Author Archives: XiaoyuanChen

Work Flexibilty: A Wise Alternative

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This week I read Megan`s blog work from home  and was quite interested in one of her points that people sought for work flexibility rather than the increased salary. To make employees feel valued, employers should not simply get them promoted and give them a generous wage. Instead, they should attach great importance to the balance between employees` work and personal life.


In her blog, Megan pointed out that flexible work hour is an important part of work flexibility, which reminds of a piece of news I came across on BBC. Suzanne Wright, the mom-of-two from the UK, decided to give up her job as distribution manager and become a self-employed homeopath. Although her salary dropped compared to the previous one, she availed herself of more hours to accommodate her family responsibility, achieve personal growth as mother and homeopath as well as gain the recognition from her customers and children. Therefore, she felt satisfied with her job and motivated to work on, which is a manifestation of motivation-hygiene theory.
The flexible workplace also contributes to the work flexibility. Imagine that one day you don`t need to get up early to catch the crowded bus. Instead, you can just turn on your computer and talk to your client. In this case, work flexibility could save the tremendous amount of energy and time, thereby bringing higher morale and productivity for the company. The employer could hire more talented employee regardless of the mismatch of the labor force and workplace. With social networks, intranets, project-specific groups, and teleconferencing, distances become increasingly irrelevant. (Meghan, 2013) Also, workers will feel more respected and be more devoted to their work. Young mothers don`t have to worry about their children at home because their children are just right beside them and smiling to them, which engaged more women to participate in the labor force.
Work flexibility means not only flexible work hours but also imply flexible workplace, which is a worthy choice for the employees to consider.

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reference:

Biro, M. M. (2013, October 15). 5 Reasons Why Workplace Flexibility Is Smart Talent Strategy. Retrieved April 02, 2017, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/meghanbiro/2013/08/18/5-reasons-why-workplace-flexibility-is-smart-talent-strategy/#6c52263e18ff
Langton, Robbins, Judge, Organizational Behaviour, 7th edition, p. 133

All about motivation?

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This weekend I read Osas`s blog and was interested in one of his blogs “all about money” illustrating the relation between money and motivation. He pointed out that whether money is a motivator or not depends on its quantity. In some cases, if the amount of  money people got paid over the appropriate boundaries, it will diminish the willing for people to work and play the role of a demotivator. He also stated that the intrinsic factor is greater than the external factor. People should concentrate more on other elements rather than the money.

In real world workplace, even if a person acquires enough motivator, he could still mess up his work. Why? Because motivation is evidently critical if an individual is to perform well; nevertheless, it may not be enough (Nelson, 2016). Aptitude, or having the skillset and knowledge needed to perform the task, is also critical and is in some instances the primary element that determines effectiveness. Ultimately, environmental factors like having the information, resources as well as support that an individual requires to perform well are important in determining performance.


During different occasions, some of these factors may be the determinants of key performance. For instance, for a worker whose task is to sweep the floor, motivation could be the most critical factor as far as performance is concerned (Heldman, 2007). Conversely, even the people with the highest degree of motivation would not be in a position to design effectively a house if they lack the pertinent talent involved in building appropriate houses.

In a word, having a high degree of motivation does not necessarily imply that one will perform highly and is not the only reason why individuals perform exceptionally; however, it remains a key influence over levels of performance (Fairholm, 2009).

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Reference

Fairholm, G. (2009). Organizational power politics (1st ed.). Santa Barbara, Calif.: Praeger/ABC-CLIO.

Heldman, K. (2007). PMP : project management professional exam study guide : deluxe edition, second edition (1st ed.). Sybex.

The Best Way For Vancouver Taxi Drivers To Deal With Uber`s Entry

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A few weeks ago, I came across an exciting news that Uber was about to entry into Vancouver. Uber is the well-recognized international brand that operates successfully all over the world for its reasonable price and user-friendly application interface. However, it has been rejected several times from entry into Vancouver in the past few years.

The main obstacle for its launch is that Uber will dramatically harm the local taxi driver`s interests because of its much cheaper fare. The taxi drivers are also concerned about the unfair competition since Uber doesn`t share the same background check criteria with them as well as safety inspection and insurance. (Smyth,2016)

Based on what I learned from chapter 9, conflict occurs when people have different lines of thought, approaches, and theories in regards to business operation. Owners of businesses may also encounter conflicts when bargaining with other businesses or individuals. Acquisition of economic resources, such as driving licenses in this case, entails a bargaining process.

