Jing-Zong (Eric) Fang's Blog

I noticed the importance of negotiation since I was a kid. During the time when I was still in my middle school, people fight to resolve conflicts. It was useless and stupid. In the end, the conflicts usually ended up getting worse. However, with proper negotiation, a win-win situation can be created a lot of times. Therefore, negotiation is probably one of the best way to resolve conflicts. There are several types of negotiation strategies that can be applied to different situation. What’s more, before entering a stage of negotiation, one should develop a strategy based on the situation (Langton 2016).

How can we effectively negotiate with others?

First, you should identify your target and your resistance points, which refer to the outcome that you would like to achieve and the lowest acceptable outcome, also known as the best alternative to a negotiated agreement(BATNA). With that in mind, you should try to identify what the other party wants as well. My peer, Homen, provided a great example of how Donald Trump sets his targets and resistance points in his blog. Donald Trump says, “I always go into the deal anticipating the worst.”, which corresponds to his resistance point. As he knows when to stop, he can deal without sweating as long as it does not go over the bottom line. Also, he says “if you’re going to be thinking anyway, you might as well think big.” He believes the target point should not be a limit on bargaining possibilities. By setting the target point high he opens up more potential for negotiation. (Feng, 2017)

Another key to a successful negotiation is to improve your negotiating skills. Here are some tips that I found useful. First of all, you should begin the negotiation with a positive overture. It is crucial to create an open and trusting climate. To do so, you should also emphasize win-win solutions. During the negotiation, what you need to pay attention to is to address the issues, not personalities and the initial offers. By using these techniques, I believe successful negotiations can be achieved.

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Work Cited:

Nancy Langton, Stephen P. Robbins, Timothy A. Judge and Katherine Breward (2016) Organizational Behaviour Concepts, Controversies, Applications

Have you ever felt unmotivated and lazy that all you wanted to do is nothing? I have this kind of feelings a lot of time. A lot of time, I simply ended up procrastinating on my work. In COMM 292 class, we learned the theories of motivation. I attempt to apply the theories to analyze the reason why I often feel unmotivated and try to find a solution for myself.

As my peer, Karina mentioned in her blog, the lack of intrinsic motivation is one of the causes of procrastination. However, there are two kinds of motivators. Intrinsic motivator refers to a person’s desire to do something, while extrinsic motivators refers to the motivation that comes from outside the person, such as tangible rewards. The effect of those two motivators may differ from one person to another. For me, I feel myself driven by extrinsic motivation most of the time. Unfortunately, the work that I have to do does not usually come with tangible rewards. I figure out this is probably the reason why I often feel unmotivated.

To solve this problem, I come up with the idea of that I should focus less on rewards. Instead, according to Alfie Kohn’s theory, I should focus more on creating a motivating environment(Langton,2016). Since intrinsic motivators do not have much effects on me as well as my work do not come with extrinsic motivators, I think creating a motivating environment would be the best solution for me.

In order to do so, I propose three ways to achieve a motivating environment. First, I do my academic work in my room most of the time. It is sometimes distracting. Therefore, the first solution is to work in places such as library where other people are also working. The second step is to work with friends who can encourage me to focus on my work. The last step is to have multiple tasks on hand so that I don’t feel bored working on the same thing for a long time.  By doing these, I believe it will help me to improve my problem.

Word Count: 349 words

Work Cited:

We all know the importance of teamwork. As a funny proverb goes, a good team will take you to heaven while a bad team will lead you to hell. It might seem funny and over-exaggerated. However, there is no doubt that an effective team would really save you a lot of time and trouble. In order to build an effective and successful team, there are some essential characteristics of the team that you need to know.

Here are three characteristics of a successful team that I think are the most essential.

1. Leadership

According to a poll conducted by Refresh Leadership in August 2015, the reason of why a team fails was asked. The top response was “poor leadership”. The result shows that great leadership is vital to a team, not only to set goals and stay on tasks, but also to resolving team conflict and encourage all team members. Furthermore, while the team has a formal leader, the position of the leader sometimes shifts from time to time depending on the tasks, the needs of the team, and the skills of the member. Therefore, with the appropriate example of the formal leader, it helps to establish a positive standard among the team members.

2. A Clear Common Goals

Legendary football coach Bud Wilkinson said, “If a team is to reach its potential, each player must be willing to subordinate his personal goals to the good of the team.” Once the goal, task, or vision has been clear defined and agreed by all team members, it could lead all individuals in the team willing to participate and provide their own ideas. Without a clear goal and an agreement, it might lead to confusions and conflicts that could ultimately tear the team apart. Therefore, a clear common goal that every team member all agrees on is very important.

3. Be Nice To Each Other

Disney Institute shared its secret of a successful team, which is something easier than what you will normally thought. It is “just be nice”. The relationship between team members plays a vital role in building a successful team. The theory is easy to understand. Having a great relationship between team members helps create an enjoyable working environment over time which can lead to an increase of the whole team’s productivity. Ultimately, it could even impact the overall success of an organization.

