Beyond Pygmalion Effect

Its of common knowledge among managers and executives all around the world, that providing your employees with the right combinations of support and benefits on a job well done, will encourage them to perform in a better way. But this thoughts emerge from a problem within organizations, individualism that tends to become into competition. And competition leads to organize and manage a more individual behavior.

In that context, what I have learned troughout the reading, is that if competition inspires workers to do thier best, expectation may complement their performance, and that is where the Pygmalion Effect enters the organizational world, where competition failes to explain poor performances in a contest based organization.

The power of this self-fulfilling prophecy relies on the fact that leaders need to change they attitudes towards subordinates, and start thinking that they are able of their best performance ever. This was proven in the army in mid-eastern countries, where platoon leaders expect the best performance during training of soldiers, and as a result they are one of the best armies aound the world. (Israeli Defense Forces).

On other cases that i was able to read about, the combination of the two forces that usually shape motivation within any form of organization, actually work. Such was the case of Southwest Airlines, a fierce competitor that has accomplished the highest level of performance, by doig and promoting a collective internal orientation. It is a system of benefits and compensation, that provides collective rewards of different kinds, taking away tha individuality, because it relies on group

Note to myself:

As I read the case, and applied it to the topic, I kept thinking on the posible ussage of a theory that has proven to be so effective in massive corporations, the idea of helping one another, to share ideas, and to build a strong, unified work force has multiple benefits in any level, size or idea. If you are able to convince yourself that things are the best way they can be, what is the obstacle thats stands in the way of getting it, if you already feel your there.

But driving my speech away from sentimentalism, and romatic thought, when we think in efficiency applied to the theory, it shows that it can work whitin a framework of productivity enhancement and success motivation.

Its not all about competing, or projecting, its about combining the best set according to the studied and well described behavior of workers, employees or people. It requires a profund knowledge of your company, its assets and its weaknesses. Its about you!!!

3rd Blog: ICT4Cultures

http://ohguido.wordpress.com/

Last but not least...

I got to this point after hours of being sitted in my computer at work ( yes, I have to work night shifts, its 4:40 am) and I stopped at this blogged, not for its relevance or importance to the subject, or even for its interesting point of view, I stopped, because Iwas experiencing network problems while posting the last two entries. To my surprise, the first outcome in my look for the third blog to talk about, was about connectivity issues in parts of the world that are far behind in development. But WHAT??? far behind in development!!! yes! Industrialized countries take the online usage away form us. When they are just chating and surfing the net for unusefull things, people on the other side of the world are experiencing problems to post their research or investigations, and are expected to wait for hours for the conection to be back on. That may be your case, but didn`t know it, right?

I`m laughing, it was amusing to explote on a blog, but lets get real. This issue its not important because I`m up, trying to upload postings to pass a subject, no! It takes importance, when you relate it to the fact, that in the world, the cultures are so interconected one with the other, that wathever you do in a place, takes a part in other. CONNECTIVITY. that is what matters, nowadays we depend so much on internet, and web based data that without the capability of "surfing" the net, we are left behind.

This translate to the organizational level, because enterprises and business today are so dependent on connectivity, that failure in communication can cause major problems around the processes within.

In the other hand, as managment of web based information has become determinant, the ability of handling the programs and information its the thing to be doing, in that matter, I have found information leading me to think that it takes inspiration to understand and learn, the inspiration does not come solely from the fancy status of these technologies, but also from the idea that it’s the only way to the future. The way to be able to gain knowledge and interact on a more global level.

2nd Blog: Online Knowledge Centre

http://prodip.wordpress.com/

Amazing!!!! notes, facts, charts, actualized and daily reviewed by people who actually live in the middle of the line.

Studying International Business has being a quest in wich I embarqued not long ago, but after thriving away from a medical profession in wich I failed, but dont think I`m complaining, it is just that I was not up to date with the related topics that had to be known to understand each topic and matter. In this page I found interesting and accurate news, and as I was reading, it came clear that the global sphere of facts is more complex every time, but more interrelated than ever. There is not such thing as "independece" of actions, everything one does, has a strong conection with the world around and a strong effect, and the only way to be responsible with humanity its to be aware.

This blog made the importance of knowledge even more crucial in the quest of learning and gave me a deeper understanding of how the world works. Organizations are not units, are intricate parts of a net process, and to understand the functions and activities whitin you are in need of information that allows to make decisions based on reality, a reality that concerns us all, but is not responsability of one.

1st Blog: Un extremeño de Aventura

It`s a blog written in spanish, I`m sure that is not in the rules, but it caught my attention.

Some of you may think, ¿what conection a girl, colombian, 26, studying International Bussines may have with a Boy, in his 20`s that lives in Europe and studies Computer Engineering?

Well by reading most of his daily and common, even boring entries, I got a realization of my own live, my worries, my interest. We are not so different, we maybe almost the same, but geographically apart. But what thas has to do with this subject, here I go... The way people is thinking its tending to be generalized in the past years, perfectly girl-boy raised in different cultures, are ending in the same path of scholling, social intercourse, and even experiences. So in that order, I got thinking, that maybe our responses in the organizational area may be no different also, that our backgrounds even as influential as they used to be, are losing importance as we are living in a globalized society, where boundaries tend to be political, but the limitations in culture are dissapearing.

Theory says otherwise, Im being schooled to think that my culture influences my organizational reponse, and the ones in my counterparts, the people I`ll be negotiating with in the future, so studying culture differences has gained importance, but after this limited and not well thought analysis, I dare to think that maybe we should be putting a little focus on a globalized culture that is ruling young people today, those are the one`s that we need to understand.

(After thought: I`m more than sure that my entrie its totally wrong, and that by the ending of this course, I`ll be thinking completly different. I guess i just need notes for comparison at the end)

The BOB`s

I know what you are thinking... I`m far behind on the posting of my tasks, but keeping up with classes and work has being a nightmare. So with no further delay I`ll begging with what should have started weeks ago.

The first task in our Blogger`s Homework was to write about The Bobs. The first question that came to my head was, what in the freaking world are "The BOB`s"?, I cannot start writing about something if I havent heard of it in my 26 years deambulating this world.

So I began the quest, by learning about the the largest international Weblog awards for Weblogs, podcasts and videoblogs (straight from their FAQ page)or Best of the Blogs. It came out to be interesting, for all of you who doesn`t know, it is not just a simple contest of who writes the best, or who postes the best pictures; it is so much more than that, It actually tries to bring understanding and culture to people, by rating and analyzing reflections of tipical individuals in 11 languages and in 60 countries around the world, that are willingly sharing their view and their perspective on topics that are imposible to categorize in a proper way. What is the finnality of this project? to "create a cross-cultural resource for all Internet users. Our mission is to encourage a global online dialogue – regardless of language. Another goal of the BOBs is to support the spread of freedom of expression, information and the press worldwide, especially in countries where such freedoms are limited"

After hearing, or better reading this, there it a feeling of excitement that was not in me before. My words, my thougts on a topic that I`m learning by choice, but writing by task, may be heard around the world and may influece someone, or no one, or better be left there to be forgetten, but they will never be erased, the net its going to be our contribution to the human future, and Im happy to be a part of it.

Sorry, it seems like I got caught up with this. I don`t want my "readers" to get bored, so I`ll start: My next 3 entries are going to be about Award Winning Blogs in the Bob`s page. It`s is subjective, let me know what you think to.

Beginning to see the light

Just to check... this is going to be the beginning of a journey... learning it has always been a challenge, and this seems like a pretty good way to start. Lets see how it ends.