Businesspersons and organizations can utilize conflict negotiation in the creation of favorable outcomes when dealing with stronger parties (Singh, 2010). Numerous companies are aware that they are not in a position to attain all requests when dealing with conflict and negotiation. Therefore, possessing the best alternative to negotiated agreements assists in ensuring that the company gets a high number of concessions as negotiation progresses. Nevertheless, such options may result in increased conflict in instances where they continually need the other parties to comprise and thus forfeit more benefits (Rahim, 2001).

My advice for taxi drivers is that they cannot only boycott the entry of Uber since the shared economy today is an irresistible trend in today`s world. What they should do is to figure out the best alternative, such as negotiating with the government to ensure the fair and level playing field, to get the highest number of concessions from Uber. At the same time, they should improve the quality of their service to adjust to the more fierce competition.

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References

Smyth, M. (2016, October 16). Mike Smyth: Threat of Uber looms large for Vancouver taxi drivers. Retrieved April 02, 2017, from http://theprovince.com/opinion/columnists/mike-smyth-threat-of-uber-looms-large-for-vancouver-taxi-drivers#comments

Rahim, M. (2001). Managing conflict in organizations (1st ed.). Westport, Conn.: Quorum Books.

Singh, B. (2010). Managing conflict and negotiation (1st ed.). New Delhi: Excel Books.

Cultural Differences In Fundamental Attribution Error

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Last month, I came across a hot video on twitter, which left me deep impression. In the video, Australian newsreader Amber Sherlock lost her cool when a fellow journalist Julie Snook, a guest speaker sat down wearing a white jacket, a color that matches the outfits of both the women. Amber had such an epic meltdown that she reprimanded Julie put on a different-colored jacket, this event created an extremely awkward situation in the chat-room.[1]

 

My first reaction after I learned the whole story was there was nothing to be blamed in Amber`s request as she has already given reasonable explanation that she wanted to avoid a broadcasting incidence. Surprisingly, the majority of comments under the video criticized her rudeness. This video was also widely watched on Chinese social media Weibo, there I found most viewers’ opinion was consistent with me, Amber did nothing wrong. Given the fact that Amber had reminded Julie two hours ago to not wear the same clothes that might cause trouble for clothing department , obviously Julie has adequate time to get changed, but she didn’t, she failed to do her job and violated her obligation.

 

By comparing these two opposite public opinion, I realized people from the west holds different opinion in fundamental attribution error, namely, the tendency to underestimate the influence of external factors and overestimate the influence of internal factors when making judgments about the behavior of others, than those who are from the east. The former is inclined to attribute Amber`s overreaction to be the inevitable outcome of surroundings. While the latter tends to regards it as obnoxious bully. From the anthropological standpoint, westerners and easterners have been maintaining contrasting logical system for thousands of years. The collectivism determine Asian to value high contextual culture. Whereas individualism make western society” treat specific objects in isolation from their context. And they hold belief that they can know the rules governing objects and therefore can control the objects’ behavior”.[2]

 

Today’s historical significant globalization era requires entrepreneurs pay close attention to these distinctions so they could make appropriate judgment on their employee’s behavior and achieve effective management.

Reference

  1. Andrew Court For Daily Mail Australia. (2017, January 13). Is there bad blood? Amber Sherlock and Julie Snook DON’T follow each other on social despite insisting they’re ‘good friends’… but DO follow their other Channel Nine colleagues. Retrieved February 05, 2017, from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-4115710/Amber-Sherlock-Julie-Snook-DON-T-follow-social-despite-insisting-good-friends.html
  2. Nisbett R. E. The geography of thought: How Asians andwesterners think differently…and why. New York: Free Press,2004
  3. Langton, Robbins, Judge, Organizational Behaviour, 7th edition, chapter 2

How To Establish Scientific Team-based Incentive Plan?

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This weekend, a blog named” Reward Your Best Teams, Not Just Star Players” triggered my keen interest. The author emphasizes that” for every executive utterance praising a high-impact individual, there should be an equally emphatic expression of support for a high-achieving team. “1

Personally, I concur with the author`s statement. There is one time when several girls and I put off the job by hand to help one of our friend to rehearse her play. Though we injected great enthusiasm to this play, we only won the best director award. The feeling that your devotion can`t be acknowledged sucks.

