Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 73 Piano by Friedrich Gulda

Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 73

Beethoven: Piano concerto No. 5 In E flat major. Piano: Hélène Grimaud

Beethoven: Piano concerto No. 5 In E flat major

Beethoven: Piano concerto No. 5 In E flat major, Conductor: Zubin Mehta

COM 250 / Week #8 Discussion: Emotion Labor: A Commodity to be Paid?

   In today's career world, especially in the retail business, employees are required to display particular emotions or feelings deemed "appropriate" for the business setting. As a college teacher, sometimes I am under the pressure to take it down a few notches when it comes to my critique on student course work, because if I honestly point out a mistake I might end up with a bad "customer review" of my teaching which has increasingly become a "product."  To be honest, I feel bad about it. I believe those who are forced to display particular feelings no matter what they truly feel are in the same situation.  Do today's organizations push too much to make our human interaction less genuine and more like a "commodity"?  Whose fault is it?

COM 250 / Week #8 Discussion: Our Career Life Does Not Look Beautiful Anymore, What’s Wrong?

   Our textbook identifies four trends in the relationship between organizations and individuals. According to the new social contract theory and contingent worker theory, our relationship with our workplace has become more and more contingent. Workers are more and more disposable, because there always are cheaper workers somewhere on the planet. Our job becomes more and more alienated labor (how about emotional labor).  “We are all temps now,” as one corporate CEO lamented.  Jobs have been the body tissue of the society where our collective identity, passion, dream, and character grow. Not any more! What’s the problem with today’s organizations?    

COM 250 / Week #8 Discussion: How to Make Yourself An Influence?

   As we already know, leadership is actually an influence relationship.  But what exactly is influence and how can we be an "influence" on others?

   Sometimes, we have relationships, but we don’t have real influences on one another; at other times, we have influence, but we don’t have relationships (followership) as a receptacle to hold the influence. Do you have a plan to make yourself an influence in your family, in your social circle, in your workgroup, in your public life, and in society at large?  How can your realization of influence help you to cultivate your leadership skills?   

COM 250 / Week #8 Discussion: Why Is Communication the Lifeblood of Groupwork?

     Most of the time, the essence of teamwork is excellence in communication. Groups make bad decisions and crash in problem-solving largely due to defective communication: information overload, unstructured or over-rigid discussion, defensive listening, confirmation bias, dichotomous thinking, collective inferential error, group polarization, social loafing, groupthink… just to name a few. Do you have any experiences with communication failure in your groupwork? Tell us your story.   

COM 250 / Week #8 Discussion: Why Does Group Work Suck?

     Teamwork is the buzzword in today’s workplace.  Employers want groups to generate synergistic dividends.  Individuals largely believe that group work allows them to sync their lifetime goals and ambitions.  But, alas, groups could be very excruciating to a lot of people. That’s why a lot of people end up with grouphate. They feel groupwork is a form of oppression or exploitation. Tell us why group work sucks: why is it that sometimes "[you have to] shrink yourselves so that other people won't feel insecure around you"? (quoted from "Our Deepest Fear" by Marianne Williamson)