Bringing Fun to an Organization

The typical workplace is set up to enhance productivity and accomplishments. As such, most employees know the workplace as a place where they go to earn a living to earn a living, while accomplishing the goals set by the employer. Without putting specific effort at bringing fun to the workplace, only a small percentage of workers find some enjoyment or job satisfaction from their jobs. Seeing that this is common across many workplaces and directly affects the job output, employers have nowadays adopted ways of creating fun workplaces as a business strategy (Jeffcoat & Gibson 2006).The best way to start-off in bringing fun to the workplace is recruiting employees who have a sense of humor. According to Narisi (2008), the perfect way to gauge whether a job candidate poses a sense of humor is by watching the way he or she responds to interview questions. One of the important questions that the interviewer should answer is, is this person taking him or herself too seriously even in quest ions that do not require much seriousness? Narisi (2008) suggests the use of ‘dumb’ questions like, ‘why aren’t you married yet? ’, ‘what do you think of the paintings in our office?Among others. Greenwood (2009), states that a survey on 700 American CEOs revealed that 98 percent of them preferred interviewing job candidates with a sense of humor. Most of these CEOs attested to having a passion of not only attracting upbeat candidates, but also admitted to recruiting such and working hard to retain such in their respective organizations. After settling down with the workforce who satisfies the humor criteria, Ryan& associates (2004), suggests that employers should introduce other things like dressing for fun on specific days.Despite having the ‘dress for fun’ days in the office, the employer can encourage the staff to wear something frivolous that does not have to be visible, but serves to remind them that they should not take them selves too seriously. According to Urquhart (2003), it is the responsibility of managers to orchestrate fun in the workplace, but he or she should be cognizant of the fact that the employees create fun in the workplace. As such, the managers should act as facilitators to ensure that employees have all the resources and freedom needed to transform the workplace in to a fun place.There is controversy among analysts of just how productive a fun-filled workplace is. To this, Urquhart (2003) argues that a depressed mind is less productive than one that is jovial. In addition, fun creates a positive mental state, where employees learn to love their work and create a bond between employees who share jokes thus creating stronger work teams. Scientists also claim that fun and laughter stimulates the production of oxygen and endorphins to the brain, which results in increased creativity and clear thinking among employees (Urquhart, 2003). In the allbusimess.com (2008) website, employers are e ncouraged to allow the employees to have flextime in their job schedules. The website states that this shows the employees that the employer is concerned about their welfare. Accordingly, the employee perception motivates them leading to a less stressful and more productive workforce (allbusiness. com, 2008). This perception is backed up by countless other websites, which advocate for the use of fun in the workplace as a sure way of relieving stress, improving the individual health of employees and boosting the overall production of the organization.According to a study conducted by Karl & Peluchette (2006), and published in the Journal of Leadership and Organizational studies, employees who worked in fun environments had more confidence in their jobs and were able to serve their clientele better. This argument is backed by Jeffcoat & Gibson (2006), who agree that fun in the workplace results in lower downtimes, increased productivity, better job satisfaction and low absenteeism. Th is gives employers even more reasons to find ways of incorporating fun in the workplace.According to Lynn (2005), bringing fun to the work place is not as easy as many people might wan to believe. This is especially the case where employees and their managers have had conflicting paths regarding flexibility in the workplace. To beat the odds, Lynn (2005) suggests that employers need to create a trusting environment before adopting fun in the workplace. If they fail to create a trusting environment, chances are that the employees will reject any efforts to create fun in the work place.Trust in the workplace can be created through effective communication and respect, which wipes out negative emotions such as fear, hostility and scorn from the employees. According to jobsdb. com (2009), the major responsibility of bringing fun to the workplace lies with the manager. He or she is supposed to schedule breaks, during which employees can engage in fun-filled activities. In addition, he or she can seek employee opinions regarding cultivating fun in the workplace. Such could be by holding contests, celebrations or team-building activities.Another approach of bringing fun to an organization would be the use of morale officer’s who interact with the employees at all times, checking if there are any morale needs that needs to be addressed (Stafford, 2000). The Morale officers’ sole responsibility is to ensure that employees have a reason to look forward to the work environment with renewed