Connections Post 3

I was reviewing for our last test and connected to the Fair Labor Standards Act which established minimum wage and overtime pay. I used to work for a company and worked for a salary instead of an hourly wage. I was told when I accepted the salary wage that I would be required to work a minimum of 60 hours a week. I did this for a period of time until I realized that because I was not considered an exempt employee (which basically means that I was not a member of management, and did not make any decisions for the company directly) that I should have been being paid overtime for the extra 20 hours a week I was "required" to work. When I approached my supervisor with this information I was told that I would either work the hours or they would dock my pay. So when we discussed the Fair Labor Standards Act it reminded me of this situation I found myself in. I ended up leaving this employer and was eventually compensated for the overtime pay I was entitled to but I don't believe employers should automatically assume that their employees do not know the law and/or will not figure it out not fight for what is legally theirs.

Connection Post 1

In the very beggining of the semester we learned about different kinds of mergers. I found this chapter interesting because I work at Wells Fargo and we recently went through a merger with Wachovia. I could relate to this topic in that we are both banks, we merged, and all Wachovias will now turn into Wells Fargo's. I liked that I got to have an "insider" look into the whole merger process, and the exact mechanics of what really happens and how the companies are changed.

Happy Thanksgiving... next scribe...

Reminder: We will not be meeting next week.  Everyone should be working on their group projects.  Group projects are due December 6th (one week after we return from Thanksgiving break)!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

The next scribe will be AdamBlinn!

Connections Post II

In one of our lectures we looked at products and saw how some of the manufacturers did. I'd like to look back at the video we saw in class of the little girl and her idea of nifty things for a locker. A simple idea like that came out to gross nearly 20 million dollars. I was blown away after watching the video. I took it upon myself to figure out what you have to go through in order to patent and manufacture your own idea. First the inventor or idealist needs to see if the idea isn't already out on the market. Then you need to have a firm conduct a patent search. The firm lets the inventor know about all the different products that can be related to the product having the search. After that it goes to marketing mix and who you can get to rep your product. This process lead me to an idea of my own and I have taken the following steps in order to bring my idea to life.

Connections Post 2

Last week we discussed the Maternity/Paternity Leave during article discussion. I can relate to this because I recently regained custody of my two daughters and can understand why parents would need this time to bond, adjust to life with a child, ect. My ex-husband has only had custody of my daughters for four years but it has been extremely difficult for me to adjust to having them home permanently. On top of continuing my own education and being a full time college student I have also had to incorporate both of thier schedules into mine. You would think as a parent that you never get used to not having your children around every day but believe me it is ALOT more difficult when you have been without them.

Connections Post 1

Recently in class we discussed the equity theory. I can relate to this because I used to work for a company who hired a new person which I had to train basically to do my job, once I trained him he was promoted to manage the accounting department and I was moved to the service department. However, he was never responsible for all the tasks I was doing and continued to do even after being moved to a different department. I later found out that he was being paid twice as much as I was but not responsible for a quarter of the work. This made me very angry as I had been with this company for three years and in a matter of six months this guy was hired, promoted and responsible for less. I don't know about any of you but this made me even angrier and when I approched the owner with a request for a raise and was denied I quit working as hard because I didn't feel like I was appreciated for all the things I did do. I was later laid off due to a reduction in workforce but was already looking for another position due to the fact that I did not feel like I was being treated fairly.

Reflections post 3

The past couple of chapters has been really easy to relate to my work life. It showed the different levels of management and how much responsibility they have at each level. We also went over how companies are organized and how most are very different from each other. We went over what some consequences of what would happen if they broke the federal laws. this relates to my work in how i dont give as much credit to my boss when he has more responsibilities than i expected. this class helps me put things in perspective and use it to my advantage at work.

Reflections

In class these past few weeks we have been studying management and HR. It is really an eye opener on what exactly an HR worker does. We all know they deal with hiring and firing and things like that, but the extra work and how they always have to deal with little things every day is pretty interesting. By far the most interesting so far to me is the employment laws. Knowing what can be done and what cannot be done is always strewed so to know the simple facts about it is pretty cool.

Reflections 3

Since our last reflections post we have been going over chapters that have been dealing with the management process. There are many parts in the process but the part that has interested me the most is about the human relations part of it all. I enjoy this because it makes me realize what really goes into every little part of a business. I think the HR catches my attention though for the fact that I have always been real big into the process of meeting new people and getting to know them the best that I can. I believe that by learning more about business and everything that goes into it, I will be able to effectively use my social skills to evaluate the people I will be coming into contact with over my job career. I know that by doing this I will be able to effectivley position the people around me to be productive.

