The web lecture “Democracy & Dialogue” explains five different democratic models listed below.
1) Procedural Democracy
2) Competitive Democracy
3) Participatory Democracy
4) Deliberative Democracy
5) Dialogic Democracy
I will elaborate on my personal experiences with the Dialogic Democracy. Since I support Human Resources software applications at a university, I deal with Recruitment, Payroll, Benefits, Retirement, etc. Anytime there are policy changes from the Chancellor’s office, software changes from the Software vendor, or customized changes that our campus needs, we have to bring together the various stakeholders in the campus community where collaborative inquiry, participation, and dialogue happens. The items we discuss in our meetings impact all employees, including student employees on campus. I am proud to say that each time we meet, we find ourselves making authentic dialogue by communicating genuinely despite our different roles and perspectives. Just like the professor mentioned, this process is always time consuming. The rate at which problems are solved and decisions are made at our campus about Human Resource processes and software use are much slower than ideal expectations of this fast-paced world.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Week 5, blog 3
In chapter 11, the excerpts from Dalai Lama's statement "Instructions for Life in the New Millennium" were the best read. Below are the ones that I like the most:
1. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
2. Follow the 3 R's: Respect for the self, Respect for others, Responsibility for all your actions.
3. Not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.
4. When you realize you made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
5. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.
6. Live a good, honorable life. That way, when you get older and think back, you will be able to enjoy it a second time.
I will definitely post these in my cubicle at work. Words are so powerful that a quick glance can change the pace of our workday and change our attitudes and actions. Putting inspirational thoughts in our office is a form of communicating to inner self in a simple and clear way. It is important to have an authentic dialogue with our own self. Communication with the self is much more important than the communication we do with others.
1. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
2. Follow the 3 R's: Respect for the self, Respect for others, Responsibility for all your actions.
3. Not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.
4. When you realize you made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
5. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.
6. Live a good, honorable life. That way, when you get older and think back, you will be able to enjoy it a second time.
I will definitely post these in my cubicle at work. Words are so powerful that a quick glance can change the pace of our workday and change our attitudes and actions. Putting inspirational thoughts in our office is a form of communicating to inner self in a simple and clear way. It is important to have an authentic dialogue with our own self. Communication with the self is much more important than the communication we do with others.
Week 5, blog 2
In chapter 10, on page 322, the author mentions that “…employee training and development- formal and informal efforts to develop employee skill- has always been a function of management.” Based on my personal experiences with the California State University (CSU) system, I want to point out that at the CSU “employee training and development” has not been the function of management. At the CSU, there is a culture which requires the “employee” to take charge of his or her training and development. Therefore, it is common to find certain CSU employees doing the same job, in the same department for more than 15 years. The CSU employees who have progressed or moved in different job functions over the years are the ones that took charge of their own training and development.
It would be interesting to compare the CSU’s employee training and development practices with other universities in the country and bench mark best practices. If the CSU Human Resources office improves this aspect then it will improve the performance management system for its employees which tracks their success and provides specific feedback on where they must improve and training and development can be provided for those areas.
It would be interesting to compare the CSU’s employee training and development practices with other universities in the country and bench mark best practices. If the CSU Human Resources office improves this aspect then it will improve the performance management system for its employees which tracks their success and provides specific feedback on where they must improve and training and development can be provided for those areas.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Week 5, blog 1
Chapter 9, page 279 defines “Transformational Leadership” which foregrounds organizational change and transformation as the essential task of effective leaders. Further, the text clarifies that the new type of leader is a change agent who seeks to lead an organization through an increasingly turbulent global business environment through the strategic use of communication.
I want to discuss how transformational leadership relates to the current budget crisis of the State of California. From what I read in the local newspaper and hear on the television news, it does not seem like we have true transformational leaders in Sacramento. The State’s budget crisis has huge impact on all of the state agencies that provide different services to the public. Many programs and services are being cut or reduced and the leaders in Sacramento are not using strategic communication approaches to inspire the agencies to implement this change. There is massive restructuring or reorganizing happening in different state agencies, where the chaos are continuously increasing. The time is right for the State to change the way it does business, but the leaders in Sacramento are not being inspirational, nor are they empowering state agencies and its employees. The language and the words used by the governor and other leaders in Sacramento are just mediocre, so the state employees and the public have not been really inspired to support the changes that are being planned.