anticipation each day. Fun is the one guaranteed way to achieve this. They may seek employee opinions on how best to achieve the organization objectives over lunch or tea.This breaks the office formality and leaves the employees more relaxed. To be successful in making the workplace a fun place, Stafford (2000) suggests that the morale officers should work on five pointers namely, i)feedback from employees, ii) humor, iii)bringing employees together, iv) a reward process f or the employees and v) Sticking to the organization’s mission by engaging in creative and innovative work. As noted earlier in this speech, the fun in the workplace is not an easy thing to achieve. According to McGarvey (2006, fun in the workplace does not happen.Rather, it takes hard work and creativity, mostly from the organization leaders. To bring fun to the work place hence requires the direct participation of the managerial leaders in the company. As such, it would be futile for the top organization management to issue orders for the employees to have fun, if they do not lead and demonstrate how fun in the company should be modeled. Even employees agree that the best fun trend in the workplace is set from the top management. A perfect example is the CEO and founder of Cognex Corporation, Dr.Robert Shillman, who indulges his employees to creative bonuses, where rather than giving them token money, he looks for fun alternative ways through which they can enjoy their bene fits. Shillman is renowned for his work hard and play hard style of management (cognex. com, 2009). To him, the adage â€Å"all work and no play make Jack a dull boy† stands true. The same spirit of leading from the front was exhibited by Wal-mart’s founder, Sam Walton, who not only wore a hula skirt, but also led employees in the giant retailer for a dance along Wall Street (Greenwood, 2009)..Shillman’s management style is celebrated by Joe Neulinger (quoted by Greenwood, 2009), who states that people who do not see the need for fun in the workplace are less likely to become CEOs. This observation is shared by Fry (2001), who states that managers who scores poorly on the fun scale are bad leaders whose lack of ‘a funny bone’ is evident through the unmotivated and less productive teams that they lead. Fry’s suggestion to managers is that they should begin meetings on good cheer, by maybe saying something nice about the workforce, the day or b y creating a fun-filled challenge for the group.According to Fry (2001), the possibilities of how much fun the managers can create in the work environment is limitless. However, as indicated elsewhere in the speech, it requires working on. As such, it will require a deliberate effort from the managers to create a fun workplace. Some of them might however dismiss this by saying that people should just do what they were hired to do. For this, the answer is just as blunt; managers, who expect their employee to do nothing else but work while at work, will most likely get less than the expected results.On the other hand, those who induce fun activities in the job environment ends up with an increased bottom line, without having to pressurize employees in to working harder (Fry, 2001). It is thus upon managers to choose, which of the two ways best suits them. Weinstein (1997) suggests that fun can be brought into the work place by doing things differently. For example, instead of generali zing the reward systems such that every employee gets the same reward, a little creativity can infuse fun in the reward program.When such happens, Weinstein, who is also the President PlayFair Inc reckons that the reward scheme becomes more personalized and memorable to each recipient employee. In addition, the employees take pride in not only the reward, but also the means through which the reward was presented to them. The employee can for example take the employees to a shopping mall, hand them money and instruct them to purchase personal gifts in a specified time limit. From such an activity, the employee not only appreciates the reward, but the shopping experience. However, it is not the responsibility of the managers to bring fun to the organization.The individual employees too have a responsibility that they enjoy their jobs, which is the most likely way to achieving job satisfaction amongst them. This however is partly dependent on whether the environment at work place allow s them to indulge in fun activities. Hemsath (1997) reckons that in the environment where employees are required to be optimally productive despite the stressful environment that the conventional workplace is, it is incumbent that employees find fun in the workplace without necessarily waiting for the employers hell-bent at changing nothing about the old workplace to affect the fun-changes for them.The best strategy for employees as stated by Hemsath (1997) starts with one self. Here the employee sets to become the fun-catalyst in the office and enliven the spontaneous spirit between him and his co-workers. This can be as effortless as changing one’s title, to take up a more funny title. Secondly, an individual employee can set it upon himself to inspire fun in his colleagues. This is done through encouraging them to take-up fun activities, recognizing and supporting their efforts at creating amusement.If the work environment allows, individual workers can carry toys, play fu nny music and even post colorful pictures that boost their spirits when at