Category: Discussions/Homework

Discussion prompts for Week of 6/14

Everyone should respond to the 1st question and then select 1 of the other 2 to answer. Responses should be >150 words each. Please tag your responses with “unit1,” “weekof6/14,” and [your name]. Categorize as “Discussions/Homework.”

Please post your responses by 6/16, and then read through your classmates’ posts and my comments and respond where you wish.

  1. Graff and Birkenstein (in the opening chapter of They Say/I Say) remind us that in researched writing we are always starting from what others are saying. That means we must first be able to fairly and accurately represent the ideas of others. They suggest a number of different shapes this might take. Try out one of their approaches from chapter 1 to craft a statement about some piece of Gundemir et al’s argument. Write a sentence or two using this approach, and then explain what you’ve done and how it went. Did you find this approach to framing useful? How/why/why not?
  2. How do this week’s readings from Gundemir et al and Austin and Pisano add to your understanding of diversity in organizations? Draw some connections between these readings and the texts we examined last week–-how is this broad topic starting to take shape for you? Are there ways that you find yourself able to connect to your own experience to these Big Picture concepts (i.e. as a member of the SU community and/or as an employee/intern in another work setting)?
  3. These articles we’re reading this week have rather different purposes. Gundemir et al raise important questions about the impacts of how diversity is framed (as either valuing individual differences or as de-emphasizing individual differences). Austin and Pisano examine the opportunities and challenges that a specific type of diversity (neurodiversity) brings to workplaces. While heading in different directions, both articles ask readers to consider the social implications of workplace decisions. Explain and respond to their conclusions about the ripple effects of diverse workplaces. In other words, help us to understand how and why their ideas matter.

And finally, please tell us a little something about your week–a highlight, lowlight, or lesson that you care to share; a picture that captures your current mood; maybe a pop culture or news item that you’re excited about.

Mine? I’ve got a new kayak that I can’t wait to try out. No pictures because the matching one is a Father’s Day gift for my husband, and our camera rolls sync….

Discussion Questions

Response to #1

“What is organizational culture and why should we care?” by Michael Watkins provided many viewpoints on the topic but did not bring anything into sharp focus for me. After reading the various definitions, I began to wonder if organizational culture was actually just another “tool” created by management to be used to influence employee behavior, motivate them to work, and improve their performance. Perhaps all the talk about belonging and core values is really a form of manipulation? In other words, perhaps organizational culture is nothing more than an algorithm that creates greater profit. Companies are always upgrading their technology, maximizing the efficiency of their supply chains, trying new marketing strategies, etc, constantly looking for a competitive edge and higher profits. Is organizational culture just another one of those things that companies are working on and finetuning to maximize their profits at a particular point in time? I am interested in knowing if anyone has studied this.

The statistics in “Why Diversity Matters” by Vivian Hunt, Dennis Layton, and Sara Prince are widely referenced. On the surface, it all makes sense. A more diverse workforce will help your company understand the needs of more customers and see more opportunities in more markets. Therefore, you will make more profit. But I’m wondering if there is another factor that could also be contributing to the financial results that is buried in the data. I say this because this statement from the article seems to work against the idea of diversity: “While certain industries perform better on gender diversity and other industries on ethnic and racial diversity, no industry or company is in the top quartile on both dimensions.” In other words, companies don’t do as well if they have both gender and ethnic and racial diversity. I am curious to know more about this. Furthermore, the McKinsey study looked at the composition of top management and boards in 2014 and financial data for the years 2010 to 2013. This seems like a short time frame for the analysis. I am curious to know if diversity matters over the long term. Do companies with diversity from the start have a better chance of surviving and thriving over the long term? Does diversity make a difference all along the lifecycle of company?

Response to #2

In the article “Why Diversity Matters,” the authors state that diversity “leads to a virtuous cycle of increasing returns.” This immediately makes me think of my experiences in my high school’s vocal jazz ensemble. I was fortunate to go to a high school with a vocal music program that became a powerhouse because of the wide range of racial and ethnic diversity in our district. When I was in high school, I did not realize that so much of our success depended on our music director’s talent for selecting just the right composition of performers. Every song had complex arrangements and harmonies requiring a range of male and female voices. We also needed vocalists who could scat, beatbox and do vocal percussion, carry a walking bassline, and perform songs from different genres ranging from chamber jazz to gospel to pop. Factoring into all of that was each individual singer’s racial, ethnic, and cultural background that shaped our sound. Year after year, our jazz vocal groups would travel to competitions throughout California, and we would regularly win the top awards. We were often invited to perform at festivals like the Monterey Jazz Festival. We were named the best high school vocal jazz program in the nation by Downbeat magazine. Now that I think back to our competitions against other schools, I can clearly see that our diversity was the element that made us better performers.

