Drama drama drama.....

well i have recently read Dr. Davenports post about conflicts in the groups. i am not sure if there is more than one group having problems but it sounds like that is the case. i know that my group has had its fair share of problems that seem to run right up to the due date. i agree with what Dr. Davenport said about being adults and having schedules and i think people need to out their priorities together. Family, work, and school are at the top of my list and i try to stay on top of them all. i too sometimes have problems and scheduling conflicts but that is the information that we are learning about and how to overcome them i this course. i think this group project isnt so much about the information we are preparing but the experience we are having. coming together in a real world setting having to adjust and sacrifice to complete the project. if this is my last post i would like to send out a special thanks to Christine for all the extra effort and to Dr. davenport for conducting and controlling the class!

peace and love

Matt C.

THERE IS A REASON.......

there is a reason why they call it conflict resolution! we have been having some conflict within our group in trying to complete our group project. there has been some outside circumstances that has effected communication, deadlines, and information. i personally had and issue early last week when i was notified that all my work i did was for the wrong case! so i had to double time it but delivered my work which was complied into the power point. so that was a personal setback but there has also been some issues with my fellow group members concerning their portion of the power point. and also no being able to attend our ilinc session. i received an email today so their may be reasoning, but never the less we have had issues. but trying to be optimistic Christine has begun a great power point and we do have a bunch of information together so it is coming along. i think within the next few days we will have it 100% and ready to receive a "A!"

week 3 phone conversation.....

Well week three has come very quickly but there is still a lot of work to be done! Today i talked with Alba from my group and i played the role of the employer. She played the role of the employee and tried to persuade me to give her a raise. We put her in a setting of being a part-time employee working in customer service. She gave a pretty good argument but the most outstanding factor was that she claimed to be bi-lingual. This was my deciding factor as why i should give her the raise. All the other things she mentioned i would expect out of a good employee but that is a very special skill to have. I decided if she were to get a raise that she would take on more responsibility which she agreed to. I then expected for her to work full time and provide another employee that could also speak multiple languages that she must manage. I added a few extra sick days and we made a deal. I think it is very important to have someone with those skills. With the expanding customers we must be able to reach all of them. So it seemed like a win win since we both got what we wanted/needed. All in all we had a fun simulation and it was good to work on my negotiation skills!

Group Project Update....

We met as a complete group for the first time today to discuss our group project. We had an earlier meeting but we have since added another to our group so now we are going places. So far the group project has been an enjoyable one. Today we decided on who is playing each role, what case we are doing, how we are presenting it, how we are doing it, and next meeting times. We also have our individual assignments to work on with deadlines included. We completed this through a conference phone that Christine T. provided via work. Our conversation was somewhat efficient as we had a lot to discuss. There was some confusion as to what was expected from us but we all figured out what we were going to do fairly quickly. There was also a debate that we had involving deadlines within our group but everyone adjusted and agreed on specific times. Every group member was willing to adjust and listened to each other so we knew how everyone felt about the subject. I think we all work very well together so far. Chrisitne T. has been amazing and really took the reigns with our group. She has set up and held both phone conversations and has great organization skills that keeps up together. She has made phone calls and emails to ensure we are all on the same page and i would love to have her in a future group project. But i can not complain since all my other group members have been responsive and prompt with our group meetings. They all seem creative and knowledgeable so it seems like we have a solid group which i am excited to work with!

A few good men....

There were a ton of conflicts as the movie progressed. It began with simple conflicts such as the tensions between Cruise and Moore. The whole first half of the movie they did not get along and did not like each other. Cruise was just there because he had to be and really didn’t care about the people involved but more getting the best deal out of the situation. This drove Moore’s character up the wall since she had a genuine concern for the two men. But once he realized there may be more to the story he came around and so did the relationship between the two. There was also minimal conflict but still conflict enough between Kevin Bacon and Cruise with them being friends but opposing lawyers. Small negotiations take place and ultimately they showdown is what was proven to be Cruise’s best court performance. My favorite conflict lies with anyone dealing with Jack Nicholson’s character. He plays a great role of the tough cornel attempting to perform a cover-up. The conflict begins between both Cruise and Moore when they have their first conversation with Nicholson’s character which is one of my favorite scenes. But the true conflict in this movie lies within the court case itself. There were multiple issues with retrieving the truth behind the stories and collecting the evidence. There were conflicts with witness’s, evidence, the defendants themselves, and victims involved in the case. All of which Cruise and Moore embrace and move on to find the truth and to set two innocent men free.

The conflicts are absolutely realistic in every way. I would not be surprised if this were based of a true story since it is that believable. All characters had true reasoning to hide or find the truth behind the case. It wasn’t so much that Nicholson was the bad guy; he more just did things his own way. The way he thought was necessary to survive in their conditions.

I think most all conflicts were handled well on both ends but Nicholson’s character left a few holes for Cruise to crawl though. He was also vulnerable (which Cruise points out) about Nicholson wanting to tell the truth. He should have had more reserve and maybe would have never received the blame.