Reflection post 3

The past couple of weeks in class we have been discussing the management process and special skills it takes to be a manager because of all the different situations a manager might need to handle. At different points in their careers depending on what level of managing someone is doing it takes many different skills to be successful in your work place when having to deal with adversity. We have also been discussing company culture and companies being active with their employees. When i saw the Zapoos and Google video it really blew me away that companies actually did stuff like that. After watching the videos and seeing what it was all about it actually made a lot of sense to let your employees have a workplace where they can be creative and relax. Obviously this will not work for all types of companies but when you are in an industry that needs creativeness to stay alive you want your employees to be relaxed and working at the best of their ability.

Scribe Post Article Discussion Day

Article Discussion day was today. We split into small groups and picked out an interesting article to discuss with the rest of the class. There were so many great articles to choose from. Our group picked an article to share based on google benefits. It went into further detail from our class lecture where we discussed motivation and employee benefits. We also had to research a new article based on Employment Law and share with the class as well. The article picked to receive five extra bonus points was the facebook article. The facebook article was about a woman who is suing a company for being terminated for a negative post on her facebook page she made about her boss. We discussed how if you are going to make comments on your internet site (no matter if settings are at private or on public) it will always be where someone will see it or find out about it. I personally am interested to see how this lawsuit will be handled and if the woman will win in the aspect of her termination. I would like to see whether she is found illegally terminted or legally terminated. I think our class had many different opinions on the article and that everyone's opinion made a good point and brought in a different aspect to what was going on with the woman who is suing the company for illegal termination based on her facebook comment. Today's article discussion was in my opinion the best discussion and most interesting we have had in class.

Reflections Post 3

In class we have been talking about the different levels of management in companies and what each level is responsible for. We have also seen how different companies motivate their employees to try and keep their creativity up. I have enjoyed watching how Google and Zappos do this for their employees by having a fun laid back work environment. I believe that that kind of culture will make employees happier and more productive and personally think it is a great idea.

Reflections post 3

Lately in class we have been discussing the different responsibilities of management and the different levels of management.  We also discussed employee motivational and how it affects productivity.  I really enjoyed learning about the unusual company culture of Google, and Zappos.  If only all companies could support similar atmospheres...  The most important thing we have discussed, in my opinion, would probably be the various laws that have been created to protect workers. (OSHA, etc.)

R3FL3CT10N5 P05T NUMB3R 3

Recently in class we talked about management, which includes delegating tasks, creating a plan of action, as well as discussing the different levels of management. We have also discussed how the motivation of employees is a large part of what makes someone continue to want to work. Google has the best environment for its employees to work in, by far. It keeps them busy but allows them to have fun, which motivates them to work because they want to keep their jobs. I think Google rules, and I'm glad they're taking over the world one day at a time.

Refelctions post 3

In class we have recently been talking about the management process, what skills a manager needs, how to create an organization and the structure of the organizations, and how to attract and motivates employees. I find the motivating the employees the most interesting since at work i slack and don't put as much towards the job as i could. I look around and see others slacking and I dont see the point of giving 100% effort.

Connection Post 2

In class we recently discussed the Family and Medical Leave Act. This act states if your company has over 50 employees, they must give the employee up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave if they give birth or the employee or family gets seriously ill. Then they can not be demoted when they return, they must get the exact same position. This act reminded me when my manager at work took 12 weeks off for when she gave birth to her third kid. Then once she returned, she was still a manager of ours. Now i understand where and why my job allowed her to do this.

Reflections Post

I found Hawthorne's Studies to be very interesting and true.
I think people want to believe they are making a difference in their company, or at least being model employees. In Hawthorne's theory both the control group and the group being studied productivity went up because they were aware they were being 'evaluated'. Like Ms. Adam's said about the boss coming around the corner and you hustling your tail off to show you're hard at work is true, whereas maybe two minutes before that you were moving at a slower pace.

I really do think that most workers like to be evaluated and need for someone to offer some sort of constructive criticism.

I always think evaluation is important for a company to do as often as feasibly possible. I think it gives employees a sense of worth as well as helping to give them goals to strive for.

