Day: November 17, 2012

Jeremy’s post addresses an interesting issue: should whistleblowers be compensated or punished? Jeremy refers to an article in the Washington Post about ex-UBS banker Bradley Birkenfeld who helped uncover a large Swiss banking scheme that helped Americans evade taxes. For this, he was awarded $104 million and sentenced to 40 months in prison.

Birkenfeld knowingly came out to the IRS about his bank’s actions, claiming that “he should not have to fear prosecution for turning over evidence”. While he was awarded considerably, he was still sentenced to more than three years in jail. The whole system is incredibly oxymoronic. I think that we should provide more security for whistleblowers; the threat of going to jail doesn’t provide much of an incentive to reveal any evidence. Additionally, I think that an award system is crucial as it provides further incentive to go forward. There needs to be a more direct system in place that encourages whistleblowers to go forward with useful evidence.

Picture Source:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444017504577645412614237708.html

After listening to Janice Cheam’s presentation on the development of Energy Aware (a product that measures your energy consumption), I couldn’t help but wonder if the long hours that she put into this product was worth it. Although Janice spoke of the satisfaction that came from seeing her product come to life, she juxtaposed this with sleepless nights and financial struggles. Her company could have easily failed and everything that she put into it would have been worthless.

This caused me to start thinking about whether Janice really cared about the energy that she put into her product. In other words, I believe that her passion carried her through what would have otherwise been an overwhelmingly strenuous time. Successful entrepreneurs should be passionate; if not, they would not have the drive to continue. The long hours that Janice put into her company were not because the prospect of being wealthy, and obviously not because of securing a job that will insure long-term stability, but rather because she wanted to get her product out to the public. It is her hope that this, will in turn change the lives of others.

Picture source:

http://www.newventuresbc.com/2011/08/2006-competitor-energy-aware-on-cover-of-bc-business-magazine/

Immediately upon reading Conor Macdonald’s post, I could tell that his opinions on organizational culture in the workplace were similar to mine. In his post, Conor is adamant in explaining the effectiveness of using intrinsic factors to motivate employees. This prompts a stronger working environment and a more pleasant experience for employees and consumers alike.

Many studies show that the use of intrinsic factors, such as giving employees interesting work or a feeling of autonomy, are the most effective ways to motivate an employee. These studies show that using intrinsic motivation increases job satisfaction, which improves the organizational culture of a business. This improved organizational culture can be tied to a decrease in employee absence and a lower employee turnover rate.

Learning about the importance of intrinsic motivation made me think about some of my experiences in the workplace; which organizations that I have worked for used intrinsic motivation? If they didn’t, did their lack of organizational culture hinder their chances at success? I know that a lot of these businesses are suffering low employee turnover rates and a lack of employee morale, which causes an increase in training costs and an eventual decrease in efficiency.

Sources:

Organizational Culture at the Pike Place Fish Market

http://mbahighway.com/2011/10/are-your-employees-satisfied/

http://voices.yahoo.com/intrinsic-motivation-workplace-equals-higher-1556797.html?cat=3