What I found interesting from Chp 8

I really enjoyed reading chapter eight because it talks all about successful and non successful ways to work in groups. Today I had a four hour staff meeting for my church organization. I am a volunteer in my church's junior high group and once a year we have big planning meetings to put our heads together and collaborate on what is working and what isn't. We use our interdependence to unite us and focus our attention on the topics for the day. I really like being a volunteer for my church because there is very little bureaucracy, for the most part everyone's voice holds equal weight. We do have one person above us and she is the junior high director, but she works so well with the staff we never feel like she has become a dictator. I felt that the staff meeting today was very successful and all in all the junior high organization is moving in a positive direction for we all feel two heads are better then one.

Etiquette

Review the etiquette rules suggested in the text. Respond to each one. Have you ever been bothered by cell phone, answering machines, or beepers? What do you feel about call waiting? Is it rude to put people on hold to take another call?

In this day and age I feel it is next to impossible to survive without a cell phone. I have many friends who don't even have a land line because the easiest way to reach the is through their cell. However, I do feel that there are proper and respectful ways to use a cell phone. I just went to see the new James Bond movie tonight and I love the preview where a loud annoying cell phone is going off and interrupting a really important part of the actors conversation, there is an awkward pause and then a voice that says "Please don't add your own sound effects to the movie turn off your cell phones." When you are in a meeting or at a movie it is rude to have your cell phone on and even more rude to answer it during a movie.

Answering machines and or voice mails services are vital in order to receive important messages. Some people are email people and other are cell phone people. I myself am more attached to my cell so it is never wise to only shoot me an email I will need a voicemail too. In terms of etiquette I really despise voice mails that is loud music playing, or the worst is when people pretend they are there and say hello and they make you think you have reached the person when you really haven't.

I personally don't like call waiting because when I am talking to someone especially a good friend I haven't seen in awhile I hate hearing the annoying beep in my ear. The beep causes me to put my friend on hold in order to click over and tel the other person I will call them back. I don't think it is rude to put people on hold it can just be inconvenient sometimes.

The environments connection to organizations

How are organizations tied to the environment? What is the relationship between the school you attend and the city or town in which it is situated? What, if any, ethical obligations does an organization like a college or university have to the local community?

In the reading this week on pg 215 we see that there is a definite linkage between organizations and the environment in which they happen in. Now, organizations can be good and beneficial for an environment but they can also be detrimental. It is important to know that an organization is not so strictly defined as a place or group but rather a human behavior. Keeping this definition in mind when thinking about organizations we see that some organizations can be harmful to its environment.

For example organizations thrive off of the environment in which it exists resources. Let's imagine if you will a small farming community. The people within this environments make their living off of their livestock and the crops they produce. Now what if a large building organization wanted to come in and strip acres of the land to build an amusement park. Wouldn't the people in this small town suffer a great deal if their way of making an income was demolished by a bigger wealthier organization?

Looking at San Jose State I can definitely see a tie to my environment by the diversity of the students. People of all age and race attend San Jose which matches the environment. San Jose is also a commuter college many people who got to SJSU live somewhere in the bay area so they not only go to school but they work too.

I do believe if a school or university is built then it does owe things to its community. One good example of this is, I just performed in a play on campus called "Puss in Boots." This play is a part of a new company called Magic Carpet theatre and it is sponsored by the King Library. The goal of this new theatre company is to reach out into the community and encourage kids to take part in theatre. I was very excited to be a part of this production and I am also overjoyed to see how this theatre company make a difference in down town San Jose.