A paragraph in Chapter 5 of textbook support my idea. It says that “incentive pay, especially when it is awarded to individuals, can have a negative effect on group cohesiveness and productivity, and in some cases it may not offer significant benefits to a company”. 2

However, I doubt that word “equally” in this statement. As far as I am concerned, we can`t use group-based incentives and individual-based incentives separately or equally. Since these two systems have their own standard, we should combine them to form multiple incentive plan, depending on the task itself. In my point of view, incentive plan includes two level. First, evaluate the overall performance of the team. The executive could set a goal for the team, when team achieve this goal, they could get the corresponding reward. For the excess achievement, the bonus should split among team members. For the second level of distribution, I am inclined to separate the prize into two parts. One is to be divided equally between members, the other is be determined based on the evaluation of individual’s contribution to the team. In this way, people could balance  the importance of the collaboration and competition.

In conclusion, only when the reward could be separated scientifically between team members, could the team attains real effectiveness.

 

Reference

  1. Reward Your Best Teams, Not Just Star Players. (2015, June 30). Retrieved February 05, 2017, from https://hbr.org/2015/06/reward-your-best-teams-not-just-star-players
  2. Langton, Robbins, Judge, Organizational Behaviour, 7th edition, p. 177

Will Max and Caroline Finally Succeed In Their Cupcake Business?

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This Saturday, I watched the latest episode of “2 broke girl” and was deeply moved by the optimism of the heroines. The TV series tells a story about 2 waitresses, Max and Caroline. Max was born in a poor single-parent family while Caroline who used to be heiress of considerable fortune now lost everything. They worked together at a Brooklyn diner and never forgave building toward their dream of one day opening a cupcake shop. I am going to analyze whether their cupcake business will succeed according to organizational behavior we learnt these week.

As it is referred in textbook, heredity as well as environment play powerful roles in determining one`s personality,1 the alcoholic mother and volatile growth environment made Max an exquisite character. Also, she tends to reconcile with situation more than Caroline.

During their first meeting, Halo Effect made Max draw a general impression of Caroline on the basis of her clumsiness in doing waitressing. 1However, after a few rounds of interaction Max gained objective appraisal of Caroline that she was a bubbly but stanch person. In organizational terminology, Caroline has a proactive personality, that she always shows initiative, takes action for their cupcake business. She is always willing to challenge the status quo and encourages Max to change their situation.1

Besides, Max has high core self-evaluation that she believes her talent in making cupcake and finds it very fulfilling to carry out their cupcake business. 2Compared to their career as waitress, they generated more productivity in cupcake, because they intrinsically felt good about it.2 Most importantly, since it is their own business, they developed such stronger organizational citizenship behavior that they did more than just making and selling cupcake. Max went to dissert school to learn more technical skill, while Caroline worked hard to push forward their ideaS to strive for sponsorship.

Will these 2 broke sister finally realize their dream? Let`s wait and see!

Reference

  1. Langton, Robbins, Judge, Organizational Behaviour, 7th edition, chapter 2
  2. Langton, Robbins, Judge, Organizational Behaviour, 7th edition, chapter 3

Nestlé: Doing good for no other reason that doing good

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This Friday I read Pauline`s blog and came up with novel idea of the creating shared value. Rather than being driven by the external pressure, most entrepreneurs adopt CSV in pursuit of maximizing its own profit and expanding market share. In other words, CSV takes the societal benefit into consideration about modifying company`s cost structure and competitive ability. While Pauline disputed the efficiency of CSV over buyer bargaining leverage. I am inclined to emphasize the CSV`s merit for supply chain.

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A traditional case is Nestlé, which well exemplify the core value of CSV at the standpoint of supplier power. Contributing to local economies by establishing manufactures, Nestle avoids collecting milk from the separated famers and further declines the internal economic loss occurred in the collection process and the transaction fee. “Conducting business in an environmentally responsible way that protects and preserves water”, Nestle ensured the ongoing quality of raw material namely water and milk and sustainability of its production environment. Nestle offers farmer formal training to provide them with a set of expected operating standards and key nutrition skills and knowledge. This could diminish the potential for unappropriated behavior leading to deteriorating raw material. Moreover, nestle seizes the initiative over volume of supplier to maintain the industry in sellers` market. ”Partnering with organizations to advance health, nutrition and water education, encouraging physical activity among children, youth and their families, protecting the environment and more.” Nestle enhance individual potential and well-being as well as the competitiveness and sustainability of the whole community. By doing all these above, Nestle achieve the ultimate goal to obtain more concentrative and qualified supplier to improve its supply chain.

