I read an article on Fox sports about Cristiano Ronaldo (soccer player) being the 3^rd player in Europe to score 70 goals for Portugal. This is a huge milestone in his already successful career. So this got me wondering what traits do players like Cristiano Ronaldo and other successful sportsmen possess.   

Through my research I found certain traits that successful sportsmen share like work ethic, ability to overcome failure, positive energy, handling risks and responsibility. However everyone does not have the willpower to possess these traits. Hence personality and motivation plays an important role in determining who possess these traits.  

According to me motivation is a factor that drives individuals to achieve their goals, and intrinsic motivation is important for an athlete. So what is intrinsic motivation? It is doing an action because of personal interest and satisfaction, thus athletes can be compared to theory Y employees form McGregor’s theory. These are the employees that love their job, are creative and seek responsibility, hence achieve the greatest job satisfaction. In my personal opinion this is true because I always wanted to be best at Soccer due to pure passion for the sport. We can also interpret this situation using Expectancy theory, as athletes believe that their efforts will lead to better performance, so they expect intrinsic rewards like achievement, self-esteem and personal satisfaction. Therefore extrinsic motivation is not a key factor to help athletes achieve their goals.  

Through this we understand that most athletes show core self-evaluation and proactive personality because they are committed to their goals and want to continuously improve their current skills. Hence persist longer at attempting to reach their goals and find new opportunities and initiatives. Speaking from personal experience if an athlete does not show such character, he or she will be forgotten in a few seasons due to the intense level of competition in the sporting world.

In conclusion I believe that an individual can only succeed in the sporting world, if he or she is truly passionate about the sport.

works cited

http://www.foxsportsasia.com/news/ronaldo-breaks-even-records-70th-portugal-goal/

When I lived in the UAE I went to an international school, so my classmates were from all around the world. I had an amazing time interacting with wonderful people from different backgrounds, and I learnt a lot about communications in the process. So this made me wonder whether or not it is the same with organizations.

Diversity in the workplace has many benefits, and according to the Harvard business review article it increases innovation and creativity which is stimulated by a pool of different ideas and perspectives. This is because different cultures have different ways of working due to dissimilar values and beliefs, and a research conducted by McKenzie has found that if diversity is accepted it is supposed to increase productivity by 35%.  A blog written by fellow first year Sauder student Alana Rae talks about how different values and beliefs improves an individual’s cultural intelligence overtime, and I completely agree with her. So what is cultural intelligence? In my opinion it is understanding someone’s unfamiliar gesture in the same way as would people from that culture. This increases appreciative and trustworthiness, which in turn improves communication between workers and further increases productivity.

On the other hand if the employees do not accept cultural diversity, it can lead to the downfall of an organization. For example, the company Tyson and Food has been accused of racism against African American workers. This situation usually creates high tension between workers which leads to a negative work environment, and in the long run decreases employee motivation and increases labor turnover. In addition to that an organizations cost would increase in terms of lawsuit and diversity trainings provided to counteract the issue.

An organization can counteract the negative impacts by implementing diversity trainings and support groups, which will help spread awareness and establish a clear line of communication for whoever that feels violated. These are the few steps that can be implemented to create a positive work environment.

In conclusion I believe that positive aspects outweigh the negative aspects of diversity, because personally I have immensely grown as a person from a multicultural environment.

works cited

http://blackmen.tribe.net/thread/3ff77f11-3749-46f0-9787-128f67219932

The topic of generation gap has come to light in recent years, and I started looking into this topic when I first learnt it in my OB class. So what is a generation gap? A generation gap is the difference in beliefs and opinions between one generation and the other. This exists in the workplace amongst Baby Boomers, Generation X and Millennials.

I read an external blog written by Hermam Miller on generations at work, and an aspect that interested me is that there are challenges and opportunities working in an organization with various generations. Before I talk about the opportunities and challenges presented, I would like to give a short description about each generation.

