HW WEEK 3

One of the most prominent points throughout the readings was obviously that of consumerism and our spending habits as Americans. Schor identifies the shift and increase in spending as the 'new consumerism'. No longer should our benchmark of success and happiness be that of our neighbors, why not it be that of celebrities or that of people who receive an income 5x greater than ours. What happens when we look to these people for our happiness? Obviously, someone making 30,000 a year should not and ultimately will not be able to keep up with someone making over 100,000. As Schor notes, however, people are doing just that and it is called an 'upward comparison'. As individuals look to a 'reference group' outside of their league, they are ultimately trying to buy things to continually reiterate their status, not just to themselves, but to the outside world. The interesting thing about all of this is that the true 'millionaires' of society are living frugal lives compared to how the rest of America views spending. For some reason, the people who have all of the money feel less of a need to identify with it, whereas the ones that are slaving away in the office making a 5-figure salary are the ones with the designer clothes and certain types of cars. For those type, money means everything, money means status. This relates to Heilbroner's article about the profit motive. People no longer are trying to maintain their lives as they did in earlier times, but now are trying to advance themselves. With this advancement, not necessarily at all meaning working harder, they hope to advance material possessions and their standard of living. It seems like it will always be a competition with the mentality that everything is about a profit and gain. It is also interesting to note that the idea of gain is hardly as universal as we think it is and can really be pin-pointed to more modern times.

Homework Week 2

The articles for week two most certainly relate to my life. As a college senior ready to embark on my professional career I no longer consider myself to be in the same class as my parents. I did not work for my family’s money, my father did, and I believe that is it time to define my own place within the American class system. Certainly American classes today are not as rigid as they once were in Europe or even at the conception of our country, but nonetheless a caste system still exists within our country and we are all subjected to it. I would have to argue that as a college-educated soon-to-be graduate I would be considered a member of what Drucker calls the knowledge worker class. Seeing as though I am going to attend law school next year, I am moving my way up the social mobility ladder, gaining more knowledge, so that I can attain even greater success and greater wealth. One comment of Drucker’s that I do not agree with is that knowledge workers view their jobs as their life. While an occupation or profession certainly defines a worker to some extent, I would never say that my job would one day fully define me. I do argue that a job is more than just a means of acquiring money, however, my family and friends play an important role in defining my life and cannot be ignored.

Week 1 Homework

This weeks readings placed particular emphasis on the question, “what’s the purpose of a business”. In my opinion Charles Handy explored the question quite well. Although I would say that a company or corporation is certainly first and foremost in place to turn a profit and to meet the demands of it’s owners and shareholders, a company exists and thrives in part because it is able to turn this profit, but also for another reason –to give back to the community/society –the idea of social responsibility. As Handy so eloquently writes, “it is [the purpose] to make a profit so that the business can do something more or better. According to Handy, and I would have to agree, that “something” is the real true justification for a business. Later in the same article the author quotes Dave Packard who describes the purpose of a business to be sort of the fruits of collective action and effort. He states that a group of people gets together and exists as an institution that we call a company so that they are able to accomplish something collectively that they could not accomplish separately. Thus, a company makes a contribution to society through collective action –an idea not explored by the other authors in the texts but that I particularly relish and agree with. Lebowitz and Freidman also touch on this idea of collectivity, but there theories are much more rooted in socialism than my own personal views. In my opinion, Drucker would most certainly agree with Handy and Dave Packard’s notion of the purpose of a business. In his text The Dimensions of Management Drucker writes that companies do not exist for their own sake, rather “to fulfill a specific social purpose and to satisfy a specific need of a society, a community, or individuals. Drucker also does not dismiss the notion of profits and sustained profitability. Rather than see profit as the overarching purpose of a company, Drucker sees it as an indicator of its success and a test of its validity.

Personal Reflection:
The articles assigned for this week most certainly play a role and connect to my own life. As a student who has just completed applications to law school I hope to one day work for a corporation (i.e. law firm) and manage employees. Without a firm grasp of the question, “what is the purpose of a business?” I don’t think I would be a very effective component in my organization’s/law firm’s success. Handy spoke a great deal about the difference between best practice and the law (or standard/required practice). Handy spoke to how the law always lags behind best practice –something I agree with but will one day strive to correct. In my opinion businesses need to take a lead in areas such as environmental and social sustainability –rather than be profit obsessed. I hope to one day in the future own and manage my own law practice, and I will set aside valuable time and money to undertake pro-bono work in order to give back to my community. In my opinion, there exists very few companies that sustain and grown without giving back to the community. Philanthropy is an enormous aspect of business, particularly in American business. Furthermore, if one were to only pull one message from these readings that message should be that companies do exist to turn a profit, but they will not continue to exist if profit is the only purpose for which that company is in existence, and that there exists a great social need that must be fulfilled in any business or industry.

