necessary to stay both good workers and good humans. This might mean making sure that workers aren’t working to 7 pm for weeks on end, when everyone else is going home at 5 pm, or that they are properly prepared for that load and rewarded for the extra effort.
Organizations can address some of these needs by providing Employee Assistance Services, providing hotlines and other ways for employees to reach out about stress issues, training workers in knowing when to say when where workload is involved, making sure that workers have opportunities to feel a part of a community even just within the workplace, so that humanity is emphasized in the everyday occurrences of work.
John.
Thread:W4Q3 – Power and Politics
Post:Re: W4Q3 – Power and Politics
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Saturday, October 6, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
If it’s true, it’s so very sad. For a judge to get into that position so that they can essentially compromise the position in order to give some celebrity an easy time of their media troubles seems so short sighted and counter intuitive.
John.
Thread:W4Q3 – Power and Politics
Post:Re: In Groups and Out Groups.
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Saturday, October 6, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Mini says “This kind of an atmosphere is always about a power strugle and who can be more popular and favorite”
It’s so true. It’s about making walls, creating barriers, and closing down communication and cooperation, and that’s just bad organizational behavior.
It works against Gerzon’s ideals of Bridging (2006, ch. 10), Systems Thinking (2006, ch. 5), and Integral Vision (2006, ch.4).
By its very nature, in grouping closes down a whole-system point of view, which will handicap any organization and focuses, with short-sightedness, only within the clique.
John.
Thread:W4Q2. – Workforce Stress
Post:Re: W4Q2. – Workforce Stress
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Saturday, October 6, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
September is a nightmare for me every year, stress wise.
The entire month. (shudders). I just got through it.
John.
Thread:W4Q2. – Workforce Stress
Post:Re: Mini s Worker Revolt and Peaceful Recognizance Movement
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Saturday, October 6, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Stacey says “My job continually recognizes our achievements in other ways…the boss takes us out to lunch and thanks us for hard work on a project…the company has a fancy Christmas party every year at a country club…etc. So even though I may not be getting a large raise, I still feel satisfied because I am learning every day and the company does recognize my accomplishments…an upside is that when I pursue another Masters after this one, they will reimburse me the majority of the costs.”
Good call, Stacey. I think that this is key to the issue: if you feel properly rewarded in a majority of ways, I think it becomes less important that you are necessarily recognized with pay increases as they relate to effort, especially if you are already pretty happy with what you’re making now, and you’re satisfied with organization wide increases.
Although my pay increases may not correspond to my effort lots of others things are in keeping with my effort, and do not go up, typically, for slackers:
personal reputation
knowledge
intrinsic rewards
pride in my work
leader follower relations
peer respect
customer respect
organizational involvement
organizational voice and leeway
and so on. These are those things that you can’t get out of a bigger number in your paycheck, and which are likely to mean much more to an individual in the long run than any number.
John.
Thread:W4Q1. – Stakeholders
Post:Re: Joe Nacchio
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Saturday, October 6, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
I wasn’t able to open the doc, but I did find this photo (Matthew Staver/Bloomberg News) that accompanied the following article.
Source: Ex-Chief at Qwest Found Guilty of Insider Trading – New York Times
Address : http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/20/technology/20qwest.html?ei=5088&en=f32519303dad5d0f&ex=1334721600&adxnnl=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&adxnnlx=1191691525-OW5Uh6IweFkh426HbxngYw
Date Visited: Sat Oct 06 2007 13:27:21 GMT-0400 (EDT)
The prosecution team stood outside the courthouse amid a thicket of reporters and cameras.
“Convicted felon Joe Nacchio has a very nice ring to it,” the United States attorney for Colorado, Troy A. Eid, said. “I couldn’t be happier that after five and half years, justice has finally been served.”
An assistant United States attorney, Cliff Stricklin, who led the prosecution, said the jury’s verdict proved that “insider trading is not a victimless crime.”
A fellow federal prosecutor, Colleen Conry, said the verdict would ring out from Denver to Wall Street.
At a later hearing now that the trial has ended, the judge will rule on a prosecution request that Mr. Nacchio forfeit his assets.
It’s very possible that his extrinsic rewards are actually making it hard for him to feel satisfied intrinsically, and as scholars of leadership, we all know what he now knows: Money’s not everything.
As an individual worker, pride, legacy, and self worth may mean a lot more, and Mr. Nacchio is likely dirt poor in all three.
Incidentally, I thought Mr. Nacchio looked an awful lot like Ira Glass from this American Life.
If you see Mr. Glass, tell him I said hi, and hold your scornful looks for Mr. Nacchio.
This was fun. 😉
John.
Thread:Phyllis Joyner – Email Rejection
Post:Re: Phyllis Joyner – Email Rejection
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Saturday, October 6, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Phyllis – I’m almost sure a visit won’t be necessary – give me a call at 609 896 5000 x7145 on Monday and we’ll resolve your issue once and for all. I have some interactive troubleshooting that we can do to find out what’s going on. If you want to talk sooner, I can arrange to get you my personal cell phone number.
John.
Thread:W4Q3 – Power and Politics
Post:Re: In Groups and Out Groups.
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Friday, October 5, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Stacey says
“Unfortunately, I believe that all organizations have in and out groups. I may be wrong by saying this, but it’s human nature. Just like when we were in high school, there was the in and out crowd.
My organization definitely has its cliques. There are a group of girls close to my age who always stick close together and seem to exclude everyone else. They have never asked me to have lunch with them…they rarely have lunch with anyone else actually. There may be many reasons for them having their own group. Maybe they all have been with the company a long time…or maybe they are going through a similar life situation…who knows.”
Stacey – I think that all organizations have in-groups to the same degree that all organizations have corruption. It is only as present as it is allowed to be present, and can be targeted for behavioral negative reinforcement.
Good leadership will omit in-grouping from organizational culture in the same ways that stealing or screaming or bad phone manners is drowned out behaviorally in an organization.
I don’t think comparative cases in which leadership creates in-groups versus cases in which peers create in-groups have the same level of impact.
Leader driven in-groups can cause a major disruption in communication, intrinsic rewards, and a general sense of well being in organizations.
Other in-groups, like those where a few managerial peers go out for beers and leave some managers out of it, or where managers or coordinators keep their followers out of the chain of communication can still be disruptive but will likely cause an impact on a much larger scale.
Leaders can and should make efforts to remove in-grouping, and improve communications remove barriers and emphasize inclusion whenever possible.
Followers can do it too. Peers may still want to choose their lunch partners. Even there though, the organization should reinforce culturally that keeping variety in your lunch partners can make for better business.
If the culture says to do it, it will be easier to do. If in-grouping is allowed, expected, or fostered, it will happen. But it is a choice.
John.
Thread:Assignment suggestions
Post:Re: Assignment suggestions
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Thursday, October 4, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Another favorite topic of mine, ethically speaking, is nutritional information and restaurant industry resistance.
A recent ruling:
Source: States, Cities May Require Nutrition Labeling at Restaurants, Judge Finds ~ Newsroom ~ News from CSPI
Address : http://cspinet.org/new/200709112.html
Date Visited: Thu Oct 04 2007 23:54:16 GMT-0400 (EDT)
States, Cities May Require Nutrition Labeling at Restaurants, Judge Finds
Ruling Means New York City May Redraft Its Regulation to Avoid Preemption by Federal Law
WASHINGTON—A federal judge has ruled that cities and states are free to require restaurants to provide calorie counts and other nutrition information, but that in one idiosyncratic way New York City’s regulation is preempted by federal law. The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) and Public Citizen say that the city may avoid such preemption by making menu labeling mandatory for all chain restaurants with 10 or more outlets, such as McDonald’s, and by not making it contingent on whether a restaurant already makes some nutrition information available voluntarily.
In December, the New York City Board of Health passed a regulation requiring restaurants to list calories on menus and menu boards. But only restaurants that already made calories available voluntarily on brochures, web sites, or elsewhere were covered by the measure. In order to avoid complying, some chains, notably Wendy’s and Chipotle, took down nutrition information from their web site or stopped making it available in New York City.
Thread:Paper Grades
Post:Re: email issues?
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Thursday, October 4, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Glad to hear it’s not likely Rider… this time. 😉
Still sad to hear you’re having trouble.
John.
Thread:W4Q3 – Power and Politics
Post:Re: W4Q3 – Power and Politics
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Thursday, October 4, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Phyllis wrote “”Power – the ability of one person or department in an organization to influence other people to bring about desired outcomes.” (Daft, pg 362). “Politics – …intrigue or maneuvering within a group.” (American Heritage Dictionary, 4th Ed.)”
Thanks for this, Phyllis – your post helped a lot, and not just the definitions. 😉
John.
Thread:W4Q3 – Power and Politics
Post:Re: W4Q3 – Power and Politics
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Thursday, October 4, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Laurie says “Nobody wants to be the bad guy who tells them they are wrong and punishes them for the crimes and wrongdoings they commit. So they play the political game and give them easier sentences, information is leaked to the press or they are issued a warning.”
But what does a judge gain, politically or power-wise by being unjust to other, less-famous litigants in deciding these kinds of cases? It seems like, if anything, extra media attention would have a judge be as to-the-letter as possible when it comes to the law, justice, and ethics.
This may happen as a result of behind the scenes money exchange and the like, but I can’t see it happening as a result of a judge’s want to appear sympathetic, or maybe just pathetic. 😉
What’s the gain for a judge in Nicole Richie’s pocket?
Power? Politics? Short term faux fame? A tarnished legacy? Where’s Judge Ito now?
John.
Thread:W4Q3 – Power and Politics
Post:Re: Marine Corps Officer Power
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Thursday, October 4, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Andrea says “One cannot be very powerful if the people don’t respect you.”
It’s such a simple idea, with such huge implications for understanding, especially inrelation to power vs. politics.
How many of us know of people with positional authority or power but no personal authority or power? It seems like their positional power quickly slides to meet the low tide of personal power.
Thanks to Andrea for helping me come to an understanding about the topic.
John.
Thread:W4Q2. – Workforce Stress
Post:Re: W4Q2. – Workforce Stress
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Thursday, October 4, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Phyllis says “Workplace stress is primarily caused by lack of security. It can be insecurity about your performance, your position, your environment or your salary.”
When I first read this, I thought ‘that’s not really true’ and then after applying it to my last three really stressful situations, it fits perfectly. It’s a great insight and one I hadn’t really thought of.
Did you happen to read this anywhere, like in any of our texts? Is there anyone stating this idea theoretically that we can take a look at? Or is it just coincidental that most of my stress is about a lack of security in some aspect of the work and you noticed it in your own sense of stress?
Great call, Phyllis.
John.
Thread:W4Q2. – Workforce Stress
Post:Re: Yearly increases.
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Thursday, October 4, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tashira says “No matter how hard you work or how hard you do not work [I] get the same raise as everyone else.”
and
“I guess it is not the same as your organization because you actually do get a raise but I feel your pain.”
Tashira, I think that our situation is basically the same: we get a yearly increase, it’s just the same across the board, and it’s not attached to performance.
(sigh)
As I said, it really doesn’t bother me too much – I like what I do, and I get paid well, and the increases are usually appropriate. I just wish, not very often, that going the extra mile meant something extrinsically as well as intrinsically. Intrinsic rewards are pretty nice though. 😉
John.
Thread:W4Q2. – Workforce Stress
Post:Re: Yearly increases.
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Thursday, October 4, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tracy says “The amount is based on the profits gained by the company over the past year. I believe they calculate each position on a different scale though. So where a customer service person may only be able to get a max of 4% a respiratory therapist may get a max of 6%.
Some may say that the therapist should get more because of the nature of the job, but I disagree. I think the calculation should be the same across the board. Because we all work very hard, no matter what we do.”
I like the raise based on profits part – that just seems like prudent sustainability. If you have a crap year, you get crap raises, or no raises.
We don’t do that in that exact way at Rider, as far as I know. We get raise agreements years in advance, and they have never fluctuated after agreement in my tenure.
I like the idea though. I would expect that if we at Rider lost students or gained students, that we might have our raises fluctuate accordingly, since everything all of us do at Rider may affect incoming students, frustrated students, and so on.
If I do a great job at training staff and faculty, the staff and faculty might do a better job using technology, and as a result, more students might stay and more students might come.
Rider might gain a reputation for having a technologically savvy faculty and staff. I don’t think that we do, currently, with all due respect to those present and absent, and that result is mine to bear, though I feel that we are average for our curricula and schools.
I might make more of an active effort to engage students, help students more thoroughly, etc, if I knew that a returning student meant a better raise.
Hopefully it wouldn’t affect my personal performance, since we should all help everyone, students and nonstudents, equally according to our statement of values, but you get my idea.
As far as the percentage raises, I can see why you might feel the way that you do, but I would say that even though it would likely mean that others would get a better increase than me, I could see a database administrator or a security specialist commanding more of an increase than me, because in a way they are more valuable to the university than I am from a systems perspective. If I left tomorrow, Rider would have a problem, but they would recover rather quickly. If someone specific who I’m thinking of in OIT left tomorrow unexpectedly, it would mean chaos for weeks.
That person should get an extra few percent raise than me, because it’s much more important that he or she be retained for the sake of the university.
This may not be ethical – maybe I’ve got blinders on, but the job that this person does makes my job seem like angel food cake. And I love my job, but it has its difficulties, too.
As it is at Rider, I get the same increase as everyone else. I think I like your company’s methodologies better.
John.
Thread:W4Q2. – Workforce Stress
Post:Mini s Worker Revolt and Peaceful Recognizance Movement
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Thursday, October 4, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Mini said, quite eloquently “Its True that when you work hard and your focus is on excellent customer service and job satisfaction is an important factor then pay increases do not matter much. On the other hand if someone who is an distinguished employee and always goes above and beyond their job duties gets the same pay increase as an average employee performing “OK” just doing their basic function eventually it will become a low morale booster.”
Mini, we agree.
It sounds like we’re talking about the equity theory of motivation, in which two employees may be working at very different levels of productivity, effort, and enthusiasm, but are getting recognized or rewarded in exactly the same way.
If you’re like Mini and I, you see work as its own reward, and find intrinsic values in it, or other quiet benefits that others might not get due to the work that you do, which can make it easy to not be upset about the slacker in the corner getting the same kinds of pats-on-the-back that you are, despite your best efforts. Worse yet is when he or she pulls you down like an anchor. Unless you’re the anchor, in which case, shame on you!
Rider has attempted to remedy some of this with distinguished employee rewards, which are essentially gift certificates awarded to distinguished employees (PDP is rated ‘overall distinguished’), and the way that it was explained to me, it is supposed to be akin to getting a one year bump in your pay equal to the gift certificate. Also, it was made clear that distinguished employees become distinguished by monetary effects for the university, in which the employee saves the university some big chunk of money, or some major revolutionary process that revises some process for a world of improvement.
I think that I’m a pretty innovative employee, and I feel like I go above and beyond on my efforts to serve and support the University. I also believe I will never, ever get an overall distinguished PDP, and since the ‘reward’ is a gift certificate, I’m not sure that I care to. I’d rather have people know I’m a great resource because I’m a great resource, not because I was able to buy a winter coat for free at Sears or whatever.
I don’t know if Mini’s Worker Revolt and Peaceful Recognizance Movement (MoWeRPRoM) is forthcoming or not, but I’d like my sub-organization’s (Instructional Technology and Training) work to be recognized a bit better than it is right now.
John.
Thread:W4Q1. – Stakeholders
Post:Re: Joe Nacchio
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Thursday, October 4, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim says “He has appealed the ruling, and a new round of delays will be realized. I do believe he is incarcerated during this time. With good behavior, he will serve less than 1/2 of his sentence.”
With good behavior, he could have avoided jail altogether. But I digress. 😉
Tim also said “If all the above is realized … he still stands to have earned more than $300 million. Do you think the penalty fits the crime? What about the millions of other shareholders who lost money due to the falsification of records and reported earnings?”
I think that his jail time may have approached appropriateness – Not knowing the details of the case, the peripheral outcomes, or very much about law processes in general, I wonder if further lawsuits, civil cases, etc. might be brought against him by stockholders and shareholders in order to further balance the scales.
If so, then justice might continue on its way to being properly served, if not, and he pockets $300M, then it’s likely that the system failed to penalize him properly.
There’s also the idea that he’s got to live infamously, so every time he spends $20 on something, he possibly gets an evil eye from someone. There’s a punishment in that.
Though, I wouldn’t know him from Adam. What does he look like? I can practice my scornful look and deliver it hard if I see him.
Anyone watching the FX series Damages this season? It deals with some of these stockholder ignorance and legal maneuvering issues, though in a highly stylized and sensationalist manner.
