Tommi Redl's Blog

For the past two summers, my friends from Edmonton and I have been working on growing our business SMG Inc. (Student Movers Group Inc.) The company is basically a moving company and our point of differentiation is that all of our employees are students. Currently we have approximately fifteen employees and consistently have customers looking for assistance. In addition to this, we advertise that we are an employee owned company and 100 percent of our profits goes towards paying for tuition.

Cole Clarke’s blog “Vancouver’s Crazy Market”  does and excellent job of displaying how shortages of companies like ours has led to a high demand for our work. Comm 292 has also taught me various reasons that could potentially explain why our company is functioning well.

One potential reason is that “SMG” works more as a team rather than a group. A group can be considered as two or more people with a common relationship, where as a team is considered as a small number of people working towards a common purpose. SMG works more like a team because of our employee ownership. This means that everyone associated on our team benefit when our company grows, which will lead to higher dedication.

Another reason that SMG is doing well is because of our ethics. As I previously stated, all of our profits are dedicated towards our employee’s tuition. This gives our customers a much higher incentive to use our business because they have the satisfaction of knowing that the money they paid is being put towards a good cause.

Overall, with SMG being considered as a team with appropriate ethics, our company continues to display large amounts of demand.

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Sources:

• https://blogs.ubc.ca/coleclarke/2017/02/05/vancouvers-crazy-market/

With the recent election of President Donald Trump, the US has continuously showed little regard for the 2015 Paris agreement. This pledge that Obama signed on behalf of the US in 2015 stated that the country would lower their greenhouse gas emissions by at least twenty six percent, which is stated in the New York Times blog. However, Trump has displayed various actions that demonstrate he has little regard for the agreement. He claims that loosening various regulations on transportation and industry (largest contributors to carbon dioxide emissions) is better for the economy.

Although Trump evidently values the economy much more than the environment, it is not entirely ethical to disregard the agreement that US agreed upon. Over 140 countries came to a consensus in Paris and all of them have made an effort to reach their emission regulation goal. However, with Trump in power, the US is now on pace to have higher emissions than they have ever had, which is not even close to their goal.

Another reason this is not ethical on behalf of the country is because climate change doesn’t only affect the US. The rising in temperature has proven to have a major affect on the entire globe. Factors such as increasing heat waves and rising sea levels could leave millions of people inhabited.

Overall, the US has displayed little regard for this agreement and Trump seems not to care, being that there seems to be no consequence for breaking the agreement.

word count: 235

sources:

• https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/03/28/climate/trumps-executive-order-pushes-the-us-climate-pledge-further-out-of-reach.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=b-lede-package-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news
• https://climate.nasa.gov/effects/
• http://unfccc.int/paris_agreement/items/9485.php

Every odd weekend throughout the summer, I typically have friends up to my cabin. The number of people I host typically ranges from 15-20 people and, by the time the weekend is over, the cabin gets fairly messy. Although I have now developed a system that gets the cabin clean within an hour or so, it took a while to implement the idea.

When I first started inviting friends to my cabin two summers ago they would consistently have a great time. We would spend the weekend on the lake, in the woods and made countless unforgettable memories. The only downside was cleaning. For the whole weekend, it would typically take me up to 6 hours to clean the property. By myself, I would have to vacuum the floor, wash all the bed sheets, clean the boat, etc. I could have asked for help but I was afraid that it would my friends with a negative impression on their experience. So, every time we went to the cabin, I would be stuck cleaning.

When relating this situation to strategies for dealing with conflict, it would be safe to consider that I took the avoiding approach. This approach typically leads to concerns not being met and limiting disruption. Although this can be appropriate in various situations, it was definitely not the best choice for mine.

Eventually, I realized that I would not be able to continuously deal with this situation in this manner. Therefore I implemented the idea to assign every person a job regarding cleaning up. I was surprised to find that the first time we tried the idea it only took about two hours to clean the whole property and today we can do it in almost under an hour.