I think the most noticeable character that used good negotiation skills was Cruise. A really great scene was when he was playing softball while negotiating a deal for a minor case he was handling. He talked the guy down with grace but strength. He was so confident that he made a deal while never putting down the bat. He knew everything he had to and negotiated a lesser punishment. It really was a great movie that kept me hooked. I enjoyed watching Cruise’s character handle his business. Plus Nicholson had an awesome role that was fun to watch the classic court scene. “I want the truth!” “You cant handle the truth!!” Fun movie.

week 2 phone conversation

i just talked with Rebeka about sexual harassment in the work place. i played the role of the human resource manager and she played the role of the employee. we discussed the different types of harassment and what would be the outcome. we decided if a female employee felt uncomfortable with the way a male employee was talking with her that she would approach the HRM. depending on what was said i would then (as a HRM) confront the male employee and see what he has to say about the situation. Unless something very specific and inappropriate was said from the male to the female then a verbal warning would be given with the instructions to steer clear of each other. If something specific was said then that would be a situation for a "write up" or documentation of the event. If anything further were to occur from the males end then that would be grounds for termination. If there were multiple subjects being harassed then that also would be a quick write up or termination. We agreed if there were any type of inappropriate physical contact then that would not be tolerated and would be grounds for termination. we also explored in the event of a mutual flirtation that went sour, that we would get both sides of the story and depending on what happened would tell the employees to stay away from each other. in today's world both male and female employees understand the difference between right and wrong. i would hope that if there was some uncomfortable feeling between the two that it may be resolved with a simple respectful comment, and would hope that nothing ever happened again. but in some situations it does go way to far and action from HRM/ company managers should be taken.

Group Project Underway

tonight i met with two of three of my group members via phone conference to discuss what we will do with our group project. we have a few issues since we must do a mock trail with only four people since two have dropped out already. as of right now we are all brainstorming for ideas on the topic that we will be doing a mock trail on. we discussed a few options but must look further into other trails to be exactly what we would like to do. we have set a deadline for Friday to decide on the roles we will play and also which topic we will choose. from there we have set another phone conference for Monday to attempt to perform the trail or prepare more for the final phone conference and mock trail. we will also be preparing a power point presentation which will come together after the mock trail. for my own personal assignments i have set up my week 2 phone call with Rebeka from my group and we will be talking sometime tomorrow to complete the assignment. until then i am feeling under the weather and must get some rest. i will post back soon!

I just completed the downloaded assignment that was homework for week one. It was interesting to see how the different exercises pinpointed characteristics that we all contain. i mean i know how i feel in specific situations but the answers from these exercises apply to more than just one event. i would sometimes find myself stuck in between two answers where it could go either way. i just tried to be as honest as possible and the truth did come out with the graphs. The TAPT (tieger assessment of personality type) was one of my favorite to complete. it really nailed how i approach and think in my daily life. it also had a weird effect on me with the answers i did not choose. i wondered why i was one way and not the other? it many of the cases both did apply but one more than the other. it got me thinking on how i could improve in some areas and not overlook the importance of both answers. like sometimes i should listen more than i talk but i answered talk because that is my natural behavior. or how i answered finish but i realize how important the start could be. so in the end it was a long assignment but interesting to see my natural behaviors come out in the exercises. i hope it was interesting for everyone else and we'll see what next week brings!

FRIDAY!!!

i have just finished the required reading and posted a few comments on our class website. i also read the recent postings of Dr. D so i wanted to jump on here and say a little something. i have also email my group and will begin to figure out how we want to perform our trial. (so people in my group check your email!) other than that i have the BBQ going down stairs along with a few cold beers and some friends so i hate to say but i am going to go and enjoy my friday!!! hope everyone has a great weekend and i will be checking back in soon!

Bloggin'...

This blogging thing is quite cool, huh? It's a little like having a diary. I had one when I was a kid. This is the first time I actually posted a blog versus a comment. I don't know which one satisfies the requirement, but I'll do both.

Have a fabulous weekend and keep on bloggin'!

Back in Business....

Well it has been a crazy week for me so far but now things are slowing down and i have started to really check out our class. Reviewing the syllabus for a 2nd time has cleared up some simple questions and getting this blogger up and running had been a big relief. I also had my phone conversation and it finally feels like i got things going. Dr. D has suggested that we write in our blogs daily so here is my attempt. I plan on working on the first assignment today with a goal of getting most of it complete. But right now its nap time since i have deprived myself the last few days! hope everyone is having a great week and i hope to hear from you soon!

Phone call....

Today i contacted Tracy Buckley and we had a great conversation on conflicts in our lives. We talked about her current situation with school and work and what she would like to do with her career. She currently works with a small school/daycare which she thought would be her future. she is attending NU for child development but is having second thoughts on if this career choice is really for her. we talked about other options that she may take along with alternative jobs within the same context. She is already quite invested with her current major and will more than likely finish it up. i think if she just gets her degree she can still do whatever she likes. along with her current experience she could be able to own and operate a successful business. good luck Tracy!