Week 5_ Blog 4

In the final chapter, chapter 11, two different types of cultures are described. Individualist culture where they view the world from the point of view of the self and collectivist culture is when believe n the common good over self interest, value group and family identity over individual achievement. Referring to the cheer team that I coach, I believe that it is more of a collectivist culture and individualistic culture. If one girl looks bad, she makes the rest of the team look bad as well. This can be applied in any team since there is no I on team.

Week 5_ Blog 3

In chapter 9, motivation is the degree to which an individual is personally committed to expanding effort in the accomplishment of a specific activity or goal. A leader can communicate to its employees by providing information or feedback on tasks, goals, performances and also give them future direction or by communicating encouragement, empathy and concern. As a coach it is important that I motivate them especially in these forms. Whether they are doing a cheer, a routine, or a stunt, I have to give them feedback and constructive criticism so they know where and how to improve. I also must always give encouragements so that they would what to try harder and concern and empathy when it is need.

Week 5_ Blog 5

In the web lecture Democracy and Dialogue the term competitive democracy is referred to as individuals who compete for various positions in government that serve the interests of the larger group. We have a competitive democracy in cheer when it comes to electing a new cheer captain. At the end of every summer after they have had time to get to know each other the girls they nominate and the vote for whom they want as their captain. It is very competitive.

Week 5_ Blog 1

In Chapter 10 the term differentiation caught my eye. Differentiation is a popular business strategy that highlights unique and special qualities of a company’s product or service. Thinking back to my previous work experience I believe that I can relate this term to when I worked for Macy’s. The company really put an emphasis on “outstanding service”. For example, the correct way to answer the phone was by ending the greeting in “How may I provide you with ‘outstanding service’ today?” or when closing a sale we would end it with, “ I hope I was able to provide you with ‘outstanding service’ today”. At Macy’s everything was about the “outstanding service”.

Week 4_ Blog 4

I thought that the web lecture was really interesting. The concept Persuasive Communication Environment is describes as how we communicate today. With recent technology, we are able to communicate whenever with anyone in the world through text, audio, video and voice capabilities. When I studies abroad I was communicated with everyone back home in many ways. I communicated with many of my friends and family through phone calls, email, and sites like myspace and facebook. With communication like this, I had no problem keeping touch. Now that I am home, it has also allowed me to keep in touch with friends that I made abroad and my host family.

Week 4_ Blog 3

In chapter 8 they mentioned how many American work under a team- based organization. A team based organization is one that has restructured itself around independent decision making groups. Some member of a group may work in one or more groups and also have individual responsibilities outside of the group work. In an organization there could be three types of teams: project teams, work teams, and quality improvement teams. I am going to volunteer at the Olympics this summer. There is 160 volunteers from the US are in total we have 16 teams all working and doing different duties and projects. This can be considered work teams.

Week 4_ Blog 2

In Chapter 7 the term Emotional Labor is discussed. Arlie Hochschild describes emotional labor as a type of work wherein employees are paid to create a ‘package’ of emotions. The book gives the example of a flight attendant as emotional labor since they have to have a happy face to ensure that the passengers have an enjoyable ride. Another example is working at a restaurant. There were a couple of times when I had bad days and still had to put on a smile on my face for the guest.