John.
Thread:Assignment suggestions
Post:Topic == RIAA Lawsuits?
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Thursday, October 4, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Thanks, Laurie!
I think that the RIAA lawsuits and the pirate filesharing issue has valid ideas on both sides of the coin, and might make for a very interesting paper.
Anybody really hate the idea of pursuing this as a topic?
Anybody in love with something different?
If we do agree, does anybody have another article to share that adds new dimensions or issues to the table for discussion?
As per Tim’s note, let’s try to keep articles to legit sources – I accidentally threw in a blog there, which may have questionable content, though Boing Boing is pretty reputable as blogs go. One of their bloggers, Xeni Jardin, ( http://xeni.net/ ) is a regular reporter for NPR, for example, and another, Cory Doctorow…
“was the Director of European Affairs for the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a technology advocacy nonprofit that works to upload liberty in technology law, policy and standards.”Source: Cory Doctorow’s craphound.com » About Cory Doctorow
Address : http://craphound.com/bio.php
Date Visited: Thu Oct 04 2007 21:09:45 GMT-0400 (EDT)
Despite this, I’m pretty sure that Tim would shoot down Boing Boing as an academic source.
John.
Thread:Paper Grades
Post:Re: email issues?
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Thursday, October 4, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Stacy, if this is a Rider email issue, please give us a call at 609 219 3000 so that we get you back up and running ASAP.
Email has, unfortunately, been under the weather lately, though it’s no excuse.
j.
Thread:Phyllis Joyner – Email Rejection
Post:Re: Phyllis Joyner – Email Rejection
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Thursday, October 4, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Very glad I could help, though I did very little. 😉
All apologies on OIT’s behalf for the drop in service.
John.
Thread:W4Q3 – Power and Politics
Post:Marine Corps Officer Power
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Thursday, October 4, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Andrea says that “a Marine Corps Officer has every type of power that T. Glaid mentioned: Legitimate, Reward, Coercive, Referent, and Expert.”
I would say that ideally or theoretically this could be true. Let’s look at an example to test that assumption.
What if a particular Marine Corps officer, let’s call her Susie, has just been demoted in rank from a something to a something lower. She got demoted because she led troops into a position where they were ambushed and attacked, and captured, yet she got away. Or something.
Let’s look at her new power status strata:
She may still have some hierarchical authority over some lower ranked people(But do they respect her? Is that power?).
She may still be able to give some rewards, though they may be of lesser value to recipients.
She may still have the ability to threaten, though I doubt she would, for fear of losing more status.
She has clearly lost referent power – no one wants to ‘be like Susie’ right now.
And, she’s no expert in tactics or an exemplar in courage or commitment, so expert power is likely gone too.
But, Susie is still a Marine Corps Officer.
My theory is that a ‘class’ of people don’t consistently have or not have power. These powers are individually accumulated or lost, and constantly variable according to circumstance, environment, changes, culture, and other factors.
John.
Thread:W4Q3 – Power and Politics
Post:Re: W4Q3 – Power and Politics
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Thursday, October 4, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks: “what are your reactions to the relationship between power and leadership?”
I saw this in the NYT today:
Associates at the Justice Department said Mr. Gonzales seldom resisted pressure from Vice President Dick Cheney and David S. Addington, Mr. Cheney’s counsel, to endorse policies that they saw as effective in safeguarding Americans, even though the practices brought the condemnation of other governments, human rights groups and Democrats in Congress. Critics say Mr. Gonzales turned his agency into an arm of the Bush White House, undermining the department’s independence.
From this statement alone, we can assume that Mr. Cheney had legitimate power, reward power, and coercive power over Mr. Gonzales who had the power to affect the lives of prisoner ‘enemy combatants’. It may be true that he also had referent power and expert power over Mr. Gonzales, though those are not demonstrated here. I’d venture to say that he did.
This kind of power is being used in Mr. Cheney’s politics regularly, and clearly that kind of unbridled power can lead to unlawfulness, human rights violations, death, a loss of privacy, and what has become paramount to a loss of international respect.
None of this represents (L)eadership to me in the least.
My feeling is that, therefore, having power does not mean having leadership. Good leadership exemplars can be performed without power, and maybe to gain power. Leadership has the ability to use power for good or not, and when it’s misused, awful things can happen.
John.
Thread:W4Q3 – Power and Politics
Post:Re: W4Q3 – Power and Politics
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Thursday, October 4, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
I’m a little fuzzy on the relationship of politics to power.
Daft tells us that power (as it relates to leadership) comes in two forms: positional and personal. Positional power allows you to commit people into action towards goals because there are beneath your in terms of organizational hierarchy. Personal power allows you to commit people to action towards a goal because of the personal relationship you have with them.
I imagine (e.g. think) that in politics, powers are actually used. I would say that power is likely a prerequisite for politics, but not the other way around.
Personal power might exist between friends – I can convince you to give me a ride to some destination free of charge because we’ve known each other since we’re five – but there’s not politics at work there.
Personal power might be used by a politician to get you to vote for her – she might sign your tshirt, say something that excites you politically speaking, or offer you something you want if elected. Once elected, they might use positional power to get you to do things – like pay higher taxes.
While I’m familiar with the types of power and how they can be used, I really don’t know as much about the relationship of power and politics. Maybe someone can clarify for me?
John.
Thread:W4Q2. – Workforce Stress
Post:Re: W4Q2. – Workforce Stress
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Mini says “Recently our organization had a survey and they developed program for the below workshops
These workshops are:
Effective Communication
Coping with Difficult People
Stress Management
Weight Management
Planning for Retirement
Financial Management
Conflict Management
Preventing Burnout”
I was very happy to see this list in my email. I thought that the survey to choose training topics was a great idea, and a great way to introduce democracy into the process. HR hit a home run with this one, in my opinion.
John.
Thread:W4Q2. – Workforce Stress
Post:Yearly increases.
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tracy said “All I want to know when mine is done is how much my raise is. To be perfectly honest.”
I imagine many people feel just the same way, Tracy.
Imagine if you still had to go through all the hand-wringing, comments and critique, and needs-work vs. acceptable vs. excellent check boxes by your boss, but no matter what, none of it would increase your pay, ever.
Welcome to Rider.
Staff and Administrator raises are (generally) set according to increases agreed upon by the faculty union, which we do not belong to.
I’ve never been disappointed with my increase, quite honestly, but it has nothing, whatsoever, to do with how hard I work or not, which is kind of… sad.
John.
Thread:W4Q1. – Stakeholders
Post:Re: W4Q1. – Stakeholders
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Ouch.
j.
Thread:W4Q3 – Power and Politics
Post:In Groups and Out Groups.
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “Does your organization have “an inner circle”? How do you know? Are you a part of the inner circle? Is it ethical to include or exclude people from this privilege and by-invitation-only club? Thoughts? Reactions? Questions? Examples?”
It sounds like Tim is talking about what Daft calls In Groups and Out Groups in The leadership Experience
In Groups are the cliques, circles, and clutches that can be chosen by leaders or freely formed amongst peers and co-workers.
Out Groups are defined by their exclusion from a particular In Group.
Many of these groups can exist in a single organization, but very commonly the place where problems arise is where a leader or leaders will choose to confide in a select few while excluding others from vital information, communications, development, opportunity, or even basic acceptance, expecting that somehow the information will trickle down when necessary.
Some leaders may use this as an extrinsic reward for high performers, as a way to get them to continue good performance. Jack Welch comes to mind.
The problem here is that the excluded workers may compound their exclusion by bad performance which may reinforce their bad performance, entering a recursive negative cycle for those in the out group.
Ethically, it’s bad on many fronts – from a business perspective, there is little benefit to ingrouping, and lots of ill-will, superiority issues, wall building, and other negative by products that may come of it.
It benefits only the fewest of the few in terms of stakeholders. In-Grouping is almost by definition focusing on one or two stakeholders and creating a microcosm where ethics starts and ends with the In Group.
I’ve been in both In Groups and in Out Groups – in my opinion, nether of them is very much fun, and both of them make it harder to get work done in cross-group situations.
John.
Thread:W4Q2. – Workforce Stress
Post:Re: W4Q2. – Workforce Stress
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tashira says “Some organizations put so much pressure on employees to perform and then make the assessments so strict that it could produce a high level of stress. If your job was determined by your performance advisory that could also cause a high level of stress.”
I’d agree with all of that.
Tashira, we at Rider do have performance reviews and performance development plans, but generally speaking there are no ‘performance’ numbers attached to them, no strong indicator of comparative performance, and no real change in status, income, recognition or other extrinsic motivator.
I would say that they are a good way to check and recheck direction, attention to mission and strategy, and personal/organizational climate, but I do not know anyone at Rider who gets actively stressed about it.
Sometimes I sort of wish our PDPs had a little more stress attached, believe it or not. 😉
They would mean more to more people than they do currently.
John
Thread:W4Q1. – Stakeholders
Post:Re: W4Q1. – Stakeholders
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tracy says “It is very hard to draw the lines in health care or to even say that you would choose other alternatives to handle certain situations because the industry has so many laws, guidelines and protocols that MUST BE FOLLOWED in every situation.”
I understand, honestly. It’s such a great luxury for us to be able to speak theoretically about what could have happened, so that we can think out the consequences, without anyone actually losing their job or going to jail. This luxury is exactly what I’m trying to enjoy: the What If question.
It’s clear that Melanie did what she had to do in order to follow protocol, abide by the law, keep her job, etc.
I’m still very interested in what she, and you, and others here might do if they decided to act morally or ethically outside of the bounds of the law. Then, maybe we could begin to discover why some of the those choices might be better or worse (or disastrously worse) than simply following the law in the first place.
There’s no question that the law was followed. Is it what one would morally or ethically prefer to do and why or why not?
Is there an example of a choice one might make in the interest of personal morals that might lead to a far worse outcome than the authorities getting involved?
Like let’s say instead of calling the police, a quiet note about the woman, her condition, and her overwhelming consumerist lifestyle was put up at a local community bulletin board to gather some help, and as a result a thief sees the note and the woman is robbed. That’s an alternative that’s well intentioned but disastrous.
John.
Thread:W4Q2. – Workforce Stress
Post:Re: Snakes in an office closet.
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Lauren says “I also agree that a good leader will continue to create a productive environment where development and learning are key components to stimulate growth in the workplace.”
As I think back to different leaders I’ve had, the ones I liked best were the ones who pushed me to learn and grow, and to escape my existing boundaries in small ways everyday. I want to follow those leaders.
I’ve also had leaders who really don’t make an effort one way or another to help you to develop yourself, find your voice, or share a vision. That’s sad, but manageable.
The worst, I’ve found, is when someone actively holds you down or steps on your neck for fear that you’re moving too far too fast. If you’ve ever experienced this, you know how frustrating it can be.
Lauren and I are still learning about what we do every day – that’s a great thing about working at Rider, is that culturally speaking, internal growth is not only allowed, but expected here, and that’s intrinsically rewarding for many here.
John.
Thread:W4Q1. – Stakeholders
Post:Re: W4Q1. – Stakeholders
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “Do you think Kenneth Lay from Enron or Joe Nacchio from Qwest, were considering all of the stakeholders when they made ethical decisions about their organizations? Why or why not?”
Kenneth Lay certainly was not considering all of his stakeholders. Many stakeholders were affected by his unethical behavior negatively, including but not limited to:
Enron employees
families of Enron emloyees,
Enron stockholders,
Other businesses that received additional unwarranted scrutiny and mistrust as a result on Enron’s misdeeds.
Anyone affected by the American economy
Foreign markets
and so on. Each of these stakeholders were negatively affected by Lay’s actions, directly or peripherally. If he had considered them, and foresaw the outcomes of his unethical behavior, things might have been different.
John.
Thread:W4Q1. – Stakeholders
Post:Re: W4Q1. – Stakeholders
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Melanie says “what was supposed to be a living room had boxes everywhere. when we left the house we called the health department and the police. we havent been called back since. We are not sure if she still lives there either.”
It must have been a very hard choice to make.
I wonder who all of the stakeholders were in this situation, and how they all would have felt about the choice to call the health department versus other possible options. There was the patient, you and your group, the state, the neighbors, the family (?), authorities, and others, I’m sure who might have been affected in the situation.
Other optional decisions about the issue might include good and bad options like:
– being quiet and leaving things as they were,
– calling a local church and asking if there was some way that they might intervene,
– notifying friends or family if they existed
– asking the patient what she would do if she could do anything in the world to change her life.
Though it might have been a good policy based choice,
leaving the health department call as a secondary resort after dissolving other options might have had a different (better or worse) outcome for the patient.
What other options could have been chosen? What’s an example of a good alternative to calling the health department? What’s an example of a bad alternative to calling the health department?
It’s a very interesting example – thanks for sharing, Melanie!
John
Thread:Assignment suggestions
Post:Re: RIAA Lawsuits
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
For your contemplation:
Source: RIAA: Our anti-fan lawsuits are costing us millions – Boing Boing
Address : http://www.boingboing.net/2007/10/03/riaa-our-antifan-law.html
Date Visited: Wed Oct 03 2007 11:12:27 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time)
During yesterday’s RIAA trial proceedings in Virgin v. Thomas, Jennifer Pariser, Sony BMG’s the head of litigation. admitted that the 20,000+ anti-downloader lawsuits run by the labels had cost the companies “millions” and were enormous money-losers. I had previously heard from an industry insider that they were running the suits on a break-even basis, shaving costs by running a sloppy boiler-room operation that used cheap telephone thugs and flimsy, badly assembled evidence to extort a few thousand bucks from each of the victims, just barely breaking even.
Thread:Assignment suggestions
Post:Re: Assignment suggestions
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
One issue: Apple’s ‘bricking’ of altered iPhones.
For your review: http://www.wired.com/gadgets/mac/commentary/cultofmac/2007/10/cultofmac_1003
Thread:Assignment suggestions
Post:Assignment suggestions
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim says that groups will be working to “Choose an ethical issue related to marketing in which the law and ethics seem to conflict and create a case study that addresses that issue. More specifically, analyze either a decision or action that is legal, but may not be ethical; a decision or action that is ethical, but may not be legal; or a decision or action where neither the legal nor the ethical dimensions are clear”
Does anyone have a suggestion for an ethical issue related to marketing in which law and ethics seem to conflict?
Does anyone have a good suggestion for a legal decision that is not ethical or an ethical decision that is not legal?
I think we should try to stay away from the last one where neither legal or ethical decisions are clear – it’s hard enough to make a point where every fact is well known – it’s even harder when there are unknowns.
Suggestions?
John.
Thread:Phyllis Joyner – Email Rejection
Post:Phyllis’ email fixed.
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Just got this in my email:
Hello Helpdesk,
We found the problem and fixed the account. I do not have any contact information for this person. Could someone from the helpdesk contact this student? Thanks.
Sincerely yours,
Peter Tamuzza / Email Admin
Rider University / OIT
2083 Lawrenceville Road
Lawrenceville NJ 08648
Tel: 609-896-5000 x-7048
Fax: 609-896-5184
Email: ptamuzza@rider.edu
Website: http://www.rider.edu
Thread:W4Q2. – Workforce Stress
Post:Preventing injuries and wireless insecurity
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Andrea says, quite rightly “for [her] occupation as an athletic trainer, some stressors include: long hours; injury prevention, management, or emergency situations; conflicting demands, wants, or needs; travel; and salary”
I definitely was thinking more generally, but this is an interesting dimension that Andrea raises – the stressors that occur according to specific kinds of work.
Technology professional specific stressors might include: keeping up with new technologies, defending competing technologies to various stakeholders, following or countering managerial leads that you disagree with technically, security security security, service downtime, the threat of outsourcing, and so on.
Luckily, in my work, I seldom have to be concerned with injury prevention, and Andrea probably cares not a whit about wireless security breeches. 😉
Thanks for the new perspective, Andrea!
John.
Thread:W4Q2. – Workforce Stress
Post:Snakes in an office closet.
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “If an organization is free of stress, do you think it is prudent for leaders to introduce some level of stress to the workers, as a way of keeping them competitive and ‘on their toes’?”
I can see the benefits of having a manageable level of stress in a workplace, and how a lack of stress can create an environment in which productivity can suffer.
If it were a nice quiet day, profits were up, and no one was complaining, a sales force worker might ask “Why do we want to ruin this beautiful quiet day with cold calls to potential new customers?”
The leader introducing a series of suggestions for ways to improve productivity might create stress as a byproduct, and would be reasonable, but the leader simply trying to introduce stress in order to create a stressful environment seems counter-productive.