work. The employees can also influence the management to create rooms where the environment is less tense. Another way that individual employees can contribute to fun in an organization is by looking for humor in their situations (Hemsath, 1997). Every situation has its dark and lighter sides. An optimistic employee will concentrate more on the brighter sides of everything, which is more fun than the gloomy downside.To make the workplace comfortable for everyone however, the management and the employees must distinguish between beneficial fun, and jokes that may be deemed offensive by some parties. As such, Vikesland (2007), suggests that the workplace should have some fun rules that distinguish between what is acceptable and outright breach of company policies. As such, the employees should be made to understand that fun is not mocking, mimicking or teasing other co-workers or management. Off-color jokes, se xual innuendos, deception, sarcasm, dark humor and ethnic jokes do not qualify as fun in the workplace too.Conclusion The modern day manager realizes the benefits of bringing fun in an organization. With the countless resources propagating the benefits of bringing fun aboard the organization, well meaning CEOs, Managers or Corporate Strategists will no doubt try incorporating fun into their management styles. While there are countless ways to have fun in the workplace, the general guess however remains that some employees may be too distracted by the fun and hence loose out on the productivity.However, the success stories of same management styles that have adopted fun in the workplace indicates that there are variable ways of ensuring that despite the fun, employees not only meet their targets, but also exceed them. Companies like Google have demonstrated that fun and productivity can go hand-in-hand (Bryant, 2007). What Google offers – play station games, free food, scooter s and pets among other things- are just an example of what organizations can give or allow their employees to indulge in.A peak of what life in the Google offices is like can be viewed at http://www. cnn. com/video/#/video/business/2007/01/05/fortune. best. cos. to. work. for. cnn. cnn According to Bathurst (2008), fun in the work place has more than simple benefits. Besides improving productivity, organizations are using it today to battle employee turnover. This is because employees who enjoy the work environment are more likely to stick in the same job for longer than disgruntled employees are. Besides, employees today have more choices and can easily change jobs than was the case in the 1950’s.In conclusion, fun in the workplace has become the new business management trend that people believe encourages employee creativity, morale, satisfaction, productivity and increases employee retention. As such, fun has undeniably become an integral part of the modern corporate cultu re. References Allbusiness. com. (2008). Making the Workplace Fun. AllBusiness: A D& B company. Retrieved 06 May 2009 from http://www. allbusiness. com/human-resources/employee-development-team-building/11357-1. html Barthurst, Patricia. (2008). Having fun at work increases Loyalty, Productivity.AZcentral. com. Retrieved from http://www. azcentral. com/business/articles/2008/06/01/20080601biz-funatwork0601-ON. html Bryant, Steve. (2007). Perks du Soleil: Fun-Loving Google named Best place to Work. Retrieved from http://googlewatch. eweek. com/content/inside_google/perks_du_soleil_google_named_best_place_to_work. html Cognex. com. (2009). Cognex Corporation: Senior Management. Retrieved from http://www. cognex. com/CognexInfo/Leadership/default. aspx? id=210 Fry, Ann. (2001). Just Having Fun at work can boost productivity. Austin Business Journal.Retrieved http://austin. bizjournals. com/austin/stories/2001/06/04/smallb4. html Greenwood, Ramon. Are you Having Fun at Work? Career Know -how. Retrieved from http://www. careerknowhow. com/guidance/fun. htm Hemsath, Dave. (1997). Are we having Fun Yet? Journal of Quality and participation. Retrieved from http://findarticles. com/p/articles/mi_qa3616/is_199711/ai_n8773216/pg_2/? tag=content;col1 Jeffcoat & Gibson. (2006). Fun as Serious as Business: Creating a Fun Work Environment As an Effective Business Strategy. Journal of Business and Economic Research.Vol. 4. No. 2. Retrieved from http://www. cluteinstitute-onlinejournals. com/PDFs/2006321. pdf jobsdb. com. (2009). Making the Workplace Fun. JobsDB. com. Retrieved from http://th. jobsdb. com/TH/EN/V6HTML/Home/humanresource_editor26. htm Karl & Peluchette. (2006). How does Workplace Fun Impact employee Perceptions of Customer service Quality. Abst. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies. Vol. 13. No. 2. Retrieved from http://jlo. sagepub. com/cgi/content/abstract/13/2/2 Lynn, Harland. (2005). Attitudes toward Workplace fun: A Three-Sector Comparison.Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies. Retrieved http://www. allbusiness. com/buying_exiting_businesses/3503649-1. html Narisi, Sam. (2008). HR’s Funny side: What Kind of Fruit would you be? HR Recruiting Alert. com. Retrieved 06 May 2009 from http://www. hrrecruitingalert. com/hrs-funny-side-what-kind-of-nut-would-you-be/ McGarvey, Robert. (1996). Comic Relief- Having fun at Work. Entrepreneur Journal. Retrieved from http://findarticles. com/p/articles/mi_m0DTI/is_n10_v24/ai_18726422/pg_2/? tag=content;col1 Ryan, Kevin. (2004). Humor in Business: 16 ways

