Opportunism vs. "Good Citizen"

       The main economic tie to this prompt seems to be the idea of opportunism vs. some sort of moral decision. Humans behave opportunistically when there is something of high value to be gained. Other factors that are considered when acting opportunistically are risks, future possibilities, changes, etc. Opportunism is all over the place, but a lot of examples occur in the workplace. The article about Target and their idea to funnel pregnant women into Target stores during pregnancy is one way of taking advantage of managerial opportunism. Companies are provided with a wide variety of information about the customers, and it is up to the corporate workers to figure out a formula to get more customers in their stores. While it is a pretty smart strategy to target pregnant women, in hopes of gaining lifetime relations with the family, I think it is a little bit shady to be analyzing personal information like that. Privacy is a huge part of America, we have the right to our own private life, and no one should be able to access all of the information discussed in the Target article. This is where the "good citizen" side of the story comes into play.
      How these corporations obtain all of this information about their customers is beyond me, but just the idea of targeting pregnant women for the benefit of making more money for your company sounds a bit out of line to me. A pregnant woman does not want to come out of labor and be bombarded with flyer after flyer about where she should shop, or who is giving the best specials to her, she wants to be with her new born child, and all of the outside pressure is not necessary. This is where a corporate worker who looks into these statistics and comes up with these plans to reel in customers has to weigh his/her options. Do I go through with pressuring the pregnant women of our country into shopping in our stores? Or do I be the good citizen, and miss out on a big bump in revenue for my company, and possibly a raise from my current position to something a bit more prestigious? Big businesses survive on making the opportunistic decision over and over again. Any advantage one company can get over its competition is something that will not only reward the company, but the individual as well.
       An example where cooperation led to sharing in a personal academic experience usually has to do with some sort of a group situation. In classes where group projects or group presentations are required, there is often times cooperation amongst the group. There is usually a leader who offers up opinions and such, and once he/she begins feeding the group with information, the group begins to reciprocate and share information as well. An example that I can think of where there was opportunism involved with sharing in an academic setting was when I had missed a couple of classes, and therefore missed out on some notes, so I decided to ask someone in my group for their notes to copy. The opportunism comes into play because by obtaining these notes, I was bettering my chances of receiving a higher score on my test. The student that I asked knew 100% that the test was curved, and so by giving me the notes, she could have possibly hurt her overall grade had I done very good on the test and set a high curve. However, because we had been cooperating in a group, and sharing information with one another all semester, she decided to be a "good citizen," and she gave me her notes.
       With opportunism comes risk and reward, and ultimately the decision that one comes to depends on which of the two weighs more in the end.

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

       I have heard this expression over and over again in my life. I feel as if it is a building block in life, and I definitely feel as if parents use it to sculpt their children. For example, when I was young I used to say I would do something, but whether I got around to actually doing it or not was another story. What I mean is, anyone can say that they are going to do something, but those words only count once you actually perform the action that you said you would. The fact of the matter is, what you do is much more important than what you say.
       I can think of tons of examples of this that happen every day, all across the world. The first example that pops in my head when I think of this phrase has to deal with addictions. Alcoholics, or drug users often times lose their jobs, or lose their family due to their problem. In many of these situations the user decides that it is time to make a change, and to fight off the addiction. Now, we have all seen movies, when a druggy or alcoholic says the words, "I'm going to get clean," or, "I'm going to go to rehab," what does that usually mean? It means that the person has thought about the damage that the particular substance has done to their life, but it doesn't necessarily mean that they are willing to give it up. In many cases drug users say that they are going to get clean, but unless they are facing some sort of punishment they will not give up their addiction. An action that would definitely speak louder than words would be if a drug user or alcoholic made it through a rehabilitation program and completely sobered up rather than just saying that he/she would.
       Another example of actions speaking louder than words has to do with love, and how you show it. A guy might tell his girlfriend that he loves her, but in their relationship he does not treat her well at all. Does he actually love her? No, he is just telling her what she wants to hear. An action that speaks louder than the words, "I love you." would be a proposal, which would most likely be accompanied by the words, "I love you." There are many ways to show someone that you care about them without actually telling them. Inadvertent communication comes into play in a scenario where one person recognizes the care and love that another has for them, just by the way they look at him/her. The message of, "I love you," comes through the way one looks at another when they actually mean it. Another expression used commonly explains this situation, "It is written all over your face." Communication is a very complicated subject to fully grasp, but it is also very interesting to discuss and study. Actions will always speak louder than words for the sole reason that anyone can go around saying that they are going to do something, or saying that they believe something, but not anyone can go around and actually act on their words. I could say I was going to go out and find a great job, but whether I go do that or not is what will affect my life in the long run.

