Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Heather Campbell comment 2-3

Chapters 2 and 3 were interesting. I have had a lot of jobs, with a lot of different settings, bosses, types of control etc. this is a subject i have always understood and thought about, so i find it interesting to actually study the thoughts, theories and conclusions studied and derived pertaining to power in Organizations in general.

I worked for this health club in the past as a sales associate. Now it wasn't just this company that i had experienced this type of control/power; it had been several. In sales in general, the sales where u have to find your own leads, basically generate your own success has a certain pattern of control from what i noticed. As the text describes; certain types of control are present and depending on the organization and how it operates ultimately depends on the type of control.
I see a pattern of Strategic control in this type of company.
Greater clarity isn't the main goal of communication. IE. Sales assoc. don't think or wonder why they only get a very small % of commission. And that is only on activation, company doesn't convey to us how much they make off monthly dues and the initial activation. they just keep us quiet by giving the what 15% and say "OK go keep working. Get more memberships you wanna make that commission don't you?" Making it almost virtually impossible to make your commission. because in order to receive it you must beat out your hourly time. Basically every sales, hourly vs. commission based job is very much based on Strategic Control. it minimizes ethics (company doesn't care you are practically working slave labor, and therefore sales associates have no remorse about basically lying and doing/saying whatever they can to get that commission. overemphasizes power (have to check with you sales manager or whoever and get approved before you close anything.) ignores cooperation coordination and interdependence of individuals in groups. I always thought about how much more i could really do if my worked actually payed off. i was the guy in office space just sitting and doing about 15 minutes of work because i found if i did work my ass off. i reaped no rewards. The success of the company is ultimately doomed because of failure to operate effectively. Corporate America in General cuts corners/ costs with employees all the time. If the organization cooperated and worked better there would be no need to cut corners to make money/ be successful.

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