Amazon Case Analysis

The case Analysis Outline Introduction- Brief summary of the firm, officers, industry and location Problem identification: major problems to be resolved-use the 4ps model Swot Analysis: strengths: weakness: opportunities: threats Alternatives: strategic choices-solutions to the problems identified Analysis of alternatives: cost/benefit analysis of the solutions. Recommendation: best/optimal solution based on the cost/benefit analysis 1. Introduction Amazon began in 1994 created by Jeffrey Bezos a computer science and electrical engineering graduate from Princeton University.Amazon was created to be an online bookstore that would be customer friendly, be easy to navigate, provide buying advice, and offer the broadcast possible selection of books at low prices and submit product reviews. Bezo operated from his garage in Seattle. Bezo launched his online venture in 1995 with 7 million in borrowed capital. Because Amazon was one of the first major Internet or dot com retailers, it receiv ed a huge amount of free national publicity, and the new venture quickly attracted more and more book buyers. Amazon has a 200,000-square-foot warehouse and distribution center.Amazon employed a relatively small number of workers about 2500 worldwide. Amzon employees own over 10% of their company, a factor behind Amazon. com’s rapid growth. Amazon has pizza teams that are given considerable autonomy to develop their ideas and experiment without interference from managers. Those pizza teams come up with most of the innovation. 2. Problem identification Product- Amazon has a customer review section on its website so that a customer may display any problems that he or she has sustain with the Amazon product purchased. However maintaining the physical infrastructure to to obtain supplies of books from book publishers and then to stock, package and ship the books to customers were much higher than anticipated. Price- Amazon was at a competitive advantage with their low prices * Ma intaining the physical side of amazon’s value chain was the source of the greatest proportion of its operating cost, which were draining profitability even though Amazon was at a competitive advantage with their low prices. *Price competition was also heating up due to the other companies such as Barnes and Noble and Borders who were also selling books online. Place- Amazon place in the book selling market changed the industry forever since it was the first online book selling company. * People can purchase books from anywhere as long as they can use the internet. Promotion-Since Amazon was the first online book seller it received a lot of free publicity. * Amazon was able to capture customer’s attention and establish a first mover advantage. 3. SWOT Analysis Strengths- -First online Book selling website. -low pricing -purchase from anywhere -offers 1. 5 million books -product reviews * Weaknesses -operating costs * Oppurtunities -Global expansion -retailer -aquiring s mall companies -New software -Branching in new market segments * Threats -opposing companies -price wars Pressure on profit margins 4. Alternatives * Forging allies with other companies so that when customers wanted a purchase immediately they could pick it up from one of the alliance retailers such as office depot or circuit city. Continue being innovative with prices such as having buy one get one half off sales or reducing prices by certain percentages on particular days. 5. Analysis of Alternatives * Buy sharing profit with allies the high product stocking and distribution costs were avoided. * Profit sharing also turned the company from book seller to â€Å"leading internet product provider. 6. Recommendation Allow any small business that operate a website to become affiliated to amazon by putting a official Amazon hyperlink to Amazon’s website on its own website.