What makes more sense? Asking workers to make 10 new cold calls to potential customers and 5 new sales, or letting snakes loose in the office?
Which creates more stress? Which creates more productivity?
I think that it would be even better for workers to develop their own productive stressors if they were actually working in a stress free environment.
I always get a little impatient when I hear a technology peer say that they’re bored with their work. Anyone in the always-changing technology field who is sitting around looking for something to do or learn is just not looking very hard.
While it seldom happens these days, I used to have to find work to do when I first started out at Rider, simply because my phone was not ringing, and people were not stopping by with their issues. They didn’t know me yet, and it was often quiet in the office.
Those were stressless times that induced a certain stress – I would often wonder – what if no one ever comes in for help? What if no one needs help with how to use their computer more effectively? And so I called people, and read as many books and articles as I could find, and I found projects to complete to keep myself stressed, and busy, and eventually, people started calling back.
I think that a good leader will find ways to allow their workers to stress themselves as a byproduct of a reasonable level of productivity, but inducing stress for stress’ sake is not likely very beneficial, and if recognized as such, may lead to follower abandonment, stakeholder ill-will, and other negative consequences.
John.
Thread:W4Q1. – Stakeholders
Post:Re: W4Q1. – Stakeholders
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “Stakeholders can be seen in the following groups: employees, managers, leadership, customers, suppliers, governmental or regulatory agencies, financial backers. Do you feel it is ethical for the leaders of an organization to make critical decisions based on serving the needs of one of these stakeholder groups at the expense of another? Why or why not?
Please cite examples to help illustrate your response.”
I think that this is often impossible not to do, though much effort should be made to create a win/win situation that tries to serve all stakeholders to some reasonable degree. My belief seems to be rooted in a mix of Utilitarian (serve the most) and Universalist (serve the many) ethical perspectives (Weiss, 2006, p. 121) though I’m still not 100% clear on some of the specifics of these stances.
For example, there may be times where due to customer needs employees must be asked to work extended hours. This could be considered serving the needs of one stakeholder group at the expense of another. I also believe it is ethical to ask for this in special situations.
Hopefully you can still make a win/win out of such a situation, by:
– properly compensating the employees who are being asked to serve extra hours
– insuring that the extra time is actually used well, necessary, and appreciated.
– making sure that the workload is evenly distributed.
– discovering ways to have the employees understand that their sacrifice is in their own best interest, because it serves the customer which serves them back through salary, work, meaning, etc.
– making sure that there is not an avalanche of sacrifices being performed by one or two stakeholders in the interest of many. There must be a balance in order to have compromise.
Without a balance, you will have stakeholders up at arms, which is bad for organizational stability. This might be done in the interest of an Ethical Virtue based perspective (Weiss, 2006, p. 121).
With only balance, but not great outcomes, you will have a stagnant organization, afraid to take risks for fear that a group will be put out. This might be done in the interest of a Justice based ethical perspective (Weiss, 2006, p. 121).
John.
Thread:Phyllis Joyner – Email Rejection
Post:Helpdesk contact information:
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
If anyone has technology issues at Rider, they should start with the Helpdesk, generally speaking.
helpdesk phone: 609 219 3000
helpdesk email: helpdesk@rider.edu
With that being said, I will be happy to help you in whatever ways I can, and in cases where Blackboard itself is at issue, the helpdesk would likely send you specifically to me anyway.
You can call for Blackboard specific help at:
Instructional technology and Training Phone:
609 896 5000 x7489
which is the same number you’d be connected with if you called the 219-3000 number above and chose the menu item to get help with Blackboard.
Hope this helps.
John.
Thread:W4Q2. – Workforce Stress
Post:Re: W4Q2. – Workforce Stress
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Monday, October 1, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “What are the general causes of workplace stress? What can organizations do to management workplace stress? How can an organization evaluate the impact that stress-prevention and stress management programs have on its performance?”
Some causes of stress include an increased workload, information overload, badly managed change, increased speed of change, bad leadership, bad followership, and bad management.
Workplace stress can be managed by incorporating organizational development programs that focus on negating and lessening stressors, emotional intelligence training, improving communication and feedback channels, and developing strong organizational support relationships.
If an organization is using some performance assessment standard at the time when stress-affected workers are under the pressures of stress, they may begin to see marked improvement in these standard assessments after the initiation or routinization of stress relieving techniques and programs like those suggested here.
Interestingly enough, in my organization, we are currently undergoing an organizational development program, but we do not have a standardized assessment that speaks to our current performance. Stress is a factor, but more prominent factors have been identified as a lack of trust, poor communication, and a general lack of camaraderie amongst workers.
If I understand correctly, we will be taking several ‘climate surveys’ over the length of the organizational development process so that any progress, should it occur, can be noted. During a recent university wide climate survey, my organization scored especially low on morale comparative to the organization as a whole.
John.
Thread:W4Q1. – Stakeholders
Post:Re: Respect for Community
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Monday, October 1, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Alyssa says “we are a Catholic university that is located in the middle of a Hasidic Jewish community. Recently, we held an event that is traditionally an outdoor event on a Jewish holiday. Out of respect for our surrounding community, we moved our event indoors.”
Alyssa, this is a great example of how people can set their own interests aside for the greater good of the community and in the best interests of diversity and peace. I loved this idea.
It seems like your University is practicing some of the conflict leadership methods described in Leading Through Conflict. What other ways have you found to do what Mark Gerzon calls Systems Thinking (2006, ch. 5) and Bridging (2006, ch. 10) in order to avoid, resolve, or negate conflict in your unique and seemingly interesting situation?
John.
Thread:W4Q1. – Stakeholders
Post:Re: W4Q1. – Stakeholders
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Monday, October 1, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “What is a stakeholder? Who are the stakeholders relative to your organization? Why is it important to consider each of these stakeholders in the ethical reasoning process? What are the business implications of treating these stakeholders unethically?”
Weiss explains stakeholders as people affected by an action or outcome via an organization. He also indicates that these are people who have something to gain or lose and who would have an opinion on decisions that an organization makes.
Stakeholders in my organization, Rider University, are students, teachers, alumni, parents, administrators, people who live in the surrounding area, people who we interact with all over the world, people in nearby cities, people in far away cities, businesses who hire our students, organizations who work with us and our stakeholders, and so on.
It’s important to consider each of your stakeholders in the ethical reasoning process because without this stakeholder analysis it becomes easy to be ethically flawed in making a decision. It’s easy to end up on the local front page in a negative light. It’s easy to offend or upset groups of people who if they had been considered for just a moment might have led to an innovative ethical decision that created a more universal win/win outcome.
Treating stakeholders unethically makes for bad business because it burns bridges, it causes bad blood, it creates negative feelings about your organization, it can lead to complicated and expensive circumstances, and it creates license and precedent to make other unethical choices in order to stay consistent and stay a course, even if that course is the wrong one.
The implications are bankruptcy, lost business, bad business, hurt customers/peers/employees, angry customers/peers/employees, bad press, bad feelings, negativity, and ill will.
John.
John.
Thread:Intro to Google Docs
Post:Intro to Google Docs
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Monday, October 1, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
In case you are interested in knowing more about Google Docs, I have a short series of tutorials handy that my instructional technologist, Angel Brady, created to get you started.
I also just sent each of you an invite to a document you can go in and edit right away. Enjoy.
http://media.rider.edu/blog/angel-brady-intro-to-google-docs-and-spreadsheets-part-1/
This goes over creating a Google account (if necessary) and getting started with GDocs.
http://media.rider.edu/blog/angel-brady-intro-to-google-docs-and-spreadsheets-part-2/
is part two.
Thread:Instant Messaging Screennames
Post:Instant Messaging Screennames
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Monday, October 1, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
I thought we could use this thread to share our various screennames, in hopes that we can use a shared service to communicate.
I use the following services:
AIM: lemasney
Yahoo: lemasney
Gtalk: lemasney@gmail.com
IRC is possible.
Skype: lemasney
If we decide to use Google Docs we will each need a free Google account. We may want to take this into consideration when choosing an IM service. GDocs and Gtalk integrate pretty nicely, though it could work just as well with a different IM service used in tandem.
John.
Thread:Question: Tools
Post:Re: Question: Tools
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Monday, October 1, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
It sounds like we will have very little trouble doing some physical meetings so far, which simplifies a lot of things.
Take a look for the IM thread.
Hope I can talk you into Google Docs.
John.
Thread:Question: Tools
Post:Re: Question: Tools
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Monday, October 1, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
I’ll start a thread here to add our IM screennames if we have them. If we don’t use it, it won’t hurt to have it.
We should not share our personal phone numbers in a discussion, in my opinion, since (with all due respect) it could potentially be abused by someone outside of our group. Maybe we can share phone numbers via group email.
I will set up a Google doc and invite everyone. If we don’t use it it won’t hurt to have it.
Thanks, Sukhi.
John.
Thread:Question: Tools
Post:Re: Question: Tools
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Monday, October 1, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
I’m at Rider everyday, and I live fairly close.
Group email is fine for asynchronous messaging.
We may want to still have a tool for collaborative writing.
We may also need a more immediate way of realtime chatting or talking that does not require a physical visit.
This could be by phone, which could be done as a group with some coordination.
Preferably for me would be instant messaging, since we could all talk together whenever, since if we are available, it’s advertised, and we’re just a click away.
But physical meetings and group email is a good place to start, certainly.
j.
Thread:Phyllis Joyner – Email Rejection
Post:Re: Phyllis Joyner – Email Rejection
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Monday, October 1, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Sorry – I did not see this until tonight. I’m working on this now. It’s for this reason that we always tell people to call the helpdesk directly with any support issues, as reporting via email or other asynchronous means can lead to unforeseen delays. All apologies. 😉
The helpdesk at Rider can be reached at 609 219 3000.
While I’m happy to be a proper liaison, just for the sake of full disclosure, I want to say that I am the manager of the Instructional Technology and Training department, one of 4 departments that make up the Office of Information Technologies at Rider. I manage Blackboard, specifically.
The helpdesk is not mine, nor do I manage it in any way.
I bring it up because OIT runs into this issue from a communications perspective all the time, and it is part of the reason that many people become frustrated with what appears to be a run-around in OIT. I promise you, this is not a run-around.
In fact, Sukhi from our class is an actual part of the helpdesk itself, which is a front end, first level support for all of OIT, but is specifically under the direction of another quadrant of OIT, called User Support Services. It’s manager is the very competent and generous Igor Jonjic.
More than anything, I wanted it to be very clear that all successes and kudos for any helpdesk support you receive should go to him in both voice and spirit. While the helpdesk represents me, I do not manage it, and I wanted to make sure that you knew that their hard work and tireless effort has very little to do with me.
OIT does not have a very horizontal management style, though I wish it were more so, very often.
None of this matters much, outside of my intention to record the truth. I still am helping the helpdesk to find out exactly what’s happening with Phyllis’ email.
Wow, am I verbose. 😉
John.
Thread:Phyllis Joyner – Email Rejection
Post:Phyllis Joyner – Email Rejection
Author:Glaid, Timothy
Date:Sunday, September 30, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Phyllis,
Please be aware that in attempting to send you feedback from multiple email accounts, I continue to receive the following reject message:
To: joynerp@rider.edu
Cc: Timothy Glaid
Subject: Rider LEAD/560 Week 2 – Joyner
Sent: Sun, 30 Sep 2007 13:27:01 -0700
did not reach the following recipient(s):
joynerp@students.rider.edu on Sun, 30 Sep 2007 13:40:01 -0700
A configuration error in the e-mail system caused the message to
bounce between two servers or to be forwarded between two recipients.
Contact your administrator.
< nemesis3.rider.edu #5.4.6 SMTP; 554 5.4.6 Too many hops>
Would you please reach out to John LeMasney (we are fortunate to have the manager of the group in our class) and his Rider Technical Support Help Desk Team, to resolve the problem? In the meantime, you are welcome to send me an email to tglaid@rider.edu, and let me know of a backup or secondary email account.
Thank you,
Tim Glaid
9/30/2007
Thread:Week Three Summary – Thread
Post:Re: Week Three Summary – Thread
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Saturday, September 29, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
I’ve been realizing more and more that there are certain ethcal stands that I take that I did not realizee were ethical stands. As time passes, I’m becoming more aware of ethical issues.
One example is environmentalism. I’ve begun to realize how much my family focuses on environmentally sound choices, and how that can cause some unintended rifts with others in my neighborhood for example. I’d love to elaborate on this, and I will try to work it in as an answer to a future question.
Another example is that a very good friend who I’ve known for a while told me that her family and herself are avid shooters and gun collectors. I was surprised and am wondering how this might affect our friendship. Or not.
John.
Thread:W3Q3. Personal Motivation
Post:Re: W3Q3. Personal Motivation
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Saturday, September 29, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Phyllis says ” I think motivation can be given – via opportunities.”
I would agree that opportunities may be given – but one person may be motivated by it, and another may not.
Example: Someone sets up a giveaway where guns are donated. I’d want no parts of it, but someone else might jump at the chance. I’m not motivated, and so you did not give me motivation. You gave me opportunity.
I propose that when an opportunity is given externally, it is still a choice, internally, to be motivated.
I’m having fun with this now. 😉
John.
Thread:W3Q3. Personal Motivation
Post:Re: Locus of Control (was Motivation vs. Rewards)
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Saturday, September 29, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Laurie says “Every act is done because of some other action. Whatever happens prior to you becoming motivated to do something probably played a role in helping you find that motivation.”
But in the end, isn’t the choice to be motivated always in the motivated’s hands/heart/mind/self?
I think that this discussion speaks to locus of control: Do we control our own lives, outcomes, and events, or are we all following a long written script?
John
Thread:W3Q3. Personal Motivation
Post:Re: Motivation vs. Rewards
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Saturday, September 29, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tracy said “John, I would be motivated by all of your scenarios, especially if I were forced to do it.”
Tracy – but the key here is that you would choose to be motivated based on your knowledge, experience, education and other factors that led to your personal values – your valence in a particular outcome.
If I am suicidal, and someone points a gun at my head in order to ‘make me’ do something, the threat will not likely be successful in motivating me to do it, no matter the degree to which the threat is taken.
If I am not suicidal, I may be motivated because of my valence in continuing to live, but I can still choose to defy the threat and may be motivated to deny the request simply out of a valence in free will.
My idea is that motivation is always internally generated – it is never externally granted. Vroom’s Expectancy theory of motivation supports this, in that it is likely that I will become motivated (generate motivation) if several factors are in place, including my value in a particular outcome.
Tim says this too, in his reference to the teenage will and motivation (2007): If they want to do ‘something’, they will, if they don’t, they won’t.
John
Thread:W3Q1. Ethics Programs
Post:Re: Code of Ethics at Rider
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Saturday, September 29, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Mini says “it seems clear that Rider does have a code of ethics in place, but I could not find it on the the website.”
Mini, I’ve been at Rider for 10 years now. I’ve never seen the code. I’m not saying it doesn’t exist, but I am saying it’s not well publicized if it does. I really hope that our collective realization of the importance of such a code can help us to work for its future prominence at Rider.
John.
Thread:W3Q1. Ethics Programs
Post:Re: W3Q1. Ethics Programs
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Saturday, September 29, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Laurie asks about what do do when “[f]or example a family member dying in the hospital and taking the stress of the situation out on your coworkers as a result.”
Laurie, can you be more specific? What exactly is at issue? Who is breaking whose ethic and in what manner?
Is someone with a dying family member screaming at people? In what way are the co-workers being mistreated? How do you know that the mistreatment is related to the family member’s death causally speaking?
It’s clear that any mistreatment of co-workers is ethically unsupported, no matter the situation. If the worker is under duress, family leave should probably be invoked.
John.
Thread:W3Q1. Ethics Programs
Post:Re: Ethical Programming at Rider University.
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Friday, September 28, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Davis says “Nothing should be implied, even if we are adults!”
Agreed! 😉
j.
Thread:Question: Roles
Post:Question: Roles
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Friday, September 28, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Another point of consideration is what each of us will do in the project. There are plenty of ways that we can break down the roles.
Maybe we have 2 writers, and 2 researchers.
Maybe we have a coordinator, a writing manager, a research manager, and a APA style and citation specialist.
Maybe we all take part in management, writing, research, and coordination. I’ve done this one in the past with mixed success.
Does anyone have a strong feeling about one of these methods? How about a completely different one? Does anyone have any strong personal writing or research skills?
j.
Thread:Question: Tools
Post:Question: Tools
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Friday, September 28, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
As a starting point for discussions, I thought we might start to talk about what tools we might use to communicate and work together.
I would suggest the following:
email for quick asynchronous group communication.
phone for one-to-one conversations or updates
Google Docs for collaborative writing, editing, and refining.