Baby Boomers entered the workforce between 1965 and 1985, and their dominant work values are success, achievement and loyalty to career.

Generation X entered the workforce between 1985 and 2000, and their dominant work values are team-orientation, work-life balance and dislike of rules.

Millennials entered the workforce after 2000, and their dominant work value are confident, financial success and loyal to both self and relationship.

The most important challenge has been communication between the generations, because each one prefers to use a different medium of communication. For example Generation Y send text messages and use social media, but Baby Boomers and older GenX like to call and send E-mails. Also the style of messages are different, as the younger generation likes to use informal language and abbreviations in their messages, and the older generation likes to use formal and sophisticated language. The differences are the perfect recipe for communication breakdown. These problems can be solved by increasing interactions between different generations. For example Baby Boomers want to be like a father figure to the younger generations, so if we let them be mentors for the younger employees both the parties have motives to co-operate.

On the other hand this phenomena has it opportunities, and speaking through personal experience people from my generation can learn a lot from people from the older generations. For example when I was coaching and refereeing at Manchester City Soccer Schools Abu Dhabi, I learned a lot about the basics of my job from older and more experienced coaches.

work cited

http://guides.wsj.com/management/managing-your-people/how-to-manage-different-generations/

http://www.hermanmiller.com/content/dam/hermanmiller/documents/research_summaries/wp_Generations.pdf

The past few weeks in comm292 were fun because of the amount group activities we did, like building a paper tower, completing in class worksheets and “The Fantasy Project”. Meeting my team outside class helped us break the ice and relaxed the tense atmosphere and awkwardness that we experienced when we first meet. In this blog post I will be evaluating my team using OB concepts.

Our team is over a short period of time, so we won’t have enough time to go through all the 5 stages of team building. The 5 stages are forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning. According to me our team is in the norming stage, which is the third stage and it involves the team to be characterized by close relationships and cohesiveness. This is evident as we get along well and support each other while doing our projects and outside class. A major reason we reached the third stage in a short period of time is because prof. Wayne organised team building activates which broke the ice. Also we are all working towards a common goal of achieving the highest marks possible thus we are a self-organised team, which means we are motivated, work towards goals and adapt to any changes. This is one of the reasons our team is well organised, we trust each other and delegate task.

Another characteristics of my team is that all of us come from various ethnic backgrounds and the variation in our cultures allows us to share different perception towards how we decide to work and affects the ideas that we pool together. Not only have we come from unique backgrounds, but we have also been exposed to UBC’s diversity, therefore we’re all comfortable and open to new ideas and able to maintain a dynamic flow of conversation when working together.

In conclusion, I am happy to part of a diverse team with individuals wanting to work hard to achieve a goal and at the same time have fun.

It is interesting that our world is so developed, and something that interests me is the improvement in communication in terms of quality and quantity, and this is evident in the real word.

For example in my high school Geography class we were given examples of how improvement in communication has improved the functioning of co-operatives. So in this blog post I am going to use OB concepts and explain the example of co-operatives that I learned in my Geography class.

A company changed its tracking employee hours from hand written system to an electronic, and this change had good and bad impact. This decision allowed communication richness to improve which is the amount of information recorded in one go, hence improving the speed, efficiency and accountability. This method also reduces the barriers to effective communication. For example a barrier is emotion and when an employee is angry he or she would not be pay much attention on signing in or out, compared to when they are in a good mood. Another example can be to prevent filtering, as an employee can easily manipulate the information to their favour on a hand written document, but it is difficult to do so with an electronic device.

So what went wrong for the company was the mangers did not effectively take part in downward communication, which means that the mangers did not inform the employees about the change. It is common in many organizations for its mangers not to communicate effectively with their subordinates as mangers find it a waste of time and unimportant. However to maintain a positive work environment managers have to communicate a certain matter multiple times, and it wasn’t the case with the organization. The first time the employee heard about this change was through a brief discussion between two mangers. This wasn’t good as it created a grapevine communication network, which is the most common informal network in an organizations through which rumours and gossips transfer. Hence the general agreement between employees was not to trust the mangers as they did not inform them about the change, and this created a negative environment. Also majority of employees are afraid or not ready for change, so the higher authority should do everything in their power to reduce the harmful impacts of change.