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Besides, I can`t exactly concur Pauline in her opinion about disruptive innovation of Muji. In my point of view, the Muji`s innovation can`t be attributed to disruptive innovation. It`s true that Muji uses recycled material to lower the variable cost, but Muji never enable “a new population of consumers at the bottom of a market access to its product that was historically only accessible to consumers with a lot of money or a lot of skill.” Actually, Muji`s product is more expensive than its counterpart and eliminates more consumers with poorer buyer power. (the above pciture show the bench sold by Muji is $ 110, the bench sold by IKEA is $69) What Muji is doing is to adhere “minimalist” practical principle to its product to differentiate itself from its flashy competitors which always accompany with too much trademarks and decorations. And Muji`s price strategy is always about maintaining the high price to uphold the PoD in consumers` mind. So , as far as I am concerned, It is just a sustaining innovation and perfectly avoid disruptive innovation.

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P., Tsai. (2016, October 30). A Different Perspective on Shared Values. Retrieved November 13, 2016, from https://blogs.ubc.ca/paulinetsai/2016/10/30/shared-value-a-different-perspective/

Creating Shared Value. (n.d.). Retrieved November 13, 2016, from https://www.corporate.nestle.ca/en/creatingsharedvalue
Disruptive Innovation. (2012). Retrieved November 13, 2016, from http://www.claytonchristensen.com/key-concepts/

Samsung Note 7 Crisis: Does It Hurt Or Not?

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This blog is based on the external blog Why Samsung’s Note 7 Crisis Won’t Hurt Its Brand Long Term by Utpal M. Dholakia. Basically, I agree with the writer on the following points.

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Firstly, it is the allegiance of current customers that rescue Samsung from this imbroglio. For a long time, Samsung acknowledges the Points of Parity against Apple and is committed to offer same advanced designs. Meanwhile, Samsung emphasizes its Points of Difference that it could provide users with affordable price, more flexibility over control system. As a result, Samsung has cultivated a large cluster of loyal customers, for whom the PoDs and PoPs of Samsung made it irreplaceable. That`s why the customers are willing to accept the product again under the duress of explosion.

Secondly, I concurred with author that the national pride accelerate the recovery of Samsung from the scandal. It is astonishing that an estimated 20% of South Korea economy is composed of Samsung. Rather than an electronics manufacturer, Samsung is a conglomerate which integrates many subsidiaries and affiliated businesses including heavy industry, engineering, insurance etc. These industries support many families in South Korea and represent South Korea in the world. That`s why citizens have inclination to forgive the fault and trust their company again. Besides, the diversification make Samsung adamant during the scandal.

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However, the future of Samsung is not as positive as what the author asserts in the article. Since Samsung is facing the headwind of new entrants in smartphone market, according to Statista, in the past 3 years, its market share plummet from 31.9% to 22%. Another crux is in the supply power of Samsung. According to its financial report, Samsung tends to scale down semiconductor product line owing to the decrease of chips` selling price and buyer volume, which may further enervates Samsung`s comparatively advantages in supply chain. Also, the crisis of buyer power may be intensified due to Note 7 fiasco. As more inexpensive products enter the market, consumers acquire abundant choices and bargaining leverage. In upscale market, Samsung can`t surpass apple in its brand value and IOS system. In middle and low end market, Samsung`s living space is being squeezed by the its competitor`s low price strategy. As a result, Samsung`s brand differentiate become more and more ambiguous. To make things worse, the fiasco now break the balance in the market. And this change seems hard to be reversed.

As far as I am concerned, the fiasco of Note 7 would actually negatively impact the future running of Samsung Electronics, and maybe the turning point of Samsung Electronics from prosperity to decline.

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reference

Dholakia, U. M. (2016, October 26). Why Samsung’s Note 7 Crisis Won’t Hurt Its Brand Long Term. Retrieved October 31, 2016, from https://hbr.org/2016/10/why-samsungs-note-7-crisis-wont-hurt-its-brand-long-term

Samsung operating profit plunges 30% in wake of Note 7 fiasco. (2016, October 27). BBC NEWS. Retrieved October 31, 2016, from http://www.bbc.com/news/business-37784079

Team, T. (2015, February 11). Trends That Will Drive Samsung’s Semiconductor Business In 2015. Forbes. Retrieved October 31, 2016, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2015/02/11/trends-that-will-drive-samsungs-semiconductor-business-in-2015/#7b86825376d8

Maternity Leave : A Dilemma In Business Ethics

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On September 29, 2016, Cantonese Congress promulgated a new regulation that it will extend  the maternity leave from 50 days to 128 days, which rapidly becomes the most contentious topic in China.