AOL Instant Messenger or Bb Virtual Classroom for regularly scheduled chats.
Does anyone have any suggestions, corrections, or favorite tools they’d prefer?
John.
Thread:paper
Post:Re: paper
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Friday, September 28, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Andrea,
Tim wrote the following message in ‘important announcements’ (emphasis added) — enjoy! John.
Time wrote: ” Class,
This posting serves as a reminder that your first graded assignment is due by Saturday, September 29th at 11:59 p.m.
Because of the general nature of the assignment, you can accomplish this assignment with or without the benefit of our class text books. Therefore, if you do not have the texts, I encourage you to use the School’s Library in researching various definitions of leadership cultureal values and personal ethics that may be meaningful or interesting to you. Remember, your academic papers should be representations of research; and not merely your personal opinion. Furthermore, your research should be credible, and not from a source that is questionable, or unable to confirm the source. Examples of non-credible sources might be the National Enquirer, the Star Magazine, Wikipedia, Webpedia, and editorials.
You can email me your assignment directly to my Rider University email address, which is tglaid@rider.edu.
Finally, please note I apply a “late submission penalty” of 10% of the possible points, for each day is late. I use this policy in fairness to the students who complete and submit their assignments on-time, and as requested. Furthermore, I will not accept any assignment that is more than one-week late.
I thank you in advance for your timely submission of your work. As always, please don’t hesitate to post follow-up questions as necessary, and as appropriate.
I wish you a positive learning experience in completing this assignment.
Tim Glaid
9/25/2007″
Thread:W3Q1. Ethics Programs
Post:Re: Ethical Programming at Rider University.
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Friday, September 28, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
David and class,
David said “the main focus of a college is making the students understand policies, standards, and advancing them into adulthood” and that “at [his] organization [he] had to pass written examinations from [his] ‘manual’ before [he] could even become an employee.”
I would say, regarding your second quote, that I wish that myself and others had a common enough understanding of what’s expected, ethically speaking, that we’d be able to study for and pass a standardized test on the subject of Rider specific ethics. The Rider Statement of Community Values and the mission both go a long way in determining common direction, but I still feel that a communal policy manual for community members would be welcomed.
On the first quote, I’d agree that Rider’s main focus is student learning and personal growth, but that we are not necessarily focused on “making the students understand policies, standards, and advancing them into adulthood” as a primary goal. Surprised? Let me explain my statement. 😉
Many of our students, including myself and yourself, are already adults, and so to focus on this aspect of student advancement might be antithetical to our interest in treating all of our students equally. I think that our various statements of values and mission also indicate a certain interest in individual thought, democratic approaches, and independence, rather than strict compliance, and so, “making the students understand policies [and] standards” might be secondary or even counter to our ethical ideals.
Would you agree? Thanks for the discussion!
John.
Thread:W3Q3. Personal Motivation
Post:Re: Motivation vs. Rewards
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Thursday, September 27, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tracy says “But there are also some forms of motivation that are given that help to motivate me as well. The can be categorized as Extrinsic Rewards.”
I would agree that extrinsic rewards can be given and that intrinsic rewards are self-generated – but I’m asking about the potential end-result of extrinsic rewards and the common result of intrinsic rewards, e.g. motivation.
As an example, someone can hand me $10 to drive them to a destination. Let’s say I agree, and that I’m motivated to do the task. What happened?
1. Am I given the motivation by that person giving the $10? Are they forcing my hand?
or
2. Do I become motivated to do the task as an internal process where I decide to be bothered to drive in order to get the cash?
OR
3. Am I just purely in love with driving, and decided to do it, even if it had been for free?
Is motivation ever given, or is it always internally generated? Can someone give an example that exemplifies motivation (not rewards leading to it) being given?
I would venture to say that even in situations where motivation is generated as result of fear or threats, the decision/choice to be motivated is that of the afraid and threatened.
John.
Thread:W3Q3. Personal Motivation
Post:Re: W3Q3. Personal Motivation
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tashira says “Motivation is the drive that you have or someone gives you, to make you want to do more, want more and continue on.”
Tashira, and class, is motivation ever given, or is it mostly or always generated from within?
John.
Tashira also says “to shop” (hehehe)
Thread:W3Q3. Personal Motivation
Post:Re: W3Q3. Personal Motivation
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “Why do you work? Why do you work so hard? What is motivation? How do leaders and management affect motivation? What role does the individual employee play in organizational motivation? Which of the motivational theories relate to why you work so hard?”
I work because I love the work that I do.
I work hard because I like the feeling that I get when I have some sense of accomplishment, responsibility, and worth. I am highly motivated intrinsically, which helps because the extrinsic rewards are not always free flowing in my work.
Leaders and managers affect motivation when they allow or disallow employees to have a voice in what they do which can motivate or de-motivate intrinsically, give something or take something away from employees, which can motivate or de-motivate extrinsically, and when they give real consideration to employees or when they simply decide for the employee without considering them at all.
Individual employees can influence organizational motivation in the attitude that they take towards organizational activity, the ways in which they accept and take part in organizational behavioral norms, and the ways that they act and react to peers, leaders, and subordinates.
If the question were about leadership theories that affect motivation, I believe very highly in Hersey and Blanchard’s Situational Theory of Leadership in which the readiness level of workers helps to define the level of consideration a leader should use in an approach. Vroom’s Expectancy theory, in which motivation can be predicted when:
– a worker’s valued outcome is known,
– the worker is made to believe that doing a particular thing will result in that desired outcome, and
– the worker believes that she can perform that particular thing to a satisfactory level
has worked in my own self-analysis of productive motivation.
John.
Thread:W3Q2. High Performance Organizations
Post:Re: W3Q2. High Performance Organizations
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “What is the difference between groups and High Performance Organizations (HPO)? How can increased performance be initiated? What are the benefits of increased performance to an organization?”
Groups can simply be any coming together of people, inside or outside of a work situation, without attention paid to cooperative nature, skill coverage, teamwork, effectiveness, or collaborative performance.
According to this week’s lecture, the following begins to define a High Performance Organization:
“The key components of success for an HPO are employee involvement, work team structures, a learning focus, and continuous improvement. Employees have more input into how their jobs are done and structured while teams are empowered to plan, implement, and even evaluate their own work. HPOs have a commitment to lifelong learning, which is the only way to succeed in a constantly changing world. They are proactive in making changes and continuously improving instead of waiting for demands from consumers. HPOs link their bottom line results to the preparedness and knowledge of their workforces. The most successful organizations understand that a company is only as effective as its people. They focus on providing opportunities for employees to grow into roles of greater responsibilities while valuing the differences that they “bring to the table.””
It is this kind of attention being paid to the individual employees and selective team creation in HPOs that begins to initiate the higher productivity. If you were to just put a bunch of people together, regardless of their abilities, ability to work together effectively, or their collective qualities, you theoretically should not expect them to be as effective as a series of teams that are chosen, designed, and refined for certain purposes, as in HPOs (Glaid, 2007).
Determining the ways that they can collaborate and cooperate as a means to the end of higher productivity.
Increased organizational productivity can have many positive effects, including increased profits, but according to Glaid, the potential increase in intrinsically motivated employees, positive social standing, and satisfied stakeholders are by far the greatest return on investment from HPO efforts (2007).
John.
Thread:Learning Group C
Post:Learning Group C
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
LGC will succeed beyond anyone’s wildest imagination. Now, let’s prove it beyond a doubt. 😉
j.
Thread:LEARNING GROUP ASSIGNMENTS
Post:LEARNING GROUP ASSIGNMENTS
Author:Glaid, Timothy
Date:Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Class,
In the final assignment (due on November 17, 2007), I have requested you work in small groups, as you debate and analyze an ethical issue related to marketing.
As we have 17 students in the class, I am announcing the formation of four teams (5 & 4 members), which have been compiled using straight-line alphabetical order of your last names. Therefore, the teams are as follows:
Learning Group A
Learning Group B
Lauren Adams
Mini Alankara
Christine DeFrehn
Tracy Durham
Phyllis Joyner
Stacey Jubert
David Pone
Alyssa Ruggiero
Tashira York-Funchers
Learning Group C
Learning Group D
Sukhvinder Bedi
Dan Cumming
Laurie Dusko
Melanie Held
John LeMasney
Chadi Lewis
Andrea Schimmel
Nicole Schruby
You are welcomed to use the individual forum I have built for your group’s project. You may also augment and complement the asynchronous forum, in any communication media of your choice.
During the week of November 25th, each of the groups’ project will be shared with the entire class, as another way of learning from one another.
I thank you in advance for your willingness to collaborate.
Tim Glaid
—
Dr. Tim Glaid
Rider University
304 326-1608 (office)
412 835-6223 (home)
412 260-5841 (cell)
tglaid@rider.edu or tglaid@gmail.com
Thread:W3Q1. Ethics Programs
Post:Re: barn doors, carts, and horses.
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
I think that Rider’s Modus Operandi is very often to react to an emergency with a new position, rather than to create positions as a preventative measure.
An example is the recent appointment of a Substance Abuse Prevention Specialist at Rider. It is clearly a reaction to the recent death of a Rider student by alcohol poisoning, and while I welcome the position, and wish him the most overwhelming success in his endeavor, I wish that the position had existed before the student’s passing, so that, for instance, a SWOT assessment might have been done on Rider’s stance on alcohol abuse on campus.
I hope that a Compliance Officer and a more comprehensive ethical program are put in place before a need to do so is determined by an unforeseen tragic or embarrassing event.
Source: Rider University :: newswire@Rider ::
Address : http://www.rider.edu/news/newswire/fall2007/nw0925/story_two.htm
Date Visited: Tue Sep 25 2007 21:24:53 GMT-0400 (EDT)
As one of the major components in Rider University’s ongoing quest to educate the campus community on issues surrounding alcohol and substance abuse and to lessen related incidents, Mark Fisher of Ewing, N.J., has been appointed Substance Abuse Prevention Specialist. The former counselor at New Horizons Treatment Services in Trenton, N.J., started his new position on September 10.
John
Thread:W3Q1. Ethics Programs
Post:A hole in one (company’s ethical program logic).
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim states and asks “After the signatures were collected, the group promptly proceeded to the first tee. What communication was being shared in this organization, about the seriousness of the ethics of the organization? Please share examples in support of your response.”
The nonverbal communication about the importance of the ethical adherence was that the appearance of ethical compliance was far more important than the actual ethical stance.
The message from the leaders is that “As long as it appears as though we’re not stealing, cheating, or doing business by relying on other dishonest means, then we can do those things without fear of reprimand.”
The company may or may not have gotten low scores on the “back 9”, but they definitely get low scores for ethical policy reinforcement. 🙂
John.
Thread:W3Q1. Ethics Programs
Post:Ethical Programming at Rider University.
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “What are the key elements of an ethics program? Which of these elements are present in your organization? What improvements to your organization would you suggest and why?”
I would imagine that any reasonable ethics program would have key elements such as
1. a comprehensive written policy including rules, ideals, and consequences one can expect from diverging from policy,
2. a governing council of some sort to help to define, redefine, and reinforce the policy, and
3. a series of events, procedures, and/or ceremonies to give the policy a structure while also giving the organization an opportunity to voice their feelings about the program and hopefully help to shape it.
In my organization, some of these elements exist at some levels but some are missing at others. At Rider University, at the student level, I think all of these program elements are present, and in some cases have overlapping elements. The Source provides a comprehensive policy manual for students. Several related governing bodies meet regularly, and events and ceremonies take place throughout the day, week, month, semester and year to help reinforce the ideals presented in The Source, including Pride Days, Town Hall Meetings, Commencement, and Dean’s Council.
As a staff member, there are written policies that are made available from Human Resources, letters from the President’s Office with overarching directives, and policies that are limited to my division, which often differ in allowance and policy from other departments in areas as diverse as cell phone usage, vacation allowances, and privacy.
I suggest that a governing body be created to engage a comprehensive collective policy manual to give our staff, faculty, and administrators the same relaible source of governing information that our students have enjoyed for years and years.
John.
Thread:Continuing Discussions: Ahmadinejad’s visit
Post:Continuing Discussions: Ahmadinejad’s visit
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
We were discussing Ahmadinejad’s visit, and the NYPD’s reasons and ethical stance regarding allowing him to visit Ground Zero. Today, in the NYTimes, his visit to Columbia was reported upon. In part it said:
Source: Ahmadinejad, at Columbia, Parries and Puzzles – New York Times
Address : http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/25/world/middleeast/25iran.html?th&emc=th
Date Visited: Tue Sep 25 2007 09:15:30 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time)
Mr. Bush, asked about Columbia’s decision to invite Mr. Ahmadinejad, told Fox News that it was “O.K. with me,” but added that he might not have extended the invitation himself.
“When you really think about it,” Mr. Bush said, “he’s the head of a state sponsor of terror, he’s — and yet an institution in our country gives him a chance to express his point of view, which really speaks to the freedoms of the country. I’m not sure I’d have offered the same invitation.”
Mr. Ahmadinejad is allowed under international law and diplomatic protocols to travel freely within a 25-mile radius of Columbus Circle. But the police said last week that he would not be allowed near ground zero.
Another article reads:
Source: New York Grudgingly Opens Door to Ahmadinejad – New York Times
Address : http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/24/nyregion/24visit.html
Date Visited: Tue Sep 25 2007 09:25:25 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time)
Last week the Police Department denied Iran’s request to allow Mr. Ahmadinejad to visit ground zero, but Columbia University is allowing him to participate in a World Leaders Forum today.
The article that begins to answer my questions about why the NYPD chose this stance spoke to it a bit here:
Source: President of Iran Says He’ll Avoid Ground Zero – New York Times
Address : http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/21/nyregion/21visit.html
Date Visited: Tue Sep 25 2007 09:28:10 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time)
“Our position is that President Ahmadinejad will not be permitted to go to ground zero,” Mr. Kelly said yesterday. He said that the area designated as off limits would be “the general vicinity of the World Trade Center,” and that the restriction had been imposed to protect public safety.
In the “60 Minutes” interview, parts of which were released late yesterday by CBS, Mr. Ahmadinejad said a visit to ground zero “was included in my program.” He added, “If we have the time and the conditions are conducive, I will try to do that.”
But when asked to respond to Mr. Kelly’s remarks, the Iranian president said: “Well, over there, local officials need to make the necessary coordinations. If they don’t do that, I won’t insist.” He also said he doubted that most Americans would be insulted if he visited the site of the 9/11 terror attack.
Iranian officials originally asked that Mr. Ahmadinejad be allowed to visit the area of ground zero where construction is under way. Although relatives of the Sept. 11 victims were allowed to visit the site briefly on the sixth anniversary of the attack, members of the public are not allowed into the area.
In this last article, 2 important notes exist that begin to speak of ethics:
Firstly, the NYPD cites public safety as the reasoning for the denial of permission to visit. This seems reasonable to me, and seems to be valid. If Iran’s president were to visit the site, any number of possible negative consequences could result, more so than if another less famous figure were to visit.
Second, and possibly more important to the argument of ethical justice, is that only in very special circumstances (relatives of the victims) does anyone from the general public get to visit the site in the fashion that the Iranian President intended to. If I couldn’t go there, why should the Iranian President get to visit, if we are all equal (with special, limited allowance for those long-mourning families) in the eyes of the law?
John.
References:
Cooper, H. (2007). Ahmadinejad, at Columbia, Parries and Puzzles. The New York Times. Retrieved September 25, 2007, from http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/25/world/middleeast/25iran.html?th&emc=th
Fernandez, M. (2007). New York Grudgingly Opens Door to Ahmadinejad. The New York Times. Retrieved September 25, 2007, from http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/24/nyregion/24visit.html
Lueck, T. J., & Arenson, K. W. (2007). President of Iran Says He’ll Avoid Ground Zero. The New York Times. Retrieved September 25, 2007, from http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/21/nyregion/21visit.html
Thread:WEEK THREE LECTURE
Post:Re: Questions for Thought
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Monday, September 24, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “A key question to consider is the workplace is what our employees need in order to feel rewarded and important. What can we offer our employees so that they feel motivated to provide optimum results?”
I think the first way that we can begin to determine what workers need in order to feel intrinsically (vs. extrinsically) rewarded is to do some inquiry as a means to that end. If we are to ask workers to determine, either from a list, or from their heart, or from some test what they themselves actually percieve that they value, (what Vroom calls valence in Expectancy Theory) we can begin to determine what it is that makes the members of a workforce tick (Starke and Behling, 1975, p. 704).
