Management Communication - Assignment Example

MANAGEMENT COMMUNICATION Student’s Name: Code + Course name Professor’s name University City, State Date Question 13.5.1 How employment interviews serve both the interviewer and the interviewee An employment interview serves the interviewer as a screening device that assists in examining the capability of the candidate to handle the job position. Additionally, the interview assists in the selection of the right candidate for the position. Interviews also assist in providing additional information to the interviewer about the interviewee that cannot be provided by the description in the resume. Interviews assist the interviewee to accept or decline the offer that is provided by the employer. This is because the interviewee is provided with information concerning the job for instance the salary and working conditions. Interviewees also assist the interviewees to gain confidence in themselves after attending various interviewees. Interviews also increase the number of contacts that the interviewee has and therefore increasing their chances of getting a job. Question 13.5.2 Employment related resources available in my community Employment Agencies exist in my community. In most cases the agencies assist in providing information concerning companies that recruiting and placement services. Additionally, job search sites also exist in the community. The sites are useful in providing information concerning employment. Networking organizations and groups are also useful resources that assist the community members to gain employment. The networks are constituted of groups where people network and therefore increasing their chances of employment. Also various publications exist that act as employment related resources. Some of them include publications include newspapers, magazines and employment journals. Question 13.6.1 I once worked as a customer care attendant at a communication company. One day I received a call from a client stating that the services offered to him were inappropriate and that he needed a refund from the company. I tried to communicate to the client in order to come up an amicable solution for the situation. However, the client refused and stated that I was rude and dishonest. He went to the extent of using abusive language and he would not listen to anything I said. In order to resolve this conflict, I used the accommodation approach in order to put the conflict to an end. I therefore gave the client what he wanted which was to request for a refund from the accounting department. I therefore restored the peace and the customer was more satisfied. Question 13.6.2 Among the strategies the strategies for managing conflict, the most effective strategy is avoidance. I think that it is essential to always avoid conflict when it does occur. In many circumstances, people try to engage in conflict based on the fact that they do not want to ignore the conflict and move on without being too involved. Avoidance is effective based on the fact that one does not have to be involved in the conflict and therefore the exiting problem resolves itself. Avoiding the conflict also serves as a remedy of reducing the existing tension between the conflicting parties and therefore making the conflict less confrontational. Question 13.6.3 Over history I believe that conflict has often been used as a strategy for enhancing change in society. A case in point is during the French Revolution that took place in France between the year 1789 to 1799. I think that the revolution was basically a conflict that resulted to the overthrowing of an oppressive regime that promoted economic, political and social upheavals. For instance; a major cause of the revolution and conflict was that the regime influenced the existence of an economy that was unstable with high prices in commodities, inadequate production and poor transportation (Doyle, 2002). In my opinion, which is also acknowledged by many historians the revolution also brought economic change to France which is a requirement for the growth of economic activities in any nation. Question 14.1.1 The dominant culture in my society which is the Chinese society is collectivism. The five words that describe my culture include; social frameworks are tight, working collectively and group membership. I am not part of the culture of the United States which is an individualistic society. The individualist culture in the US can be descried using attributes such as weak social ties and individualistic initiatives. When making a comparison between the individualistic and collective cultures, the key differences in the values of the two cultures is that the individualistic value individual respect while the collective society in most cases value the existence of harmony . Question 14.3.1 Pictures that chracterize the Chinese culture Chinese Food- rice with Suzhou Traditional Chinese wear Chinese God’s for instance the Kitchen Gods Question 14.3.2 Offensive pictures in the Chinese People Finishing all the food in a visitors place is offensive based on the fact it implies that the individual was not satisfied with what was offered Question 14. 4.1 Letter to small business organizations on draft premises standards To All Small Businesses The Human rights commission appreciates the opportunity you accorded us to meet you and discuss various critical issues that face the stakeholders of your business essentially those with disability. The objective of writing this letters is to emphasize the key issues that were discussed during our meeting. It is essential that we as an organization dealing with human rights ensure that business uphold the fundamental rights of people with disability. This will ensure that our relationship is functional and healthy. I therefore want to emphasize as discussed that every business should implement the following recommendations as discussed; • Adopt premises standards that can assist the easy movement of people with disability • Create good working environments for people with disability • Provide equal opportunities to people with disability I believe that each business has the capability to implement most not if some of the issue discussed. I therefore look forward to your cooperation and meeting you soon to further discuss the matters. Yours sincerely Graeme Innes AM Deputy Disability Discrimination Commissioner Question 14.4.2 The movie The Pulp Fiction was