Journal 1
Part 1
Work in my opinion refers to the legitimate means by which man makes a living. Every individual in life has demands that need fulfillment. Individuals have responsibilities that they have to handle. Work allows individuals to earn a living that in turn enables them to meet these responsibilities (Mor Barak, 2014). It implies that any normal human being who wants to live comfortably must work. Besides earning a living, work allows to utilize our time well. The world today could be full of vices if everybody had nothing to do. They deem that the field employs redundant minds explains this situation clearly. Individuals ought to embrace the work and take it positively rather than viewing it as a punishment. Work should be a part of us, and means through which human beings maintain their dignity and live respectable lives (Connors, 2009).
The culture of rewarding hard workers cultivated in me the culture of hard work and a positive attitude to life. From my tender age, I learned that the work was the way of life and the only way through which individuals could better their lives. On academic grounds, I must state that the teachings by our teachers towards work had much impact on me. They taught work as a virtue and changed my perception towards work. Family provided me with my first interaction with the work (Mor Barak, 2014). My parents could divide work and go ahead to pay those who did good work. It instilled in me the culture of giving my best when it came to working. I realized that when you give your best at work then you set yourself on the path of reward and greatness.
Individually, my work ethics encompasses the aspects of positive outlook. In this way, I am always looking forward to new and challenging opportunities that would improve my skills and prowess in my profession. The other is respect for co-workers. Without this, it is difficult for me to progress career wisely due to a lack of interaction. Healthy relations and communication with fellow employees is always a driving force to greener pastures.
Part 2
It is imperative to note that all constructive actions are taken with the aim of promoting employment equality in the workplace. I greatly disagree with the dismantling of proponents of affirmative action. Affirmative action considers the minority groups such as persons with disabilities and women (Mor Barak, 2014). For individuals who have potential but do not meet requirements, there are training programs and outreach efforts that educate them. Instead of dismantling such proponents, it is important to offer support as it embraces all individuals regardless of their race and nationality. This form of balance ensures individuals receive what they deserve without having to buy their way in corporate worlds (Wankel & Wankel, 2011).
Part 3
Education ought to instill skills in the individual that should in turn allow one to be useful in the society and enable them to earn a living. Education being career oriented undermines the very essence of education. In other words, it limits the benefit of education and reduces the potential of individuals. The current environment presents varied factors beyond career that school can offer. It applies mainly to the social aspect of time. Education helps to strengthen social bonds and overlooking of such dimensions of education only renders, and it is limited (Glenn, 2010).
Book Association
This journal is associated with the chapters 3 and 4 of the Mor Barak book. The two chapters discuss work issues like discrimination, employment fairness and equality all with the concept of policies and affirmative actions. The fourth chapter discusses trends on workforce diversity. All these are in relation with the questions discussed in this journal like work ethics and my view on dismantling of proponents of affirmative action (Mor Barak, 2014).
Journal 2
Part 1
According to Dumont (1995), work ethic arises from the direct result of faith in God through Christ and any other actions revealed in the Bible. In the early times, work ethic lessons and practice were mainly carried out by the Puritans. According to the article, work ethics refers to the moral principles that orient a human being or a group of people in their work. These policies spell out practices that individuals should engage in while working and the vices that they ought to stay away from in order to preserve their integrity. The foremost point the writer is trying to convey is that Americans have misunderstood the original meaning of work ethics and misinterpreted it. The journal on work ethics on the other hand views work ethics as the ideals that guide an individual at the work place. The misinterpretation has misled the entire generation and now the young elites have taken on an entirely different thing that is compromising their work ethics. The current problems at workplaces arise due to the distortion of work ethics. He also criticizes lazy individuals in the society and offers biblical proof that affirms his idea that even God demands that everybody in the society have to work (Dumont, 1995). The author further criticizes the new “rugged” individualism that Americans believe will lead them to prosperity. The author expresses his disapproval of the new American work ethics approaches. He blames the new system for the current poor work ethics.
I agree with the author’s review of the contemporary American work ethics because it has largely deviated from the original meaning. The individualism perpetuated by the new code of ethics only does more harm than good (Dumont, 1995). People believe that they are better off on their own disregarding the importance of teamwork as held by the previous work ethics. Individuals have developed their own understanding of work ethics that do not lay emphasis on morality of work ethics. It perpetuates greed without considering the implications of it. Ethics ought to encourage legitimate ways of earning a living and not just allow all forms of vice in the name of work (Trundle, 1989).
Part 2
Global diversity refers to the practice of outsourcing jobs to overseas countries, which reduces the cost of production. Global diversity is the aspect of having various options of getting work done (Dumont, 1995). If one finds it expensive to have their work done by professionals from their country, then outsourcing the work becomes a viable option. The profits of the organization are low since the work is completed at lower cost as compared to what it would have cost had it been done by local professions.
