#eccom320

The Economist published an interesting article on storytelling as well as other interesting aspects that I might not have noticed had I not take this class: Corporate storytelling

Source: (http://www.economist.com/node/3353315)

Key Points:

1. Storytelling is important because it catches the audiences attention

2. Blaming the bureaucracy

3. Thompson’s Classification of Interdependence

Connection to Organizational Communication Class:

Despite the name of the article, I think this article is about organizations as much as corporate storytelling. However, before I go into detail about any other concept, let’s start with the concept of storytelling. 

Storytelling is important because it brings us together, it captures an audience’s attention by providing more than just facts about a company, brand, or individual. Stories contain culture in them and culture is mostly responsible for bringing people together around a core set of practices. 

This article also hits upon another concept--blaming the bureaucracy when something goes wrong (as opposed to evaluation what went wrong and how to fix it). The article states that the genre of non-financial accounting and reporting has so far been haphazard (lack of order or planning, by irregularity, or by randomness); importantly, the article states “no one powerful organisation has taken responsibility for its progress.”

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Ignite-style Talk: Natalie Bell on "Being a 5th Year Senior." 

The Economist writes about pregnancy discrimination in the workplace.

http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2014/09/pregnancy-discrimination

Key Points: 

1. The (PDA) Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 states that pregnant women are protected in employment under the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. 

2. 62% of women had a birth in the previous twelve months were in the labor force. Meaning the PDA applies to a large group of women and needs to be implemented better. 

3. Pregnant women are still not getting the same rights as another employee who may be injured or need a lighter workload, a recent case involving UPS exposes. 

Connection to Organizational Communication: 

As we talked about in our class discussion on the Human Resource perspective, organizations can unfairly treat employees based on gender, race, class, sexual orientation, and so forth. In this article, Ms. Young was not getting treated fairly at UPS because they would not give her a lighter workload, claiming that she did not meet the criteria of “injured employee.” That is exactly why the PDA was put into place. Ms. Young was not able to finish out her work at UPS and was put on unpaid leave. Organizations need to be more fair when with regard to treat its employees. [Instructor note: Explain why.] A pregnant women should not be terminated based on her health and ability to work [instructor note: writing clarification needed here]. At least Ms. Young was trying to hold a job while being pregnant. 

Note: http://babygate.abetterbalance.org/

Inc. magazine has a relevant article on workplace culture. Three Things Guaranteed to Kill Your Company’s Culture. (Source: http://www.inc.com/matt-ehrlichman/3-things-guaranteed-to-kill-your-company-s-culture.html)

Key Points:

The type of culture promoted in the workplace is key for motivating employees.

Making employees feel like they are part of something greater is paramount.

Excessive structure and control dampens workplace morale.

Connection to Organizational Communication Class:

This article relates to the question of whether organizations are cultures, or whether organizations have cultures (pg. 263). The author of the article implies that organizations have cultures, and that they need to be carefully cultivated and maintained if the business is to thrive on any level. Through the construction of a company-wide atmosphere, businesses are able to paint a picture of their values for the public. Although the article focuses on what should be kept out of work culture (egos, bureaucracy, and jerks), there is an underlying message that the brand of a company is built from within through the type of social climate and work ethic encouraged by management. 

Entrepreneur has a great article on cultures in companies: It Really Pays to Have a Rich Company Culture. (Source: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/238640)

Key points:

1. From the employee perspective, an organization’s culture is its personality, and includes the company’s mission, expectations, and work atmosphere.

2. There is a link among employee happiness and productivity and profit: statistics show that a company’s culture has direct impact on employee turnover, which affects productivity, and therefore success.

3. Having a great company culture can encourage solutions, inventions or innovations that may not have come to light in a more oppressive environment. When your organization’s culture is in alignment with your goals and you hire people who share your values and enthusiasm, you are paving the way to financial success and building an outstanding reputation.

Connection to Organizational Communication class:

In our organizational communication class, we learned that Deal and Kennedy define company culture as “the way we do things around here.” Their definition directly correlates with the definition from this article - “a blend of the values, beliefs, taboos, symbols, rituals and myths all companies develop over time.”

Speaking of cultures, a company’s commitment to its workers, unparalleled job security, and the importance of employee’s ideas to management appear as the biggest similarities between this article and the class material. Both, this article and our textbook, Reframing Organizations, touch base on employee happiness and the fact that this is a key ingredient to financial success and organizational image.

Inc. magazine has an interesting article on stories and symbols: Using Stories and Symbols to Build a Powerful Culture. (Source: http://www.inc.com/jim-schleckser/use-stories-and-symbols-to-build-a-powerful-culture.html) 

Key Points:

1. Symbols give your workers a sense of meaning to what they are doing.

2. Stories are a good way to strengthen your organizational culture.

3. Examples provided in the article of symbols and stories demonstrate myth, traditions, and rituals.

Connection to Organizational Communication Class:

Chapter 12 and chapter 13 are relatively close in terms of content; both chapters capture the importance of stories and symbols. Take chapter 13 into consideration. The chapter focuses on the success of the Eagle Group, vis-a-vis story. Personally, I want to be part of an organization like that! Because Eagle Group is narrated, it evokes emotion. As I read, I thought: “This, my friends, is the main reason why storytelling is key in every organizations.”

The Economist has an intriguing article on women's pay inequality in Germany: www.economist.com/news/europe/21646083-germanys-government-pushes-close-wagegaps-between-sexes-fixing-hole 

Key Points:

Germany's women have worked to get new laws passed for equal rights in the workplace, such as a minimum wage for women, and a mandatory quota for women on corporate boards. 

Germany has one of the worst earning rates for woman in the European Union. The average woman in the EU makes 16% less than men, and in Germany woman make 22% less. 

The new law makes median income known to all workers. This will cause female and male workers as well to arguably seek pay raises. Of course, this will be an increased costs to companies.

Connection to Organizational Communication class: 

The first thing we see with this article, is gender inequality. Something that I thought of from class would be the reframing of what's going with Germany's rules and laws. With reframing, the people in power are looking at the situation from different points. In our book it describes reframing as promising powerful new options, but not being able to guarantee complete success. This new option is extremely powerful for women to be treated equal with their male co-workers; however, will male workers ask for a raise if women get one? If so this would not grant complete success in terms of equal pay in the workplace. 

Inc. magazine has an article about reframing procrastination: Inside the Psychology of Productivity

Source: http://www.inc.com/magazine/201503/leigh-buchanan/the-psychology-of-productivity.html

Key points:

           1. Productivity is subjective.

           2. Focus on progress not productivity.

           3. Reframe your procrastination; view your failures are retraining.

Connection to organizational communication class:

This article describes personal productivity as a metric. One connection to class is that productivity is a proxy. But this I mean it measures our failures and our triumphs; however, the measurements we use may not accurately capture this phenomenon. Productivity and procrastination can also be related to Theory Y. In the article, the author stresses that people should focus on progress rather than productivity since many of the things we do don’t have a definitive end. According to Theory Y employees find satisfaction in their work. If employees focused on the progress they make, instead of just an end result, then they would find their work more satisfactory because they would realize how much they’ve actually accomplished. (Instructor note: Applies to learning too.) Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs also relates to this article because of the need for organizations to help their employees self-actualize. If employees can find out why they procrastinate then they can address those issues. Employers should want to help their workers find out what motivates and demotivates them so that it can be fixed and the workers will continues to be efficient and happy.