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. 

Team Production

After reading the assigned articles, it made me more aware of growing up with your siblings as an example of teamwork. Personally I grew up with 3 younger sisters and in ways, I really see how this better prepared me to work with others today. Specifically with the sibling who is closest to me in age, one of my sisters is two years younger than me. Thinking back to my childhood, there were a lot of scenarios where my siblings and I were forced to work as a team. For most of us, these experiences from a young age serve as the building blocks for teamwork later on in life. From my observations, people who are only children don’t work in teams as well people with siblings. This might be a unique result of the only children I know, or could be a more common occurrence.

Building on the belief that people’s teamwork skills benefit from growing up with siblings, we are faced with ample opportunities to both work on and use these skills in the real world. From playing team sports in middle/high school all the way up to the jobs we will work for the majority of our careers. The success of a high school football team relies heavily on the ability of the players to play as a team. One team could have a handful of elite players, but not perform as well as a team with comparatively worse in skill players who play as a cohesive unit. The team that is willing to work well together is rewarded with the ability to be victorious. In college a lot of the classes we take require us to work in small groups. This can be for group projects, homework assignments, etc. If a few students decided not to participate and pull their own weight and “Let George do it,” then the group will probably not perform as well, directly effecting the result of the group’s work. How well the group does is reliant on how well the members work together. After college, a lot of us will be required to work as part of a team for our jobs. In certain divisions of the business, people are often required to work with a variety of coworkers on a project. On a larger level, each division of the company is required to work together. For example the HR must work with the Sales and Finance divisions. At the end of the day, the success of the company is in large part reliant on how well the individuals are able to work together. A common theme behind these examples is that the success of the team is related to how well the teams work together. Success can be seen as an incentive to work well with your team members.

I believe that being able to work well with others in a team is a valuable skill to have in order to lead a successful life. From a larger level and applying this belief to the readings, it seems that for the most part the concept of working as team can be applied to individuals making up our complete society. If every individual decided to act selfishly, then at the end of the day the success of the society might not reach it’s complete potential. We have to assume that most people are going to act in their best interests. However, it is crucial that parts of our society work together in order for continued success.

Consumption Spending / Future Income Risk

As assumed in the prompt, I don’t yet have a job lined up for when I graduate. This along with a variety of other factors has and will continue to effect my consumption spending both now and after I graduate. For the most part everything I have done in college has had an opportunity cost associated with it that also has had an effect on my consumption spending. From my understanding of the prompt, two key factors must be looked at when considering my future consumption spending potential: 1) What type of job I will have after graduation and its location   and 2) Decisions I have made in college that have contributed to an increase in my savings account vs. cost me money that I could have saved.

Ultimately the largest factor associated with my future consumption spending is what type of job I will have after graduation and where it is located. I will first focus on the location of the jobs as it has a variety of interesting and important factors that come along with it. Like most of us, if I choose to get a job close to home I would be able to live with my parents for a short time period if need be in order to save up more money towards a nicer place of my own. This would allow me to save the money that I would be spending on rent, property taxes, food, and/or a variety of other factors that would be added in that come with living on your own. I could save up this money for a later use, which I’m sure would be the best use. This could also create an opportunity where I would have a lot of extra spending cash to spend on toys and/or vacations with my friends. However, my parents would never allow this, and by now I realize this would be a terrible financial move in the long run. Either way, living at home would directly correlate to the possibility of increased consumption spending. Another aspect of getting a job close to home, but not living at home, is that where I am from the cost of living is much lower than in larger cities like Chicago and some of the nicer suburbs. However, there is the trade off of wage difference included to this as well. For an entry-level job, the salary difference would be minimal, but later on in life I would have much more income potential in a larger city. This is a trade off I need to consider when deciding if going back home to work would actually be worth it. If I decide to go straight to living in a city like Chicago or somewhere similar, I would be spending much more on rent and other living expenses. I would have less extra spending cash and probably be saving/ investing less, but ultimately would have much more business connections (friends from school) and long run income potential.

The type of job I have after college is also an important factor in the potential of my consumption spending. For the most part, a lot of entry-level jobs I am applying for have roughly the same starting income. Some of these also have commissions attached to them that could be used as an incentive to work harder in order to make even more money. Being an economics major, there are a lot of possible career options I could pursue. As compared to say an accounting major, there are a lot less “guaranteed good money” jobs for recent graduates, that could also contribute to my own consumption spending as compared to a friend of mine studying accounting. I see this at only the entry-level though, as I believe after a few years economics students have the possibility to have just as good, if not better jobs that accounting majors.

Now I will shift to focusing on the choices I have made in the past and considering their impacts on my consumption spending in the future. As a full time college student without a job during the school year, I have mainly relied on money I have saved up from summer jobs as well as received from my parents in order to pay for the majority of my things at school. I could have worked part time while being a student and saved this money up, but I feel I would have missed out on a lot of things I have had the privilege of experiencing during my time here on campus. We have all learned early on in our economics education that there is opportunity costs associated to almost every decision. This is especially true to how one decides to live while being a student in college. I could have spent my free time making minimum wage at some job here in town, but decided not to. On top of studying in my free time, I joined a variety of groups on campus that I was interested in. I could have been making and saving money in a job, but I decided to get the most out of my college experience through these organizations. One of these organizations is a prominent social fraternity here on campus. This organization has cost me a lot of money (dues, going out multiple nights a week, special clothing for events, etc.) that I could have been saving or investing. This is money that I won’t have to spend upon graduation. However, justifying this, I believe my experiences in the groups I have joined have been an investment in myself. I might not have as much spending cash when I graduate, but the experiences I have gone through within my fraternity will benefit me in the real world when I graduate. My decision to join these organizations might have cost me more money, where I could be working, but I believe they will pay off in the future.

Working as a lifeguard/head lifeguard during summers during high school and a few of my college summers, I was able to work 40 plus hours a week every summer and save up a decent amount of money to bring with me to college. However, instead of working in college, I used this money to live off as well as for leisure times such as vacations and new electronics. Because of this, I will have less of a savings account upon graduation, and will need to rely more on the income from my job.