Pay em all more!

In class on Wednesday we watched a video by RSAnimate. At one point in the video they brought up this idea where employers would pay employees a larger salary or hourly wage than necessary. This is done so that the employees aren't worried about money and have their full attention on work and ultimately become very productive. This new productiveness earns the firm more revenue, so that the firm can afford to pay them this larger amount. I think this is a great idea. The video said that there was scientific evidence to back their statement as well. This means it isn't just a good idea but a good business strategy. So why aren't more firms doing it? This can almost be tied in with the idea of self actualization. If people weren't constantly being drug down by worrying about things like money, then they could work to their full potential and become self actualized.

Maslow

In class on Monday we talked about motivation and what motivates people. During the discussion Dr. Goates mentioned Maslow's Hierarchy of needs. This basically says that people have a structure of needs where most important needs (ex. food) need to be fulfilled before other needs like social acceptance.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

 

The top part of the pyramid is this idea of self actualization. Self actualization is the idea that people are always striving to be the best they can be. And that this is the sole motive to realize a person's full potential. I found this idea to be quite amazing. Self actualization is a very interesting and almost utopian idea. People would do their jobs to the best of their ability and become "masters" at their jobs.

Book Report 3, "Thank You for Smoking"

Nick visits his son’s school and is informed that the school is going to donate money to the Coalition for Health. The CFH is actually a group run by the tobacco industry. The name is very misleading. I find it extremely interesting how people do these types of things. The name suggests the group has no affiliation with smoking or non-smoking but just does studies and produces scientific proof. But instead the group spends its money amplifying the statistics about smoking that don’t make smoking look too too bad.

A while back Nick was given bodyguards to protect him. Nick doesn’t think that it is necessary and so he plays this game when he’s driving where he tries to lose them. On his way to a meeting, which is mainly what Nick’s job includes, he loses his security guards and stops off at a café to pick up a cappuccino for him and a coworker. There is a homeless man sitting on the ground and Nick gives the man a dollar and a couple cigarettes. As he is walking away he feels something pushed into his back and the homeless man whispers into his ear something about not moving or he’ll shoot Nick. The man walks Nick to a limousine where he is knocked out and abducted.

When Nick comes to he getting his clothing stripped off him, but a hood is kept over his head. Nick tries to ask the men what they are doing but the men just start sticking things to his chest, back, and arms. Nick realizes that he is being covered in nicotine patches, which he counts about 40 of. The man who is doing this to him reveals himself as the same man who called into a live television interview of Nick where Nick told the man that nicotine patches can be lethal in high amounts. The man who did this to Nick is obviously an anti-smoking advocate.

Two police officers finally find Nick and call the paramedics who just barely save his life. The FBI is assigned to finding the perpetrators. All the nicotine patches caused Paroxysmal Atrial Tachycardia. Paroxysmal Atrial Tachycardia is a fancy word for when your heart speeds up abnormally fast. The doctor tells Nick that smoking actually saved his life because non-smokers couldn’t handle that much nicotine. The tobacco industry is outraged and treats Nick as family while insisting that they catch the people who did this.

This makes national headlines and Nick is given an interview with Katie Couric on the Today Show. On the show Nick admits that he is not going to press charges. He explains that whoever did this needs mental help.

What if preppies really did take over Wal-Mart?

In class on Wednesday we talked about the article, "If Preppies Took Over Wal-Mart." Dr. Goates asked us why we thought Wal-Mart was suggesting the newer uniforms. I brought up the point that it could motivate the employees to work harder. Thus increasing customer satisfaction and ultimately increasing sales. Of the many other reasons brought up for the change one stuck out in my mind; because Wal-Mart is trying to be more upscale. I kept thinking about it, and I think it's a combination of the both of them. If Wal-mart is trying to be upscale, then they would want their employees to look presentable to their employees. I also think that if the employees were motivated by the new dress code then they would increase sales. The two of these combined could turn Wal-Mart from the run down, cheap-as-hell superstore to a half-decent shopping center.

Nacirema

This blog is in response to class on Monday. We discussed the article about Nacirema, which I had no idea was just America spelled backwards until Dr. Goates informed us. I thought it was weird the way the author described things. He did make it seem really weird. This however is only because he was very vague and objective in his descriptions. This type of writing is called debunking. It also brings up the fact that those things are only weird when described that way because society doesn't work like that, which can be related to philosophy. Society is all about conforming. Dr. Goates wouldn't wear a dress to class because he would get laughed at. He wants to be taken seriously and not laughed at so he conforms and wear what everyone else does, pants and a shirt. I could sit here and talk about this for hours but I'll spare whoever reads this the time. It's just a very interesting topic.