Connections Post 2

The equity theory of motivation is based on the premise that people are motivated to obtain and preserve equitable treatment for themselves. Equity is the distribution of rewards in direct proportion to the contribution of each employee to the business. If everyone doesn't recieve the same rewards they are motivated to act in ways to change the circumstances. I can relate to this because at my current job I am putting more input with my time and effort than my output is showing me with my pay check. I work at McAlister's Deli and I relatively do the same job as a waiter would do, however it is set up differently. I have been recieving minimum wage for about eight months now and our tips go to "charity." I have recently found out that the managers use our hard earned tips for things such as donuts in the mornings and also that a couple newly hired employees are receiving more pay than I am. This has caused me to not work as hard and I have been currently looking for a new job.

Reflections Post 3

The past few weeks in class we have discussed the management process, creating organizations, attracting and retaining employees, and motivating and satisfying the needs of the employees. There are many different functions that go in to management along wit goals and planning. I have learned that the culture of the organization can reflect widely on the productivity and the general satisfactory of the employees. We also covered in class the laws that are in place to be fair with all employees and to ensure their safety and health in the work environment; along with the acts to prevent discrimination in the work place. And lastly we covered theories that explain the motivation to do the job itself and the effects of productivity.

Scribe

The next scribe is Will.

Reflections post 3

In class recently we have been talking about the management aspects of business as well as the human resources and some of the laws that affect business. This is important to me because one day i hope to own my own business. The laws we discussed in class today about discrimination and equal opportunity in the workplace directly affects every business. I thought it was interesting how some of the laws are interpretted. We also discussed motivation which is key to management success in business. We talked about how intrisic motivation is just as effective if not more so than extrinsic. This means that money and benefits are not the only thing needed to motivate your employees. We talked about maslows heirarchy of needs which shows basics needs of human life which help to explain why people are motivated by certain things.

Scribe

Today in class we discussed chapters 9 and 10.
Chapter 9 included attracting and retaining employees
Human resource management- all the activities involved with acquiring, maintaining, and developing an organizations human resources. Which include staffing, compensation, and employee and labor regulations.
The legal environment of HRM has 8 laws
1. Fair Labor Standards Act- established minimum wage
Equal Pay Act- men and women doing the same job get paid the same
Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII)- 15 or more employees, all educational institutions, and all government agencies or contracts.
Age Discrimination Act- Prohibits discrimination against people of age 40 and over
Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA)- ensures employees safety and health while working.
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)- Prohibits discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities
Civil Rights Act of 1991- provides appropriate remedies intentional discriminatory practices (disparate treatment) or reckless indifference t the law.
Family and Medical Act - 12 weeks of unpaid leave and employees must be given position after leave is over.
Chapter 10 Motivating Employees
Motivation is a individual internal process that energizes, directs, and sustains behavior.
Intrinsic Motivation- produces the behavior because of the pleasant experience of the behavior itself
Extrinsic Motivation- produces the behavior because of the consequences associated with it.
We also discussed theories
Maslow's Theory- people's needs are arranged in a hierarchy
Hawthorne Studies- light does not affect productivity however a sense of involvement in the work increases motivation.
Reinforcement Theory- Rewards and punishments that follow a behavior will be use to shape the behavior in the future. Positive and negative reinforcement
Expectancy theory- A person is motivated if they believe the are able to complete the task, if they are going to be rewarded, and by the value of the reward.
Equity Theory- when people find themselves in situations of inequality they are motivated to act in ways to change their circumstances.

Reflections

Recently in class we have been discussing skills in managment. Being a homeowner I realized that I had a span of managment of my own that I deal with. I have had to use skill in interpersonal and conceptual managment. I've had to settle a dispute with my neighbors in regards to my fence. I have had to deal with multiple neighbors in the process as well as look for the best price for the job and hiring multiple crews. Managment is something obivously important. If there is a lack of control in the working envrionment the idea of efficiency goes out the window, and productivity will decline.

Missing Scribe

The next scribe for Monday, November 8th will be Marie!

connections post 1

Monday in class we talked about job specialization. Until that class i only thought i was dealing with one person technically, but i didnt take in account about the few others back there making my food. Well yesterday i went to Chipotle and started looking at things in this perspective. I then relized i had interaction with three people. The first one warms the tortilla and works with meat, the next person puts in the rice and etc, and the third person takes the money and gives out drinks.

Connections Post 1

A couple weekends ago I had to work cattle and it reminded me of our lecture discussing distribution. I thought the cattle industry had little to do with channels of distribution then I gave it some thought. I figured that I myself was a producer. My product goes from the field to the slaughter house which would be similar for a product going to a wholesaler. From there my product may reach the consumer or the meat markets/supermarkets, which amounts to the retailing process. I realize now I've been in business for awhile now.