There are a lot more characteristics of a successful team and these are just some that I consider the most essential ones. You might want to think about, for you, what are the most valuable characteristics a team should have in order to be successful. Try apply those when you work in a team next time. You may experience the joy of being in an effective team!

Work Cited:

Institute, D. (2017, February 01). Disney InstituteVoice: What’s The Secret To Successful Teamwork? Just Be Nice. Retrieved February 05, 2017, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/disneyinstitute/2017/02/01/whats-the-secret-to-successful-teamwork-just-be-nice/#54b452dc5c5b

4 Essential Characteristics of a Successful Team. (n.d.). Retrieved February 05, 2017, from http://www.refreshleadership.com/index.php/2015/08/4-essential-characteristics-successful-team/

Langton, Organizational Behaviour, 4th edition, p.217

Happy Cloud is the pen name of a well-known blogger in Taiwan who shares her travelling experience. Before she became a blogger, she was a business director of a large advertising firm. How did this dramatic change happen? Happy Cloud was born in a strict family and her parents had always decided what to do for her. Following her parents’ order, Happy Cloud never pictured herself working in an advertising firm, not to mention working as a blogger. However, after she went to college, she discovered that the field of advertising and marketing is interesting.

After graduating from the college, Happy Cloud started to seek opportunities to work in an advertising firm. Without a famous university degree and strong language skills, she was often refused by the firms. However, she didn’t get upset and give up. Rather, she sacrificed her leisure time to attend extra job training, read books, and practice writing to enrich her ability. Eventually, with the good habit of pursuing opportunities, she became the business director of a large advertising firm at the age of 27.

While Happy Cloud was fully devoting herself to her advertising career, one day she coincidentally came up with a question in her mind. “What am I without my job?” To Happy Cloud’s surprise, she realized that she was nothing without her job. She didn’t have any hobby or any interest besides her work. It was a shock for her at that time. Therefore, she made a great decision to leave her job temporarily and travel around the world not only to increase her language ability but also to start a journey of self-reflection and self-inspiration. Happy Cloud then started to write blogs about her travelling experience using the pen name “Happy Cloud”. At first, it was just a platform her to share her feeling and she never thought it would become so popular that publishers, radios, and speech invitations came to her. Now, being a blogger has become a new lifestyle after she left the advertising firm.

A question that is often asked is “How can I enjoy my work like I am playing?” Happy Cloud provided her answer during one of her interviews. She said, “No matter what industry you are in, ask yourself, why would I first start doing this?”. For me, reminding yourself of your original intention is important. It strengthens the value of the work and gives you motivation to work enjoyably. Eventually, the motivation would lead you to self-actualization, which is the top need of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory. You might want to ask yourself this question tonight before you go to sleep. When you wake up in the next day, maybe you’ll find the enthusiasm of your interest that you might have lost.

Work Cited:

P. (n.d.). Business Weekly. Retrieved February 05, 2017, from http://www.businessweekly.com.tw/article.aspx?id=18948&type=Blog

A basic definition of Generation Z refers to people who were born in 1995 and after. However, the boundary between the Millennials and the Generation Z is blurred for those who were born in the years surrounding 1995. In other words, the people who were born around this period might share some traits from both the Millennials and the Generation Z. I was born in 1997, and I found my generation to be a fusion of traits from both. It raises my interest that I want to know the key difference between the Millennials and the Generation Z. Furthermore, it is also important for a business to know the difference to shift marketing, adjust leadership, and recruit new blood.

Being exposed to digital media at an early age, Generation Z lives in a continuously updating world. It allows Generation Z to digest information quickly. An example would be Snapchat or a short Vine video. Generation Z can tell the information in a short time. However, it also makes them less focused in comparison to Millennials in that their attention on one thing won’t last as long. At the same time, Generation Z is good at multi-tasking. Just imagine that a student is doing his homework online with a cellphone on the side to check Facebook while skyping with his friend. You get the picture. Generation Z can quickly shift between work and play, with multiple distractions going on at the same time.

What’s more, Generation Z is more self-driven. According to a study done by the advertising agency, Deep Focus, it was found that Generation Z is more likely to have worked on learning a skill than the Millennials at their age. Furthermore, the Generation Z is also more entrepreneurial. 62 percent of the Generation Z respondents of the study said that they would prefer to establish their own company or business rather than working in an existing company.

Still, it is easy to treat the Generation Z and the Millennials the same in the market due to an abundance of similarities between these two generations. However, we still need to pay attention to the unique characteristics that differs the Generation Z from the Millennials. Generation Z grew up with the technology and it is probably hard to live without the devices. A big difference that I think would make a significant impact is Generation Z’s affinity for technology. For instance, if Generation Z is constantly on their phones or devices instead of watching TV, we may experience a major shift in advertising methods and marketing strategies.

Work Cited:

Beall, G. (n.d.). 8 Key Differences between Gen Z and Millennials. Retrieved February 04, 2017, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/george-beall/8-key-differences-between_b_12814200.html

6 Differences Between Millennials and Generation Z | BeAuthentic. Retrieved February 04, 2017, from http://beauthentic.motivateroi.com/6-differences-between-millennials-and-generation-z/