Week 4 - Blog 1: Ch 7—Emotion Labor

Week 4 - Blog 1: Ch 7—Emotion Labor

I like this concept because it clearly defines the differences between gender in work and life. I believe that emotion labor is, in fact, a strain on any one person after a while, and the stress does seep into one’s life outside of work, affecting him or her in a negative way. Specifically, I find that women are more subjected to emotion labor than that of men. You find it everywhere: in the mall at all the cosmetic counters, restaurants, customer service jobs, and the most fashionably noted of all—the airline stewardess. There are plenty of men who also work this kind of emotion labor, but society has put in place that this is “women's work” whereas men are able to express themselves through “masculine breadwinner” type jobs and, in many cases, not have to hide their true feelings behind a smile.

The “emotional” toll that emotion labor creates is a heavy one. You see it every day when you or someone you know gets off work, they are beat, drained, don’t want to think, just want to flop down and not be bothered. This is not only due to the physically stress, but emotionally it takes the bait. That saying where it’s “10% physical and 90% mental” applies here.

Week 3 - Blog 4: Metaphors & Culture—Interpretive View

Week 3 - Blog 4: Metaphors & Culture—Interpretive View

The interpretive view makes better sense to me because, obviously, there is always something more going on in an organization than what the eye can see; whether that being a good or bad thing. Focusing on other people’s interpretation of rituals, vocabularies, and stories can reveal how an organization is really interacting with each other and determine production levels. One’s interpretation of others is a way for information to be gathered and paint a picture of the organization. Enron comes to mind when I think of this interpretive view metaphor. Without knowing the cognitions and observations of other people, other companies can slip by for as long as Enron did while ripping people off.

Week 3 - Blog 3: Metaphors & Culture—Conduit Metaphor

Week 3 - Blog 3: Metaphors & Culture—Conduit Metaphor

I must say that this is probably the most basic form of communication, although not at all practical. This metaphor is, more or less, how an operating system should work, not an organization with real human beings. As the reading suggests, there are problems with this metaphor. First of all, correct me if I’m wrong, I believe it takes approximately 26 trials before someone is able to operate something efficiently and fluently. This metaphor definitely minimizes “the need for redundancy” and gives no room to interpret “unintentional meaning.” Successful communication is not “easy and effortless.” It takes redundant communication, most often referred to as constructive criticism, and feedback from one another. The conduit metaphor closely resembles the same kind of strategy as the scientific management approach whereas employees are treated like inanimate objects instead of human beings.

This metaphor reminds me of an assembly line; each part is put together and can not function if one part is missing. Just like an organization, problems will arise if one part goes missing or someone all of a sudden has to take a leave of absence, but the company will not just stop because of that. We are people. We collaborate and work together.

Week 3 - Blog 2: Ch 6 – Critical Theory

Week 3 - Blog 2: Ch 6 – Critical Theory

I give praise to Karl Marx for not only researching the roots of labor and its capitalism, but for also giving tyranny or tyrants a name—“bourgeois sensibility.” Violent overthrowing of company owners and governments have been going on since the early ages, when man first called himself “king.” Today, we still hear about Karl Marxism theories being put into action in the workplace. If you have ever seen the movie “office Space” or “Fight Club,” the characters of these movies embody what it means to overthrow tyranny and change the ever so notorious “machine” within corporate jobs. These are rare instances, although their impact on society is huge, they are eye-openers, so to speak. The historical and cultural background of those who worked and fought for fair labor practices are the unsung heroes of today who have paved the way for women’s and minority’s rights.

Week 3 - Blog 1: Ch 5 – Social Trends

Week 3 - Blog 1: Ch 5 – Social Trends

It is interesting to consider how scientific advancement has changed and altered the social trends of the world. Although science has made life easier and more productive, it has also created huge inequalities between race, religion, and gender. These inequalities not only produced tension in America, but world wide between countries that have sparked a few wars (pg. 135). Science and new ideology was meant to create a “more progressive and rational society” (pg. 134), yet we came closer to destroying humanity due to the fact that weapons of mass destruction were now capable of being produced by some of the most sinister men in the world. Even with a more open communication technology like radio and television, this sparked ideological battles between capitalism, socialism, and feudal wars with communism. People, citizens of other countries, were now able to see that the grass is greener on the other side, so to speak, and revolutions took place.

I believe that, even though the change in social trends was not well received at first, it evolved the world into a more sophisticated dynamic whereas we are now able to communicated directly with one another and eradicate confusion. That “ideology” that was so sought after with this new social trend was not fully realized until after the 1960’s, where new perspectives of world peace came about only after war had changed people’s minds.

Week 2 - Blog 4: Ch 4 – Processes and Feedback

Week 2 - Blog 4: Ch 4 – Processes and Feedback

This concept talks about how a system is not an “independent set of components,” but a collaborative process whereas the quality of such determines the finished product. Collaborative—meaning to work together with numerous hand offs, usually under the duress of time. Once the finished product is done, “feedback” is then evaluated and ultimately changes are made to the product or kept in mind for future orders.

To me, this sounds like “group work.” You know, the kind where you have to depend on everybody else to pull through, but you know in the back of your mind that there is always that one person who will settle for a passing grade. Yea, I’m not a big fan of group work, but I have definitely had my fair share of it in school and in the work place. I was a leasing agent for 4 years and I, along with other leasing agents, had to come up with marketing plans to gain renter retention. If one of us didn’t do our part then it made our whole group look bad because we were in competition with other sectors of the company. The “feedback” was presented to us in our 6 month review and was, in part, evaluated on a group level. Needless to say, that job sucked and was the reason why I went back to school. The company was indeed run in a scientific management kind of way and I tended to cross boundaries a lot because I got a mouth and I don’t like authority. Ha.

Week 2 - Blog 3: Ch 4 – Retrospective Sense Making

Week 2 - Blog 3: Ch 4 – Retrospective Sense Making

It is all too often when I have seen a person act first and then later examines their actions in an attempt to explain the meaning (pg. 115). I find this to be a great observation of Weick’s because not only would I apply this concept in organizational instances in the work place, but also in life. His seven “properties of sense making:” identity construction, retrospection, enactment, socialization, continuation, extracted cues, and plausibility are all the same things that one goes through when growing up and trying to find his or her identity, or when one is going through a mid life crisis. Of course there are those who only act with a predetermined plan, but in the end I really don’t think it makes a difference because one will always reflect on his or her actions, predetermined or not. Or, at least they should. I resonate with Weick’s seven principles only because it too is what I have observed in society and in the work place.