Archives for the Month of October 2005 on Chris Reed's Online Journal
Casino Case
On Thursday of this week, the write-up on the Harrah case was due. I did not choose to write on this case because I knew it would be hectic to finish the case coming off a mid fall break. In class we discussed the principles of gainsharing pertaining to the incident. Professor Powley was out of town so Professor Piderit taught the class for him. This weekend I will be preparing for the write up on the Jonah Creighton case. I will make another entry then.
Class Activity
On Thursday in class, our simulation groups were split up and told to evaluate a certain situation and give feedback and suggestions as to how we would train certain people. Prof. Powley decided to turn the event into a contest. Each group had to present their ideas to the rest of the class and the other groups would vote on the eachother. Our group came in second place which was nice. It seemed like other groups were trying to be funny and impractical with the activity. We decided to stay realistic and in the end it got us second. It was a good way to end classes before the mid fall break.
Response 2
This is my second response to one of my classmates. I enjoyed reading Joe Tichar's comment concerning teamwork and the emphasis of attitude leading to success. I agree with everything Joe mentioned. Attitude is imperative in reaching success, however, in many situations, people cannot " swallow their pride" and put the team ahead of themselves. Teamwork, in business and in sports shares the same philosophies. If you can come together as one unit and work effectively towards one goal then you will achieve positive results. One great example that comes to mind pertaining to sports is Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neil. These two NBA basketball players were on top of the world. They had a great team and when they were each playing their part and respecting eachother, they won with ease. However, as time grew on, both stars felt they were bigger than the team and this led to the downfall of their success. A great attitude leads to respect which leads to success.
HR Simulation
Overall, the HR simulation has gone quite smoothly, however, our group has had some difficulty in making decisions based on the ambiguity of the project. It feels like we were just handed a packet and given a company name with no instructions or advice on what to do. It has been frusterating but I know we will be successful due to our personnel. So far, we have made the correct choices concerning our budget and HR Plan, and that is a big plus. I think things will only get better from here on out.
Response 1
I am writing this blog in response to an entry one of my classmates had made earlier in the month concerning ethics within the workplace. Amanda Juliano had written a great entry about a fellow employee at her job in University Hospitals who had been "stealing from the company." The idea of business ethics is a complicated thing. Many people in this world are breaking rules to get ahead and become succesful. An example of this is all of the recent "cook booking" of companies like WorldCom, Tyco, and even Enron. The people in these companies were doing anything to get ahead and in the end, it cost them dearly. My dad owns his own company, and he had always stressed to me the importance of being honest with yourself and your employees. Once that line of trust is crossed, you can never gain it back. He often shares with me and example of how his treatment of other people has payed off. He tells me of a time when he was in Los Angeles at a convention with one of his co-workers. They had been at the convention for quite some time and the co-worker had noticed that my dad knew everyone in the building. He then told my dad that everyone he had talked to only had nice things to say about Jim Reed. And this is why my dad had so many friends at this convention. People knew they could trust him and respected him for being honest throughout the years. While many other businessmen could have screwed these people in order to get ahead, my dad had been straight with all of them. I think this is the ultimate compliment to receive when dealing with people and business ethics.