Please write at least one paragraph for each question. Remember, thoroughness in internalizing your personal feelings and experiences and use of application of terms and concepts from your readings best demonstrates your understanding and synthesis of the experience and the course materials.
1. Reflect on your own personal values. What values will you bring to the workplace?
2. What ethical code might you use to guide you in your future career? Be specific, and take the time to write down a bulleted list of codes of behavior that you would follow and explain them.
Your responses to Blog Post 1 are due by 5 pm Eastern Time on Friday, Jan. 29, 2010.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Blog Post 2: What Elements of Classical Management are in Evidence in Your Service-Learning Organization?
Even though they were designed to be prescriptive rather than descriptive, the Classical, Human Relations, and Human Resources approaches to organizational behavior have influenced most organizations today. Based on your knowledge and experiences, please address the following questions:
1. What elements of Fayol's Classical Theory, Weber's Theory of Bureaucracy, and Taylor's Theory of Scientific Management have manifested themselves in organizations you have worked in or are working in now? Provide specific examples and illustrations to support your observations.
2. How have the advantages and disadvantages of the classical management approach played out within this organization?
3. How would you describe the content, direction, primary channel(s), and style of communication that is used within this organization?
The deadline for posting your responses to the second blog post will be by 5 pm on Wednesday March 3, 2010.
1. What elements of Fayol's Classical Theory, Weber's Theory of Bureaucracy, and Taylor's Theory of Scientific Management have manifested themselves in organizations you have worked in or are working in now? Provide specific examples and illustrations to support your observations.
2. How have the advantages and disadvantages of the classical management approach played out within this organization?
3. How would you describe the content, direction, primary channel(s), and style of communication that is used within this organization?
The deadline for posting your responses to the second blog post will be by 5 pm on Wednesday March 3, 2010.
Blog Post 3: Applying Senge's Way of Thinking to Your Service-Learning Projects
Systems approaches to organizational management are premised on the argument that organizations are living, breathing entities with their own behavior patterns. Early systems thinking involved the application of such concepts as input, output, throughput, interdependence, open system and closed system.
In 1990, Peter Senge went one step further and argued that organizations (like all systems) have the capacity to learn. However, to do so, the "people [who comprise the organization] must put aside their old ways of thinking (mental modes); learn to be open with others (personal mastery); understand how the company really works (systems thinking); form a plan everyone can agree on (shared vision); and then work together to achieve that vision (team learning)" (Quotation from Business: The Ultimate Resource, 2002.)
Part I:
From the five concepts mentioned above that are related to early systems thinking, select a minimum of four and use them to describe your service-learning experience so far. To support your argument, use examples from your work with group members and the organization you are working with.
Part II:
Once you have completed that task, consider how Senge would view the growth and development of your service-learning team since the beginning of this semester. To do so, answer the following four questions:
1) What old ways of thinking, if any, have you personally set aside in order to work effectively with your team?
2) What conversations, if any, have transpired (both with yourself and your colleagues) that have helped you and the group to be more open to the experience?
3) Has your group been able to create a shared vision? If yes, what processes did you use to arrive at consensus? If no, what barriers and challenges have kept you from agreeing on a shared vision?
4) What advice would you give to service-learning teams in the future about how to work together to achieve a shared vision?
Please organize your responses as they were posed so that there is structure to your response. Your responses are due by 5 pm Eastern Time on Friday, March 26, 2010.
In 1990, Peter Senge went one step further and argued that organizations (like all systems) have the capacity to learn. However, to do so, the "people [who comprise the organization] must put aside their old ways of thinking (mental modes); learn to be open with others (personal mastery); understand how the company really works (systems thinking); form a plan everyone can agree on (shared vision); and then work together to achieve that vision (team learning)" (Quotation from Business: The Ultimate Resource, 2002.)
Part I:
From the five concepts mentioned above that are related to early systems thinking, select a minimum of four and use them to describe your service-learning experience so far. To support your argument, use examples from your work with group members and the organization you are working with.
Part II:
Once you have completed that task, consider how Senge would view the growth and development of your service-learning team since the beginning of this semester. To do so, answer the following four questions:
1) What old ways of thinking, if any, have you personally set aside in order to work effectively with your team?
2) What conversations, if any, have transpired (both with yourself and your colleagues) that have helped you and the group to be more open to the experience?
3) Has your group been able to create a shared vision? If yes, what processes did you use to arrive at consensus? If no, what barriers and challenges have kept you from agreeing on a shared vision?
4) What advice would you give to service-learning teams in the future about how to work together to achieve a shared vision?
Please organize your responses as they were posed so that there is structure to your response. Your responses are due by 5 pm Eastern Time on Friday, March 26, 2010.
Blog Post 5: Last One of the Semester
Part I. Please write at least one paragraph in which you answer the following questions about your service-learning experience in SCOM 350 this semester.
a. On a scale of 1-7 (1=low, 7= high), how would you rate this service-learning experiences overall? Why this rating?
b. Would you consider taking another SCOM class if you knew that a similar service-learning project was required for completion of the course? Why or why not?
c. Do you have any specific stories or incidents that would like to share that have affected your responses to the two previous questions? If so, what are they?
d. Would you recommend your “client” to other SCOM students for service-learning projects in the future? Why or why not?
e. What have you learned about yourself while doing this assignment (e.g., your best working environment, what motivates you to work, etc.)?
Part II. Please write at least one paragraph in which you answer the following questions about yourself in SCOM 350 this semester.
a. What one strength or skill did you personally bring to your service-learning team?
b. What communication strategies (if any) did your group use to get the “very best” out of you? What strategies did you use to get the “very best” out of them?
c. What was your biggest “pet peeve” when it came to working with your service-learning team?
d. What did you like and dislike about the way your team’s meetings were run?
Your response to this blog post is due on Friday, April 30, 2010 by 5 pm Eastern time.
a. On a scale of 1-7 (1=low, 7= high), how would you rate this service-learning experiences overall? Why this rating?
b. Would you consider taking another SCOM class if you knew that a similar service-learning project was required for completion of the course? Why or why not?
c. Do you have any specific stories or incidents that would like to share that have affected your responses to the two previous questions? If so, what are they?
d. Would you recommend your “client” to other SCOM students for service-learning projects in the future? Why or why not?
e. What have you learned about yourself while doing this assignment (e.g., your best working environment, what motivates you to work, etc.)?
Part II. Please write at least one paragraph in which you answer the following questions about yourself in SCOM 350 this semester.
a. What one strength or skill did you personally bring to your service-learning team?
b. What communication strategies (if any) did your group use to get the “very best” out of you? What strategies did you use to get the “very best” out of them?
c. What was your biggest “pet peeve” when it came to working with your service-learning team?
d. What did you like and dislike about the way your team’s meetings were run?
Your response to this blog post is due on Friday, April 30, 2010 by 5 pm Eastern time.
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