Comments on Blog Posts

Hi, everyone!  I just wanted to explain the reasons why I have not been posting comments on some of your blog posts.  First, it seems that some of your sites are set up in such a way that they do not allow posts from anyone that is not logged in to your site.  That is different because I do not recall that being the case in previous semesters.  However, it seems to be the case now, so I could not post comments. 

Second, I have reconsidered the appropriateness of posting any evaluative comments to your blog because everyone else can see those, as well.  Since grades are a private matter, I do not want to post anything that would indicate to others what your grade may have been.  I want to protect the confidentiality of your grades, so this may not be the best place for me to comment. 

Of course, any time that any of you have any questions about your blog posts (or why they may have been graded as they were), please first consult the rubric included in the assignment.  If your grade is still not clear to you, please come by my office to see me about it, or you could also see me before or after class.  I will be more than happy to discuss it with you, as I already have with several students. 

For the most part, blog posts have been in the good to excellent range, anyway.  There are some exceptionally interesting posts in which there is good concept application and analysis, as well.

Team Blog Topics Chosen

All of the MQM 421 Team Blogs are linked in the left column. Below is a finalized list of the topics:

Team 1 Shattering the Glass Ceiling 
Team 2 Business Blunders

Team 3 Leadership Styles and OB

Team 4 Shake It Up
Team 5 Big Bang Impact

When you make individual posts, please remember to “sign” each of your own blog posts (type your name at the bottom of it) with your real name.  I will need to know who posted it in order to give credit for your individual points (see assignment file for individual grading criteria). 

I hope that, once you become comfortable with the blogging process, you will begin to actually enjoy this assignment and post some really worthwhile and interesting questions, issues, stories, media, etc. that will spark the interest of your team and even the whole class.  Of course, please see me if you have any questions or concerns.  Have fun!

Welcome Message!

Hi Everyone!
Wecome to MQM 421 Blog Central! My first post will just be an introductory welcome. The second post (below) will list some possible blog topics that your team may want to consider. However, these are just examples, and you are quite free to propose your own idea for a blog theme. Professor Sheep will have to approve your theme, but you are encouraged to be creative and to make your blog as interesting as possible. Make sure that you read the blog assignment on Blackboard before you create your blog or post anything to it. There will be specific instructions for how to get started in the assignment.

List of Possible Blog Themes

Here is the list of possible examples (which you are free to use).  These are first come first served to the team that signs up for this theme first.  There will be no duplicates.  We are striving for variety in the blog themes for the section.

1.  “Shake It Up” Blog:  Recent examples and stories of ways in which companies (or leaders)motivate their employees (you should often relate your blog content to theories and concepts in Chapters 5, 6, 7, and 12).  You might also feature stories about business practices that are demotivating to employees and how to improve them.

2.  The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Blog:  Ethics and scandals, business and leadership ethics, corporate social responsibility (CSR), environmental heroes and villains, and so on. You should often relate your blog content to theories and concepts in Chapter 1 and ethics-related issues in all of the other chapters in the book.

Examples:  Bill Gates, Warren Buffet (for their philanthropic initiatives) Bernard Madoff, Wayne McLeod (for their financial scandals), the BP oil spill, examples of environmentally-responsible companies or companies that are starting new initiatives “to go green.”

3.  Shattering the Glass Ceiling Blog:  Gender (or other types of “managing diversity”) issues--recent examples in the news.  You should often relate your blog content and stories to theories and concepts in Chapters 1 through 4.  Remember that diversity includes many types of “individual differences”—e.g., different personality types, different cultures, many demographic variables, and so on.

4.  Big Bang Impact Blog:  Recent leaders of change or stories about dramatic organizational change:  Change agents who have made a real difference in their organizations/society (and why they have been successful—or perhaps, if you can find examples, unsuccessful). Examples:  Mark Zuckerberg, Barack Obama, Nelson Mandela, Steve Jobs.   Big changes in organizations might also include mergers and acquisitions, or downsizings, etc., and how such changes impact people in the organization. You should often relate your blog content to Chapters 11 through 14. 

5.  “Dream Teams” Fantasy League Blog:   Well, unfortunately for some, we’re not just talking about sports teams here, although you might find some business analogies to successful sports teams to use as examples.  However, the main focus would be how teamwork is effective in work organizations (and analyzing what makes them successful—or perhaps unsuccessful).    You might find material to post and discuss on extremely effective teams that have developed new products (such as the iPad) or started new projects or companies (entrepreneurial duos or teams), and so on.  You should often relate your blog content to theories and concepts found in Chapters 8 through 12 in the book.  Find stories about team-based organizations and team-based initiatives in organizations that have worked well (or perhaps those that have not and how to fix them). 

6.  “It’s Always Sunny in Organizational Behavior” Blog:  This blog would emphasize discussions and analysis of stories about what is known as Positive Organizational Scholarship (POS).  POS includes topics that focus on “what is working” and “what is right and good” about human behavior and performance in organizations—as opposed to a problem-centered approach.  It includes topics like optimism, hope, resilience, confidence, authentic leadership, making positive connections, and so on. 

There is not a great deal in your book about this, but your team could borrow a book from Milner library (or inter-library loan from I-Share libraries):

Positive Organizational Scholarship: Foundations of a New Discipline

By Kim S. Cameron, Jane E. Dutton, and Robert Quinn, editors (2003)

Published by Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc. ISBN: 1-57675-232-1

There is also a good online resource for POS topics from the University of Michigan:

http://www.bus.umich.edu/Positive/Center-for-POS/

This would be a good choice for a team that is already choosing Option 2 for the Team Project, as it relates to many of the same topics.

7.  Dark Side of the Force Blog:  Opposite in its approach to 6. above, this blog would focus on examples in organizational behavior that one would not want to emulate—e.g., leaders gone wrong, disastrous decision-making, de-motivating practices, what makes teamwork fail, and so on.  You should relate all of these to theories and concepts in the relevant chapters in your book (e.g., Chapters 12, 11, 5 and 6, 9 and 10, respectively for the examples given in the previous sentence).

Examples:  Michael Scott (The Office), Ken Lay (Enron), Adolph Hitler, leaders whose actions or inaction may have been responsible for various types of disasters or their bungled aftermath.

Note:  Of course, if you choose to use this theme (#7), your main emphasis should be on how to fix these problems, or how they could have been improved.  Don't just dwell on the negative, but show us the positive improvement that could be made if the concepts and theories of Organizational Behavior were used more intentionally.

You can certainly propose others:  An International Cultures blog, Effective Networking and Cutting-Edge Communication Practices Blog, etc.  Be creative!!