History J3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

History J3 - Essay Example uiano gives a vivid description of the Middle Passage which demonstrates the terror of the prisoners, the abject conditions on board and the attitude of the slavers to their cargo. The captured African slaves are absolutely terrified on their passage. The main reason for this fear is the ignorance of the Africans, as this is their first encounter with Europeans. Equiano’s horror is â€Å"heightened by my ignorance of what I was to undergo† (Equiano, 1789).The fair complexion, long hair and alien language of the white men makes Equiano believe that they are â€Å"bad spirits, and that they were going to kill me† (Equiano, 1789). The large copper furnace and the dejected, fettered prisoners reinforce his fear of being sacrificed. Another factor which contributes to Equiano’s fear is the water: â€Å"not being used to the water, I naturally feared that element the first time I saw it† (Equiano, 1789). Most of the captured slaves are from interior Africa and have never seen the sea. The ship and its navigation seem magical to the Africans. The conditions on board the slave ship are extremely miserable. The slaves are confined to the unventilated hold, where they are chained and packed tightly together. The initial cargo of slaves is supplemented by the additional slaves taken on at sea. This makes the hold â€Å"so crowded that each had scarcely room to turn himself† (Equiano, 1789). Equiano paints â€Å"a scene of horror almost inconceivable†: the heat, the toxic miasma of perspiration, the suffocating atmosphere, the increasing irritation of the chains, the groans of the dying, the shrieks of the women, the stench of humanity and the tubs of human excreta â€Å"into which the children often fell, and were almost suffocated†   (Equiano, 1789). The stink of the holds is beyond tolerance.The pestilential air makes the slaves ill and even causes fatalities. The rations are insufficient to satisfy the slaves’ appetite. It is a mark of the slavers’ spite that they

The Role Transnational And Multinational Companies Have Played On Essay

The Role Transnational And Multinational Companies Have Played On Globalization - Essay Example The world has seen a tremendous increase in the global transactions and foreign trade in the recent years. The main reason behind this is that now more and more countries are getting engaged in trading with each other in order to increase their profit or sales or protecting them from being eroded by competition. The main objectives which are influencing the companies to engage in international business are the expansion of sales, acquiring resources, minimizing competitive risk and diversification of sources of sales and supplies (Johnson & Turner, 2003). Besides these, there are other few factors like economic factors, cultural factors, technological factors, and social factors which have the influence to a greater extent. The emergence and activities of transnational and multinational enterprises had impacted to a huge extent on the concept of globalization. Multinationals have played an important role in globalization. Given their international reach and mobility, prospective countries, and sometimes regions within countries must compete with each other to have MNCs locate their facilities (and subsequent tax revenue, employment, and economic activity) within. To compete, countries and regional political districts offer incentives to MNCs such as tax breaks, pledges of governmental assistance or improved infrastructure, or lax environmental and labor standards. This process of becoming more attractive to foreign investment can be characterized as a race to the bottom.

Arabic Culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 4

Arabic Culture - Essay Example The cultural identities of individuals are strong elements that considerably influence their ideologies and general mode of behaviour. The cultural paradigms of social structure become critical aspects of national identities and therefore important issue within state. Thus, media, especially the role of television in defining the cultures of Arab world and American society is important facet in the contemporary times. There is vast difference in the television programs of Arabs and America. While television is a popular media in the Arab world, the programs of the televisions are focused on the family lives and promote the Arab culture. They highlight obedience amongst children and emphasize the importance of religion within the society, showcasing family values and religious beliefs for leading a model life. The conservative values of Arab societies with parental control over children are vastly different to that of American television programs. American culture promotes individualism and highlights the independent views of the individuals. The American television programs also showcase the American liberal views vis-Ã  -vis personal views on all issues including sex, sports, fashion, religion etc. The liberal view of American society was not approved by the conservative muslin society of the Arab world. Hence, government control over foreign TV channels was applied in the Arab nations till a f ew years back. But in the recent times, the globalization has brought in new changes within the media and made foreign television channels like MTV popular amongst the youth in Arab. The American music channel in the Arab nations has introduced popular pop culture within the native music which has become instant hit with the young. Most importantly Arab television programs in the Middle Eastern societies are promoting democratic values and freedom of press. Al Jazeera is prime example of TV channel that brings forth critical issues of society and also that of

