Blog 5 – Case Study

Case Scenario

Kay, the finance manager at a large company faces a dilemma. Robert, who is one of the Accounts
Directors and a union member, has requested an 8 percent raise for his work unit. His request is
based on recent finance reports showing that his department has substantially contributed to a 15
percent profit increase for the organization. He feels that his team should be compensated for the
hard work and long hours they have put in over the last few years to achieve this outcome.

Kay knows the value of Robert’s team and readily acknowledges their achievements. However, she
knows that the company has plans to expand and diversify. This new project will use up the majority
of the profit increase for at least the next five years. She is willing to sit down with Robert and talk
about how his team can get involved in the new project.

There could be new job opportunities, some overseas assignments, and possible promotions to various leadership positions within the new project. Kay has flagged this with Robert; however, he is adamant that his team needs to be compensated with a monetary increase. He went as far as threatening to get the union involved if his request is unsuccessful.

Identify one of the conflict-handling styles (Accommodating/avoiding/competing/
competing) used in this scenario. How did you determine that?

Fig 1: Different types of conflicting style

One of the conflicting-handling style used in this scenario is competing as people with competing conflict management style refuses to compromise or see the perspectives of others involved. People that have this kind of conflicting style take a firm stance and refuse to budge until they get what they want. In this scenario Robert wanted a 8% raise for his work unit and suggested it to kay. kay was willing to sit down and discuss about other alternative like promotions to various leadership position but Robert was adamant that his team needs to be compensated with a monetary increase. He went as far as threatening to get the union involved if his request is unsuccessful.

Choose one of the characters and determine which bargaining approach (distributive or integrative) is used. How did you determine that?

In this scenario , Robert used the distributive approach as it was a win-lose scenario where one party has a stronger advantage. As we can see in this scenario that Robert only want a win-lose situation as he only focuses on getting his own interest and disregard the loss of the other parties. In the scenario we can see that kay try to communicate with Robert team to find the best outcome for both parties but Robert only want to get the monetary increase instead of finding solutions that is suitable for the both the team and the company.

What aspect of interpersonal communication is contributing to the poor working
environment? How is this demonstrated in the case?

different types of interpersonal communications

The type of aspect of interpersonal communication that is contributing to the poor working environment is Active Listening. Active listening is a way of listening and responding to another person that improves mutual understanding. In the scenario we can see that Robert did not want to listen to kay suggestions when kay told Robert that the company has plans to expand and diversify and this new project will use up the majority of the profit increase for at least the next five years but there could be new job opportunities, some overseas assignments, and possible promotions to various leadership positions within the new project. instead of agreeing and understanding kay , Robert insisted of getting the monetary increase.

Using Hall’s context model (high and low context culture), describe one of the characters’ behavior. How did you determine that?

Using the hall context model , Robert is more towards to the low context culture as he is very straightforward in what he want. Ambiguity is disliked and bluntness is valued when it comes to low context culture. In the scenario we can see that Robert is adamant that his team needs to be compensated with a monetary increase.

Conclusion

In conclusion I think that interpersonal communication is very important in the workplace as having strong interpersonal communication skills is key to a company’s success, as well as for your own success, development, and productivity. It is important to have good conflicting-handling skills as it helps to communicate with other people better.

Refereces

Wigmore, I. (2018) What is distributive bargaining?: Definition from TechTarget, WhatIs.com. TechTarget. Available at: https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/distributive-bargaining (Accessed: February 3, 2023).

Franklin, L. (2021) Understanding the 5 conflict styles for different situations and personalities, Blue Summit Supplies. Blue Summit Supplies. Available at: https://www.bluesummitsupplies.com/blogs/career-and-culture/understanding-the-5-conflict-styles-for-different-situations-and-personalities (Accessed: February 3, 2023).

Blog Post 4 – Stereotypes

What is Stereotypes

In Social Psychology , a stereotype is a generalized belief about particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of an particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can be an expectation about the group’s personality, preferences, appearance or ability. Stereotypes are sometimes overgeneralized, inaccurate, and resistant to new information, but can sometimes be accurate.