This implementation associates with the problem solving strategy of conflict because I was able to gain commitment through a small compromise from my friends. This strategy was definitely the most appropriate for this situation because it saved me countless arduous hours of cleaning. I also realized that avoiding conflict is not always the best tactic for situations, being that this doesn’t allow the expression of opinions from both parties within the predicament.

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The Oilers have recently made history within the NHL this season. The franchise has named 19 year old Connor McDavid as captain, making him the youngest player to ever bear this position. McDavid was drafted first overall by the Oilers last season and has already been compared to NHL greats such as Wayne Gretzky and Sidney Crosby. Although he is an exceptional hockey player, many question his ability to lead the team at such a young age. Even Gretzky hadn’t captained the Oilers until he was 22.

Although McDavid has faced a heavy amounts of criticism and pressure, he has coped well by claiming “it doesn’t feel overwhelming at all; I just feel normal about it…I’m very humbled to wear it and excited about it.” His play has improved as well, being that he currently leads the league in points and assists. Many of his teammates have also made claims regarding that McDavid is definitely the best choice as captain.

His display of leadership can be correlated to that of an authentic leader. An authentic leader is typically genuine, ethical and a self-aware individual. They focus on the long term and base their actions on what’s best for an organization. Even at a young age, leaders can be authentic, if they possess traits similar to this and put their team before themselves.

Due to these allegations portrayed by both him and his teammates it is evident that Connor McDavid is an authentic leader. He is an unselfish, humble and non-oppressive individual, which is why he is definitely one of the most authentic leaders in the NHL. On top of all this, with McDavid as captain, the Oilers are also tenth overall in the NHL and are on track to make the playoffs, which they haven’t done in 10 years (current NHL record).

word count: 301

Sources:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinkruse/2013/05/12/what-is-authentic-leadership/#cef743d2ddd2

https://www.nhl.com/news/connor-mcdavid-named-oilers-captain/c-282401230

David Griffin, the general manager of the Cleveland Cavaliers, and Lebron James recently met regarding the current “drought” the team is experiencing. The 2015-16 NBA champions have lost six of their last eight games and have moved from second to fourth in the NBA power rankings  over the past two weeks. This may seem as typical behaviour for a sports team, yet Lebron James disagrees.

Lebron, who is viewed as the leader of the Cavaliers, criticized the team’s roster and was outraged at the teams managed when he claimed “we need a f*cking playmaker!,” following the teams loss to the Pelicans on Monday. However, Griffin argues, “The thing we have to do the most is get better from within.” Although Lebron may potentially be the best basketball player in the world, his remarks are unethical and unfair to his teammates. Also, with the large sum of money the Cavaliers are paying their players, it is nearly impossible for the team to alter their roster. Similar to what Mira Hayre states in her blog, this could perhaps be related to Lebrons grit and desire for perseverance. However Lebron is not the manager of the team and should not regard the roster for the teams issues.

Lebron’s actions demonstrate an abuse of McClelland’s theory of needs. These needs, which consist of achievement, affiliation and power, portray motivation for an individual to be affective in their field of employment. Lebron has definitely been an affective presence for the Cavaliers, and his drive towards the team’s achievement is a common goal. However, he is abusing his power and influence on the team by criticizing the general manager and his surrounding teammates.

With the trade deadline approaching it is unknown if the General Manager of the Cavaliers will satisfy Lebron’s wishes. Lebron has had a negative history with the management group of the Cavaliers and, if his actions continue, there is a possibility he could find himself on a different team. Yet, realistically, he is highly admired in the city of Cleveland too skilled of player to trade.

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Sources:

http://www.si.com/nba/2017/01/26/cavaliers-gm-lebron-james-meeting

http://onsmash.com/sports/lebron-james-says-he-needs-a-fucking-playmaker/

http://www.netmba.com/mgmt/ob/motivation/mcclelland/

Grit: If You Don’t Have It, You Want It.

This past Thursday, the political dilemma in Gambia has rapidly escalated, following Adama Barrow being sworn into office. The previous leader, Yahya Jammeh, claims he is still the President and will “fight back” to retain his position. As a result of Mr. Jammeh’s failure to step down, Senegalese military have invaded the capital of Gambia (Banjul) and insist on his departure.

