DB 1 Leadership and Ethics
Provide an example of when a person (boss, coworker, peer) really expected you to either perform well or fail and treated you like you would, which resulted in your success or failure…. “Do ethics matter?”
DB 2 Case Study PF Chang
Based on the video below, in what ways does PF Chang’s create organizational commitment among its workers? How might a manager at PF Chang’s use the Big Five personality factors to assess whether a candidate for a position on the wait staff would be suitable?
Video Link: http://academic.cengage.com/resource_uploads/downloads/1285866355_535788.mp4
ANSWER THE ABOVE QUESTION AND THEN REPLY TO MY CLASSMATE RESPONSE TO THE ABOVE QUESTIONS AND EXPLAIN WHY YOU AGREE? (A MINIMUM OF 150 WORDS EACH)
DB1
Before getting my undergraduate degree, I was in trade school as an automotive technician. One time during class we were having a competition to see who could take a tire off the wheel and remount it the fastest. My teacher put me up against one of the most experienced in the class to see if I could beat him. He did this, to train me to perform well under pressure. Everyone else in the class laughed and thought it would be no competition, that he would wipe the floor with me. Well, come to find out sometimes the underdog can pull out a victory. Not only did I beat him, but I set a new class record time. After class was over for the day, my instructor pulled me aside and asked me if I knew why he paired me like that. Honestly, I was frustrated at him that he did that. However, he told me that he did it because he knew my potential and that I just needed the right environment to let it shine. He knew that people laughing at me or not having faith in me would provide the drive that I needed. Throughout that degree, whether I won or lost competitions, he never stopped pushing me to be better than I was the day before and I am forever grateful for that instructor.
I believe that ethics do matter, because if someone is viewed as already being a failure then they might accept that of themselves. This of course would be damaging to their self-esteem. Leaders putting people in a situation that sets them up to fail might not be the healthiest ethical decision to make. Some people respond positively to failure situations while others beat themselves up and develop a sense of defeat.
DB:2
I am constantly impressed by the leadership and staff at PF Chang’s. PF Chang’s leadership creating the idea of pre-shift meetings are a great way to produce organizational commitment. This allows for questions, the addressing of problems, specials, etc. before the shift starts. This helps to get the employees minds set up and ready to go for the work day. Also, the fact that PF Chang’s leaders and managers actually care about and believe in the staff helps create motivation, teamwork and positive attitudes. Being someone who has personally worked for many different restaurants, having a pre-shift sit down with everyone would have made a world of difference in how I treated the shift. Just allowing everyone to get on the same page and understanding what is expected of them before the shift started, is a huge motivator and puts more of an emphasis on teamwork. I believe that a manager with exceptional agreeableness, specifically good emotional intelligence, would be a great decision maker when it comes to picking and choosing people for positions on their staff. Honestly, anyone who has a good handle on the four components of EQ would be a great fit for the PF Chang’s staff. PF Chang’s leadership is exceptional and hard to come by in the restaurant business.
