Conflict is an inevitable part of life. With the workplace being where many people spend large percentages of time, it is not immune to experiencing conflict. With many different people and varying ranks in a work environment dealing with problems at work can get a little messy. A well-displayed example of this comes from my favorite TV show - The Office.
In one particular episode, the business realizes they have surplus, and it must be spent by the end of or else that amount of money will deducted from the next quarter's budget. Once news of this spreads around the office, a debate forms over whether the surplus should be spent on a new copier or new chairs. The employees then have a series of arguments as people start to get heated over where this extra money will be spent.
The source of the problem can be seen in two ways. Either this problem was a result of good budgeting, a change of prices or something that has to do with the accounting and financial operations of the company, or it was caused by the two employees who suggested the copier and the chairs. One side believes that the company needs a new copier due to the fact that there's is outdated and they have to send out various documents that the copier produces and the quality of the copies could reflect on how they do business. On the other hand, those who support the chairs believe that an employee's comfort has a large impact on how they perform, and that a poor quality chair over an extended period of time could lead to back problems or other health issues. The initial reaction of the employees was to immediately take sides. Then, once teams had formed there were many debates on the issue. Consequently, each side started finding ways to "kiss up" to the boss in order to sway him to their side. Although in the show they were very over the top about it to add to its comedic value, I believe there some truth to it.
The conflict ended up being settled by the boss forcing them to choose. He made the employees aware that he could simply turn in the surplus and receive a 15% of the surplus as a bonus for saving the company money. Once the employees realized the situation they were able to finally decide and settle on the chairs. I feel that this way a good technique for getting the employees to come to a decision, even though he was disappointed he was not able to receive his bonus. I feel most likely this conflict was completely unavoidable. The surplus is something that naturally occurred and the office desperately needed two things. If the employees acted a little more maturely in the beginning, the conflict may have been less extreme. However, all in all at the end of the day they were able to make a decision and the conflict was resolved.
Friday, October 30, 2015
Friday, October 2, 2015
Illinibucks
The concept of distributing a certain amount of Illinibucks to each student would have an immense affect on how several things operate on campus. Mostly everything on campus operates on a first come first serve basis, but by allowing students to spend their Illinibucks to jump to the front of the line would change everything. It could perhaps provide more efficiency on campus as students would use their Illinibucks on the resources they use most. Students would just have to decide what they valued most to spend their Illinibucks on.
Illinibucks could be used for meetings with advisors and deans, speaking with a professor during office hours, buying food or coffee at the various cafeterias or snack shops, or meeting with someone at the career center. You could also use them for moving up in position to rent out rooms at libraries, the Ikenberry Commons, or classrooms. Additionally, although there is already a system in place for registering for classes, you could add to it by giving the option to pay in Illinibucks to move your spot up by a certain amount of days or hours depending on how much you spend. Finally, there are always extremely long lines every semester to meet with the various companies at the career fair. Perhaps the university could reach an agreement with these companies and allow students to use their Illinibucks to move up in line or hold their place in line.
It is absolutely essential though that the university sets the correct price for these various places students would spend their Illinibucks or problems will arise. If the price is too low, the university will find this project to be ineffective as everyone will use their Illinibucks for almost everything and in the end everyone will still have to wait in line. Also, with too low of prices there will be a leftover amount of Illinibucks that may be given out to friends or family giving certain students an unfair advantage of the system. On the contrary, if prices are too high students may not even use the Illinibucks as they can only be used for one or two things before their budget runs out. Plus, with excessive prices the Illinibucks may gain a monetary value, resulting in students selling theirs for money. This could result in a similar situation if certain students gain an unfair amount of the Illinibucks compared to others, and it could lead to problems for the university with students all over campus exchanging Illinibucks for money. All in all, it could be a very effective plan as long as it is done efficiently and prices are set correctly.
Illinibucks could be used for meetings with advisors and deans, speaking with a professor during office hours, buying food or coffee at the various cafeterias or snack shops, or meeting with someone at the career center. You could also use them for moving up in position to rent out rooms at libraries, the Ikenberry Commons, or classrooms. Additionally, although there is already a system in place for registering for classes, you could add to it by giving the option to pay in Illinibucks to move your spot up by a certain amount of days or hours depending on how much you spend. Finally, there are always extremely long lines every semester to meet with the various companies at the career fair. Perhaps the university could reach an agreement with these companies and allow students to use their Illinibucks to move up in line or hold their place in line.
It is absolutely essential though that the university sets the correct price for these various places students would spend their Illinibucks or problems will arise. If the price is too low, the university will find this project to be ineffective as everyone will use their Illinibucks for almost everything and in the end everyone will still have to wait in line. Also, with too low of prices there will be a leftover amount of Illinibucks that may be given out to friends or family giving certain students an unfair advantage of the system. On the contrary, if prices are too high students may not even use the Illinibucks as they can only be used for one or two things before their budget runs out. Plus, with excessive prices the Illinibucks may gain a monetary value, resulting in students selling theirs for money. This could result in a similar situation if certain students gain an unfair amount of the Illinibucks compared to others, and it could lead to problems for the university with students all over campus exchanging Illinibucks for money. All in all, it could be a very effective plan as long as it is done efficiently and prices are set correctly.
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