Previously, Mr. Jammeh had been the leader of the country for over 20 years, yet suddenly his country has decided to vote him out. This is likely due to the arrival of millennials into the voting population. Gambia has seen a massive population rise over their past few elections and, with the mean age of their population being 20.7 years, millenials would therefore have a massive impact on the result of the vote.

This younger population (AKA millennials) is classified to have very high expectations, regarding their standard of living and, with Mr. Jammeh’s “dictatorship” approach, it is evident as to why he was voted out. Mr. Barrow, who was recently sworn into office, has continuously advertised the saying “We are one Gambia, one people” to portray the democratic approach he wished to enforce upon the country. Evidently, this was a significant reason as to why he was voted in.

Overall, Mr. Barrows leadership stance correlated more with the millennials political views, rather than Mr. Jammeh’s views, which correlated with very few citizens. Dilemmas similar to this portray how globalization is impacting the role of leaders and how their leverage is becoming less influential each day. Standards continue to rise with globalization, as newer populations continuously grow “picky”.

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Sources:

Searcey, Dionne, and Jaime Barry. Www.nytimes.com. The New York Times, 19 Jan. 2017. Web. 21 Jan. 2017.

“PopulationPyramid.net.” PopulationPyramid.net. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Jan. 2017.

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The article “Candy-Flavoured Smokes for Kids*” discusses the effects and popularity of “e-cigarettes” worldwide with emphasis on the Chinese market. “Vaping” with e-cigarettes has became extremely popular in Europe and North America due to it being a healthier alternative to the gruesome ingredients contained in cigarettes. Yet China, the primary country who manufactures this product, continues to demonstrate a higher interest in classic cigarettes, as portrayed in the graph below.

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Throughout the article the author highlights various reasons as to how e-cigarettes are beneficial to the populations fight towards “quitting”. The Chinese government continues their attempt to limit smoking by introducing various laws, bans and advertising e-cigarettes. Yet, due to continual trends, it is evident their approach has had little affect on this issue. At their current rate it will be impossible to have an impact on the 50% of Chinas male population who currently smoke cigarettes within the country. China should limit the amount of cigarettes within their country by taxing the market and promoting e-cigarettes.

With regards to the article “Effects of Tobacco Taxation and Pricing on Smoking Behavior in High Risk Populations**”, the authors discuss the effects of how the economy and general population respond to taxation towards tobacco. They highlight how a raise in price will definitely lower demand but not significantly, being that cigarettes are an inelastic product. It is also suggested that with this raise in price the government should designate a fund to programs that aid and rehabilitate previous addicts. Evidently this raise in price would have an affect on the current market, yet perhaps rather than funding rehabilitation of “quitters” the Chinese government could promote and offer the alternative of e-cigarettes.

Currently Cigarettes are selling for 2.5 yuan or 0.40$ USD versus the e-cigarette which is over 70 times more expensive than the cigarette. If the government raised the price of cigarettes and successfully popularize e-cigarettes this would likely attract a large sum of Chinese smokers to the healthier alternative of “vaping”.

In the article “Whether the Government Should Control Alcohol Markets***”, the author states how the addiction of alcohol can severely impact not only themselves but others surrounding them as well, which is why the government should consistently monitor and control this market . Overall Cigarettes are parallel to this situation being that it has been proven that cigarettes can influence harmful affects to people who have never smoked them. Evidently if the Chinese government desires to resolve this issue they must take control of the Cigarette market.

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Sources:

Articles

*= http://www.economist.com/news/china/21654108-vaping-west-seen-way-quit-smoking-china-it-may-not-be-candy-flavoured-smokes

**=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3228562/

***=https://blogs.ubc.ca/vanessazhuang/2016/10/02/whether-government-should-control-alcohol-markets/

Images

****=http://images.medicaldaily.com/sites/medicaldaily.com/files/styles/full_breakpoints_theme_medicaldaily_desktop_1x/public/2016/02/11/vaping-vs-smoking.jpg

*****=http://cdn.static-economist.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/original-size/images/print-edition/20150613_CNC573_1.png