Anthropologists Understanding of Human Health Essay

Anthropologists Understanding of Human Health - Essay Example However, the concern of medical anthropologists is to understand how communities understood the concept of health. Medical anthropologists have explored various ways, which different cultures used to understand the concept of disease and health. First is ecological or epidemiological view. Its concern posits the interaction between natural environment and culture to create pattern of diseases and health (Parker and Harper, 2005:123). Second is the critical (applied) medical anthropology view that focuses on how politics and economics affected human health. Third is interpretive view, which concerns with how culture related some symbolic meaning to understand and describe a disease. Epidemiological Perspective Epidemiology concern is to understand how factors within human population would affect human health. The concern of epidemiologists is to investigate cultural factors that contributed to diseases. These cultural factors include eating habit, sexual activity, medical practices, w ork, social interaction and geographical location (Bhasin). The paradox of this anthropological approach is that it cannot be able to identify the causing factors of these illnesses. However, traditionalists advised their people on what practices were best suitable in relation to health or disease risk. Epidemiologists’ research across cultures indicated that illnesses differ (Sharma and Gautam, 2006:143). For instance, blood pressure research conducted across cultures has indicated that pressure differs. The outcome of the study suggests differences across cultures might be the likable cause. The assumption made through medical ecology is that universal approach is applicable in categorising diseases. Measuring of diseases can take geographical dimension, where changes in pattern of settlement could project the anticipated disease or health outcome. For instance, medical anthropologists believe that measuring and mapping of haemoglobin is possible in relation to a given geog raphical region (McElroy, 2002:9). The study of disease in such area would focus on human physiology in relation to the environment. For instance, a disease such as malaria occurs in a given geographical area. The understanding of this condition is very important when it comes to diagnosing of the disease. It is not surprising that the colonial masters that arrived in Africa faced the challenge of Malaria. Ethno medicine The focus of ethno medicine is to explore practices and health beliefs, social roles, and cultural values. The perspective originally focused on the primitive system of life in relation to folk medicine. Today ethno medicine means health maintenance in the society (Elmer, 2004:27). Understanding the concept of ethno medicine, the beliefs, values, and knowledge of specialists in various communities is important. Since ethno medicine encompasses a number of factors, it gives detailed information on how communities interpreted illnesses and the techniques applied in me eting the effects of the illnesses. Traditional healers in Indian culture practice the activities alongside biomedicine that a patient in India would seek (Williams, 2006:215). The role played by the specialists in the traditional times has not faded, as one would think. Some communities demonstrate inclination to traditional methods as much as they would seek biomedicine. Interpretive Perspective Cultures a cross the globe associate different meaning to issues that

Leadership Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Leadership - Research Paper Example art U.S., â€Å"should work with OUR Wal-Mart to improve jobs at our company so that we have an opportunity to join the middle class, strengthen our company’s bottom line and improve our nation’s economy† (Ausick, 2014, para 2). This paper discusses Wal-Mart’s problem in ethical leadership, and proposes and defends solution to this dilemma. The proposed solutions are ethically grounded and based on principles of social justice and quality of life. OUR Wal-Mart publicly specified three issues that the former Wal-Mart leader, Bill Simon, failed to address: weakening brand image, dropping sales, and low wages. The organization refers to a research by Demos-- a public policy research institute-- that reported a higher wage rate for full-time workers of retail corporations that hire thousands of employees could significantly improve the quality of life of hundreds of thousands of women and their families (Tepel, 2014). The worsening performance of Wal-Mart U.S. has also been observed by some professional groups, and they claimed that Simon’s use of smaller stores was not the appropriate solution. The organization also mentions a survey of consumers that reveals â€Å"Wal-Mart’s pay and treatment of workers are influencing shopping habits† (Reuters, 2014, para 2). The poll revealed that a quarter of the overall number of the company’s most loyal customers is disappointed by how Wal-Mart handles its emplo yees, and that they, consequently, avoid shopping at the stores (Reuters, 2014, para 2-3). Although Wal-Mart’s terrible business practices have been known for several years, workers were not inclined to protest against it; but OUR Wal-Mart changes it. Since these courageous employees are not unionized, they were risking their jobs by protesting. In 2012, Wal-Mart publicly announced $444 billion in profits. Robson Walton, the successor of Wal-Mart, received roughly $420 million in 2011, while the company’s employees receive a meager annual salary of $15,500