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On one hand, it is considered as an auspicious opportunity to working women, for it provides ample time for them to recover from  parturition without worrying about being fired. On the other hand, the new regulation sparks consternation among single young girls, most of whom are seeking for jobs. From their standpoints, it will cause discrimination towards female, for the law only adjusts the childbirth  leave of mother and neglects the father`s duties. Furthermore, the new rule may reinforce the stereotype that women, instead of men, should be amenable to parenting their children. In fact, men should take the corresponding responsibilities for family. As a result, it amplifies the current chasm between man and woman in job markets.

In respect of business ethics, it is vital for a company to balance maternity leave and the development of a company due to the raising proportion of women in job market. Chen Xiaoxian, president of Beijing branch of CITIC Bank, recently claimed that he would only provide 110 days` leave for the first born baby and 60 days for the second, which was regarded as a breach towards woman’s rights. From another perspective, it was a surrender to rapid economy development. Without the government regulations and appropriated laws to uphold the priority of women, same things also happen in other corporations in China which are inclined to avoid hiring non-pregnant women, for they can`t suffer the loss from the vacancy of workforce. This has prompted me with UK`s new rules that “allow UK parents to share leave following the birth or adoption of their child have come into effect”, which may buffer the negative impacts of discrimination resulted from the maternity leave. Maybe in this case, government plays an essential role in business ethics.

According to Jialin Xu`s blogs, upholding the equal rights of man and woman “may improve not only the brand’s business ethics, but additionally allows them to claim a unique position [in] the mind of the customer in their consumer’s perspective as a product that best empathizes with the struggles of the working woman. “I basically concur with her in this point. However, we can`t overlook actual loss undertaken by businesses. In my point of view, enterprises should ameliorate their operations by rewarding those with aptitudes to take extra responsibilities or spreading the work to more branches, etc.

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Reference

How the UK’s new rules on parental leave work – BBC News

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-32130481

China Briefing News China Regulatory Brief Adjusted Maternity Leave in Guangdong and Cancelled Consumer Tax for Cosmetic Products Comments

http://www.china-briefing.com/news/2016/10/10/china-regulatory-brief-8.html

 

Jialin Karen Xus Blog

https://blogs.ubc.ca/jlinxu/2016/10/16/16/

 

 

 

 

 

The success of WeChat-How important are value propositions for an enterprise?

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Tencent, China’s biggest online entertainment and social network company, has reported a 47% jump in second-quarter profits. Wechat, akin to WhatsApp, has superseded all its counterparts and dominated China messaging markets by 2016. By the reckoning of HSBC, a bank, according to current valuations for tech firms, WeChat could be worth over $80 billion already, which is totally beyond analysis`s expectations. From the standpoints of value proposition, I think that the reasons are as follows.

As a pioneers that introduces messaging app into China, Tencent has garnered enormous success from its precedent product QQ. While QQ`s targeted consumers group is Chinese teenagers, WeChat has proven to have more concise interface and omit unnecessary flashy functions, which are more accessible for middle-aged users in China who cannot master the operation of electronic device well. In a society that value time, Wechat also thrives with its integration of a wide spectrum of online services including video chatting, ride sharing services, online shopping, food deliveries etc. For it is always difficult for most people to memorize their accounts and password separately for each app that may require different forms, WeChat perfectly avoid this awkward situation.

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Nowadays, the public suspects increasing important issues relating to cybercrime, malware and privacy. By persuading users to link their ID and bank accounts to their app, WeChat provides customers with reassurance that they will be safe using it. Another notable strength of Wechat is that it provides theirs users with platforms to engage in competition ranging from running distance, red bag campaign to games scores ranking. For example, the person who run the longest distance would be on the top of ranking board and receive others` compliments, which counters the individual`s desire for recognition in today stressful world.

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Most importantly, all these functions above are free for customers to adopt, because the revenue source of its company is mainly from its online games and e-commerce. In June, Tencent, the company of WeChat, launched a mobile game named Miracle Nikki in Korea market, which at once topped the mobile game ranking. Same thing also happened in its launch in Japanese Market last year. This game requires a WeChat account to play and generates huge capital for the company. WeChat also acts as a platform for the connection of vendors and consumers, the low operational cost of not paying license, concise interface requiring less technical operation gives WeChat the comparative advantage over other online shopping websites.

By solving targeted customers` problems, providing them with enjoyment and differentiating itself from competitors, WeChat has occupied a conspicuous proportion in today`s China messaging market. And I believe it will achieve greater success as long as it runs on the right track basing on the value proposition.

 

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Reference:

http://www.economist.com/news/business/21703428-chinas-wechat-shows-way-social-medias-future-wechats-world

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-37094256

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/03/20/wechat-valuation-is-still-just-a-hunch/