Class Summary

Even though this class was a lot of work, I actually really enjoyed the class.  First of all, it was pretty awesome that we had no exams.  While we did have several other assignments instead, I thought they were a lot better than studying for an exam.  I also thought Dr. Goates did a great job of making the material interesting.  Normally, the subject matter of the class seems like it would be really dry, but the various articles we read put it into a real-life perspective, which makes it more interesting because we can see the material being used.  He also gave great examples which made me think in ways I never did before.  For example, I never thought that the design of a building would say something about the culture of that institution.  The example he gave of the business schools of Vanderbilt and Shippensburg really put his idea into perspective. For about a week after that example, I found myself analyzing the design of many of the accounting firms' offices when I went for office interviews.  I also liked how he incorporated activities into the class as well.  They definitely kept the class interesting, and I feel that I remember the concepts the activities emphasized better than those that were not the subjects of activities. 

I think that many of the concepts we learned about in class will also be very useful outside of the classroom as well.  For example, the negotiation tactics we learned will be very useful to everyone when they start full-time employment and have to negotiate an offer with the company/firm.  Since we know how to properly negotiate, we have the potential to start at a drastically higher salary than someone who doesn’t know what we know.

It's been a great class, but I'm definitely glad it's over.  Hope everyone has a great break, and good luck next semester!

Group Presentations

After watching all of the presentations, I thought they were all really interesting.  I really liked the video at the beginning of the BP presentation.  I thought the video did a great job of visualizing just how devastating the spill was.  The group also made the video themselves, which I think shows how creative they were.  I think using videos in a presentation is a great way to emphasize points.  We had a video for the end of ours, but unfortunately we did not get to use it due to time constraints.  I also never knew that Steve Jobs was involved with Disney/Pixar.  I assumed that his whole life revolved around Apple, so I thought that fact was very interesting.  I also really enjoyed the presentation about the accounting scandals.  Since I'm an accounting major, I found this presentation to be especially interesting.  Like I said, I think all of the presentations went really well, and it showed how hard all of the groups worked to put them together.  Both days went really well, and I think everyone will join me in saying thank god the presentations are over with! 

The "Inside" Scoop for the Slogan Activity

So I don't think I missed any blog posts, but just in case I did I'll do this one extra one.  I just wanted to briefly comment again on the in class slogan activity now that we have discussed it in class.  One thing that I thought was really interesting about the activity now that I look back at it was how the connections you have with others in the workplace can be very important.  No one really brought this point up in class, so I thought this would be the perfect place to discuss it.  Just like in a real company, I felt that there was some significance put on the connections that individuals in the activity had with each other.  For example, I noticed individuals in the bottom group texting their friends in the top group and the NMBL to try and figure out what was going on.  Based on these connections these individuals had, they were able to gain information that no one else knew.  I feel that the same kind of thing exists within real companies as well.  Certain employees will obviously know information about things such as promotions, company policies, or client information.  Obviously, other employees who have a strong connection with these individuals will be the only ones among their co-workers that will know this information, ergo giving them an advantage over those who do not know this "insider" information.

My Role as a Have-not in the Class Activity

While we were doing the slogan activity a few weeks ago, it didn't occur to me that the activity was so closely related to the Alinsky article about the haves and have-nots.  As a member of the lower group, one would automatically assume that we were the have-nots simply because we were at the bottom of the food chain.  However, it turns out that we ended up having most of the power in the exercise.  The top group, who was considered by most to be the haves, relied on us for the slogans that would make them money.  Since they relied on us for the slogans, we had the power to influence their success.  During the activity, I feel that the top group tried to show us how powerful they were by not communicating with the lower group very much because they saw us as having no power.  As a result, they found out the hard way who actually held the power in that exercise.  When the majority of the lower groups decided to under-cut the top group and go straight to the customer, they realized that they were the ones that were more like the have-nots because without the slogans of many of the lower groups, they made very little money.

Power Eilte

For this blog post, I wanted to discuss the Power Elite that we discussed in class on Wednesday.  I heard about the Power Elite during my freshman year in my sociology class, but I didn't really understand the concept back then.  Now that I hear about it now, I can completely wrap my head around the concept.  I think it is very interesting how a certain group of business executives, military officials, and political figures can have such a sphere of influence over all aspects of the world.  I think that these individuals deserve the power they have acquired, as I'm sure they had to work very hard to get where they are today.  However, it does worry me that such a small group can easily make such critical decisions that will affect everyone without much question or opposition.  I also thought it was interesting that these individuals get their power from the institutions they represent.  I never thought of power this way, but when Dr. Goates gave the example that Obama isn't powerful because he is Obama, but rather because he is the president, I took a liking to the concept since it is universally true for any member of the Power Elite.

