Web Lecture - Demoncracy

One concept mentioned in the web lecture was the different kinds of democracy. I believe it is important to run an organization with a democratic approach as it shows to the employees you care about their opinions. There are different kinds of democracy such as:
1.) Procedural democracy - foundations of democracy— ie voting
2.)Competitive democracy - people compete for various positions to serve the interests of the larger group
3.)Participatory democracy - people do more than vote they actively engage in cooperative activities that will help the group achieve its goals.
4.)Deliberative democracy - reasoned, impartial discussion among all participants with an equal opportunity to present and listen to arguments relevant to the topic.
5.)Dialogic democracy - democracy emphasizing participation, and dialogue in decision making

The democracy I most agree with is the participatory democracy as it allows more active participation from the employees. I also agree with dialogic democracy because its deals more with making the discussion a reality since they can make the decision to make the topic a reality.

Chapter 11 - Being Mindful

Chapter 11 discusses working with integrity, a very important concept in business' these days. One topic I found important was being mindful. The act of being mindful allows an organization to understand talk. Its being considerate of other people. It is important for a business to be considerate of the people they impact--whether it is in terms of pollution, products, service etc. To be mindful they need to think of how people affect would feel by such actions and determine if the action is in the best course of action. It is about thinking of others first before self.

Chapter 10 - Competitive Strategy

Chapter 10 discussed the organizational alignment. One important topic is competitive strategy. Competitive strategy is a statement of why customers should choose a company over its competing companies. Businesses use this strategy, even if they do not intentionally seek to have a competitive strategy. Such strategies can be like: Enterprise "We'll pick you up", State Farms "Like a good neighbor"etc. These strategies can be verbally expressed or subtly implied. Such implied approaches is reducing the price of a product compared to the competitor as though to say "look our product is better because its cheaper". There are various approaches to a competitive strategies, and every company uses one. It is a very important part of running a successful company.

Chpater 9 - Open Communication

Chapter 9 discussed the ways of being a communicative leader (hopefully thats a real "phrase" haha). One topic I felt was important was being a leader with an open communication style. I believe all managers should have an open communication style. Having an open communication with your employees allows for a trust and friendship to be built between the employee and the manager. Open communication would allow for problems (both business as well as personal) to be discussed and solved which creates a healthier, happier person. When there is an open communication built, when there is a problem with an employee and the manager needs to talk to the employee about what they are doing wrong, the employee wont fell threatened or "attacked" by a "stranger", but rather comfortable hearing the flaws coming from a "friend". I believe being open is very important.

Web Lecture - pervasive communication environment

The web lecture discussed a bit on pervasive communication environment. Pervasive communication environment is an environment in which we have multiple means of communication. We live in this environment considering we use email, telephone, texting, video conferencing and instant messaging as a way of our everyday communication. We use these methods for communication with our friends, family and co-workers. We also use video as a media of communication. Most of our cell phones consist of a camera, as result we can snap a picture, upload it to the internet or send as a text and share with others what is happening before us. Our ability to communicate with people has greatly improved in the last several decades.

Chpater 8 - Team - Based Organization

In Chapter 8 there is discussion about team-based organization. This is where members have their own individual responsibilities, but they are also apart of a group. This is an important concept because this is becoming a very common concept in organizations these days. Team work is just as important as working independently and employees need to know how to do both in order to be successful in an organization. These team-based organizations serve around interdependent decision making as a means to improve work processes, better quality and service to customers... which is basically done by the employee individually. So, be better able to work independently, need to be able to work as a team to find better functional ways to work.

Chapter 7 - Personal Brand

In Chapter 7 there is discussion about personal branding. A personal brand is giving one's self a value added commodity/title. Such tactic is being employed even by stay at home moms in such cases as "Family CEO". They have the mentality that running a family is the equivalent to running a business, so they treat the family life as if it were an enterprise.
While I can understand the mentality of such thought, I have to disagree in it. As the book stated "developing family 'mission statements' and treating the family as an enterprise.." I believe this is an inappropriate way to view a family. Yes, running a family can be hard work, I wouldn't equate it to a job, especially since people generally tend to dread their job over time (given the fact that it is rare to find someone in love in what they do for a living.) So for a child who realizes this same concept, that people don't always like their job, my mom views my family as a job, thus does that mean mommy doesn't like us....... Children as bright and very perceptive and can pick up on these little things and it wouldn't surprise me if a child, young or teen begins to feel separate from their mother because they believe their mom dislikes her "job". But that is just my opinion.