In conclusion, I believe that effective communication is important and especially for this organization. This is because bad communication in this situation resulted in long term loss of motivation of employees and trust.

In the past few months soccer players like Hulk, Tevez and Oscar have left top level clubs to join Chinese teams. This has created a whirlpool of media attention, and the world is slowly starting to show serious consideration to the Chinese super league, especially after the January transfer window.

Spend thrift

The Chinese government wants its country to be a footballing power house. So the companies that own the teams, are keen on splashing cash to buy foreign players. This is also seen as a form of investment to gain favours from the government. Moreover the government regulates the number of international players in a squad making the players extremely expensive to buy.

The criticism

Media outside Asia has always criticised the Chinese league and players that transferred to the league. The media has associated these players with dark traits like narcissism and mechavillsim, because they have been termed “unloyal” to their previous clubs and money driven. Due to media shedding bad light on these players it has created a halo effect, as soccer fans now judge and criticize these players solely on the fact that they are moving to china. This is because the public perceives the players as greedy, who have broken the ethical values of soccer. Furthermore critics have also commented that players moving to china are unambitious, because they perceive china as a graveyard for soccer players. Hence it can be interpreted that according to the public it is solely extrinsic motivation, like money and other benefits that influenced their decision to move from a top division team to a Chinese team.

The other side of the argument

On the one hand, I believe the players that move to china have a proactive personality because they are the ones that want to improve their current situation, have a stable job standing and achieve career success. For example one of the main reason Oscar moved to china was because he was a bench warmer in Chelsea which meant less playing time, and this cost him a spot in the Brazilian national team. Now moving to China can help improve his perform due to lack of competition, which will help him regain his confidence and his spot in the national team. This has been true in the past for players like Renato Augsto and Pauilhno. So it can be concluded that there are intrinsic motives like redemption and self-esteem behind the move to China.

In conclusion I believe that players moving to china are not committing a sin because they are still playing the beautiful game.

Coach primary school students

• kids were annoying
• The head coach was arrogrant
• Practice was during the afternoon, when it was very hot.

(https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=nintendo+switch&view=detailv2&&id=D7914462AD1BD45C43D8336044F6BA97E8FEBE29&selectedIndex=2&ccid=HlPJRmab&simid=608015496008239762&thid=OIP.M1e53c946669bd52938f46cca8fc9d3bco0&ajaxhist=0)

Nintendo has been an integral part of my childhood. I remember playing Mario Kart and donkey Kong (Nintendo games) with my friends when I was 7-8 years old. During the day Nintendo consoles were status of pride, as it made you the cool kid in India. However over time this craze died down and unfortunately nobody ever spoke about the console. This is because the constantly changing nature of technology gave birth to gaming giants like PS4 by Sony and X-Box by Microsoft.

Awkwardly, Nintendo console owners were made fun and it wasn’t something that would lye idle in the living room. Thus, Nintendo is ready to enter a new territory of high definition and graphic gaming by developing the Nintendo switch. This is piece of beauty is going to be available to the public on March 31^st 2017, but the price and specifications have not yet been released.

In recent years Nintendo’s WII U has not done well in sales in North America in comparison to its competitors X-Box and PS4. The data released by the NPD group states that it sold a mere 57000 units last year. This poor performance was because the potential customers bought PS4 and X-box due to its better hardware and software. Therefore giving them a competitive edge over WII U and creating a barrier to entry. In this case the barrier to entry is the technology, because start-up companies will find it difficult to raise money and reach this level of technology. Hence reduces competition and makes the WIIU one of the worst consoles in the market in comparison to the other two. Also most of the games in WIIU was made for causal gaming. Furthermore WIIU got their marketing wrong because it was aimed at hard core gamers, but only appealed to causal gamers. Part of the reason was because it was not able to attract third party organizations to create its games, hence only Nintendo developed games could be played on the WIIU. However this was one of the value propositions to satisfy loyal users needs.