Discussion 6/12

  1. I thought the different definitions of organizational culture from individuals on LinkedIn showed how complex and interconnected it is to understand this concept (and to make meaning of it). This article touched upon the importance of having a general understanding of organizational culture to change, preserve, or analyze it. This reading made me wonder if the “approach”  to understanding organizational culture needs to be a standard definition OR if we can identify key elements to it (with a ranking of importance depending on how that organization functions). When I was reading all of the different perspectives on what organizational truly is, I saw how they all fit in and were important in some way. I do not think it is just one of these things. By looking at the purpose, mission, and goals of an organization, the approach to understanding the organizational culture can be through all the definitions mentioned in the reading. I am interested to look at a specific organization and apply these definitions. Then see how they are interconnected and the power each one holds.

In the reading “Why diversity matters”, I became interested in other forms of diversity and how they promote or detract growth. The author mentioned that age, sexual orientation, and experience also can “bring some level of competitive advantage”, but I am wondering if socioeconomic plays a role in diversity in a company. Does a person with a different socioeconomic background bring different and useful perspectives to the table? Is this even a valid category of “diversity”?

3.

“Organizational culture is the sum of values and rituals which serve as ‘glue’ to integrate the members of the organization.” — Richard Perrin

This definition sparked some questions for me. Almost all organizations have some values and beliefs that are publicized and promoted. To have an organizational culture that is diverse, wouldn’t it be normal to not abide by the same belief systems or values? I think in some cases conflict is good and can lead to a progressive change. Also, why would a culture of likeminded people be encouraged when statistics show that diversity leads to greater production. I understand values that embrace respect, but what about deeper values or rituals? I also  want to know what extent these values and  rituals have on an individual’s membership into a specific culture. Do individuals only carry these values at work or are they expected to maintain them in all parts of their life? What happens if someone disagrees or breaks these values? Additionally,  who decides these values? I think these elements to organizational culture can be meaningless and I do not think it is the most important thing to “glue” people together.

Discussion 6/12

  1. Some researchable questions that the Watkins read: What is organizational culture and why should we care? personally evoked for me are mostly related to the time and data pool in which he conducted his research.  When I first started reading this article I realized that it was very outdated, since it occurred in May of 2013, more than eight years ago. This makes me wonder how different the responses would be if Watkins repeated this research more recently.  Another aspect of his research that made me a bit skeptical is that the only people invited into the survey were from LinkedIn.  So therefore that only people who heard about the survey had to already be a part of the organization, which largely narrowed down the data pool.  I also noted that out of the nine perspectives, only one was from a female.  It just made me wonder if the data in his research was slightly skewed and not completely accurate to current times and a wide range of people/genders. 

3) One aspect from the article Why diversity matters that sparked a big interest in me, was when the authors started to discuss the disparities between different countries and how diverse the executive teams are for each of them.  It is very discouraging to see that 97 percent of the United States fails to represent the racial demographic composition of the country’s population.  Even the United Kingdom, which does much better than the United States, still falls short of racial diversity with only 22 percent of companies that are racially diverse.  I think that this practice of not being diverse in companies goes back to the idea of organizational culture.  The first perspective in Watkins’ article quotes Aristotle, “we are what we repeatedly do”.  For much of America’s history, the only people allowed to hold a place in power were white men.  This practice is unfortunately still carried out often, evident in the very low statistics regarding racial and gender diversity.  The article titled Why diversity matters was written in 2015, so there is hope that the statistics have improved over the last 6 years, but no matter the improvement, there is still much to do to become truly diverse in the work field.

Discussion Questions

1) In the article “What is Organizational Culture and Why Should We Care?” I found the idea that culture is a product of compensation to be very interesting, in that paragraph it was mentioned that the best predictors of what people will do is what they are incentivized to do. I also connected this to the article “Why Diversity Matters” where it was mentioned that more diverse companies have been shown to be 35% more likely to out perform and have higher returns. The question I kept wondering about was Would companies be trying to improve their diversity if there were not statistics such as these to support the change?

