Category Archives: Comm 292 Blog Project

Rap music has historically been largely associated with gangs, drugs, money, and sex.  When J.Cole’s album 4 Your Eyez Only was released on December 9, 2016, it marked an addition to the conscious hip-hop movement, a movement of rap away from the stereotypical topics discussed above.  Specifically, during the hook of Track 6 “Change,” J.Cole raps “I know you desperate for a change let the pen glide, but the only real change come from inside.”

What J.Cole is essentially saying is that although people often look for changes in their lives through external sources, such as the “pen glide” of the signing of a check or contract, J.Cole believes that real change comes from within the individual.

This line reminded me of extrinsic and intrinsic motivation in OB.  When I look at J.Cole’s development as an artist from his 2014 album 2014 Forest Hills Drive to his new 2016 album, it is clear that J.Cole not only superficially raps about real change coming from inside of a person, but that he actually walks his talk.  In 2014 Forest Hills Drive, J.Cole relied on producing crowd popular songs such as ”Wet Dreamz,” a song about sex, and “G.O.M.D.,” a song about making it big in Hollywood.  Contrastingly, in his new album, J.Cole deviates from the stereotypical sex and money lyrics and instead, raps about loving his wife, loving his new-born child, and conscious topics regarding the murder of his close friend “James McMillian Jr.”

J.Cole’s new album demonstrates that he is no longer motivated by the “pen glide” of checks or contracts, rather, his change in musical style symbolizes his maturity in the rap game, and that his motivation is now shifted to his relationships with family and friends; motivation that comes from inside.

Word Count: 293

Sources:

“J. Cole – Change.” Genius. N.p., 09 Dec. 2016. Web. 01 Apr. 2017.

Langton, Robbins, Judge, Organizational Behaviour, 7^th edition, p. 128

Image Source:

http://pixel.nymag.com/imgs/daily/vulture/2015/12/03/03-j-cole.w529.h529

The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 was one of the hottest phones in the market when it was released in August 2016.  The phone was so hot that several of them caught fire in the hands of consumers.  This led to Samsung’s decision in October to issue a worldwide recall of the Note 7; resulting in a $5.5 billion loss.  Now, just five months later, Samsung has made yet another decision: resell the refurbished devices to recoup losses.

Samsung’s decision can be explained through the Six-Step Rational Decision-Making Model.  With the problem of a $5.5 billion loss identified, the second step for Samsung would be to identify the criteria.  In Samsung’s case, their criteria would include any additional expenses needed to rebuild its loss, and customer feedback.  As the refurbishment of recalled devices is less costly than the development of a new device to replace the Note 7, Samsung valued the decision to simply refurbish and resell the Note 7 over other alternatives.

Was this decision ethical from a long-time Samsung user’s perspective?  Personally, I view Samsung’s decision as unethical.  From Exhibit 12-6 on page 435 of Nancy Langton’s Organizational Behavior textbook, Samsung’s decision to keep costs low and resell recalled devices is largely considered a decision motivated by self-serving interests.  On the contrary, I believe that an alternative that Samsung may have passed over would be to face the situation and develop a newer, safer, device to compete in the tech market.  This would have placed Samsung back in the competition with the other tech giants.  But for now, the decision may have further lowered the market confidence in Samsung, digging Samsung deeper into its problem.

Word Count: 276

Sources:

Langton, Robbins, Judge, Organizational Behaviour, 7^th edition, p. 435

Reuters, Thomson. “Samsung to sell refurbished Galaxy Note 7s after battery fire recall.” CBCnews. CBC/Radio Canada, 27 Mar. 2017. Web. 28 Mar. 2017.

Image Source:

http://donthatethegeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/note7_samsung-fire-hed-2016-1