For example, if you assume that the reason your workforce is coming in is for a paycheck, and in reality, it’s because they love the work itself and would gladly do it for free if they could survive that way, then rewarding good work with days off and more pay may be counter-motivational.
John.
references:
Starke, F. A., & Behling, O. (1975). A Test of Two Postulates Underlying Expectancy Theory. The Academy of Management Journal, 18(4), 703-714. Retrieved September 25, 2007, from http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0001-4273%28197512%2918%3A4%3C703%3AATOTPU%3E2.0.CO%3B2-R
Thread:Week Two Summary – Thread
Post:Re: Week Two Summary – Thread
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Monday, September 24, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
I’m flush with the stuff! Cha ching! 😉
j.
Thread:W2Q4. Diversity
Post:Re: W2Q4. Diversity
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Saturday, September 22, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “Does your organization embrace everyone’s ideas? Or, is “diversity” in your organization only measured by the DNA characteristics and numbers and quotas? Can an organization exist with a number of different races, both genders, different religious and sexual beliefs … and still NOT embrace diversity?”
While I think there is genuine genetic diversity as well as ideological diversity at Rider, I think that there can definitely be organizations where every color, creed, age, and background is represented in the payroll, but only a select few are ever heard sharing ideas, giving orders, or making the rules.
An example would be a fictional organization where all of the maintenance workers are of a majority age, color, and gender, all of the administrative staff are of a different majority age, color, and gender, and all of the board members are of a certain majority age, color, and gender.
It may be much more or less subtle than this, of course, where people across an organization are genetically diverse and experientially diverse, but the only people who seem to be moving up or forward in projects, titles, or approved plans, are the 6 people in the 40-something, Hungarian-American, female, upper-middle-class, Esperanto-fluent, military background, enter-some-other-distinction-here leadership/management clique. These are all just examples – I promise you this clique is fictional. 😉
John.
Thread:Two Current Affair Issues
Post:Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visit denial.
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Saturday, September 22, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “In the first issues, the President of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has requested to visit Ground Zero next week, during his visit to the United Nations. His request has been denied by the New York Police. Do you think the NYPD has a moral and ethical duty to provide police protection to this world leader? Why or why not?”
Does anyone know why the request was denied, specifically? Was the reason believable risk of nuclear attack during the visit? Likelihood of multiple weapon assassination attempts that could not be thwarted? A terrorist opportunity too good to pass up?
I think that the reasoning for the denial must be to protect the thousands who might be killed in a mass-destructive attack, rather than the force’s suspicion that they could not protect an individual from a bullet, etc. If it was because they felt like he’d be ‘as good as dead’ if seen there, then even protecting one life is worth the denial.
I think that morals can’t be applied, since morals are personally defined (Glaid, 2007). We would have to ask an officer in the NYPD if he felt morally obligated, yet ethically restrained by the NYPD by policy.
I think that ethically according to the NYPD, it is quite likely that they are duty bound to deny the visit if it means protecting the lives of thousands or hundreds, or one. Perhaps they’re afraid that no one would be killed, but that the site itself might be damaged yet again.
If I was visiting ground zero, no one would care. When this guy shows up, some people see it as an opportunity to make a statement. The NYPD has an ethical obligation to serve and protect, and if they are doing this by denying access by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, then so be it.
I don’t think that they are just trying to give M.A. a hard time, certainly.
John.
Thread:Two Current Affair Issues
Post:Re: Two Current Affair Issues
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Saturday, September 22, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Lauren reports that “According to the article, he had some bruising and a concussion, was treated and released from a local hospital and attended a school function that same evening. For this fighting, the district attorney charged the young black students with conspiracty to commit second degree murder and attempted second degree murder.”
I really appreciate the extra clarification on these cases, since very often my first response to the questions following a case are questions to clarify what the case means by a certain phrase. The Oprah case is a good example, where her statement about turning vegetarian was omitted, for example.
Thanks for the supporting info, Lauren.
John.
Thread:Week Two Summary – Thread
Post:Re: Week Two Summary – Thread
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Saturday, September 22, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
This week I feel like I was encountering and challenging real life ethical issues all the time. I pondered them very seriously in ways that I might not have even thought twice before.
Last night in a parking lot, I found a dollar and sat for a few minutes waiting for someone to come looking before picking it up.
I heard a few days ago from a colleague who was responsible for a creative work on display that the work was damaged ever so slightly. He said that he was on the fence about telling the author of the work of the damage since it was barely noticeable, and of course I wasn’t able to sit idly by (now), since in my mind I was working out the moral, ethical, and stakeholder disasters that might result.
I also debated for a half hour with a peer about his rights as an employee to challenge ideas he disagreed with, to take responsibility for things outside of his direct responsibility if it meant that 1] no one would be harmed and 2] people would be helped in the process who might be kept from help otherwise.
I inspired him right into a beef with his supervisor over his rights as a whistleblower and truth communicator. The ideas, actions, and rights are all clear and ‘in the right’, but the employee is not a happy worker right now.
Wielding ethics can be highly damaging when you don’t know exactly what you’re doing, and in a phrase, I don’t. But, I’m working on it.
John.
Thread:W2Q2. Individual Behavior
Post:Re: Growing up with Racism
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Friday, September 21, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Stacey says “To sum up my point, I believe a person becomes stronger if he/she can resist the negative viewpoints of other people.”
It’s so unfortunate when we only realize after years of practicing something negative, hurtful, or damaging that it was in fact damaging. It’s even worse when we see someone so mired in negativity that they can barely breathe a positive note.
As leaders, I hope we’ll all throw those people a line while we resist getting pulled in to that negativity ourselves.
Thanks, Stacey!
John.
Thread:Ethics Cases #2 & #19
Post:Beef and Body
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Friday, September 21, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “Was Oprah right or wrong to air such a story, and spread mad panic within the American public and beef industry? Why or why not?”
Oprah was right to air the story as factual information if she knew it to be factual, which it is not clear from the case brief if she did or not. She has a responsibility to present factual information. She also has the right to report a lifestyle change to vegetarianism, as long as she really has.
It is very much contested, but that would be my own litmus test. If the story was indeed true, and the story itself caused panic, then I do not see where Oprah is responsible – the facts and the reporting of them are their own means to an end – truth.
Tim also asks “Did (Ms. Rodriquez) act in a moral and ethical manner? Why or why not?”
She may have acted morally, in her own sense or morality, but it is not clear from the case whether she acted with a virtual gun to her head (e.g. she does not agree with what she did, but she did it to save her starving, sunburnt children) or whether she is morally complete in her decision (e.g. she is a naturalist and a nudist and an exhibitionist and she’s raising her children in that lifestyle and the fact that someone would pay her to do what she loves is just a plus.)
Ethically, we have to look at which group’s ethical standard we are applying. From the ethical standpoint of Playboy, Inc., she clearly is doing the right thing. From the ethical standpoint of Brazilian Tourism association, she’s probably spot on. From the Parents against Pornography ethical code, she’s way out of line, and so on. Who are the stakeholders in question?
If morals are a person’s and ethics are a group’s, I think we have to know which person and which group we are solving the issue for. I also think we need more information than the paragraph of selective information presented in order to truly resolve the issue.
John.
Thread:Ethics Cases #2 & #19
Post:Ethics, morals, and stakeholders
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Thursday, September 20, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “Do you think (on some level), the topic of ethics can be uneasy on every issue?”
Yes – due to Tim’s clarification (I was cloudy on the distinction until now) of the difference between morals (personal, imprinted) and ethics (group, reinforced), ethics can be unsettled (at least intergroup ethics) on many issues.
For instance, ethically speaking with most any issue, we have to clarify who the group is that we are determining an ethical stance for. If we talk about Ms. Rodriguez, we have to consider the ethics of some particular group (maybe a stakeholder, maybe not).
Are we assigning ethical outcomes to the question based on ethics of American? Of LEAD Students? Of Fine Arts students? Of impoverished Brazilians? Of parents of poor children? Of Playboy, Inc.? Of all humans everywhere? Of the Catholic Church? Roman or Greek? Activists? What kind of activists?
Once we determine the stakeholder, it becomes easier, if not possible, to determine if their ethics are for, against, or indifferent to the issue.
John.
Thread:W2Q2. Individual Behavior
Post:Three Elements of Behavioral Influence
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Thursday, September 20, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “What are three elements that influence individual behavior? Where and how are these elements established? What are the benefits of changing or modifying our individual behaviors?”
Three elements of behavioral influence (and some sources for them) that come to mind for me are culture (social interaction, schooling, environment, upbringing), media (news, books, movies, music), and education (schooling, behavioral correction, studying, life lessons)
Modifying individual behavior can have lots of benefits and lots of dis-benefits, depending on the intended change. Tim’s last question is difficult to answer.
I think the benefits of changing one’s behavior to a better ethical stance can be many, but sometimes we don’t actually know that a behavioral change is going to result in better behavior.
If through social interaction, I am taught that I “am too emotional”, I might modify that behavior so that I show less emotion outwardly. Is the result beneficial or not? Who is the beneficiary? Does my close group of peers benefit from me hiding my feelings? Do I?
I might watch a (politically funded) show on radical political activism that supports the idea that voting is less effective in determining the outcome of an election than showing support through monetary donations. If the show is mesmerizing, and I take this to heart and decide to stop voting, who have I helped?
I might take a class on media, class and society, that proposes that without education, we are nothing. Let’s say that it becomes one of my guiding principles, and I alter all other aspects of my life to pursue my education. Then, due to some unforeseen monetary or physical circumstance, I am unable to finish my planned educational path. If I continue on in my understanding of education’s effect on individuals in society, I see myself as a predetermined failure.
At the end of any of these scenarios is probably when a different influential element should be engaged to create a new behavioral change: A new friend, a new book, a new show, a new school. The question is how do we know when the current behavior isn’t working and when and how to pursue a new one?
Sometimes the need for change just isn’t so clean cut.
John.
Thread:W2Q1. Moral Values
Post:Changing Ethical Standards
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Thursday, September 20, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asked everyone “How do the moral values of your organization, become the expected behavior, or the ethics of the organization? How easy is it to change the ethical standards of an organization?”
The moral values of my organization are usually advertised through physical, electronic and other communication channels (policies, statements, town hall meetings), imprinted through interactions and reactions (meetings, committees, sessions), and accepted or modified by the organization over time (challenges, repeated behavior, outcomes, assessments).
When and if people pay attention to a organizational statement of moral values, they ideally begin to emphasize it in their actions, and will follow the moral code if they see leaders, peers, and subordinates acting in accordance with those values.
Very often, actions speak louder than words, and if a leader says that suggesting something that’s not 100% true is the best way to improve business, than it becomes easier for followers to believe that lying is part of that organization’s accepted ethical standards, which as a follower you can then choose to follow and stay with, or challenge. As a stakeholder other than an internal employee, you may not have the benefit of knowing that the leader says lying is okay.
It’s only as easy to change the ethical standards as it was to create them. If the standards are not held strongly, or if they are not supporting the key activities and actions of organization members,
they will likely be easier to modify and gain acceptance for. If the ethical standards being proposed for changes are held close to the working hearts of those using them to survive and excel in the workplace, it’s going to be tough to change them quickly.
If we look at the uber-anti-example, Enron, we can see the effects of ethical standards that reinforce negative behavior – chasing higher performance numbers came first and foremost – truth became secondary (Weiss, 2006). If it were easy for the ethical standards and organizational behavior and culture to be changed on a dime, Enron might have quickly come together as a group, seen the impending storm, and challenged their own behavior, but with all of that money and leadership reinforcement and pressure to perform, I don’t think anyone in the organization was envisioning a quick turnabout in ethical standards.
John.
Thread:W2Q2. Individual Behavior
Post:Ideals, influences, and acceptance.
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Thursday, September 20, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tashira says “For example, a kid I know and grew up with has parents who are very prejudice. This only made her into an advocate for eliminating racism. She is and activist against prejudice and very active in the anti racism movement.”
I agree. The moral ideals that are presented by people around you while you are growing up can influence you, but sometimes they drive you towards their ideals (good manners, nutrition, strong self-image, love of music), sometimes they drive you away from their ideals (racism, love of money, consumerism), sometimes you become indifferent to their ideals (impressionist art, sports, cars). Sometimes you transition from agreeing with an ideal to disagreeing with it and vice-versa (smoking, drinking, social benefits of television).
Thanks, Tashira,
John.
Thread:W2Q2. Individual Behavior
Post:Positive outlook and project inclusion
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Laurie says “I like to try to have a positive outlook and find the best in people. Others have told me that this quality makes me fun to be around. After all would your friends still hang out with you if you were “Debbie downer” all the time?”
I bet it makes it easier to work with you too, Laurie.
I can think of one or two “Frannie Frowner” people in my organization who seem to have a chronic black cloud attached, where the first word past hello is bah!, and it not only makes it hard to want to hang out with them for a casual lunch, but it makes it nearly impossible to invite them to work on a project, since very often, being positive in envisioning the successful outcome of a difficult project is key to its success.
On the other hand, if they are highly ready (in terms of Hersey and Blanchard’s Situational Theory), great thinkers, and discouraged about a lack of participation and voice, excluding them from interesting projects would only negatively reinforce their lack of intrinsic value and reward in the work. It’s a kind of negative cycle.
John.
Thread:W2Q2. Individual Behavior
Post:Re: Growing up with Racism
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Chris said “If someone grows up with hate and prejudice in his/her home, then hate and prejudice becomes a part of that individual and thus influences his/her behavior. “
Chris, this made me hesitate. I would say that the presence of an influence, such as prejudice, hate, or racism, is not enough to imprint it. The allowance of a behavior does not predetermine its acceptance.
I grew up with very strong views voiced by an elder against people who didn’t ‘look like us’, and often got not-very-subtle reprimands if I brought a friend home who wasn’t the same color as me, for instance.
It didn’t make any sense to me then why this person felt this way, and it makes less sense to me now why they felt this way.
Despite loving this person and following other pieces of their better elder advice, their racism never took hold in me.
I think that interpersonal influence and experience are only one part of developing behavior – one analyzes them in context of all other influences and experiences, and through analysis and study you begin to determine what’s ‘right’ in accordance with moral values outside of your own direct experience.
For me the ‘racism starts at home’ idea is difficult to bear, since I was able to see racism for what it was: a sad, distorted view of some people, hopefully becoming less all the time.
Does anyone else have examples of ideas they were raised with that they explicitly refused to accept?
John.
Thread:Continuing Discussions from last week.
Post:Re: Continuing Discussions (Microsoft)
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
It looks like huge companies like Microsoft are getting hit from both ends, due to their size. I saw this in the New York Times and thought it might add to our discussion.
Source: Microsoft Ruling May Bode Ill for Other Companies – New York Times
Address : http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/18/technology/18soft.html?_r=1&th=&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&emc=th&adxnnlx=1190131886-fbnz15Tz/LBsnUOsLLOE2g
Date Visited: Wed Sep 19 2007 11:16:27 GMT-0400 (EDT)
The real challenge to Microsoft, after more than a decade of dominating the technology industry, is coming not from the government, but from the marketplace.
The direct impact on Microsoft is small, said David B. Yoffie, a professor at the Harvard Business School. But there may be a longer-range consequence of having Microsoft under constant, open-ended scrutiny from Europe.
“If you end up handicapping a major player in new markets, you may actually not enhance competition but hinder it, and help create new monopolies,” Mr. Yoffie said. “The obvious example is Google in Internet search and Apple in digital music.”
Indeed, the Justice Department issued a statement expressing its concerns with the European decision, saying that tough restraints on powerful companies can be harmful. Thomas O. Barnett, assistant attorney general for the department’s antitrust division, said that the effect “rather than helping consumers, may have the unfortunate consequence of harming consumers by chilling innovation and discouraging competition.”
Consumer welfare, not protecting competitors, should be the guiding standard in antitrust, Mr. Barnett said.
Thread:W2Q1. Moral Values
Post:Re: W2Q1. Moral Values
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Daniel asked “I was wondering when the morale values of an organization would have a bad impact? I’m sure there are examples but I’m having trouble thinking of a situation. Could anyone share an example?”
Chris hit it on the head with Enron. If the moral values of an organization place apparently positive but potentially negative achievements, negative focus, negative emphasis in the ‘good organizational behavior’ column, it can have a negative impact on that organization.
If, in your home, you tell your kids that the right thing to do is to ‘look out for yourself first’ – many may feel that this is legitimate, positive advice in the best interest of the kids, but stakeholder analysis shows that it can have a negative impact on other stakeholders that your family touches, like neighbors, other family members, society, any other people in need, and even your children themselves, from a possible social block.