translated to Spanish to the title Tiempos Violentos. Preti (2014) argues that the movie is among the worst translated movies. This is based on the fact that most of the translation resulted to the loss of meaning. In general the translation of the movie can be described as cultural issue as opposed to a trademark issue. This is basically because the existing cultural differences between the American and the Spanish culture resulted to loss of meaning in some of the content displayed on the movie. Consequently, it can be stated that culture as opposed to trademark was the main contributory factor to the poor translation. Question 14.4.2 The recent global financial crisis resulted to many ethical concerns essentially for people in my family. My Uncle who works in the Spain lost his job as a result of the crisis. He had various challenges which made him result to getting involved in cyber-criminal activities. He was later arrested and deported. The situation greatly affected his family however after the deportation my uncle chose to change his habits and look for a legal job that did not involve wrangles with the justice system. The ethical interpretation to the situation is that the recent crisis lead people to adopting unethical practices in order to survive. However, it is essential that despite the economic challenges, a person should not get involved in unethical practices. Question 14.6.1 If I was a manager in charge of s dozen of workers , I would adopt Theory Y, which argues that employees are actually self-motivated and ambitious as a result they are not forced to work but rather work comes natural to them One of the basic reasons for adopting the approach is that although employees may be perceived as lazy as stated by theory X, if given a conducive work environment and if they are motivated they can actually work effectively. Additionally, I also believe that what we believe becomes our reality. Therefore in order to have innovative and ambitious employees, I have to also believe that they are ambitious and hard working. This believe will make my decisions as a manager to be motivating for instance; I would give the employees good salaries and provide a good work environment. Question 14.7.1 From the findings of the examination of an expat networks such as online forums , I discovered that they provide an opportunity for sharing ideas, whereby people share their views concerning a certain topic. Additionally, online forums also act as an interaction for people from diverse backgrounds. This offers an opportunity to know what people from other cultures have to say about a certain topic. I also learnt that the online forums can act as a suitable ground for mentorship where young entrepreneurs can be mentored on ways of building their business ventures. Question 14.7.2. The easiest and hardest part of an overseas assignment Adapting to the culture of the foreign country suffices to be the most difficult part of an international assignment. Being an expatriate, there are several challenges associated with cultural shock. They encompass stress, sense of loss and the feeling that you are an outcast. Feelings of powerlessness, anxiety, confusion, and surprise are the other challenges associated with adapting to the international culture. On the other hand, expatriation is the easiest part of an international assignment since it involves the sending out of trained personnel to manage an overseas subsidiary of a company (Nikolaeva 2010). Following an intensive training on the part of the expatriate, it is not difficult to adapt to the foreign culture. Question 15.1.1 The nuclear family suffices to be the first example of my primary group. Following the close association between my father, mother and the other siblings, I consider the nuclear family to be the first case of my primary group. The other example of my primary group entails the close association that I have formed with some of my school and work mates. The school committee that we established to cater for the emergent problems at school suffices to be the secondary group that I have been a part. The other secondary groups encompass project teams, neighbourhoods, sports teams, and college classes. The primary distinction between the major groups and their secondary counterparts concerns the short duration of the secondary groups as opposed to the lengthy periods of primary groups. Question 15.1.2 It is better to work alone as compared to working in a group on some occasions. I prefer working individually in situations that require limited knowledge that I possess. Moreover, I prefer working alone when the task is simple rather than complex. I also prefer working alone in tasks that require individual working separately rather than as a group. For instance, delivering an individual project suffices to be a good example of the simple tasks that I prefer handling as an individual. Working as an individual is also appropriate in a culture where “social lofting” is the norm. Finally, in the event that the other group members do not want care about performing the task, I consider handling the task as individual (Carnegie & Mead 2013). Question 15.2.1 It is evident that conflicts and disagreements characterise the storming stage of group development. However, the ability of the group members to listen to each other and understand the feelings of one another is pertinent to the success of the group. However, in situations whereby the group is unable to reach conclusions regarding the roles of its members, it is proper to seek the services of an outsider (a non-member individual of the group). The outsider will play a pivotal role in streamlining the different perspectives of the existing members of the group to clarify the rules, the evaluation criteria and the rewards system. Furthermore, the outsider is also important in the resolution of conflicts associated with authority, leadership, power and structure. Question 15.2.2 In our “Self-Help Group”, there exists several roles and responsibilities for each of the members. For instance, I perform the role of an initiator/contributor. The task associated with the role entails proposing new development ideas for the group. The other roles encompass the information that seeks information and suggestions regarding the proposed ideas. The information giver is responsible for providing generalised ideas and facts regarding the proposed ideas. The opinion