Competitions among service lenders reduce the overall cost of production, as the offers will always go to the lowest bidder (Gardner, Csikszentmihalyi, & Damon, 2001).
Part 3
“Tech prep” refers to the level of preparedness to adapt to new technology. We live in a dynamic world, and technological revolution sets everything in motion. Individuals adapt to these technological changes to remain relevant at their work places and at the same time organization takes on new technologies to improve efficiency, maximize profits and remain afloat in the competitive market. It changed the traditional views on education that emphasized one’s career. Education broadened its meaning to incorporate the instilling of necessary skills to individuals to enable them remain relevant to their job demands. It also altered the views in that it gave education a different definition as a lifelong process since individuals could go back to school to acquire a given skill even after advancing in their careers for several years.
Book Association
The journal “What Is the Work Ethics” is associated with the chapter 6 of the Mor Barak book. The chapter discusses global diversity in many contexts such as discrimination and prejudice in the workplace, stereotyping and oppression. To solve the diversity issues discussed, work ethics is essential hence the first discussion of this journal.
Journal 3
Part 1
Kitazume (2005), in his article, explains the generational trends in employee relations and work ethics vary from employees wanting their work to conform to their lifestyles to individuals lacking work commitment. According to the research carried out in Japan, the young employees want outdoor jobs that will give them freedom to move around as they do in their day-to-day activities. Kitazume (2005) states that young people would always want to fuse their current lifestyle into their jobs. The author highlights that they dislike the idea of being tied down in the office from morning to evening. Further research from the articles indicates that the young employees also change from one job to another. It is clear that an individual can change up to twelve jobs in his/her career. They lack job commitment and would like to transfer from one job to another: a factor that arises due to the current job market that offers a variety of jobs. I will attribute the lack of commitment to a job from the individualistic perspective.
One wants to pursue something that excites him/her without minding the impacts on the organization or his career (Bloom, 2012).
From both articles, it is clear that one party dominates the employee relations. For the hidden jobless Japan case, it is clear that employers pay salaries that are not adequate to support their employers and their respective families. Those who request for salary increments are fired and those with desperate need for jobs chosen. As much as Japan is promising to solve this problem, the rate of unemployment in the country increases annually. The aspect attributed here is individualistic perspective for jobs. In case of Japan, children are not willing to study and get employed with the notion that parents will always provide for them. In other cases, they are willing to settle for any paying job as long as it can provide food for the families.
Part 2
The similarities in both generational and cultural trends are that in both cases young employees do not uphold the value of job commitment. Individuals move from one job to the other as opposed to their parents who would stay at the same job for their entire career. The second similarity in the aspect of employees in both countries is opting for jobs that resemble their lifestyles. The major difference is that in Japan their education is exam oriented as opposed to the American Skills oriented education. The job trends in Japan tend to disregard employee rights as opposed to that of America that takes serious consideration of the employees’ welfare (Parker, 2013).
Part 3
Mor Barak book discusses groups in the workplace and associated differences. In the work places, there is a diversity of individuals based on culture, race, nationality, profession, religion and personal objectives. As every employee gets into the corporate world, they all have set goals and objectives (Mor Barak, 2014). Based on the understanding of the employees, these differences may be of negative or positive impact. As much as there is competition between the individuals, this could turn out to be healthy and beneficial for the organization. Apart from those mentioned above, differences may arise from conflicts of interest. It is possible that not everyone thinks the same when it comes to individual and organizational benefits. The different opinions and ideas brought out by individuals may also result to this. In most organizations, the code of ethics results to differences in groups.
Organizations all aim at making profits regardless of the method used. Most companies use situational ethics, which is not relevant to the code of ethics. These differences may arise based on how such issues are handled (Taira & Levine, 1996).
Part 4
According to O’Lawrence (2013), one of the trends is the organization of programs around the career clusters. The author clearly states that workplaces require three major skills from their employees. These include strong academics in English, computer skills and sciences, profession specific skills and virtues such as responsibility, integrity and honesty.
I believe that this is a move in the right direction as it comes with many benefits. The students need preparation in a changing and more complex work environment. These programs provide ways through which students learn different occupational clusters in their professional field. In this manner, there is the identification of unique talents and abilities of individuals that later convert into competent skills.
Book Association
The two journals are associated with the chapter 7 and 8 of Mor Barak book and the O’Lawrence book. The two chapters in Mor Barak discuss the concept of diversity and exclusion in the workplace, organizational demography and intergroup relations (Mor Barak, 2014). There is also a clear explanation on communication in the workplace between groups. This is what the author highlights in the first three parts of the journal. The last part is associated with O’Lawrence’s textbook, which intensely discusses career technical education, vocational education and the best way to enhance education.