If everyone was given this advice familiarly and socially, and it became imprinted, and most learned to accept it as truth, there might be no philanthropy for example. If there was no philanthropy, research might be relegated to what research firms could generate on their own without financial help, and many diseases might kill millions more due to a lack of research.
A stretch, to be sure, but an example none the less.
John.
Thread:W2Q1. Moral Values
Post:Re: W2Q1. Moral Values
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “What moral values are embodied in your organizational culture? What is the impact of these values on the conduct of your organization? Is the impact good or bad for the organization?”
In my organizational culture, (a subculture of Rider University, which has been examined by others here and I agree with their statements. and a superculture of my own office, instructional technology and training) the Office of Information Technologies, the moral priorities, unfortunately, are to:
resolving issues,
keeping fires to a minimum,
keeping ‘important people’ happy,
finishing projects,
enforcing security,
thinking ahead,
assuming responsibility,
keeping your head down,
following the chain of command,
Going against any of these, for most any reason, will result in some sort of reprimand, reminder, slap-on-the-wrist, or out-grouping, where you’re essentially not kept in the loop anymore.
I think we should be focusing on:
customer service,
calm and quiet help, support, and environments
a great attitude
communication
trust
democracy
cross training
mentoring and collaboration
removing barriers
and right now, due to a pretty strong disconnect between these two lists, I feel really kind of discouraged with my super-organization.
My primary organization, Instructional Technology and Training, has essentially just begun to redefine its culture, now in a physical, sensory way (furniture, hardware, paint, and environment), and in the past few months in a psychological, work process way.
In instructional technology and training, we are definitely trying to focus on the second list, and have a great number of these values in our culture right now. We’re trying to infect our parent organization with the successes we’ve found in the cultural change, but we’re finding some resistance, because change is different.
John.
Thread:Continuing Discussions from last week.
Post:Relative Ethics and Big Media
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “As a nation, do we tend to care less about a successful organization? In other words, because AT&T and Apple are mega-big organization, do we take it for granted that these organizations should be subject to theft and hacking? Does the same hold true with the ultra wealthy in the country? Do we think it is “less unethical” to steal from the rich … or to steal from the government, because they or it is viewed as well to do?”
I think that many in our national society who would never consider going into a store and shoplifting don’t think twice about other kinds of stealing, because it seems much less like stealing.
When we download music or movies from the internet, there are several justifications that might run through your mind, some of which touch on Tim’s issues concerning one bending their ethical standards due to the size or success of the stakeholding organization.
1. The music company/favorite singer is never going to miss my $1/$5/$15
2. I paid $6 to see that in the theater, so this movie shouldn’t cost me anything.
3. This is just like listening to it on the radio/tv, so it should be free.
4. This movie’s not worth the $15 I’d have to pay for the DVD.
5. If the media company can’t stop me from ripping the media, it’s a flaw in their technical abilities.
6. I would never watch/buy/borrow this if it weren’t available for free.
7. Netflix got their $20, and the media company got their part, so it’s okay for me to copy this DVD before I send it back.
8. Everyone else is doing it, so why should I miss out?
This all seems like an example of Ethical Relativism, where “moral correctness is determined according to the standards set by the individual or the individual’s culture (Glaid, 2007)” and seems rather naive, compared to any of the other standards we might apply, such as any stakeholder analyses, which quickly determine the proper ethical stance and potential damages done to the media companies when media is simply ripped and redistributed freely.
John.
Thread:Continuing Discussions from last week.
Post:Re: Continuing Discussions (iPhone)
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Monday, September 17, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim said about the iPhone Hacker “Imagine you are Apple, and you have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in research and development in the design of the i-Phone. Furthermore, imagine, in an effort to make the phone (somewhat) affordable, you offer the phone to one of the big cellular providers, and AT&T outbids Verizon, and agrees to pay hundreds of millions in dollars in order to secure EXCLUSIVE rights to the new phone. (Note, even at $599, the phone is sold at approximately half of the true cost … in exchange for the 2-year guarantee of network usage.)
Imagine that as a customer, you agree to the terms and conditions of Apple and AT&T, and you sign a contract agreeing to remain on the AT&T network for a period of at least two years.
Therefore, how can anyone dispute AT&T and Apple’s legal position in the industry? What right does a hacker have in breaking into the code, and then exposing this proprietary information onto the Internet?”
I’m in agreement with these points, but I’m also thinking of other stakeholders, including the customers on other networks besides AT&T that:
1. were not expecting their bandwidth to be used by iPhone customers,
2. were not expecting to have untested, unwelcome, unauthorized network users,
3. do not know if there is a flaw in the hardware or software in the iPhone that exposes or subjects them to security, privacy, or other personal information issues.
There is a lot wrong from a security and standards perspective with an untested, unknown device being thrust onto a network or system that was not expecting it.
I’m as much into freedom as the next hacker, and was very excited about this issue when I heard the news story, but after looking at it with an ethical eye, I was much less enthused. iPhone users should expect a less open environment in the near future, since Apple will likely take steps to re-smith some chinks in their armor.
John.
Thread:Continuing Discussions from last week.
Post:Continuing Discussions from last week.
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Monday, September 17, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Mini says about an internet services company ” they said that was their policy (to charge $180 for late cancellation) and I was furious about it, and they said it was in the fine print and I was more than welcome to cancel the service but it would be effective august 2008.
I tried to explain to the rep as to why I was not able to call them to cancel because I did not have connection and was no able to even use the internet for a day. Anyways they finally after two days refunded me $100 and I am not so happy about it. This experience with this company has left me so frustrated and furious.”
If we were to do a stakeholder analysis on the ethics of this issue, considering the company, the customers, and others as stakeholders, they might see the error of their ways. We would see that the customer has a great level of financial voting power, and that the customer is being burned. We would see that there is a short term gain for the company, but a long term disbenefit for the company.
The whole point of the trial was not to frustrate you, but rather to give you a good taste of the service for free, in the hopes that you would decide to start paying at the end of the trial. Instead, they’re relying on a technicality to take money out of your pocket, destroying a potential future customer, and creating bad karma in the process.
If we asked Laura Nash’s 12 questions, we’d begin to see the senselessness of their actions.
John.
Thread:Week One Summary – Thread
Post:Re: Week One Summary – Thread
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Saturday, September 15, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
This week, as I read Weiss and tried to question my own ethical stance, I was alarmed and surprised to find out that very often I am using individualized, highly biased and flawed ethical decision making techniques. I have always been a little bit confused about ethics in business, and now I’m starting to see why – I was trying to see ethics in terms of black and white, in absolutes, and of course I’m beginning to realize the thousand shades of gray, many of which are ethically sound.
I’ve begun important discussions with friends, classmates, and family about ethical issues that I only debated internally before, and while I’m not always happy with the alternative views, I’m happy that I’m beginning to acknowledge them.
I was very surprised at the strong negative reactions to some of the techniques in the Weiss text amongst close friends of mine, who decided for instance that taking a stakeholder analysis approach (and plotting support/nonsupport/mixed blessing amongst stakeholders to determine ethical validity) for ethical decision making was in their opinion inherently flawed because it took all views into account.
These dissenting friends much preferred focusing on one or two important views (customer or stockholder, etc.), a commonly applied approach which now I see as very flawed.
I’m struggling with these issues right now, but I feel like I’ve never really even thought about them before, so I’m very happy with the struggle.
John.
Thread:W1Q2 – Business Ethics
Post:Re: W1Q2 – Business Ethics
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Friday, September 14, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tracy says “On the internet, when we sign up for an account, there is usually an agreement that has to be agreed to as well. I usually always check the “I Agree” box which enables me to continue to sign up for the account or what ever I am trying to do online. Is this a type of CODE OF CONDUCT as well?”
This is typically referred to as an agreement, such as Microsoft’s EULA, or End User License Agreement, which often says things like “You shall not resell this software” and “You are agreeing to use this software in one place at a time on one computer” and is very often seen by technologists and consumers alike as a nuisance that we often click right by without reading, but very often we are actually disowning certain rights when we agree to those agreements with those clicks. These are very often negative rights by Weiss’ definition, or rights that define a duty that others have not to interfere with actions related to a person’s rights, such as the consumer’s duty to not interfere with Microsoft’s right to make all the money in the world from consumers.
There are other ways of thinking about rights in the software world, and one centers on the free software movement, in which you still agree to an agreement, such as the GNU General Public License, but that agreement gives you the right to freely modify, resell, and otherwise benefit from in as many ways as you can think of from the software protected by that license.
One example of a GPL requirement is regarding redistribution:
Source: GNU General Public License – GNU Project – Free Software Foundation (FSF)
Address : http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html
Date Visited: Fri Sep 14 2007 16:31:35 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time)
4. Conveying Verbatim Copies.
You may convey verbatim copies of the Program’s source code as you receive it, in any medium, provided that you conspicuously and appropriately publish on each copy an appropriate copyright notice; keep intact all notices stating that this License and any non-permissive terms added in accord with section 7 apply to the code; keep intact all notices of the absence of any warranty; and give all recipients a copy of this License along with the Program.
You may charge any price or no price for each copy that you convey, and you may offer support or warranty protection for a fee.
Microsoft’s EULA very often has profits and self-protection at its moral core. Microsoft would never consider either giving away software source code, nor allowing someone besides themselves to charge for it. Free Software Foundation’s GPL almost always has code improvement, unlimited distribution, and evolutionary forward movement at its moral core. They want as many people as possible to make the best software possible, and to share it with as many people as they can, without restrictions due to money, knowledge, or other thresholds.
I would say that the agreement very often aligns with each organization’s code of conduct, but not that the agreement is a code of conduct in and of itself.
Further, EULA’s have been targeted as unreasonable by some, including Cory Doctorow who says:
Source: ReasonableAgreement.org – the anti-EULA – Boing Boing
Address : http://www.boingboing.net/2007/01/25/reasonableagreemento.html
Date Visited: Fri Sep 14 2007 16:38:30 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time)
Who knows if this stuff is enforceable? The case law is all over the place. What if you’re under-age? Drunk? Using someone else’s computer — do you agree on your parents’ behalf when you install software at their place over the holidays?
and has gone as far as to create a group called “Reasonable Agreement” which uses a bogus EULA to emphasize the sometime irrationality and questionable ethics of these click-to-agree methods.
John.
Thread:W1Q3 – Organizational Culture
Post:gethuman movement
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Friday, September 14, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Chris commented that ” John, this reminds me of how I feel each time I need to make a phone call and get the voice ‘menu’ – you know, the ‘press 1 if you want this; press 2 if you want that, etc. Many times, I don’t want or need any of those options for my question. Sometimes there is no other choice but to select an option and hopefully get a live person who can then transfer you around until you actually get someone who can help you. Arrrggghhh!”
As a member of an organization who makes very strong use of exactly that sort of menu in our helpdesk voice system, I am reminded that despite our best efforts to serve, we can sometimes turn people off before we even talk to them. The worst thing is when someone navigates through that menu and gets to the wrong person unknowingly and has to start over.
I try to let people know that they can call me directly if they have an issue with X, where X is something that I can help them with directly, like training or Blackboard, etc.,
Ethically, however, this is flawed, as I am reminded regularly by my organization that we should always try to get people to call x3000 first, and let that system direct them to us as it should, because someone always answers at x3000, x3000 is easier to remember than x7145, x3000 calls are logged and recorded, and so on.
Interestingly, there is a movement called ‘gethuman’ that allow you to know how to bypass the menu structure to get a human on the phone immediately for many organizations. You can see a variety of these resources on the social bookmarking site del.icio.us at http://del.icio.us/tag/gethuman
And of course, if you ever want to talk to a human at Rider, anyone here should feel free to call me at 609 896 5000 x7145
John.
Thread:W1Q2 – Business Ethics
Post:Fairness and ethical relativism.
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Friday, September 14, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Nicole says “When I think of the word “ethical” I think of the word ‘fairness’.”
When I think of the word “fairness” in terms of ethics, I think of Weiss’ outline of “Five Ethical Decision Making Principles and Stakeholder Analysis” (2006, p. 121), in particular, the principle of Justice, in which “moral authority is determined by the extent opportunities, wealth, and burdens are fairly distributed among all” (2006, p. 121). In addition to determining ethical value via a decision’s level of fairness, you might also consider the Utilitarian approach, which focuses on choosing the best outcome despite inequity of fairness (2006, p. 123), or the Universalist approach, which tries to determine what everyone else in the world (all of them) would feel comfortable deciding to do, given the same issue, regardless of fairness (2006, p. 124).
Nicole says “If you think and ask yourself if this a fair act, procedure,behavior, and will this disadvantage others as a result before you act, it would eliminate alot of unethicalness. “
I’m not sure, but your approach seems to one of Ethical Relativism, in which “the individual’s self-interest and values and relevant for judging his or her behavior” (2006, p. 132). If this is true, your question about whether or not something is a fair act is asked in terms of your own sense of fairness as opposed to a social, industrial, or some other standard.
I would say that a seemingly effective starting point for beginning to address ethical issues with inquiry is by using Laura Nash’s Twelve Questions to ask yourself during the decision making process, including the questions “have you defined the problem accurately, who could your decision injure, and could you disclose, without qualm, your decision?” (Weiss, 2006, pp. 117-118)
While I was having some trouble “getting into” the Weiss text up until now, I really enjoyed this particular chapter.
John.
References:
Weiss, J. W. (2006). Business Ethics: A Stakeholder And Issues Management Approach. South-Western Pub.
Thread:W1Q2 – Business Ethics
Post:Ethics of printing.
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Friday, September 14, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Stacey said “The reason for this being that many employees were printing personal documents and wasting a lot of paper.”
A few years back, Rider began using print proxy software that does not refuse anyone printing anything, but instead asks that you identify yourself before printing documents, confirm which document you actually wish to print, and restricts printing by number of pages per print per session. This has saved us thousands upon thousands in paper. An overview appears in the Student RiderNet Handbook:
EasyPrint is a print management system that assists clients to reduce paper waste by allowing them to view submitted jobs and release only those that they actually wish to print out. Clients can send several jobs to the print location of their choice. Unwanted
jobs can be manually deleted or will automatically be deleted after 4 hours. This process allows the university to partner with its internal clients to reduce wasteful printing as well as the impact it has on the environment.
I thought this was an interesting in that sometimes technology can become an automated surrogate for an ethical code enforcer. This has some obvious cons, of course, such as the lack of flexibility, or human intervention for special circumstances. Though, one could always call the help desk in the event of a special need.
John.
Thread:W1Q2 – Business Ethics
Post:Rider and Moral Management
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Friday, September 14, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Lauren says “The University has its polilcies stated on the Web site in the Human Resources section – these policies outline things such as sick leave, military leave, taking classes during work hours, flextime policy as well as Q &As to certain policies.”
In my quest for a proper authority/guide/comprehensive policy, which has been going on for years, I found the HR page you referenced. OIT also has a set of policies that address various issues, such as copyright, proper use of the network, etc.
Source: Rider University – Policies and Publications
Address :
Date Visited: Fri Sep 14 2007 09:57:43 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time)
Publications
* RiderNet Student Guide
* RiderNet Faculty Staff Guide
Policies
* Windows Vista Upgrade
* Computer Needs
* Rights and Responsibilities of Users of the Rider University Computer Network
* Decentralized Business and Networking Systems
* External Application Development and Support
* Workstation Standards and Migration Policy
* Rider Email as Official Communication for Students
* Copyright Infringement and Fair Use Guidelines
* Digital Millennium Copyright Act
But the HR policies and the OIT policies and other departmental and divisional policies should be together in my opinion. They should be collectively reviewed and edited for continuity and consistency, speak to some commonality, and reinforce and clarify direction, stance, and purpose.
Weiss talks about Moral Management (emphasis added by me), as opposed to Immoral or Amoral Management as one in which
“ethics codes are established, communicated, and included in training; employee rights are built into visible policies that are enforced; and employees and other stakeholders are treated with respect and trust” (2006, p. 135).
I think that in terms of communicating ethical code, Rider only partially, or in some cases, minimally, meets this definition of a Moral Management style, as defined. How can we resolve this?
Are the policies already all there waiting to be brought together, bound and distributed? Do we need only to make posters and training programs for extant comprehensive, university wide policy? Or are the policies in flux, unwritten, only tribally communicated, and therefore unsettlingly flexible? Could/should/will a committee be created to produce a comprehensive code of ethics for Rider Community members?
John.
Thread:W1Q2 – Business Ethics
Post:Re: W1Q2 – Business Ethics
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Thursday, September 13, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Laurie,
I’m assuming that requirement is referring to the referenced code from The Source. I’m saying that as an employee, I often struggle with issues that are easily resolved for students by The Source. I think I just discovered a new campaign for myself: A Source for employees.