I want to discuss how transformational leadership relates to the current budget crisis of the State of California. From what I read in the local newspaper and hear on the television news, it does not seem like we have true transformational leaders in Sacramento. The State’s budget crisis has huge impact on all of the state agencies that provide different services to the public. Many programs and services are being cut or reduced and the leaders in Sacramento are not using strategic communication approaches to inspire the agencies to implement this change. There is massive restructuring or reorganizing happening in different state agencies, where the chaos are continuously increasing. The time is right for the State to change the way it does business, but the leaders in Sacramento are not being inspirational, nor are they empowering state agencies and its employees. The language and the words used by the governor and other leaders in Sacramento are just mediocre, so the state employees and the public have not been really inspired to support the changes that are being planned.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Week 4, blog 4
Web lecture has a good argument about real vs. Virtual communication. I agree with the professor that there is no distinction because even if communication is done using multimedia, electronic devices, or not face-to-face, it is still real/authentic communication. Exchange of information is always a true communication regardless of geographic location or tools involved. Communication happens all the time so dictincting them as real or virtual is not wise. Communication is always real no matter who is involved and where it happens. For example, the comments we post on fellow students blog entries are real form of communication.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Week 4, blog 3
Chapter 8
Pages 248-249 talk about the terms "conflict" and "consensus".
Conflict is defined as the interaction of interdependent people who perceive oppositions of goals, aims, and values, and who see the other parties as potentially interfering with the realization of these goals.
Consensus does not mean that all members agree with a decision but feel instead that their views are adequately considered by the team.
I knew the correct meaning of conflict, but up until now I always thought that consensus meant that all members agreed with the decision. I am glad I took this class, now I know the true meaning. During my work experience in India and the U.S. I have seen many conflicts within the organizations I worked for. Employees in Indian organization resolved conflicts using feminist qualities, like interpersonal skills, providing support & responsivess, while in U.S. I have mainly seen masculine qualities in conflict resolution, like direct and assertive expressions, to the point conversations. I feel like organizational, regional, and national cultures play a vital role in how organizational members resolve conflicts.
On the other hand, the Indian organizations I worked for, I hardly saw business practices that used consensus among various stakeholders. Decisions were made and implemented without the due diligence to all the involved parties. The party that had the highest stakes ruled. In the U.S. organization, I see more time and resources are devoted to reach consensus among all the stakeholders.
Pages 248-249 talk about the terms "conflict" and "consensus".
Conflict is defined as the interaction of interdependent people who perceive oppositions of goals, aims, and values, and who see the other parties as potentially interfering with the realization of these goals.
Consensus does not mean that all members agree with a decision but feel instead that their views are adequately considered by the team.
I knew the correct meaning of conflict, but up until now I always thought that consensus meant that all members agreed with the decision. I am glad I took this class, now I know the true meaning. During my work experience in India and the U.S. I have seen many conflicts within the organizations I worked for. Employees in Indian organization resolved conflicts using feminist qualities, like interpersonal skills, providing support & responsivess, while in U.S. I have mainly seen masculine qualities in conflict resolution, like direct and assertive expressions, to the point conversations. I feel like organizational, regional, and national cultures play a vital role in how organizational members resolve conflicts.
On the other hand, the Indian organizations I worked for, I hardly saw business practices that used consensus among various stakeholders. Decisions were made and implemented without the due diligence to all the involved parties. The party that had the highest stakes ruled. In the U.S. organization, I see more time and resources are devoted to reach consensus among all the stakeholders.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Week 4, blog 2
Chapter 8
Pages 233-234 talk about the “multiple stakeholder model” that asserts that organizations ought to be concerned with the interests of many different individuals and groups and not just shareholders or stockholders of their organizations. Figure 8.1 shows a very clear visual of this model and shows how the managing process/coordination is the key middle factor in corporations.
I must admit that for the first five years of my career, I was not using thinking much about the indirect stakeholders. I always focused on the direct and immediate impacts of my job or projects that I worked on. However after starting my graduate program in Public Administration, I have started paying more attention to the implications of my job and projects on multiple stakeholders. It is very hard to have an eagle-eye view from high level to project the intended and unintended consequences of the tasks that you are working on. I am struggling because I often have to meet my deadlines and requirements of upper management within the limitations of the software products I support. Therefore at times, I may not fully service a group of indirect stakeholders per their needs. I hope to learn more techniques and skills to effectively use the multiple stakeholder model as I progress in my career and graduate program.
Pages 233-234 talk about the “multiple stakeholder model” that asserts that organizations ought to be concerned with the interests of many different individuals and groups and not just shareholders or stockholders of their organizations. Figure 8.1 shows a very clear visual of this model and shows how the managing process/coordination is the key middle factor in corporations.
I must admit that for the first five years of my career, I was not using thinking much about the indirect stakeholders. I always focused on the direct and immediate impacts of my job or projects that I worked on. However after starting my graduate program in Public Administration, I have started paying more attention to the implications of my job and projects on multiple stakeholders. It is very hard to have an eagle-eye view from high level to project the intended and unintended consequences of the tasks that you are working on. I am struggling because I often have to meet my deadlines and requirements of upper management within the limitations of the software products I support. Therefore at times, I may not fully service a group of indirect stakeholders per their needs. I hope to learn more techniques and skills to effectively use the multiple stakeholder model as I progress in my career and graduate program.
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