Authority

I think it's correct to say every one likes to be promoted.

People celebrate when they get promoted!

Promotion means you have done a great job and you deserve to become promoted!

However, along with promotion also comes with a higher level of responsibility.

It seems like some people who get promoted really like authority, but have a hard time accepting the responsibility that comes along with it.

Something to ponder about!

Conflict

I think we all know that conflict ultimately is undeniable. I believe that in a workplace there must be friction in order to get things done. I have never witnessed a workplace where everyone was very buddy buddy and conflict never happened and things still got done efficiently. That is and would be too good to be true.

I remember once thinking about an organization (that will not be named in this entry) that really had a lot of improvement to do. So, I got involved with the organization because I wanted something to be done about it. At the same time I was involved, I was also observing a lot. I realized that the reason why this organization had such major flaws was because the leadership was lacking. There was a person who was the leader of the organization, but I am not sure if he even saw himself as a leader.

It was quite an experience...

Challenging the Process

There are so many characteristics a true leader should have. Charisma is a big characteristic. Other characteristics include honesty (credibility), responsibility, and etc. because this list definitely goes on. It is also clear that the good and effective leaders (those who stand out from the rest) also challenge the process. This is why they go to new heights and are so successful. They think outside the box, challenge the process, and are successful in doing so. We marvel at these leaders today.

However, I think it's interesting how we were (at least once!) taught to be subordinates. When we were little, everyone was taught to do things a certain way. The ones who did not question those ways and followed those ways were looked favorably upon. Those who questioned (or maybe...challenged) the process were labeled as rebels and looked unfavorably upon. It's interesting how what was once a bad thing could end up as very good thing to have later in life.

First Article

I didn't realize some things were that complicated!

We haven't had our discussion in class yet, but I'm still not sure how I feel about hiring older people. I think I feel this way because of the precedents set.

I did not think the first article was completely valid. It probably is for the most part, but it will not be true 100% of the time. I feel that qualified young applicants are still capable of most of the qualities mentioned in the first article. On the other hand, I know some older people who violates some of the qualities mentioned in the article. This is especially true for those who feel that respect does not have to be earned, but rather, comes only with age.

As far as being a role model, wouldn't it create an awkward atmosphere if you have one older employee (a new hire) amongst a bunch of young employees? That actually might create some tension.

I did not realize the labor costs are reduced before reading the article. That might not necessarily balance out the negatives if there are negatives though.

I do believe though that a great benefit of older workers is that they are less likely to "job hop." But then again, this isn't necessarily true each and every time.

Big Mistake is Quite Embarassing

One of the most valuable things that I have learned about business is to be careful and PROOFREAD what you are writing before you hit the send button in e-mail. I remember, I was working at Ukrop's as a pharmacy tech and I didn't do this. We had a floater (relief) pharmacist at our store filling in for our pharmacy manager and there was a problem with a customer that she had been trying to handle. Once our pharmacy manager came back, we had a question about what the situation was and needed to get in touch with her. Unfortunately, when you're a floater pharmacist you're never at the same store and it's sometimes virtually impossible to catch up with them. I decided I was going to send out a mass e-mail asking her to call the store. I started the e-mail and put the subject as, ____ please call store 499 ASAP. I then wrote in size 24 font in the body of the e-mail Bitch please call store 299 ASAP. I never looked over the e-mail and hit send. I should have written, Bich please call store 499 ASAP as this was her name, not Bitch.

When we got the e-mail ourselves, I realized that I had made the mistake and about fell out in the floor. I wanted to die laughing because of the stupid mistake, but then again I didn't think that would be very appropiate. Needless to say, I got MANY responses from this e-mail including from the pharmacy supervisor. Luckily, everyone had a sense of humor and just shrugged it off, but I was quite embarassed.

I ultimately learned that I need to double check everything before hitting the send e-mail button. From this experience, I learned that I need to slow down and take my time and think before doing anything. I'm just fortunate that everyone laughed about the situation, because I was beginning to wonder if I was going to have a job afterwards. I can tell you now that I really concentrate and take my time before sending out things like that now.

Website offers to sell daughters for marriage

I learned that some businesses are legal even if they don't seem to be morally right by reading the article below about buying a bride. This business was interesting in concept because men can actually go to a website and pay to marry teenage girls. The website also offers services for parents to list their daughters for marriage at a price of their choosing.

I was shocked and outraged at this website until I read the purpose of this fake business. This website was used to show how the marriage age in certain states may be outdated. Some states allow kids to get married at the age of 13 as long as they have parental consent. This website was used to demonstrate how this may be an issue that needs to be looked at and updated by individual states. The funny thing is this website was not real but people really attempted to do business with the people listed on the site.

Please feel free to look at the article below.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20781129/site/newsweek/from/ET/

You can't raise my interest rate!!

The main thing that I have learned about businesses has come from my experience working with a company that I will not name. I worked for them for over a year, and basically I realized that companies can do almost anything they want to do as long as they inform you and give you the opportunity to opt out of the changes. The company that I worked for increased the interest rates on all of there accounts.

They sent out notification to each and every customer saying that your interest rate will go from x.xx to x.xx on this day and you have until this day to opt out. That would have meant they would have closed their accounts and they would not have been able to use them but they would not have been subjected to the higher interest rates either. I would say a very large number of people called to our offices complaining but everything was done right by law because they informed them of the chances and each customer had the chance to say no. I haven’t worked with the company for a few months now but I did see on the news the other day that a lady was very upset because her interest rate went up 7 percent.

While this change may eventually affect the number of customers they have, they feel they still are a very competitive company and that most people will remain loyal to them. Personally, I feel they won’t lose too many customers over the change because overall, most people are happy with their service.

Testing

Texting at the Speed of Sound

Our company was founded by four intelligent college students who were looking for a new efficient way to text message their friends. Started in 2007 at Virginia Commonwealth University, our founders came up with the exclusive feature of VoText technology. We manufacture a voice texting cell phone, which enables the user to speak their message for outgoing text, as well as hear their incoming text messages. While this new technology helps drivers text safely it is also convenient and accessible to all users of this product. Through the improved technology, users will be able to text at the speed of sound.