3)Both articles “What is Organizational Culture and Why Should We Care?” and “Why Diversity matters” have provided me not only with new insight on these topics as well as allowed me to make connections to things that go on around us in the world. In “What is Organizational Culture and Why Should We Care?” a few definitions stood out to me. The first two were from the article “Organizational Culture is Civilization in the Workplace” in the paragraph that followed, the author went on to describe that Organizational Culture is derived from the societal norms that are behind upheld around the organization. The author writes about how the success of an organization can be determined by how willing the organization is to adapt to new cultures. It is mentioned that ” …established cultures can become impediments to survival when there are substantial environment changes.” This interested me because I believe this to be true, the more willing institutions and organizations are to rebrand their cultures, then the more successful they will be in the long run. The second was that “An organization is a living culture… that can adapt to the reality as fast as possible.” the author mentions that since the society is constantly changing it is hard to establish a set organizational culture which I completely agree with.As time passes we are changing as a society which also means that the things around us should change as well so they are able to keep up with current times. This made me reflect back on the importance of allowing room for improvements, and a large component of having this space is not to have a set in stone organizational culture.

In the article “Why Diversity Matters” It was said that The United Kingdom does better when it comes to diversity than The United States in senior leadership programs. At first I was wondering why this could possibly be but then it reminded me of something I learned in one of my college classes back in high school. In America where you live determines the types of jobs and schools you attend. Many minorities are confined to redlined neighborhoods and do not have access to the resources needed for them to leave. When they do they have a hard time finding jobs because they may not fit certain unspoken requirements. For instance a while back I read that when hiring, people are more likely to hire someone who went to a prestigious or well known university in comparison to someone who attended a community college or a lesser known university. This all can be a factor to why there is not as much diversity in senior positions in the U.S than in the U.K.

Discussion Questions

Response to #1

The articles “Why Diversity Matters” – Vivian Hunt, Dennis Layton and Sara Prince and “Organizational Culture and Why Should We Care?” – Michael D. Watkins, brought to mind several questions I’d like to explore further. As a Black woman who’s been working most of her adult life in majority white companies, I pondered over the intersection between a particular type of organizational culture and effective implementation of diversity and inclusion in a workplace.

“Organizational Culture and Why Should We Care?” mentions values being an integral part of an organization’s culture. This made me wonder what are some specific examples of values in companies? One person surveyed in the article posited that culture is shaped by the main culture of the society we live in. So how does that bode for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) folks whose cultures and values are marginalized in mainstream society?

I also began to wonder if any best practices for organizational culture have been established since the writing of the article in 2013? Are there any companies that have a successful culture? Who are they and how did they do it? What are the distinct characteristics of successful company culture? All of these questions should be considered when tasked with implementing or improving organizational culture.

Response to #3

The statistic that jumped out at me most in the article “Why Diversity Matters”, referenced how the United Kingdom, Brazil and the United States are doing on racial diversity in corporate senior leadership positions.  According to “Why Diversity Matters”, ‘The United Kingdom does comparatively better in racial diversity, albeit at a low level: some 78 percent of UK companies have senior-leadership teams that fail to reflect the demographic composition of the country’s labor force and population, compared with 91 percent for Brazil and 97 percent for the United States’.

Research has established that ethnically diverse companies are 35% more likely to outperform financially above national industry medians, thus why are American companies lagging so far behind in hiring ethnically diverse executives?  This is significant and leads me to a frightening revelation. The United States prides itself on being a capitalist nation, which often leads to putting the success of businesses above the needs of the people. So, it could be argued that keeping corporate America’s leadership roles (power) in the hands of a select few white people might outweigh all else. Even making money.  Many businesses will say that there isn’t an adequate pool of qualified diverse candidates to choose from. This isn’t a sufficient reason for executives being overwhelmingly white. It only means that there needs to be a change in corporate culture.

If organizations truly desire to transform culturally, more diverse employees must be hired at all levels and should be mentored, sponsored and promoted so as to one day be a defining voice at the head of a profitable corporation.