Implicit Stereotypes

Implicit Stereotypes are those that lay on individuals’ subconsciousness, that they have no control or awareness of. Implicit stereotypes are built based on two concepts, associative networks in semantic memory and automatic activation.  Implicit stereotypes are automatic and involuntary associations that people make between a social group and a domain or attribute. For example one can have beliefs that women and men are equally capable of becoming successful in IT but will associate more to men when it come to IT related jobs.

Explicit Stereotypes

Explicit stereotype refers to stereotypes that one is aware that one holds, and is aware that one is using to judge people.

In what ways do stereotypes affect the way that we communicate with each other?

Stereotyping leads to bias and a lack of empathy when communicating with other people. When we stereotype, we draw conclusions about entire groups of people based on common assumptions. One of the ways stereotyping has an effect on the way people communicate is through stereotype threat. Stereotype threat is when a person does not perform or communicate to the best of his ability because he is feeling self-conscious of his perceived minority status.

For example girls are better at reading and boys are better at math and girls and are not as interested as boys in STEM subjects. Boys should like colors like blue and green and girls should like the color red and pink. This are the few stereotype examples that affect both genders as we should be able to break through this gender stereotypes as every individual should be treated equally.

From the above example , it shows that it is a problem to have a stereotype towards someone and it affects the way that we communicate with others. When a person have stereotype towards one group of people, they became close-minded and will find it difficult to talk to them. Mostly the stereotypes are inaccurate and can lead to more misunderstandings.

Past experience you had (or witnessed) in daily life.

Storyboard created by XY

My Family is a traditional family as the older generation always have this mindset where girls have to learn to do housework and guys are allow to rest. This experience happen to me once when I was young, i was washing the dishes with my brother as it was Chinese new year so there was a lot of dishes to wash and my mum assigned me and my brother to help out with the dishes. My grandmother came in and ask my brother to watch tv with her and told us that guys are not suppose to step inside the kitchen. House-chores should done by the ladies at home. After hearing what my grandmother say, my brother told her that it is okay for guys to help out with the chores and it shouldn’t just be the girls jobs. He say that times have changed and we should not have this kind of mindset.

What are the implications of such events occurring in your social life?

I think that implications of such event occurring might affect myself or future generations, if we did not do something to change gender stereotyping. A gender stereotype is harmful as it limits women’s capacity to develop their personal abilities, pursue their professional careers and make choices about their lives. The most important thing we can do is to not put such beliefs to our future generations as it might affect them emotionally . I feel that its bad to let kids learn early about stereotyping and how it might affect others so they will not stereotype others.

Conclusion

In conclusion i think that stereotyping is a major issue as it bring negative impact to ourselves and the society. It will lead to discrimination and bias to a certain group of people . we need to try to break this vicious cycle and be more open minded when interacting with people. Hopefully there will be lesser stereotyping in the future.

Thank you for reading my blog!

Reference

Stereotype (2023) Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereotype (Accessed: January 24, 2023).

Examples of gender stereotypes: Gender-equality-law (no date) gender. Available at: https://www.genderequalitylaw.org/examples-of-gender-stereotypes (Accessed: January 24, 2023).

The Johari Window

What is Johari window?

The Johari window model is used to enhance the individual’s perception on others. This model is based on two ideas- trust can be acquired by revealing information about you to others and learning yourselves from their feedbacks

A large Open Area shows that you are aware of your abilities, feelings and behaviors, and that the people around you understand you well.

Small Open Areas can be a sign that someone is not that self aware about themselves but it can also reflect someone who is uncommunicative or difficult to work with.

The Blind Area represents things about yourself that you aren’t aware of, but that others know about you. It can also reveal deeper issues, such as feelings of incompetence or anger that you haven’t faced up to, but that others sense in you. A small Blind Area indicates that you’re aware of how your behavior affects other people, whereas a large Blind Area suggests that you may be naïve or even in denial about it.

The Hidden Area represents things that you know about yourself, but that you keep hidden from other people.

The Unknown Area represents things that are unknown to you and by others. A large Unknown Area can mean that you need to work hard on discovering and releasing new information about yourself .A large Unknown Area may just be a sign of youth or inexperience, but it can also mean that you need to work hard on discovering and releasing new information about yourself.