John.
Thread:W1Q2 – Business Ethics
Post:Re: W1Q2 – Business Ethics
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Thursday, September 13, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Lauren says “It’s frustrating to me because I feel we are given a large allocation of vacation time as well as administrative sick time so there is no need to neglect to mark it down on the monthly time sheet.”
Without a doubt, I’d be frustrated too. It makes sense, too, that you’re frustrated, if we consult Equity Theory.
Equity Theory is described by Park et. al. here:
“Mathematically, Equity Theory predicts that people will be uncomfortable in relationships in which their own ratio of inputs to outcomes is not equivalent to the other party’s ratio of inputs to outcomes.”
According to equity theory, your perceived imbalance between what you are gaining and losing versus peers who are doing less, but getting more, puts you and those co-workers in an uncomfortable position, and that never makes for a good organizational culture.
Best of luck with resolving this imbalance!
John.
References:
Park, H. S., Kingsley, C., & Lee, H. E. (2005). A Test of Equity Theory in the Context of Workplace Friendship. Conference Papers — International Communication Association, 1-36. Retrieved September 13, 2007, from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ufh&AN=18654920&site=ehost-live
Thread:W1Q2 – Business Ethics
Post:Re: W1Q2 – Business Ethics
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Thursday, September 13, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “Does your organization have a formal policy of ethical behavior? For example, does your organization maintain a CODE OF CONDUCT? How does your organization communicate the expected behavior of its members?”
Attached is the introduction to Rider’s Code of Academic Conduct from The Source on page 10. It says in part that “Academic honesty constitutes the cornerstone of the academic community.” It goes on to describe various ways in which Academic honesty is exemplified and practiced. I must say it is much clearer for students than for staff to discern Rider’s expected ethics, because there is no equivalent, currently, to The Source for staff at Rider. We can gather some of the expected behaviors from the guidelines given to students there, but for the most part, organizational culture, business ethics, and expected OB is communicated verbally or sub-culturally, at the divisional or sub-divisional level. For me, expected behavior is most often clarified after I do something that is not expected behavior.
I attribute this in large part to a missing universal Rider code of conduct, set of guidelines, or other directional guide for staff, faculty, and students here.
One of the reasons why I had to research what I was supposed to do in regards to releasing student information is that neither the Registrar, Academic Affairs, OIT, Rider, or and sub-organization of any of these have a single, comprehensive, collective published policy or guide on copyright protection, FERPA adherence, or any of a hundred other academically related ethical issue.
I only know how I am supposed to act because of experience, research, and interpersonal guidance.
But it would be nice to have a single central electronic or paper reference that is correct and updated regularly.
John.
Thread:W1Q3 – Organizational Culture
Post:Re: Aural Organizational Culture
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Thursday, September 13, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Chadi says “For most of the positions, during the initial phone screening, you can not grasp the organizational culture.”
Chadi, I wonder if either…
1) the interviewee could work to discern some organizational cultural elements by asking the right questions, listening for clues, or by interpreting some of the cultural style even just by the way their call is handled, or the way a voice mail message is requested, or…
2) if an interviewer/sales manager/secretary/front desk could make a strong effort to clarify and reinforce the actual organizational culture to the potential new hire/customer/client/vendor by the tone of their voice, the way questions are asked, a presence or lack of interruption, intent listening, communication reinforcing verbal feedback, background sounds (music, laughing, chimes, quiet), the quality of the connection (avoiding using a cell phone) etc.
It seems like in many cases the phone based interview is the only way to reasonably screen a large pool of candidates, and that making a first good organizational cultural impression can be emphasized even using this technique. Also, I use email most often to communicate, with phone a close second – if I can’t reinforce a strong, high quality culture using that limited communication channel richness, I am at a disadvantage.
Has anyone ever become excited or dismissive due to the initial or subsequent phone contact with a company as a interviewee, customer, or in some other stakeholder capacity?
John
Thread:W1Q3 – Organizational Culture
Post:Re: W1Q3 – Organizational Culture
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “What are the observable aspects of organization culture? What conclusions can be drawn from an initial visit to an organization? How can you use those conclusions to identify organizational culture? How can you discern the ethics of organization, by understanding its culture?”
Organizational culture is the observable set of elements that are presented by an organization – it is the modifiable, planned and reinforced items that can be sensed: seen, heard, felt, smelled, tasted. The way that employees act towards each other, the ways customers are greeted, the decor, the music or lack of it, the way people in the organization dress, etc. are all elements of organizational culture.
If you visit an organization and the people at the front desk are hurried, busy, rude, stressed, and impatient, that becomes the expected nature of the organization – an expectation for your subsequent visits. If there is loud, raucous music playing, it affects the way a customer feels about the organization. If people run around in jeans and t-shirts of every imaginable size, color, and style, it sends a message to people inside and outside of the culture. If people in the organization openly gossip, curse, or insult, it will have an effect on observers of this behavior, and if it is accepted behavior, left unchecked, it can be considered part of the culture.
Once you begin to understand the culture of an organization, you can start to draw conclusions about its ethical stance. If the organizational culture permits, allows, or reinforces bad organizational behavior, such as stealing, racism, disrespect, or malfeasance, the organization will become more comfortable in committing to other unethical organizational behaviors.
John.
Thread:Your MacBook
Post:Re: Your MacBook
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “I saw in the news two weeks ago, where a guy actually cracked into the security of the iPhone, and rerouted the instructions to allow its use on the GSM network. He then posted the instructions on the Internet. Is that ethical?”
Weiss would ask us to do a stakeholder analysis. Who does this affect, and where would they stand in the support continnum?
This affects AT&T, who would be non-supporters.
This affects Apple who would likely be non-supporters.
This affects the iPhone owners who would be likely Supporters, or mixed-blessing (undecided, high impact, likely supporters). Some might be upset at the introduction of other unsupported networks and the security risks that that might bring.
This affects users of other networks and those networks themselves, who might be happy that they could use iPhones, or upset to see new unofficial, unsupported, unwelcomed traffic on already loaded networks.
This affects the iPhone hacking community, which may not welcome this new high level of scrutiny, or may relish for a short time some sense of victory over the security features, which will likely be reengineered to allow less flexibility, and updated with a patch.
Generally speaking as a third party analyst, my sources say that from a stakeholder perspective, this was unethical.
John.
Thread:W1Q2 – Business Ethics
Post:Re: W1Q2 – Business Ethics
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
In our particular (sub)organizational culture, OIT, promptness and timeliness seem to come second to productivity.
While we are expected to be at work at 8:30 and leave at 5:00, very often we may come in at 8:45 and leave at 4:55, or sometimes come at 7 am and leave at 6:30. There is a clearly reinforced emphasis on productivity, progress, and outcomes over timed, checked hours, and generally, it is not abused. In fact, for some, they must be reminded to go home, and to respect their work life balance. A quiet workspace and free broadband wi-fi is sometimes hard to give up at 5 pm. 😉
I’ve worked in plenty of jobs where a time-clock was used, and all I remember about the process was feeling insulted, sometimes cheated, sometimes worried, often apologetic. For me it was de-motivational. Asking a manager to initial my time-card to confirm some anomaly was, in a phrase, self-degrading.
In our particular (sub) organizational culture, hourly attendance does not seem to be as much of an important ethical issue, as long as the democratic freedom to choose to get the work done, whatever your hours, is not abused.
Sick-day abuse is beginning to get out of hand in my division, though, among some people.
John.
Thread:W1Q2 – Business Ethics
Post:Re: W1Q2 – Business Ethics
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “What is business ethics? Identify a business ethics issue in your workplace and explain its moral implications. What resolution would you recommend for this issue? Why?”
Business ethics is the effective application of social, legal, and industry specific moral obligations to business practices. Saul speaks to the limitations of definitions of business ethics in which include legal or business specific moral codes, but exclude social ones (1981, p. 270).
If we look at business ethics within the norms of a given organization, we might be talking about applied business ethics, which Henry Arthur defines as that which “embraces patterns of business conduct that are accepted as good within the particular environment where they are applied.” (1984, p. 322)
One example of a business ethics issue in my workplace is one where one of my co-workers confided in me that if leadership were to change in our workplace, but the current leadership were to be replaced with a woman, that he would promptly leave, since in his estimation, women do not have the ability to lead effectively.
This violates each of our components of business ethics.
1. Legally, this idea puts us in jeopardy because of the clearly sexist view that might be used in a subsequent lawsuit against our organization alleging unfair treatment.
2. In our industry, leadership has been proven time and again by women. The co-worker’s statement is ignorant of excellence in this area, but also self limiting in terms of future success of our orgnization.
3. Socially, there is very little question that this violates American ethical views. Socially, we’ve grown to amplify the truth of equality between sexes, creeds, and race, and this statement sets us up for a public relations nightmare. I can see the Rider News headlines now: “OIT says Women are Chumps.”
Resolutions are plentiful: they include notification to proper authority about the behavior, clarification of policy of sexism in our workplace, communication of facts about the abilities of women as leaders, education about ethical business practices, and so on.
references:
Arthur, H. B. (1984). Making Business Ethics Useful. Strategic Management Journal, 5(4), 319-333. Retrieved September 11, 2007, from http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0143-2095%28198410%2F12%295%3A4%3C319%3AMBEU%3E2.0.CO%3B2-0
Saul, G. K. (1981). Business Ethics: Where Are We Going? The Academy of Management Review, 6(2), 269-276. Retrieved September 11, 2007, from http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0363-7425%28198104%296%3A2%3C269%3ABEWAWG%3E2.0.CO%3B2-V
Thread:W1Q1 – Organizational Behavior
Post:Re: W1Q1 – Organizational Behavior
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “What is an organization? What is organizational behavior? Why is it important to analyze and understand organizational behavior?”
Tim gave us some clear answers in his lecture. An organization is a group of people that changes and shifts in its ranks and methods, yet retains some continuity of purpose towards goals. Organizational Behavior is the best efforts of those people to work towards those goals in an effective way, a sort of beacon to follow, or a plan or guide.
Being aware of organizational behavior, thinking about it critically and analyzing it, can help leaders to choose the best new directions, to lead change in positive effective ways, to prevent potential organizational clashes and crises, and to motivate and inspire workers to follow a path towards a vision.
One of my focal organizations is the Instructional Technology and Training group, part of the Office of Information technologies organization, which is part of the Rider University organization, which is part of several other organizations. My organization works towards the goals of allowing for the best use of technologies in the interests of teaching and learning, which is part of the more encompassing behaviors of the enveloping organizations.
Our organizational behavior and organizational culture should always drive us towards those goals, and by being analytical and thinking critically about our actions and choices, and by choosing and refining our organizational culture to reinforce our forward movement toward a positive vision, we can see if these actions and choices are in keeping with our best organizational ideals.
John.
Thread:Case: Student Information Ethics Information.
Post:Re: Case: Student Information Ethics Information.
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Monday, September 10, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
It was a very special, very unique situation, technical glitch wise.
I think I also might have just emailed her the information, which would require her to know basically the same authentication as MyInfo.
In retrospect, the MyInfo system should have been looked at by those responsible for it, in order to resolve the issue at hand, which was that room location information was missing for this one student in particular. If I had been able to just resolve that I would have, but Colleague, our student info system, is not my domain.
If MyInfo had been able to provide this information as it should have in the first place, she would not have needed to call, as she was able to get into and see MyInfo just fine.
I think I felt personally invested and responsible, too , because our technology was failing her, and Rider technology is partly my responsibility, though MyInfo is not, in the least.
I have plenty of reasons to follow the policy now, though, to be sure. With all of this time to reflect the right things to do are clear as day.
Thanks, Chris!
John.
Thread:Your MacBook
Post:Re: Your MacBook
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Monday, September 10, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim, I’m looking forward to your call!
John.
Thread:Your MacBook
Post:Re: Your MacBook
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Monday, September 10, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Apple is getting in a little bit of trouble with early adopters of iPhones now too.
Source: Bloomberg.com: Worldwide
Address :
Date Visited: Mon Sep 10 2007 22:15:09 GMT-0400 (EDT)
Apple shares fell 8.6 percent, losing almost $11 billion in market value in three days, after Chief Executive Officer Jobs said on Sept. 5 Apple was slashing the price of the most expensive iPhone by a third. Jobs said today that Apple sold its millionth iPhone on Sept. 9.
The price cut raised concern that demand for the combination mobile phone and iPod music player had stalled. Jobs also said he received hundreds of e-mails from angry customers who paid $599 for the iPhone when it was introduced June 29.
Still, better than where they were 10 years ago. 😉
John.
Thread:Case: Student Information Ethics Information.
Post:Stakeholder Analysis: Student Information Breech
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Monday, September 10, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “Do organizations ever develop policies that are contradictory to ethical behavior and/or legal guidelines? If so, how could this happen? What are the consequences of such guidelines? If you become concerned about an existing organization policy, what does your organization suggest you do … or contact?”
I think that without stakeholder analysis such as that proposed by Weiss, organizations can very often offend the ethics of one stakeholder (registrar) to meet the ethics of another (student).
This can happen because a stakeholder with lots of power or influence can suggest that an organization, team, or individual follow a code that meets their needs while compromising the needs of another stakeholder.
We can apply this to my own “Student Information” scenario. If we were to make a stakeholder map with me as the focal stakeholder in regards to giving out the location of a student’s class over the phone with proper authentication, it could affect Rider University itself in terms of a lawsuit, the student in terms of frustration, the registrar in terms of policy, OIT in terms of the way we are viewed in terms of service, and so on.
Following the registrar’s policy starts to make more and more sense as we discover by doing a stakeholder analysis that most of the stakeholders {president’s office, board members, OIT, Registrar, parents} are non-supporters of me giving out information over the phone, no matter the benefit to the supporting student stakeholder, who might be the only supporting stakeholder in this situation.
I think that there are plenty of people that I could contact if this policy truly concerned me, but I think there are lots of ways that this could have been resolved without breaking policy. If MyInfo had been working as expected that day, for example, this would have been a non-issue.
John.
Thread:Case: Student Information Ethics Information.
Post:Re: encoding vs. communication
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Monday, September 10, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “From an ethical perspective, do we communicate too much as a developed nation and society? Why or why not?”
I would say that we do not communicate enough as a society, only because I feel that what appears as communication is really just encoding and broadcasting, while communication requires listening, interpretation, and feedback. We do lots and lots of encoding, and broadcasting, and have more tools to do so every day, like YouTube, but the concept of information overload, in which we are continuously bombarded with messages, makes it harder to choose which to decode and whether they require or demand feedback.
An article on Semiotics, or communication via symbols, talks about the importance of decoding in the process of communication, and reinforces, I think, that we are not communicating effectively, necessarily, though we may be encoding and broadcasting more efficiently:
Source: Semiotics Home Page
Address : http://php.indiana.edu/~ccolon/Semiotics/ccolon1.html
Date Visited: Mon Sep 10 2007 12:03:57 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time)
Information is the core element of communication science and probably of semiotics as well. I consider information to be the raw material for message construction and the creation of meaning. Signs are a collection of bits and pieces of information. Information is what we decipher from signs. Notice that decoding has to be performed because some sort of coding is always a part of the “creation” of a sign. Even iconic signs which are “a direct representation of a referent” as defined by Danesi, have to be encoded in order to make them deliverable through any given medium.
John.
Thread:Case: Student Information Ethics Information.
Post:Re: Case: Student Information Ethics Information.
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Monday, September 10, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Hi, Mini,
I’m getting a lot of perspective on this issue. I talked to the Department of Education compliance department via a man named Bernie Chaplock. I asked him about my particular situation and all of the variables in the case, to which he replied that by FERPA I am required to reasonably protect the information – and while phone exchanges are not recommended, if I use reasonable authentication measures, such as a unique, little known randomly generated student identifier (BroncID) in order to authenticate, that legally, I am protected.
After explaining the Registrar’s policy on the issue, he said that while I was compliant with the law, Rider likely had every reason to fire me.
At any rate, I’ll be a lot more careful with what I say on the phone from here on out, and I’ll be sure to send the student to OneStop for issues like this in the future.
Thanks so much for helping me with this issue, Mini!
John.
Thread:What is Ethical Behavior?
Post:Re: What if: anonymous lost dollar.
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Monday, September 10, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Easy come easy go. I think we were meant to part – me and both the $50 and the girl.
j.
Thread:News about Chip Implants
Post:sources Re: News about Chip Implants
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Saturday, September 8, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Sorry – source urls were lost in my original post.
http://www.newsvine.com/_news/2007/09/08/949850-chip-implants-linked-to-animal-tumors
and
http://www.inteldaily.com/?c=120&a=3470
j.