Discussion Questions

Response to #1

In the reading “Why diversity matters”, many questions were raised for me. Something that stood out to me the most was that no industry or company is in the top quartile when it comes to attaining both racial, ethnic, and gender diversity. When looking at racial and ethnic diversity alone, in the United States, racial and ethnic diversity had a larger impact on financial performance than gender diversity because there has already been an effort in women’s representation. This seems problematic to me, and the first thing that came to mind was that businesses want to “check the box.” The reason for me saying this is due to the fact that the successful fight for women’s representation in the past had great results, but this does not mean there isn’t more to be done. Gender diversity does not only consist of women’s and men’s rights but a spectrum of genders and identities that need to be recognized and valued. Of course, I am grateful that racial and ethnic diversity is finally being recognized in the workplace, but I do believe that furthering gender diversity alongside racial and ethnic diversity would not only acquire bigger financial gains but would make companies stronger as a whole. Companies would grow, be able to educate themselves more about the injustices seen every day, and would ultimately be able to understand their customers, consumers, and employees even more. The generations to come to need to be understood and heard, especially when diversity comes in so many forms. I believe that it is crucial for diversity teams to tackle racial, ethnic, and gender diversity simultaneously in hopes of understanding “customer orientation”, employee well-being, as well as decisions that need to be made in the future. Different opinions, viewpoints, and experiences can form an array of fascinating ideas and solutions.

Response to #2

In the reading “What is organizational culture and why should we care”, I instantly resonated with the last heading. An organization is practically living and can adjust to the reality in which is placed upon it. Not only can an organization successfully adapt to external and internal forces, but it can also do it quickly. However, sometimes a goal is uncertain or seems unattainable, but growing and figuring out issues together is one step towards this “goal.” When I think of this idea, I think of our campus and how students adjusted to the pandemic over the last year. I think of our community as an organization adjusting to pressures all the time. When the pandemic forced us to go home, there were many unknowns, but we knew that by taking this step we could get ahead and maintain our “culture.” Being back in the fall, we took many precautions to continue to better our community, and through this, we grew and learned many things about ourselves and others. We never knew exactly what our efforts would create, but we knew that by making changes we were one step closer to normalcy. We still do not know, but now, looking back over the past year, I can say as a community we have grown so much and our efforts have certainly paid off. Group efforts have created more peace throughout our community, knowing that everyone has played their part in hopes of an amazing outcome. Although the pandemic was a “big shift” for us, our reactions started a continuous process. We will take everything we have learned, and still use this knowledge and practice similar efforts since we have learned they have been successful.

Discussion Questions

Response to #1

The organizational article to me was the most intriguing, as it created a sense of curiosity, which led to a variety of questions I had concerning organizations in general. Last semester, I took two management classes which focused heavily on organizations, their architecture, which was composed by the structure and culture, along with other various elements. This makes me want to dive deeper into these issues and understand how organizations or large corporations in general can create a culture where it fosters a company identity where tasks can be completed in an efficient as well as effective manner.

  1. Can organizational culture be influenced or altered to fit the needs or desires of a specific organization? For example, do office perks, monetary incentives, work schedules, HR management (acquisition, maintenance, and termination of employees) create an environment which provides for a certain type of organizational culture, or is organizational culture set in stone? Can it change over time? Are intrinsic or extrinsic factors the most influential when considering a company’s culture?

At first, I questioned the validity of what random LinkedIn users had to say about organizational culture. This is because they only represent a small population of users, where comments are often positive and uplifting. However, the authors findings made me realize a variety of different things concerning organizational culture. First, there are various components that make up an organizations culture, some people believe it is a way to control employees, others believe that it is set, while others believe that they are constantly changing to fit the needs of both the external, as well as the internal environment. LinkedIn provides for another unique opportunity that also makes me think of another question I would be interested in learning about in the future.

  • Is organizational culture different in certain parts of the world? Is this due to peoples personal beliefs and norms within that culture? What influences the different beliefs and personal cultures of people, and how does this impact a domestic organization in comparison with an international one?
  • What are some components in organizational culture which may be detrimental to the organization as a whole? What are some positive aspects of organizational culture or things that my contribute to the culture which make the organization act more efficiently as well as effectively?

Response to #2

This prompt makes me think back to being a young child and beginning to read. Everybody at one point of time did not know how to read, but little by little they built their knowledge and recognition of words to help them understand how to read. Thinking back, I started off with small words like cat, dog, and apple. Eventually from this, you learn how to read and write. Over time, especially on standardized tests, teachers teach you about a five-paragraph format to answer a prompt with evidence supporting your claim. This is in essence, one of the most important beginner templates in writing that you begin to use as a kid. Obviously being able to recognize the different components that make up essays, is extremely beneficial as you are able to recognize the structure and quickly skim over certain elements.