Book report part 5

            For this section of my book report on “Liar’s Poker” by Michael Lewis, I will discuss chapters nine, ten, and eleven.  I chose to group these three chapters because they all deal with how Solomon brothers crumbled.  Again, I also feel that these chapters relate to the organizational behavior topics of culture and motivation that we have discussed in class.

            In chapter nine, we find the author on a major client who loved to take risk.  As a result of this desire for risk, the author and another individual created a call option, which basically means that other investors who were risk-averse would sell their risk to Solomon.  In this situation, the investors were selling high-risk German bonds to the author.  This transfer of risk put Solomon in an ideal position, because since they were merely the middleman who was transferring the risk from the sellers to the client, Solomon brought no risk upon themselves.  Of course, due to the cut-throat competitive culture that exists within Solomon, this success the author was having caught the interest of another individual within the firm.  Once this individual became aware of this transaction, he decided that he would get a piece of the action in any way he could.  This individual, whom the author called “the opportunist,” pulled the rug right out from underneath the author, and stole all the credit for the extremely successful deal the author made.  Enraged by this, the author succumbed to the cut-throat Solomon culture and sought revenge.  As a form of retaliation, the author put together another very successful deal involving the sale of Japanese government bonds.  The author knew there was no way the opportunists could steal the credit for this deal, because he was not able to explain the deal to his peers and superiors.  This angered the opportunist, and he then sought revenge and threatened to have the author fired.  In defense, the author outsmarted the opportunist by going to the syndicate manager, who handles the deals the author makes.  The syndicate manager knew that the author and his partner was responsible for the deal, and with a few phone calls, the opportunist’s opportunity success had been squashed.

            I think this chapter provides another good look at the culture that exists within Solomon Brothers.  This firm is one of the most competitive in the business world, and this chapter proves it. In comparison to the employee-friendly culture we read about within SAS, Solomon’s culture is the polar opposite.  At any given time, an employee is willing to throw a fellow co-worker under the bus so that they would be the only one that would reap the reward.  Also, if one is thrown under the bus by another, their main goal becomes revenge, which is a good indication of the cut-throat, conceited culture that exists within Solomon Brothers.  I personally do not know how someone could work in such an environment when such positive environments such as SAS’s exist.

            In chapter 10, Solomon Brothers became the target of Drexel Burnham, a long time rival of Solomon Brothers on Wall Street.  Drexel Burnham had gained an abundance of success as of late because of their sly leader, Michael Milken.  Michael created a new way to finance corporate take-over’s.  He decided to start financing these take-over’s by issuing junk bonds.  Since the firm Michael ran was targeting to take-over Solomon Brothers, he planned on financing this acquisition with junk bonds.  The leaders of Solomon wanted to avoid this situation at all costs, but the deal materialized as Solomon’s executives were too ignorant to realize what was actually going on.  As a result, Solomon management had to cut a deal with Warren Buffet to avoid being taken over by Michael and Drexel Burnham.  Of course, Warren Buffet does nothing for free, so he performed his services at the expense of the shareholders.

            This chapter again reinforces the greedy, self-centered culture of Wall Street.  First, Michael was executing shady junk bond financing techniques, which were frowned upon in the investment banking world.  However, he did not care how moral his actions were.  The only thing he was concerned about was how much money he was going to make as a result of his shady transactions.  Also, no one else around him cared about his new financing strategy.  Solomon executives didn’t want to believe that he was using junk bonds because they were concerned about their reputation, and not loosing client revenue as a result of a tarnished reputation.  In the end, Solomon’s own greed came back to bite them when they had to pay a huge expense to Warren Buffet to avoid the take-over.

            In chapter 11, Solomon Brothers reaches the climax of its demise.  The stock market crashed in the winter of 1987.  This occurrence resulted in the firing of a thousand employees and the shutting-down of several departments.  As a result, Solomon could not operate at the level it once did because they lost some of the departments that used to earn revenue for the firm.  This means that the firm will earn less revenue in general, and this is like the end of the world to Solomon executives.  Due to this fact, management lost their vision because of the amount of money they would no longer make.  The firm did not completely shut down.  It continued to operate, but it did not earn anywhere close to what it did when it was in its prime.  The author ended up leaving the firm, but not because his paycheck was going to suffer due to the downsizing of Solomon Brothers.

Case 2

As a junior who was evaluating which company I wanted to inter with this spring, I had a special interest in the SAS case.  As I realized, a company's culture and management are a major factor to consider in terms of employer evaluation.  If I was an employee and SAS was one of my potential employers, I would choose them in a heartbeat.  While reading the case, I found numerous employee-friendly benefits such as a campus that offers several amenities such as fitness and healthcare facilities, job autonomy, and constant interaction with other employees (and activities to encourage this).  The company also has an extremely low turnover ratio, which is very encourage to any individual who is considering the company for employment.  As I was evaluating firms for internships, I found myself looking for many of the same amenities that SAS offers (except for the thing like fitness and childcare centers).