Thread:News about Chip Implants
Post:News about Chip Implants
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Saturday, September 8, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
I think Phyllis and I were having a discussion about her new puppy that had a RFID or some other ID chip in it – I have some news I just saw that may or may not be significant. Just FYI!
As the AP will report, a series of research articles spanning more than a decade found that mice and rats injected with glass-encapsulated RFID transponders developed malignant, fast-growing, lethal cancers in up to 1% to 10% of cases. The tumors originated in the tissue surrounding the microchips and often grew to completely surround the devices, the researchers said.
Source: Microchip implants cause fast-growing, malignant tumors in lab animals: Damning research findings could spell the end of VeriChip
Address :
and another article here:
“The transponders were the cause of the tumors,” said Keith Johnson, a retired toxicologic pathologist, explaining in a phone interview the findings of a 1996 study he led at the Dow Chemical Co. in Midland, Mich.
Leading cancer specialists reviewed the research for The Associated Press and, while cautioning that animal test results do not necessarily apply to humans, said the findings troubled them. Some said they would not allow family members to receive implants, and all urged further research before the glass-encased transponders are widely implanted in people.
Source: Newsvine – Chip Implants Linked to Animal Tumors
Address :
Just thought I’d share, but it seems like this could also be a topic for discussion regarding ethics in business.
John.
Thread:Your MacBook
Post:Your MacBook
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Saturday, September 8, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim, I’m excited to learn that you have a MacBook – I’m assuming you also have a built in iSight camera – in regards to your interest in potentially using YouTube, it should make things about 150% easier from either OS.
You’re essentially one free account and two clicks away from publishing a one-take talking head video right now. I think it might be a great way to consider delivering (or accompanying) one or two of your weekly lectures.
Hope to talk to you in a different capacity at your leisure, if you are so inclined. 609 896 5000 x7145.
John.
Thread:Weiss’ Case 2: Microsoft Monopoly
Post:Weiss’ Case 2: Microsoft Monopoly
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Saturday, September 8, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
I just finished reading Weiss’ case 2 on the Microsoft Monopoly. Then, about 5 minutes later, I read my RSS feeds, in which I found an article on how Apple is the new Microsoft, monopolistically speaking.
The article, located at this pcworld.com page says, in part
“The most vociferous Microsoft haters slammed the company for being a greedy industry bully that used its monopolistic, clunky, copycat operating system to force software on users and coerce partners into unfair licensing deals.
Don’t look now, but the role of the industry’s biggest bully is increasingly played by Apple, not Microsoft. Here’s a look at how Apple has shoved Microsoft aside as the company with the worst reputation as a monopolist, copycat and a bully.”
While I am an Apple, Inc. fan, I have to say I agree. I’m writing this from a brand new MacBook Pro, one that made it particularly easy for me to post my YouTube video last night, since it has a built in video camera, free video editing software, and a deliriously fast processor. But I definitely see that their dominance in some markets, like music players, is making it harder and harder to use competitors’ products.
Just figured that I’d share what I thought was an interesting article that shows what can happen in an industry within 10 years and how history repeats itself with the same characters in different roles.
John.
Thread:Case: Student Information Ethics Information.
Post:Re: Case: Student Information Ethics Information.
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Saturday, September 8, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Phyllis says “However, with the camera in such close range I’d need a full face of makeup and proper lighting”.
I’m really glad you caught what I was throwing. I probably could have stood back a bit from the camera. I hope no one was scared. 😉
YouTube has great pedagogical potential for all of us.
Another way many distance learning courses are beginning to bridge the physio-digital barrier is by virtual environments, like SecondLife. http://secondlife.com
In fact, SecondLife begins to solve the issues of self-image-awareness and the recognizance all of our various imperfections by replacing our actual selves with body-linguistic, talking, moving, completely customizable avatars. It’s like so many video games, where you can affect what you look like, and fly around, and talk with others, but instead of trying to capture a flag, hit a ball, or shoot something, the point of the game is to build virtual interpersonal relationships.
And you can be as pretty or as tall or as anything as you like.
I’m working very hard to begin to implement these and other technologies into Rider faculty, staff and student tool sets.
Both YouTube and SecondLife are free, as are all of the other tools I tend to advocate.
I’m sure that we’ll all start to learn the important laws and rules for all of our industries as we begin to unearth our ethical dilemmas. I’m waiting for the feds to show up any minute now. 😉
And on the topic of RFID planting, I’m surprised they haven’t started trying putting chips in babies yet.
No more lost kids, no more switched at birth, and no more privacy. When Weiss says that technology and information being neutral and amoral is a myth (2006, p. 19), I’m with him one hundred percent.
John.
Thread:Case: Student Information Ethics Information.
Post:Re: Case: Student Information Ethics Information.
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Saturday, September 8, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
I appreciate the opportunity to discuss this issue.
Tim related that “In the scenario you introduced, it is important to consider the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), which prohibits releasing personal information, even under circumstances when the intentions are sincere.”
I am basically aware of FERPA requirements, though I’m no expert by any stretch of the imagination. We would never give out someone’s SSN, for instance.
At http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/index.html a brief overview of the FERPA law is stated.
The requirement in question (standard procedure) from the Registrar was that the student come in with a photo ID in order to acquire the information. I don’t interpret FERPA from the synopsis on this site to make the same requirement, though I’m not an expert. I think that in most cases, this would be a reasonable request.
FERPA states, in part, that “Schools are not required to provide copies of records unless, for reasons such as great distance, it is impossible for parents or eligible students to review the records. Schools may charge a fee for copies.” (http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/index.html)
Would a Rider distance learning teacher in Louisiana, or a distance learning student in Texas have to drive to Lawrenceville, NJ with a Bronc ID card they don’t yet have, in order to prove that they were who they said they were in order to find out some key piece of information about their classes?
This adds another dimension, as we, as distance learning students, would not have to know where our class was taking place, but there might be another piece of required information that would require proper authentication under FERPA or related laws.
If this was a student in California or China, would I still have had to give the answer that they’d have to come in with an ID?
This information was required for a class the very next day at 8 am. The student was not able to physically get to campus before then. The MyInfo system was not providing the necessary information as it should have, and so, an alternative method was required. I was able to verify to a reliable degree that this was the student who I was supposed to have been speaking to.
And I really hope I did the right thing. 😦
John.
Thread:Biography
Post:Re: visual cues and distance learning.
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Saturday, September 8, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Thanks, Tim.
I really think that infrequent, intermittent use of supplemental technologies like YouTube can help us to break through some of the barriers that distance learning tends to impose, and make learning richer.
Tashira, I think and hope that we can all learn from and teach each other here. I certainly have learned a lot from you and everyone else in these classes. Right now, I’m learning all about FERPA. 😉
I sincerely apologize if I overstepped my bounds.
John.
Thread:Case: Student Information Ethics Information.
Post:Case: Student Information Ethics Information.
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Friday, September 7, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
As an experiment, I’m making tonight’s post in video format, using YouTube – I describe a recent ethical situation that I’m looking for some direction on. Enjoy! – John.
Thread:Biography
Post:Re: visual cues and distance learning.
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Friday, September 7, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Phyllis says “This was not an easy decision for me to join the classes as I get so much from classroom discussions and have always relied heavily on body language when communicating.”
In response to Phyllis’ idea of the missing visual cues of distance learning interactions, I decided to do tonight’s post as a youtube video. Take a look in the week 0 forum for a post on student information ethics issues to see what I mean. Thanks for the inspiration, Phyllis.
John.
Thread:What is Ethical Behavior?
Post:Re: What is Ethical Behavior?
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Friday, September 7, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Phyllis says “In our society, noone was hurt, just thirsty.”
Hi, Phyllis, and welcome! I think a new t-shirt was just born with your slogan on it. Maybe with a Starbucks logo on the back. 😉
John.
Thread:What is Ethical Behavior?
Post:Re: What is Ethical Behavior?
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Thursday, September 6, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
David says “What are the standards of conduct? Who has set them? Who deems them not only acceptable, but also professional? A company, perhaps…But what if the company that has these standards of conduct is corrupt? Wouldn’t following their ethical standards be unethical for others?”
That’s just it, I think: the shining ethics of one organization can be the dark ethics of another. If Phillip Morris and the American Heart and Lung Association were to compare their ethical codes, there would be great swaths of difference that both companies would argue vehemently for.
Plus, determining which organization has a more legitimate ethical code might be answered differently by different deciding bodies, who may have ethical codes of their own, with biases, influences, and experiences as a result.
I’m with David – this is cool, interesting stuff.
John.
Thread:What is Ethical Behavior?
Post:Re: What if: anonymous lost $500 bill.
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Thursday, September 6, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Mini, there’s a coffee in your future. 😉
I don’t know at what point I’d consider not spending the money if it was unclear whose it was. $100 isn’t it. $200 isn’t it either. We’re talking about my personal ethics here, of course.
If it was something like a $500 bill, I think I’d start to feel a little queasy about just sticking it in my pocket. I would probably pick it up, pocket it, and put up a big note that said “LOSE SOMETHING HERE? Call John at 897 987 9879” and if someone could tell me the denomination, it would be theirs. If I didn’t get a call in a week or so, I’d feel better about spending it.
I would forego the note for an anonymous $10 or $20 to be sure. But now I feel kind of bad.
John.
Thread:What is Ethical Behavior?
Post:Re: What if: anonymous lost dollar.
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Thursday, September 6, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Stacey, I have to tell you a feel a bit better, now that I know your what-if answer.
The most I ever found was a fifty dollar bill in a mall parking lot with no one around. At the time I was walking into the mall with a girl I was infatuated with. I was about 18 at the time. I handed her the $50, figuring we’d do something nice with it together. She put it in her pocket with a quick “Really? Thanks!” and I never did find out how it was spent.
There’s an ethics lesson there too. The relationship didn’t work out. 😉
John.
Thread:What is Ethical Behavior?
Post:Re: What is Ethical Behavior?
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Thursday, September 6, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Tim asks “Who determines what is ethical, and what is not?”
Well, I think it’s a contingency issue.
Sometimes, I determine what is ethical, as a part of my personal ethical code. I might believe that it is ‘the right thing to do’ to not kill anything, including flies. Someone else might think that it is the right thing to do to kill anything smaller than a squirrel. Someone else might feel comfortable hunting.
I’m hardly ever by myself in ethical decisions, though, and so very often it’s one or two or ten other people who determine or agree upon what’s ethical, through verbalization (Hey, let’s not kill any flies — it’s bad), action (we see a small group sitting, being annoyed by, but not killing any, flies), or writing (a sign saying ‘house rule #1: harm no flies’)
Very often the ethics are determined by much larger groups I belong to, such as Rider University, the township of Lawrence, the state of New Jersey, the United States, humans, etc.
For instance, I think that all humans would likely agree that killing other humans is unethical behavior at its base. Then come the details, like lack of intent, self defense, accidents, etc. that show a killer possibly still behaved ethically, despite the outcome.
In business ethics, Weiss tells us that there are 5 levels at which ethics are determined and affective, namely individual, organizational, association, societal, and international (2006, p. 12) I think that this is another way to look at who says what is right and wrong – I do, my organization does, my associations do, my society, nation, and other nations do.
I imagine agreement upon an ethical framework for all of these levels is highly unlikely. 😉
Thread:What is Ethical Behavior?
Post:What if: anonymous lost dollar.
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Stacey says “For example, if there is someone walking in front of you and you see them drop money, the right thing to do is to hand the money back to the person”
Hi, Stacey – nice to meet you. I would agree with this. I always like to play ‘what if’ to see how the answer changes. While I think many would be glad to give the money back in situations like your scenario, what happens when it’s not clear whose money it is?
Just the other day, as I was walking into a building on campus, I saw a dollar on the ground. I looked around, and saw no one. It quickly became my coffee cash (the shame). Now I wonder, quite seriously: Should I have pinned it up? Left it there? Called security? Would the answer change if it was a $100 bill?
Did anyone here lose a dollar in Cranberry’s? 🙂 I owe you.
John.
Thread:What is Ethical Behavior?
Post:The golden rule and P2P file sharing
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Chadi says “do unto others as you would have them do unto you sums up my definition of ethical behavior.”
Hi, Chadi – it’s great to be working with you again!
I wanted to ask how yu felt your definition spoke to an ethical issue like peer to peer file sharing, (which I thought was an interesting way to open up the Weiss text on Business Ethics). Would it be sound ethical behavior to download copyrighted music for free or not? I think your definition can send people in at least two directions, which is kind of fun.
1. Would you share and give away your innovations for free, expecting that others should do the same? If so, what do you do for a living instead of the creative work?
2. Would you pay for the creative work of others, even when you could get it for free, and expect others to do the same when it came to your creative work? If so, how do you keep technology innovations from infringing on your rights?
I think the issue becomes more complicated when the idea of livelihood comes into play. It’s easier to give your music away when you’re Sir Paul McCartney than when you’re some unknown artist, but Paul McCartney didn’t get his wealth by giving away music. 😉
Thanks for your post, and great to see you.
John.
Thread:Biographies
Post:Re: Biographies
Author:Glaid, Timothy
Date:Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
John,
Your graduation and masters will be here and completed before we know it. Best wishes for continued success.
Welcome to the class, and congratulations on the added responsibilities. In this day and age, the more valuable one becomes to an organization, the harder it is for that organization to replace or remove that individual from his or her position. Keep up the great work.
Regards,
Tim Glaid
9/5/2007
—– forwarded
Hi, everyone.
It’s great to see so many familiar names. I’m John LeMasney, a father and husband, technologist, artist, and designer living right near Rider.
I’ve been working at Rider for 10 years beginning this month. I’m the manager of instructional technology and training at Rider, which means that I’m responsible for running several services at Rider, including http://www.rider.edu, http://blackboard.rider.edu/, http://media.rider.edu, http://ghost.rider.edu, http://search.rider.edu and others. If any here have an issue with Blackboard, chances are I’ll get an opportunity to help you. [609 219 3000]
Due to some successes with faculty technology development, I’m also just now taking over technology training at Rider, which means that if any Rider staff, faculty, or administrators want to innovate in their uses for technology, it’s my responsibility to make sure they get the help that they need. I’m very excited about this new responsibility for my office, and the leadership challenges it brings. [609 896 5000 x7145]
This is my third online class, my second with Tim, and I’m absolutely loving this learning format. I’m pursuing a Master’s in Organizational Leadership. I plan to finish by 2009, and with any luck, it will be all online.
I’m looking forward to another great class.
John.
Thread:Biographies
Post:Re: Biographies
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Good luck, Mel!
John.
Thread:What is Ethical Behavior?
Post:Re: What is Ethical Behavior?
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
I’m sure as we learn, I’ll regret having said anything here, but that’s what learning is about, I guess. 😉
As pure opinion, I’d say that Ethical Behavior is choosing actions based of a code of behavior that aspires to meet an aspired to ideal.
For instance, if I look at a mission or a vision as a sort of ethical code or guide, and I act in the best interests of meeting that vision or mission, I might be able to be considered as behaving ethically within the constraints of the mission.
I might also use the Quran or a Bible or a self help series as my ethical guide, and work within those constraints, behaving ethically within that code.
Without having cracked any of the texts just yet, this is where I’m at right now in terms of my understanding of ethics, which I’m sure is flawed. I’m interested in what everyone else thinks, but I’m also very interested in seeing what the scholars have to say.
John.
Thread:Biographies
Post:Re: Biographies
Author:LeMasney, John
Date:Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Status:PUBLISHED
Overall rating: Not rated
Hi, everyone.
It’s great to see so many familiar names. I’m John LeMasney, a father and husband, technologist, artist, and designer living right near Rider.
I’ve been working at Rider for 10 years beginning this month. I’m the manager of instructional technology and training at Rider, which means that I’m responsible for running several services at Rider, including http://www.rider.edu, http://blackboard.rider.edu/, http://media.rider.edu, http://ghost.rider.edu, http://search.rider.edu and others. If any here have an issue with Blackboard, chances are I’ll get an opportunity to help you. [609 219 3000]
Due to some successes with faculty technology development, I’m also just now taking over technology training at Rider, which means that if any Rider staff, faculty, or administrators want to innovate in their uses for technology, it’s my responsibility to make sure they get the help that they need. I’m very excited about this new responsibility for my office, and the leadership challenges it brings. [609 896 5000 x7145]
This is my third online class, my second with Tim, and I’m absolutely loving this learning format. I’m pursuing a Master’s in Organizational Leadership. I plan to finish by 2009, and with any luck, it will be all online.
I’m looking forward to another great class.
John.
Organizational Leadership Journal 