givers are responsible for providing opinions concerning the idea by expressing their attitudes, opinions and beliefs regarding the suggestions. The opinion seeker ascertains that the opinion givers provide their opinions during the group discussions. The orienter is responsible for providing information regarding the current position of the group relative to the stated objectives. The roles of the individual members within the group keep on changing over time since some members perform more than what they should perform. Question 15.2.3 I remember the proceeds of the first group that I joined following the completion of my O-Level studies. I performed the role of an orienter in the group. I never liked the performance of the other members of the group since they did not portray maximum devotion to their duties in the group. However, I quit the group following the prevalence of interpersonal conflicts. The prevalence of personality differences yielded ill-will among some of the members. In the long run, I found it appropriate to quit being a member of the group. Since I was a full member of the group, I found it difficult to put up with the continuous wrangles. Question 15.3.1 When I joined the second group, interpersonal conflicts were still prevalent. In the quest to avert the splitting up of the members of the group, I found it necessary to recommend the appropriate conflict resolution measures to avert a recurrence of the group failure incidence. We adopted the seven steps of conflict resolution. To begin within, we built personal awareness regarding the situation to all the members of the group. In the next step, we clarified the view of the conflict by providing individual perceptions concerning the conflict. In the third step, we endeavoured to understand the perceptions of the other members. The step necessitated understanding the emotions of all the members of the group. In the fourth step, we brainstormed the recommended solutions to determine their validity towards resolving the conflicts. Next, we created an action plan geared towards addressing the issue. The implementation of the action plan was the next step. Finally, we evaluated the plan to determine the viability of the strategy towards addressing future conflicts in the group. Question 15.3.2 In the future, I intend to make an investment decision in the transportation business. Prior to making the decision, I will utilise the cost-benefit approach to determine the viability of the project. The approach consists of nine basic steps that include defining the Base Case and the alternative project. Secondly, I will determine the required detail level. Thirdly, I will determine the basic cost factors for the user that include the operating costs for each unit and the time value. Next, I will select the economic factors such as the selection period, the analysis period and the inflation rates (Council 2009). The next step will entail obtaining the traffic data that suits the particular investment. In the next step, I will measure the costs of the user. The seventh step will entail calculating the benefits of the investment. Next, I will interpolate/extrapolate the benefits associated with the project for the indefinite duration of the investment. Finally, I will calculate the present value of the costs and benefits of the project. Question 15.5.1 I prefer working in a team environment provided that the team members exhibit devotion towards their duties and objectives of the team. I prefer working as a group since in most cases, projects require different talents. Furthermore, groups are effective in handling difficult tasks as opposed to simple tasks. Moreover, complicated tasks require labour coordination and division that are impossible when one works as an individual. I also prefer working as a group since the time required for group when the available deliberation time is sufficient. The group members also motivate each other to succeed in the quest to achieve the objectives of the group. Finally, I prefer working as a group since most projects require high levels of competence not available in when one works on a project as an individual. Question 15.5.2 In selecting a member of the group, I will use consider specific qualities in selecting the members of the team. For instance, the individual must have a vision that corresponds to the objectives of the team. The failure to select an individual whose perceptions are similar to those of the group to avert conflict incidences. Furthermore, the ability of an individual to socialise with the other members of the group is detrimental to the socialisation aspect of the group. Therefore, I will select individuals that can interact easily with the other members in the group to guarantee the smooth suggestion, discussion and implementation of decisions. Question 15.5.3 I admire the President of the United States of America Barrack Obama. The individual became a leader following a democratic selection exercise in the United States of America. He has exhibited proper leadership expertise since he is for the people and supports what is for the general good of the people. As a President, he also supports civil rights by fighting for the rights of the underdogs and the disenfranchised people in the society. He is also a proponent of equality and integrity. He also supports a healthcare system that guarantees healing and optimism for the sick. He targets to strengthen the economic position of the middle-class since they form the greatest percentage of the Americans. He is also for the environment, veterans, peace, education, mass entertainment and women rights. Finally, he has also eliminated pomp and circumstance by establishing an informal interaction with the Americans. Having all the qualities mentioned above, I think that Mr. Obama is an excellent leader in his capacity as the President of the USA. Reference List Australian Human Rights Commission, Letter to small business organizations on draft premises standards Carnegie, A & Mead, M 2013, ‘Group Communication, Teamwork, and Leadership’. Council, P S R 2009, ‘Benefit-Cost Analysis: General Methods and Approach’, The Council. Doyle, W 2002, The Oxford History of the French Revolution, Oxford University Press. Nikolaeva, T G 2010, ‘The challenges of expatriation & repatriation’, Department of Management, Aarhus University. Preti, C, 2014, The 37 Worst Translated Movie Titles Ever Read More