A second point that was discussed heavily throughout the readings by Eichenreich and Metzgar was that of the subjectivity of the middle class. It seems that people cannot really be defined as middle class unless they see themselves as that or they feel that they live 'comfortably' in that class. The tables given in the Metzgar reading which break up the 3 classes gives an almost ridiculously large range for the middle class going from $18000 to $82000. Obviously, the lower echelon of that group is not living comfortably and would hardly consider themselves middle class. Yet, some people within that lower bracket would be living very comfortably as a member of the middle class if they did not have children to support or many expenses. I have always thought of class lines as somewhat of a objective thing and never really considered that it was more so based on how people view themselves. The middle class also can be broken down once again to the larger inclusive class and the smaller exclusive or professional class as Eichenreich refers to it. He explains this professional class as difficult to write about as they seem to represent such a distinct minority. I would agree with him in that the term middle class becomes highly unsatisfactory in our society as it scope attempts to become too broad and essentially just excludes the extremely poor or extremely wealthy. Such a general labeling of the middle class does a disservice to people within it as it wants to group together simple factory workers with established managerial professionals. It does not seem like there would be a creation of a new class any time soon to deal with the gap between the members of the middle class but perhaps a new system of labeling that is more concrete would help to deal with the problems that stem from a loosely defined 'group'.

Week 1 HW

I cannot say that these readings currently coincide with my life, as I am still a student, however that will not be for long. Within the next 6 months, I will be shoved into the work force and the issues discussed in these 4 readings will become my issues. Although, I do not foresee myself delving into the financial world, I see these issues discussed as real for almost all companies. As a worker, I clearly am not going to want to be battling with the management over 10-12 hour workdays- sacrificing my well-being for the success of the company. I have many friends who work at banks and for the sake of what they could maybe be/have in 2 years, they sacrifice their current happiness. Companies too often take for granted the intellectual capability of their employees and too often see workers as a means to an an end. As I become one of these workers in the near future, I know that when picking a company to work for, I will highly consider their treatment of employees and commitment to social responsibility. Although, I do not aspire to work at Starbucks, when thinking of social promise, that company immediately comes to mind. They are committed to helping out our community, providing superb service to customers, and maximizing employee benefits. The combination of those 3 things tells me that they are not an organization that exists solely to make money. As I look down the road, I want a company who values the intellectual property of their workers and prides itself on the fact that a good business is a community with a purpose, not something to be owned. I am now more attuned to the practice of businesses- ones who see the purpose of business as business and ones who see it as a sufficient condition. Keeping these aspects in mind are going to be really important for me in the next coming months as I continue my job search and will hopefully have enough liberty to choose a company that matches my own principles and beliefs.

GM Documentary

As difficult as it was to watch the documentary on the town of Flint, it was very eye-opening to what was going on during that time and in the lives of those living through it. Much of the documentary was very disturbing such as the scene with the de-furring of the bunnies as well as having to see the sheriff evict people from their homes on Christmas eve. It was disappointing to see that Michael Moore never really got to talk to Roger Smith, although the whole video was about him trying to locate him and speak with him about the plant closings. I don't think that what GM did was completely wrong because they were trying to advance their company. As the king of the auto-world, they were simply trying to make their business better and to keep providing service to their customers. Yes, in doing so, they put 30,000 people out of jobs and arguably destroyed the appeal of an entire city, however they were not bound to honor the citizens of where the business originated. Moore and others argued that Smith and GM owed some sort of tribute to the town of Flint and its people because it originated there, however Smith and the companies pleaded they were only doing what was essential to helping their business. Their expansion did put people out of jobs in Flint, but it opened up jobs elsewhere and overseas...I think the people of Flint could have done a better job of looking for other jobs instead of just complaining about their existing situation. It is really sad to see what closing that plant did to the city of Flint, however I do not think it was GM's intention or Smith's intention for that matter to do that to those people. I am sure they thought that there would be some type of other employment for them to find, however, their main goal was obviously just to help out the company and in doing so they unfortunately did not accurately/adequately assess the effects it was going to have on an entire town.