Monthly Archives: April 2017

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It is often seen that rich sections of the society often pass on their wealth to their generations. It becomes really easy for the generation to have an independent life and rashly use the leftover wealth. In various developing countries we find that a considerable amount of population lives below the poverty line who do not have access to even basic amenities such as food, water and shelter. So why not give a part or entire wealth to them to bring a ray of hope and happiness in their lives? Yes, Bill and Melinda Gates and foundation trustee Warren Buffett have pledged to give away more than 95% of their wealth to these underprivileged people who have equal rights to grow and prosper. Towards this noble cause, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has, to date, awarded more than Rs 2.4 lakh crore to support work in over 100 countries.

Being a part of comm 292 helped me realise that as informed and educated citizens, it is our duty to help and assist those who are not as privileged as we are. Their current situation might be a result of birth in a relatively poor family, effect of wars etc. Thus, it always feels special to donate some of the riches that we possess so that other people also get an opportunity to grow.

I fully support Nachiket Mor’s and Archna Vyas’s blog on “Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s sunset clause”. In their blog, the writers claim how and why Bill and Melinda decided to donate their earnings to different countries and not to their children. They believe it will be a cruel step as parents to transfer all their wealth in their children’s bank accounts. This will be not make them independent and will never struggle. In my opinion, this is the essence of organizational behaviour i.e. to become independent, to know what it takes to struggle and earn a living. Thus, the blog really focuses on reducing inequalities.

Citations

• Guest. “Gates Foundation’s Rose-colored World View Not Supported by Evidence.” Humanosphere. N.p., 23 Mar. 2017. Web. 02 Apr. 2017.
• “Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Sunset Clause Is to Ensure That Inequality Is Reduced in This Generation.” Times of India Blog. N.p., 01 Apr. 2017. Web. 02 Apr. 2017.

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Apple in recent years have had an advantage over other companies in the Silicon Valley such as Google and Facebook Inc. There exists many factors for this continual accomplishment. According to me, it is the diversity that brings about a lot of difference in the performance and global sustenance of Apple. Apple has ensured to recruit the best people from every section of the society. Be it a performance oriented minority group or a technically effective majority group, the Tim Cook led company has had a great dominance and preference among future employees.

Apple’s workforce consists of Asians, Hispanics, and Whites etc. It includes a pool of retail employees that Google and Facebook, unfortunately, do not possess. In addition to this, Apple’s global workforce consists about half of women which helps the company to grow at an exponential rate.

Jesse Jackson, who confronted Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook in 2014 applauds and says, “They are clearly setting the pace, making measurable progress for three consecutive years. They’ve acted with intention, not just aspiration. So in 2017, it has been clearly identified that decisions taken by Apple have demonstrated extremely positive results.

As learnt in class, diversity determines the extent to which an organization develops and progresses in the long run. In Michell Lau’s blog, the blogger begins by clearly expressing her opinion as “Diversity is not just a number “which I fully support. I believe that if the organization is not willing to bring variety of individuals in the work place, it cannot grow at any cost. In this 21^st century, it is almost impossible to neglect the opportunities a diverse workplace offers. Thus, every company wants to encash these opportunities by bringing in diversity.

Citations

• Todd, Deborah M. “Apple Reports Progress in Workforce Diversity.” Reuters. Thomson Reuters, 03 Aug. 2016. Web. 02 Apr. 2017.
• Reuters. “Apple Reports Improving Racial and Gender Diversity among Employees.” The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 03 Aug. 2016. Web. 02 Apr. 2017.

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Sadhya Sawhney’s blog on “I or we” depicts the indispensability of team work. It lays down the essence with which the team should work towards its mutual goal. Success of companies, teams and organizations is testimony to the fact that positive results from effective team work is the key to reach newer heights.

Charles Duhigg in The New York Times Magazine writes that Google has set out to build the “perfect team”. He claims that Project Aristotle, a venture taken up in 2012 is the primary reason for the accomplishment. The results after the analysis of the study claimed that it is the “Psychological Safety” which makes the team successful and trustworthy. Psychological safety is a belief that the team or the organisational sectors are perfectly safe for taking interpersonal risks. Psychological Safety also enables the employees to share their feelings with their colleagues while taking calculated risks. It gives confidence to the employees that they would not be subjected to punishment of any kind for speaking out their hearts and contributing the way they believe would be the best for the company. Project Aristotle also found out that when employees discussed their issues (largely corporate and personal/family to some extent), they formed deep relationships with each other which helped them grow as a team.

As learnt in class, the Five Stage Model clearly states the various stages of group development. They are – forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning. The model when applied in the case of Google and Project Aristotle shows how individuals move from being independent to working independently as team members. Great teams always have a CLEAR purpose, participation and listening, open communication and self –assessment. In practicality too, Google employees have been demonstrating these traits holistically.

In her blog post, Sadhya mentions that in her basketball team, strengths and weaknesses of team members enabled them to build on their efforts and perform well in matches. In my opinion, a great team knows what its strengths and weaknesses are and tries to build more upon that. You never see a team with no weaknesses. I believe, all teams have things that they can improve upon. Identifying these issues is a confident step towards success. So all in all, psychological safety along with identifying and working on weaknesses are the keys to have a great team.

Citations

• Schlossberg, Mallory. “Google Experiment Reveals the Single Most Important Quality for Teamwork.” Business Insider. Business Insider, 27 Feb. 2016. Web. 01 Apr. 2017.
• “The Five Keys to a Successful Google Team.” Re:Work. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Apr. 2017.