Journal 4
Part 1
According to “Women Rewrite the Rules”, there exist various forms of gender inequality at the place of work, for example, when it comes to matters of promotion, management and recruitment. These issues greatly resemble the gender inequality in the U.S. In chapter 10, the author highlights that employees in other parts of the planet just like here in the United States tend to consider men as the superior gender. However, the inequality in the US is of a lower rate. This skewed perception of men as the superior gender tends to favor them over women. The gap is smaller compared to other countries as women take up leadership positions including politics engagement (Mor Barak, 2014). In most organizations, women do not get a chance of moving up into upper positions with high salaries. The journal “Women Rewrite the Rules” displays various ways in which women strive to achieve gender balance at the work place. It further states that women, over the years, have taken advantage of the affirmative action to claim positions of authority at the work place (Mor Barak, 2014).
Gender differences have become an important issue in the contemporary environment because with globalization, employees tend to focus more on the competence and varying payment demands rather than gender. Today, women are all fighting for rights and forming unions that push for these reforms. To succeed, the girl child is putting education on the frontline of all their life plans (Mor Barak, 2014). All this is done with an aim of letting everyone know that women can also work in the corporate world apart from taking care of their families. The issue of outsourcing in the contemporary world has greatly watered down gender differences as the quality and cost of work output overshadows matters of gender (Kovacevic, 2012).
Globally, gender inequality has its effects. The upgrades for women have hindrances even after they have proved to be efficient. In the end, there is little concentration as men fight to pull down women instead of working hard.
Part 2
One of the paradigms is discrimination and fairness while the other is integration and learning. All these are imperative when it comes to diversity management. While discrimination and fairness consider we are equal, the second paradigm requires integration of these two differences (Mor Barak, 2014). The most important paradigm is discrimination and fairness, which is the guide of the other. Here, there is equality despite the differences in individuals (Towles, 2011).
Part 3
Vocational training prepares individuals in specific fields in terms of professional education. Global shift has a significant impact on this. As some companies aim at gaining the best, others are training their own talents to get such competent personnel. It is a positive impact on the workforce as more skills and techniques have major influence on employees (Kovacevic, 2012).
Book Association
The journal is associated with the chapter 10 and 11 of the Mor Barak book. The two chapters discuss the diversity in the management of organizations. All these are in line with the gender inequality discussion of the journal. Diversity here is of main interest in the context of gender and discrimination. To remain effective, the management of a company must consider equality in rights and promotion. The other part of the journal is associated with O’Lawrence’s book, which discusses global shifts with regard to vocational education.
The main idea the two books bring out is the evolution of the role of women in the corporate and family world. Today, women are re-writing rules that are placing them at the same place with men if not the top. Reforms are being set up favoring the girl child and ensuring the same level of education remains administered to all.
Journal 5
Part 1
In the article “The New Global Job Shift” by Engardio, Bernstein, and Kripalani (2003), globalization and technological advancement are two major concepts that are dependent on one another. The author agrees that with regard to the global shift in professional skills, globalization today rises with the increase and improvement of technology. Technology is making it simpler for globalization as it eases communication across borders while improving transportation. These two are interdependent in such a way that one determines the growth of the other and vice versa. The same relationship exists in the outsourcing context. Individuals must work together to achieve organization’s goals and objectives. Engardio, Bernstein, and Kripalani (2003) displays the changes that have occurred at the global labor market with companies outsourcing work to more competent and cheaper workers overseas. It is further pointed out that globalization survives majorly because of technological advancement in communication.
The positive impact is the ability of globalization and technology advancements determining the reasonable prices of goods and services. For businesses, there is a reduction in their overhead costs and improved efficiency. There is also diversification of talents and skills as countries and companies seek for the best minds in their industry. The downbeat force of this inclination is the protection of vital information. Outsourcing and in sourcing of labor from different countries may be a disadvantage all the same.
The in sourcing or outsourcing nation may lose information to competitors or enemies in cases where employees are not loyal (Benedikter, 2013).
From the perspective of globalization, the prospect of my profession, that is management, heads towards the same direction.
Currently, companies outsource experts in specific skills like IT and accounting. As more nations adopt this, there will be a need for management skills in order to manage a diverse workforce.
For America, outsourcing is a threat rather than an advantage. Several American citizens have their careers destroyed because of the outsourcing trend. It is important for America to go slow on the outsourcing rate and possible impacts. To be competitive, the country’s economic growth is important. It majorly contributes towards the white-collar jobs, which the country is now outsourcing.
These jobs also generate the tax revenues that cater for education, infrastructure and health funds. Instead, America should only outsource when there is such a need, and still make use of the talent at home. This way, the country is diverse in skills and competitive in nature (Soleymani, 2010).
The role of education, therefore, is to nurture professional talent for individuals. Apart from the theoretical context, it is important for institutions to teach young professionals on the needs of their nation to prevent outsourcing that renders them jobless. For most nations, GDP greatly contributes to the country’s economy, and this is only possible if the workforce of a nation is majorly domestic. Education should help one identify their skills and competence areas in order to survive in the competitive professional fields (Benedikter, 2013).
