Mistborn Minis Contest

For those of you who love the Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson, BCSReview has a contest going on to win minis by Garden Ninja Stuidos. Check it out here: BCSReview Contest

Management Theories X, Y, & Z

So I'm taking an online business class and we're using a book entitled Undertanding Business from McGraw-Hill. Chapter 10, which we are studying right now, deals with Motivating Employees and they introduce two theories in regards to employees.

"The assumptions of Theory X management are as follows:

• The average person dislikes work and will avoid it if possible.
• Because of this dislike, workers must be forced, controlled, directed, or threatened with punishment to make them put forth the effort to achieve the organization's goals.
• The average worker prefers to be directed, wishes to avoid responsibility, has relatively little ambition, and wants security.
• Primary motivators are fear and money."

"Theory Y makes entirely different assumptions about people:

• Most people like work; it is as natural as play or rest.
• Most people naturally work toward goals to which they are committed.
• The depth of a person's commitment to goals depends on the perceived rewards for achieving them.
• Under certain conditions, most people not only accept but also see responsibility.
• People are capable of using a relatively high degree of imagination, creativity, and cleverness to solve problems.
• In industry, the average person's intellectual potential is only partially realized.
• People are motivated by a variety of rewards. Each worker is stimulated by a reward unique to that worker (time off, money, recognition, etc.)"

The book goes on to state that in the United States Theory X is losing way to Theory Y. It then introduces a third theory.

"In addition... another reason for companies to adopt a more flexible managerial style is to meet competition from foreign firms such as those in Japan, China, and the European Union. Back in the 1980s, Japanese companies seemed to be outperforming Amerian businesses. William Ouchi, a management professor at the University of California-Los Angeles, wondere if the secret to Japanese success was the way Japanese companies managed their workers. The Japanese management approach (what Ouchi called Type J) involved lifetime employment, consensual decision making, collective responsibility for the outcomes of decisions, slow evaluation an promotion, implied control mechanisms, nonspecialized career paths, and holistic concern for employees. In contrast, the American management approach (what Ouchi called Type A) involved short-term employment, individual decision making, individual responsibility for the outcomes of decisions, rapid evaluation and promotion, explicit control mechanisms, specialized career paths, and segmented concern for employees.

"Type J firms are ased on the culture of Japan, which includes a focus on trust and intimacy within the group and family. Conversely, Type A firms are based on the culture of America, which include a focus on individual rights and achievements. Ouchi wanted to help American firms adopt the successful Japanese strategies, but he realized that it wouldn't be practical to expect American managers to accept an approach based on the culture of another country... Therefore, Ouchi recommended a hybrid of the two approaches in what he called Theory Z. Theory Z blends the characteristics of Type J and Type A into an approach that involves long-term employment, collective decision making, individual responsibility for the outcomes of decisions, slow evaluation and promotion, moderately specialized career paths, and holistic concern for employees (including family). The theory views the organization as a family that fosters cooperation and organizational values."

What I would like to know is which management theory you feel is more accurate and why. Then I would like to ask anyone living in Japan to comment on the last paragraph in this section of Chapter 10 and give their views on whether this trend is continuing today (the book was published in 2006), and what effect it's having.

"Today, economic decline, demographic and social changes, and fierce global competition have forced Japanese managers to reevaluate the way they conduct business. Whereas the Japanese system of the 1980s was admired for its focus on building long-term business relationships, today there is a realization that Japanese firms need to become both more dynamic and more efficient in order to compete effectively in the rapidly changing global economy. Feeling the pain of the worst recession in their country's history, some Japanese managers are changing the way they do business. For example, electronics giant Hitachi was the first major Japanese company to announce it had quit requiring corporate calisthenics - exercises done in groups not only for health but also to foster cohesion among employees. Having everyone start the day with group exercises symbolized doing the same thing the same way and reinforced the cultural belief that empoyees should not take risks or think for themselves. Many managers think that such conformity is what has hurt Japanese business."

Fun in the summer

We took pictures and I don't have them available to post yet, but we went as a family to the Albuquerque Zoo on Saturday. We'd been trying to go since Memorial Day. Our plans were foiled since on Memorial Day we got together as a family and bottled strawberry freezer jam. This was a lot of fun in my opinion, but it took longer than expected and we decided to postpone the zoo until that Saturday.

That Wednesday I exhibited a runny nose that eventually became a sore throat. Thursday morning Valerie and I were zombies from being up with her inability to breath. Saturday morning at 1 am I was awakened by Gabriel crying. He'd thrown up. Dan woke up later that morning with a sore throat. Ironically by that time my sore throat was gone, but had been replaced by a nasty sinus headache that included an ear ache and aching in my jaw. Needless to say, we didn't go to the Zoo. We didn't go to church that Sunday either.

We were feeling better by the next Wednesday, June 3, when we headed to the park for my book club meeting. We had fun letting the kids run around while we discussed The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I got home and put the kids down for a rest (they were quite tired) and found a message from a friend inviting us to go swimming. I called her back and we accepted the invitation to meet them after rest time. The kids were wiped out by bed time that night :).

So we made it to the zoo on Saturday. With the exception of a scary moment when Dan almost went over backwards in his wheelchair on a ramp, we all seemed to have a lot of fun. As I said, we have pictures and even video, but they're all on the other camera and I still haven't figured out the transferring of pictures off of that one. Dan's promised me a DVD-ROM of everything when he gets a chance so I'll get back to you on those.

How does your garden grow?

First I wanted to share our yard with you. We recently got rid of the gravel from our backyard and put sod in. We started by rototilling the ground.

Then we added peat moss and compost and rototilled that in as well.

(nice pile of rocks we pulled out of there huh?)

Then we laid the sod, planted tomatoes by the rose bush (in the back corner), and planted bell peppers, bush style green beans, cucumbers, pumpkins, and carrots by the patio.

We have since added cherry tomatoes that we got from a friend at work. Due to the amount of sand rather than soil we have, we were quite pleased when things started to grow. The tomatoes and bell peppers that we planted were especially worrisome since it looked like they were more likely to die. So having the blossoms appear on the tomato plants was really exciting!