Adding to what my fellow Sauder student Osasogi Agbonlahor said” I think Nintendo have struck gold by announcing Nintendo Switch”. This is because the company has never produced a Hybrid console at this level, so it can achieve competitive advantage and open up opportunity in the hybrid console market. Also the switch attracts third party game developers as it uses UE4 and Unity, so there are more game choices for customers. Lastly, it will change the image of Nintendo from a causal gaming platform to a hardcore gaming one, and this is good for the company, as it will appeal to more individuals.  

Bibliography

1)       @KyleMHilliard. “Nintendo Switch Price, Launch Date, And Games To Be Revealed January 12.” Game Informer. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2016. <http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2016/10/26/nintendo-switch-price-launch-date-and-games-to-be-revealed-january-12.aspx>. 

2)      Edward Smith. “Wii U Sales Better Than PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.” International Business Times RSS. NPD Group, 01 July 2014. Web. 11 Nov. 2016. <http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/wii-u-sales-outperform-playstation-3-xbox-446576#>.

3)      Goodwin, Gabriel. “Nintendo Switch: One System, Two Functions.” Detroit Metro Times. N.p., 26 Oct. 2016. Web. 11 Nov. 2016. <http://www.metrotimes.com/Blogs/archives/2016/10/26/nintendo-switch-one-system-two-functions>.

The world first got a glimpse of the Nike Air Mags in 1989, when Marty MacFly wore a pair in Back to the Future. In the past 27 years there has been speculations whether this piece of science fiction would ever come to reality. Then, last fall, Nike’s vice president of design John Hoke announced that the self-lacing shoes were possible. In fact, these shoes were something that you and I could buy in the near future.           

The development of these futuristic shoes have put Nike in the spot light, as such a concept has never been witnessed by mankind. The Air Mags are one of a kind shoes as mentioned in Liz Stinson’s article, because of the futuristic technology and elegant design used. The shoes do not use traditional lacing system, but a series of battery powered pulleys that cinch the throat of the shoes. There are sensors that senses a person’s weight and according adjusts the bottom of the shoes. Using such technology gives Nike first movers advantage or technological leadership, which is the initial advantage gained by a market occupant. Furthermore the company has patent for the technology, thus no other foot ware brand can produce this master-class without Nike’s permission. Therefore Nike benefits, as it reduces competition due to barriers of entry.  In turn this will increase Nike’s profit margins because they are the only company producing in this market segment. In Addition the companies brand value also increases as Nike can be associated to an innovator.

Nike has not yet exploited monopolistic power, but has instead done something special for the community. In total 1510 pair were sold in 2011, from which 1500 pair were sold on E-bay, and 10 deluxe addition was sold at live auction. A total of $ 9.4 million was raised from which $ 4.7million accounted for sales of shoes, and the other $5million was donated by co-founder of Google Sergey Brin and his wife Anne Wojcicki. All the money was donated to Micheal J Fox’s foundation of Parkinson’s disease.

In class 15 of comm 101, I learned that Cooperate Social Responsibility is any action undertaken by a company that benefits the community. The actions of Nike is a form of CSR because it is used to help find a cure for Parkinson’s disease. This is done by creating shared value, because Nike has formed links between its business strategies of making profits through CSR.

In conclusion, I believe that this initiative will increase Nike’s competitive advantage, as it differentiate Nike (brand differentiation) from other brands by creating a positive image. Also it engages the customer and creates a positive work environment as something good is been done.