Book Report 2 "Thank You for Smoking"

The next part of the book, Thank You for Smoking by Christopher Buckley is about the main character’s struggle to keep his job. He was put on the Oprah show in the last section where he had to go up against 3 anti-smoking advocates and a high schooler who had lung cancer. He came out successful and actually somehow won people over. The only thing his boss told him to say was that the smoking industry would host 500 hundred thousand dollar anti-smoking campaign. I’m not sure if Nick froze up on live television or if he just made a decision on the fly, but he told Oprah, and anyone who was watching the show, that instead of 500 thousand dollars the anti-smoking campaign would spend about 5 million dollars. Nicks boss was furious. Nick thought he might even lose his job.

 In comes Mr. Doak Boykin. Boykin is even another level above Nick’s boss BR. He called Nick and told him he wanted to see him. Boykin is a very interesting man. He is very old. He was the one who introduced the filter to the cigarette industry. Obviously this man is rolling in cash. He has nick come to this private restaurant reserved for smokers only. As they are sitting there drinking their expensive drinks and eating their expensive meals Boykin congratulates Nick on how he did on the Oprah show. He likes Nick’s idea of the 5 million dollar campaign. He seems like an alright guy. During the dinner Boykin gives Nick a whole history of smoking. He tells Nick about people who came over with Columbus being arrested for smoking because it was a “devilish act.” He says all this because he wants to remind Nick that he is not the only one who battles with anti-smokers.

Their dinner went well. Boykin seems to like Nick and it even seems like he alludes to the fact that Nick might be getting some sort of promotion in the near future.  The last thing Boykin says to Nick is about Nick’s idea of more people smoking in movies. Boykin says that it was BR’s idea and Nick does not correct him. If I were in that situation I would have told him how it was my idea but Nick seems to know how to play this “game.”

When Nick gets back from seeing Boykin he arrives at his office and talks to BR, who tried to fire him less than two days ago. BR asks how the flight was and his jaw drops when Nick tells him that he flew back on Boykin's personal jet. BR did not like that fact that Nick was all of a sudden being treated better than himself. BR then asked how Boykin liked the 5 million dollar anti-smoking campaign and was again astonished at the fact that Boykin liked Nick's proposals. Then, trying to be a smartass, Nick tells BR than Boykin liked BR's proposal to try to get more actors to smoke in movies. BR tells Nick that it was his Nick's idea and Boykin just must have made a mistake. It is quite obvious that BR was just trying to steal Nick's idea. It seems like this will be a huge changing point in Nick's career. His boss is turning into his employee. Nick is starting to move up the food chain (if you can call it that).

Nick is then invited onto the Larry King Live show where Larry gets people to call in and ask Nick questions. Nick gets threatened by one of these callers so when he goes back to work the next day his boss, BR, get 3 bodyguards for him. Three bodyguards whose sole purpose is to protect the spokesman for the cigarette industry.

Nick is then scheduled for an industry with Heather Holloway, who is a reporter doing a piece on all the bad industries; for example the gun, liquor, lead, etc industries. Nick is told by his coworkers that Heather is an extremely attractive woman and that she will use this to his advantage so he should be careful in the interview. Heather starts out the interview by asking him simple questions about why he does this job, to which Nick answers, “to pay the mortgage.” Heather is increasingly intrigued by this and starts to try to woo Nick into telling her secret information. She starts to get a little sexual and Nick handles the situation by asking for a check and insisting on leaving. I think that was the right move for him. If reporters are really like that then I wonder how skewed the information we hear on the news is? It makes you wonder.

Negotiating

In class on Wednesday we further discussed negotiating and the prisoner's dilemma game. 

I found it interesting how if the person has their own self-interest in mind, that person will most likely choose to compete. This makes complete sense. If I'm only in it for myself I'm going to choose the best option for me. Dr. Goates then talked about the enlightened self-interest. This is where the person has to help others to help himself or herself. I found this tactic of negotiating rather interesting. Most people think of negotiating as a win or lose but sometimes both parties can win. This was clearly depicted in the activity Ken and I participated in on Wednesday. We both wanted the last orange and we had to negotiate to see who got it. Originally we both wanted the orange but then Ken decided to ask me what I needed it for. It turned out that I needed the rind and he the pulp so we were both able to be satisfied. It was a win win. Each of us got what we wanted.

This is called creating value, this means that conflicts are opportunities to gain something. A perfect way to show this is the example of utilities. I needed the rind for a cake and Ken needed the pulp to make juice. Each of those, juice and cake, represent their own utility. Because we created value by each getting what we wanted, Ken and I each got 1 utility instead of part of a utility if we wouldn't have created value.

From this activity I have learned that negotiations are actually opportunities to gain something. And when you employ the correct tactics, they can be very useful.