This is exactly what the TSIS article is trying to illustrate. By following a specific format structure, you are able to summarize other people’s opinions or statements off in a conversational manner while conveying your own thoughts afterword.  Having this format makes for a clear, concise paper which is easy to read. Much like my first five paragraph essays which had an introduction, three bodies of paragraphs for evidence, as well as a conclusion the TSIS format has structure.

Other structures that I have noticed have enabled me to save time and focus on the important parts of the writing. For example, in many of my classes and out of class work, I read 10-Ks. Each 10k that I read, I understand that there are distinct sections which include a summary of the business, risk factors, financial data, as well as MD&A.

Along with this, in the TSIS introduction it speaks a lot about having to consciously think through concepts or actions until you have mastered that task. This is just like reading in my opinion, as well as today analyzing certain documents. The more you are able to read them, the faster it is to understand the general idea and any information which pertains to the subject. I have also experienced this in sports. Growing up playing basketball, it takes countless hours making sure that your form is correct, and the only way to do this is through repetition. Growing up I always shot the ball in an underhand manner, which is extremely ineffective. After becoming more serious with the sport, I learned what you need to focus on in order to have a better shot. At the beginning of creating your shot, you have to think about making sure that your elbows are at the right angle, your wrist goes in the right direction, feet square, making you think about every time you take a shot. Eventually it becomes something that you can perform unconsciously. This relates back to the TSIS reading as it speaks that just like sports and other activities, writing takes practice and lots of thought to perform well.

Overall, I agree with the statement that the author makes concerning how writing is a process that can be learned through repetition, and it is extremely relevant to their own ideas concerning the structure and using conventional formulas/phrases when learning how to master something.

Introduction

Hi! My name is Joanna Vines and I am a rising junior from Villanova PA. I am pursuing a double major in Public Health and Policy Studies and a minor in Information Management & Technology. In addition to this course, I am working as a hostess and conducting research with a Professor overt the summer.

I am taking this class during the summer because I could not fit in to my schedule last spring. For a summer course I find the asynchronous format beneficial given the uncertainty of my schedule. However, during a normal semester I do not like this way of learning.

My advice to students who may not have taken a course completely online or asynchronously is to use an agenda or calendar to write the due dates of all assignments to help you stay organized. When you do not have a regular class meeting time it can be easy to forget about course work. By mapping out your work it can keep help you stay on top of your work and stay more connected with the class.

I am looking forward with this class with Professor Oakes! She was the writing consultant for MAX 123 when I took it last semester.

Discussion Questions

  1. The readings for this week’s class presented me with different ideas for researchable questions. The issues I am thinking about include diversity in our schools. How do we disaggregate data and the relationship to standardized tests? The pandemic has produced a lot of changes in our society and no other area has seen greater changes than our educational system.

Per our article, “An organization [is] a living culture… that can adapt to the reality as fast as possible.” — Abdi Osman Jama. My question is: did school systems (organizations) adapt to the COVID reality fast? I was finishing my associates degree and professors struggled. I self- taught statistics. It was not pretty.

I watched the news in Syracuse and our largest district struggled. Was there a rapid adaption to this new normal?  How did students perform?

There is one point I would like to make on diversity. I believe all of us need to expand our definition of diversity. Sometimes when I read articles or watch news programs on diversity the term is utilized in a very narrow context. There are many forms of diversity. We all may consider the definition from our personal experiences and that’s to be expected but I think it’s important to consider it in a larger context. Thinking of the many kinds of diversity:

Cultural diversity

Racial diversity

Religious diversity

Disability

Age diversity

Sex / Gender diversity

Sexual orientation

3. There were many statistics from “Why diversity matters,” that sparked my interest. One of my personal favorites is that “Companies in the top quartile for racial and ethnic diversity are 30 percent more likely to have financial returns above their respective national industry medians.” The article goes on to point out that as a society we are closely linked and a global world. Thus, the more diverse the company the better the results. Even Syracuse’s University College understands that their mission is global. Central to expanding and strengthening the University’s global offerings is the rebranding of University College to Syracuse University Global. I’m a prime example of this global diversity. Last semester I’m in Syracuse, my Russian professor is in South Africa, my classmates were in Washington state and overseas.

So, with all these statistics and all this knowledge…it begs the question “Why aren’t all organizations more diverse since it clearly results in greater profits?” If you won’t be diverse for the reasoning it’s those diverse backgrounds and perspectives lead to an array of ideas, knowledge, as well as approaches to doing things… then do it for financial reasons. The bottom line is that diverse organizational culture gives the organization a competitive advantage.