Reputation

There are a lot of different factors that influence and ultimately determine an individual’s behavior. These factors can range from general moral standards on a personal level to more calculated reasons like trying to impress someone and anywhere in between. What most people don’t realize is that other people can tell if one’s behavior is honestly genuine or completely fake. These differences in behavior are part of what contributes to a person’s reputation.

For the most part I can say that I have been content with the reputations I have held so far in life. Although I don’t really care about reputations and what people really think about other’s behavior, I do think it is best to associate one’s self with a respectable society for a variety of reasons. One reputation that came to mind as I was reading the prompt is my reputation that I had in high school. According to my mom, I was raised differently than some other kids that I grew up with. A big part of this is she explained that she wanted me to hold myself to a higher standard than what I see from my peers around me. I was never really sure what she met by this, but I did notice some differences in my behavior as compared to other’s behavior. I would argue that I try to carry a decent character in most scenarios in life. I think this has contributed to the majority of my reputations being what I would expect. Back to my overall reputation in highscool, I would that I was seen as a hard working kid that also liked to socialize. I went to a high school of 400 students where my grandpa had previously been the principal and my mom was a current teacher in the district. I remember at the time thinking that I also had a family reputation that I had to uphold. From a teacher’s perspective, I was at the top of my classes while getting straight A’s and never really complained like some others. I wasn’t really friends with everyone in the school, but I tried to treat everyone with respect and have a good time. I think that my reputation helped lead to a variety of accomplishments in high school including being the captain of my football team as well as the president of the school’s National Honor Society. I didn’t really get in trouble a lot, which I think I can give credit to the fear of my parents as well as the sense of “being in trouble.” However, as important as my success in school was to me, I also really cared about the social aspects. I went to a lot of parties on the weekends and even hosted a few of my own. I remember some fellow students thinking this wasn’t a good move considering my positions, so I could probably equate that towards a negative reputation with some students. All in all, I would argue that my reputation has evolved over the years as I have gotten older as well as gained more experiences.

In this scenario as well as the majority of other areas that I could have a reputation, I would say that I have never “cashed it in” for some sort of immediate gain. I understand why some people might be tempted to do this, especially if the amount of gain is of significant worth or even worth than the reputation itself. However, I think that one’s behavior should be for what they honestly stand for, and therefore their reputation should be genuine. I realize that this is an ideal that myself and others might strive for, but I have also met a variety of different people that could care less about their reputation.

Principal-Agent Model

We have learned that the principal-agent model is traditionally considered bilateral. However, in reality it seems to be more like a triangular situation if you consider all of the parties it concerns. For most of us in this course, this is a model that we should learn well as we will most likely be experiencing it in a real world scenario as soon as we enter the business world. It is common in business, regardless of the industry, to be managing both your relations/outcomes with either multiple clients or clients and the business you work for. Both of these scenarios require a unique management of your resources in order to achieve the desired outcome for all parties.

As already established, the principal-agent model consists of three parties. The agent has a variety of choices he can make which can have a direct effect on the overall outcome. He can optimize his own outcome, maximize the outcome of the principle (client), or maximize the outcome of another party (hiring manager/business). There are also variations to these listed choices. Ideally the most efficient outcome is one that benefits all three parties. If the main principal receives the majority of the benefit then the agent will most likely receive nothing in return for his work. Where as if the agent receives the majority, the principal will be disappointed in his results and most likely not return for more business. Most importantly the principal must not feel as he is being taken advantage of or he will look to move his business elsewhere. There is a fine line that the agent must stay on in order to get the best overall outcome.

I’ve personally been in the middle of many principal-agent relationships throughout my life and expect to continue to be a part of them in the future. Most notably, I am applying for a lot of sales positions for after graduation. If I end up going into a sales position, I will be engaging in this activity on a daily basis. One of my main responsibilities will be to achieve my monthly sales quota in order to make money for the company I am working for. In addition to this I will also want to make even more sales in order to earn benefits in the form of commission. Most importantly, I will need to be able to back whatever I am selling. This is easier achieved if I am working for a company with a solid reputation that delivers the product/service I am selling. This means that the principal client will need to be satisfied with whatever I am selling him. Hypothetically I could sell as much as I want of a given product/service and not care about the overall outcome of the principal, but this could do more harm than good in the long run. Part of building a solid business is having a good reputation with clients. I believe it would be in my best interests to not only sell a lot of business, but also be able to achieve all around beneficial outcomes in order to have a good reputation with my clients. I could just sell as much as possible and not worry about the outcome, but would have to worry about the client taking his business elsewhere the next time he needs the good or service I am providing. It would be in my best interest to sell marginally less if that means being able to achieve greater outcomes. Hopefully this would mean that this client would come back for more business so I would be able to spend less time giving sales speeches and more time servicing a larger client base later on.

The principal-agent model can be looked at as an art that can be mastered. I believe that doing this could be a key in being successful in the business world. In my example I applied this to a sales position, but realistically It could be applied to any other business sector, for example accounting.

Organization Conflict

Anywhere you have a group of people together for an extended period of time; there is a large chance for conflict to arise. This is especially true in scenarios where individual personalities clash and people don’t always work well together. From an organization’s stand point where the same people are together for an extended period of time most days of the week, conflicts can easily arise. This behavior can be normal in an organization, and can have some effects on the overall productivity. If the conflict is extreme enough it can cause individuals to focus their attention on issues both within and caused by the conflict, which prevents them from being able to finish their desired outcome within the time limit.

Reading this prompt I was initially reminded of a conflict that arose at a place I worked a few years ago. I was the head lifeguard in charge of a team of 8 other guards for the day. All nine lifeguards must collectively watch the pool and other facilities in order to insure the safety of all of the members and other visitors at the pool. If the team is unable to work well together, the safety of all of the members is in jeopardy. In this case of the workers deciding to get in a conflict, they are unable to watch the water, which could create an issue at the pool. As head lifeguard, part of my job description in addition to watching the water, is to manage the team of guards so that they work well.

One day a few summers ago, a conflict arose that put the patrons safety in jeopardy. I must add that at all times of the day, 8 of the guards are covering a specific section of the aquatic center while one is inside on break. It is the responsibility of the guard on break to start the rotation early enough as well as the other guards to finish rotation so that the guard at the end of the system may be allowed to go inside on break. If people take too long changing positions, or the initial guard on break starts his rotation too late, the guard going on break can get his own break cut short. This is perhaps an issue in the rotation system, which was created by upper management, but this is the issue that created the conflict that arose a few summers ago.

Most of the time when an issue would arise due to slow rotations, the person effected would just tell the other people to please rotate faster so that they too can get their full break. However, one day one of our younger guards decided that he was getting shafted in his break times. Instead of addressing it in a professional way, he acted out on his anger. Instead of walking inside to go on his break, he filled up a cup of water and went across the pool and dumped it on another guard, which he believed was the reason he was missing his break. The two guards then started to argue about who was really at fault for the conflict. Due to the nature of the job being outdoors working with all of the citizens, everyone was able to see the conflict happening and was instantly alarmed. The biggest issue is that this occurred in the shallow end, which was mainly occupied by young children. These are the type of swimmers that need the most attention from the guards. Thankfully I was able to diffuse the situation by getting the guards to realize that they should resolve the conflict out of the eye of the swimmers. Had the conflict escalated, there was potential for the safety of the patrons to be in more danger. Thinking back to this now, this conflict is one that was pretty pointless. However, it has made me aware how easily a conflict can arise in an organization.