Part 2
Work-life balance according to Mor Barak book is the ability to prioritize work and lifestyle of an individual. Work in this context is the career and ambition while lifestyle is all other aspects away from one’s profession. It is important as it helps one strike a balance of activities in their life without having to overstep on other (Mor Barak, 2014). The aspects represented include policies and procedures in the work environment. These should enable employees to pursue lives that remain balanced professionally and personally (Hallett & Wright, 2011).
Part 3
I believe workforce education has effected economy growth today. With this, everyone in their field of profession knows what remains necessary for them. Companies train their workforce to deliver quality services and meet up to the competitive environments. This way, there is improved efficiency and economic growth because of the generated returns. In return, the employees get benefits such as fair wages and friendly working conditions. Globalization’s impact on these labor relations varies with personnel. In IT, innovation and software skills are the key ones. With globalization, there is a diversity of skills and probably a more meaningful complex (Mor Barak, 2014).
Book Association
This journal is associated with chapter 12 of the Mor Barak book. The book chapter discusses inclusion in the workplace. The founding of policies, measures and practices that guide this in turn supports this. It also discusses different benefits and barriers that come with the adoption of the inclusion approach. According to the author’s viewpoint, there are certain criteria when it comes to selecting a group of employees to be included in information.
Journal 6
Part 1
Unionized labor is associated with low employee turnover, higher productivity, efficient workplace communication and better-qualified personnel. According to the article, “Famous People” the author highlights that some of the settlements that come with this are economic growth, productivity, quality services and competitiveness. The industry in discussion here is IT. Globalization’s impact on labor relations may be positive and negative at the same time. With globalization there comes diversity in skills hence a positive impact on the labor relations. On the other hand, globalization results to competition as employees in the workforce compete for benefits and job positions (Egger & Meland, 2011).
Unionized labor in “Famous People” comes with labor unions that tend to represent employees in various aspects. The push for fare wages, policies and standards that govern employee relations, the issues of outsourcing and conducive working environments.
Readings from “Famous People” reveal that unionized labor poses significant challenges to employers due to the overwhelming demands by the unions to which the employees belong. The unions in the spirit of advocacy tend to stretch employers in terms of wages and better working terms.
Part 2
Unilever is one of the most successful companies known to all. It is divesting of oil palm plantations that took place because of the weakening in volumes and low profits of the venture. The impact of this is a focus on consumer products that are fast moving and profitable. The company’s management aims at strengthening these core goods of the company. It is however unfortunate that Unilever will not have authority over the triple base line of the oil palm industry. With the rising issue of deforestation of palm oils, the company now relies on the suppliers who are yet to meet their criteria. The company has also ventured into other businesses like laundry and soap thus shifting their concentration from the oil business (Koskela & Schöb, 2010).
Journal 7
The most relevant topic to my personal, academic, social and professional goals is “A New Global Job Shift” and “What Is the Work Ethics.” The new global shift topic has given me a patent imminent on what to anticipate in a competitive corporate world and what must be done. With this, I am working towards gaining competent skills that will enable me get employed. Ethics at work is beneficial for not only my professional life but social life too. This way, I am able to interact with people from all contexts and still deliver. The other topic of interest was North American Educators and Japan Hidden Jobless. The two topics discuss how individuals view employment. While the older generation is stable in their professions, the younger generation is moving from one profession to another attempting to make ends meet. Others believe that their parents will always provide for them. In many countries like Japan, the rates of unemployment are increasing with no solutions coming up.
Competencies and skills learnt in this course are people management skills. Management generally involves guiding a group of people and resources towards the same goals. To succeed, labor must be the most important factor of production. People’s skills enable me to treat everyone in an equal measure while exploiting their talents uniquely so that everyone involved benefits. The competencies learnt are those of competitive advantage. I am able to compete competitively within my specific field of work and achieve individual and organizational goals.
From the course and topics discussed, my perspective on professionalism in the successive nations such as the USA has changed.
Apart from theoretical knowledge, competent skills also enable a successful career. Many organizations today are looking for employees with competitive skills and are willing to go to other countries or regions to get these. It is, therefore, important for me to discover my unique abilities and use them for the benefit of all.
In the context of globalization, my professional future is rather challenging and full of expectations. With the expert skills companies are looking for, it is my responsibility to go onto an extra mile to suit the requirements. With globalization, diversity is the key component and therefore need to adapt to different work environments. The opportunity here is the ability to interact with a diverse group of individuals and probably get experience in the management field.
The education’s role is to nurture my unique skills and abilities in my profession and ensure I fit into the corporate world. My career goals remain centered on the rise in my job group over the years and probably additional courses to boost my management field.