Figure 1 Johari table done by close friend

Figure 1.1 Johari table done by friend

Which Johari Window model is more accurate presentation of myself?

I think that the Johari table done by both of my friends are actually quite an accurate presentation of myself. For someone that knows me for a longer period like my close friend actually give a more accurate result. Although some characteristic that my friend describe me is true but I believe that it does not fully represent who I really am. overall i think that the Johari table is just a tool to see how people view you and how well they know about you

Am I surprised from my friend perception?

I am surprised on how different my friends view me as an individual. From this result it help me identify more of my personality traits that I was not aware about. Especially traits like wise, calm and helpful.

How does the Johari model help with self awareness and communication in the team?

The Johari window works by helping individuals visualize the difference between how they see themselves and how others see them. The tool requires individuals to capture their own thoughts on who they are and to get feedback from others on how they are perceived. In better understanding the individual , the team can work with the individual more effectively and help to get the best out of them. This can aid the group dynamic , further team development and help improve inter-group relationships.

Thank you for reading my post.

References

Hampson, S. (2023) The johari window model: How to improve communication, self-awareness and productivity at work, TSW Training. Available at: https://www.tsw.co.uk/blog/leadership-and-management/the-johari-window/#:~:text=The%20Johari%20Window%20is%20a%20model%20used%20to%20help%20people,way%20communication%20with%20the%20group. (Accessed: January 20, 2023).

in Communication Models, G.C. (2014) The johari window model, Communication Theory. Available at: https://www.communicationtheory.org/the-johari-window-model/ (Accessed: January 20, 2023).

XY BLOG

Hi to everyone looking at my blog! 👋🏻

A little about myself

My name is Xinying but you can call me XY! I am turning 22 this year. I am a full-time student in SIM-UOW taking Computer Science Degree in Cybersecurity. Previously I was studying Diploma in Multi-Media Infocomm Technology at Nanyang Polytechnic.  I consider myself to be an introvert thus I tend to be a little quiet at first glance but once you get to know me, I am quite easy-going

Why Cybersecurity?

I was first introduced to cybersecurity as a module in Polytechnic. At first i was fascinated by the fact that I can learn how to hack and be like those hackers in the movies. But in the process of studying, I found out that cybersecurity is much more than just hacking. I was genuinely more interested in the module, Therefore I decided to pursue this course in SIM.

Working Experience

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I have many working experience since young. During school holidays , I will always find part time that I am interested in to experience working in different industries . There was one period of time where I wanted to work in the early childhood industry . I found a website that was hiring assistant teachers and went to try out. During that period of time , I enjoy working there as I get to experience how its like to teach a group of young children and drafting out the lesson plans for the kids.

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Another experience that I went through would be working in Huggs. I have always been interested to work in a café since young . This influence me to learn more about coffee and how to make coffee like latte and cappuccino. I also enjoy watching Café vlogs on how barista make their signature drinks therefore I decided to work in the F&B industry to try it out. I had a really good time there as I learnt a lot and forged some strong friendships along the way.

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Lastly but not the least, I had my internship at Huawei as an events planner. i had the opportunity to experience first hand in planning and executing exams for Huawei partners and this have equipped me with soft skills like Strategic thinking and communications skills

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Hobbies

Things that I like to do during my free time is to catch up on dramas especially Korean or Chinese dramas. The type of genres I enjoy watching are thriller and romance. Some of the most memorable Korean drama that etched in my mind are Class of lies , Penthouse and Goblin. I am also a huge fan of true crime videos and podcast by Stephanie Soo. Another thing that I love to do will be to visit different aesthetics cafes with my friends to try out on different kinds of coffee and dessert. By doing so I can make use of the time to catch up with them and know about their latest updates.

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Pet Lover

I have been a pet lover since young. Even though I do not have pets of my own but I enjoy taking care and playing with my friends pets. My Favorite breed for dogs would be Pomeranian and for cats it would be Scottish fold.

This is the end of my blog! I hope you have fun reading through my blog. Thank you and have a nice day! feel free to approach me in class if you want to be friends 😊