Appendix

1)      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nike_Mag

 2)      Stinson, Liz. “Nike’s Back to the Future Self-Lacing Shoe, the HyperAdapt 1.0, Is Finally Here.” Weblog post. Wired.com. Conde Nast Digital, 16 Mar. 16. Web. 28 Oct. 2016. <https://www.wired.com/2016/03/nikes-back-future-self-lacing-shoe-hyperadapt-1-0-finally/>.

3)      Luntz, Stephen. “Nike Set To Release Self-Lacing “Back To The Future” Shoes.” IFLScience. N.p., 27 May 2016. Web. 28 Oct. 2016. <http://www.iflscience.com/technology/power-laced-sneakers-promised-year/>.

 (https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=samsung+note+7+on+fire&view=detailv2&&id=0734690F2667DF11365D46AFC363832B75C13B90&selectedIndex=7&ccid=P2zav429&simid=608040316590097282&thid=OIP.M3f6cdabf8dbdb87af70806b3d774c8b2o0&ajaxhist=0)

Have you ever imagined your child suffer burns due to a phone explosion? Well 6 year old boy from Brooklyn has been treated for skin burns, when his Samsung note 7 exploded while he was watching a video⁽²⁾. This is not the first incident after the launch of Samsung’s note 7.

Samsung’s latest phone was released on 2^nd August, and it was disclosed that the battery of the phone was defective, causing the device to overheat and explode. The company has confirmed 35 cases of note 7 catching fire⁽³⁾.

However, Samsung officials have gracefully taken the blame and have done everything in their power to fix the problem. For example customers are receiving replacement phone and note 7 has been removed of the shelves in 10 countries (2.5 billion phones), including South Korea and USA⁽³⁾.

Yet it is not been effective, as the company has lost money and brand image. Firstly, Samsung has lost $26billion in brand value, as its brand image has been damaged⁽¹⁾. This can result in the reduction of loyal customers in the short run, because the industry has a large number of substitutes. Like Apple, Sony, LG, Google Nexus and etc. Plus the industry is highly competitive and evolves rapidly, therefore cost of brand switching is minimum. Thus resulting in loss of revenue and customer base.

Secondly, I believe, that the Note 7 experienced this problem, because Samsung did not take part in sustainable competition. In class 10 of comm101, we learned that sustainable competition is a long-term intangible asset that cannot be easily duplicated by competitors. Like brand, network effect and etc. Samsung did not take part in this business activity, because it was in direct competition with Apple. Just like Apple, Samsung wanted to release a headline product once a year. In doing so it failed and put its R&D and quality control group in jeopardy. Building on Surja’s blog, I believe that this reflects badly on Samsung and gives Apple a competitive advantage, as the media is going to question the quality of Samsung’s products for a long time.

In order to solve this problem the marketing department can rebrand Samsung’s image. This can be done in terms of allowing customers to test the phone before buying it. In this case no one loses. Furthermore, the company can also change its promotional strategies from just an innovator to a company that pays attention on innovation and “quality”. This form of promotion has worked in the past when Cadbury was scrutinized for quality of their chocolates.

Lastly I would still buy Samsung products because I know the company will fix the problems, due to the status and power.

Words: 444

Works Cited

1)    Quartz, Samsung has lost $26 billion in value since it recalled the […] published on September 12, 2016, by Josh Horwitz, accessed on October 16, 2016 (http://qz.com/779270/samsung-has-lost-26-billion-in-value-since-it-recalled-the-galaxy-note-7/ ).

2)    @maggie_reardon, By Marguerite Reardon. “Exploding Samsung Phone Burns 6-year-old.” CNET. N.p., 13 Sept. 2016. Web. 17 Oct. 2016.

3)    “Samsung Recommends to Exchange Galaxy Note 7 Due to Explosion Risk.” RSS. World News, 01 Jan. 1970. Web. 17 Oct. 2016

4)    https://blogs.ubc.ca/surajjangvarma/2016/10/02/innovation-the-modern-david-and-goliath-story/