Illinibucks

       Registering for classes can be a very stressful time for a student because of the large population of students fighting for a limited number of seats per class. In other words, positions in certain classes are difficult to come by due to the 1. Popularity of the course 2. Small number of enrollments allowed 3. Seats reserved for major. Now, if the university decided to create a type of money and call it an, "Illinibuck" and allow the students to use these bucks to bypass the limitations of registration, there might be even more demand for these popular classes. The campus would have to come up with a price to put on these "Illinibucks" because they could be very useful to the students. There are a lot of lazy students out there who want to do the bare minimum to get by. Not only do they want to enroll in the easiest classes, but they do not want to sit around and wait until an opening in a class opens up for them to enroll. The way I see it is there are 2 different types of students, with a group that blends with both groups. There are students on campus who are here to gain a better education, and to have a good time while doing it. There is a second group of students who came to this university to learn, learn, learn. I already explained the use that the first group could get out of the Illinibuck, but the second group I mentioned could also use them. For instance, a student who is really committed to bettering their lives by taking extremely difficult courses, that prepare the student for the real world. A student like this may be majoring in engineering, or double majoring in finance and accounting. Whatever the case may be, this student will most likely have an agenda of what classes they must take each semester in order to graduate. An Illinibuck might come in handy if this student couldn't enroll in a class that he/she needed in order to graduate. An Illinibuck would give this student the opportunity to jump ahead of the others who signed up for this class, and in turn, allow this student to have a seat in the class. I think there would be a high demand for these Illinibucks on campus.
       If it were me personally, I would definitely use these Illinibucks to get into certain GenEd courses that fill up entirely too quickly. I have been trying to take FSHN 120 since I got on campus as a freshman, however every time I attempt to register the class is always full. In my case, I got through my four years without Illinibucks so with that knowledge, if I were to take more classes, I would have a low demand for the product. However, an incoming freshman who does not know the system of registering here at the university might demand Illinibucks highly.
       If Illinibucks were priced too high, many students would avoid purchasing them, and registration and events of similar nature would go on as they do today. On the other hand, if Illinibucks were priced too low, students would purchase them left and right. The students would definitely take advantage of the low price to better their schedule each and every semester. This might in turn cause chaos with advisors, because of the high number of students using Illinibucks to jump to the front of registration lines. Confusion could definitely ensue.

Opportunism

       Taking advantage of a situation to better yourself is how I would define opportunism. However like our topic for the week says, opportunism can in turn be unethical. For instance, students all over the country have the opportunity to attend school, and while at school we students must take tests. Test taking can be very strenuous for a lot of people, whether it be the studying and preparation stages of the process, or the actual test itself, a lot of students become rather nervous. A lot of the times, we students are in class rooms where there is very little room, and students are packed into the few seats available. My example of "opportunism vs. ethical decisions" is in regard to test taking and cheating. Students know that if they took a quick glance at the paper next to them, that it could benefit them by getting an answer on the test from someone else. However, the idea of cheating and it's consequences have been instilled in students minds for years and years, and that is what makes people weary to glance right or left. Not to mention the fact that  cheating on a test is really just cheating yourself. How can you feel right about receiving an A on a test that you cheated on? That wasn't your work, so you shouldn't be rewarded. Moral of the story, students are given the opportunity to cheat and possibly benefit their grades, but most students understand that cheating is unethical, and therefore do not do it. This is how the schooling system lives on.
       An example of an opportunistic situation is at a company function where there is limited food for company employees. There were times this summer where I was sitting at my desk in the office just thinking about lunch and how starving I was. When I went out to lunch with my coworkers and paid for my own lunch, I ate as much as I wanted, or until I was full and satisfied. However, when we had a company picnic, or a company lunch-in I knew that there was not unlimited food, and I knew that a lot of employees would still need to get food. So, even if I was hungrier than ever before, I would take an average sized plate so as to leave enough food for everyone. Moral of the story is that I was offered the opportunity to eat whatever I wanted, and however much I wanted when my boss said, "Eat as much as you'd like." Instead of filling my plate, I decided to be a "good citizen," and cut back on my portions a little bit.
       In conclusion, there are a lot of reasons why people avoid being opportunistic in certain situations. It is not always beneficial to better yourself, because a lot of the times someone else is getting hurt by your choice. Also, a lot of opportunities come with a moral/ethical decision, and in some situations (like cheating) it is better to avoid the temptation of giving in to the opportunity.

Transaction Costs

       A transaction cost is basically just the cost for each party in an economic, or financial exchange. While growing up I never really understood how many costs that there are involved in an every day setting. I was used to my parents buying me meals, my clothes, etc. I started to realized that my parents were not going to support me forever when I got into a car accident in high school. First, my parents made sure that I wasn't injured or anything, but their very next statement is what made things very clear to me, "Do you realize that your insurance is going to go up?" At the time, that question really didn't register, so I waited for their next statement, "You are paying for any damage that insurance doesn't cover out of your own wallet." By this time I did have a job, but it was only on the weekends, and I really didn't have too much money saved. The damage came out to around $1500, all of which I had to pay. From then on, I started to appreciate money a little bit more.
       The next time that transaction costs started to affect my life was when I first set foot on campus here at the University of Illinois. I came to school with a lot of money saved from various jobs that I had in my high school career. The amount of money in my bank was more than I had ever possessed, and for that reason I was pretty comfortable that it would last me throughout the year. Little did I know that groceries only last a couple of weeks at a time, eating out is quite expensive, and not to mention, socializing can be extremely pricey as well. My funds started to trickle away as the semester went on. Each large transaction that I made at school was followed by a call from my dad saying something along the lines of, "How did you spend a hundred dollars at Wal-Mart?" My main point that I am trying to make here is that it costs a lot of money to live. Necessities start to mix with wants, and that is when transaction costs become more and more difficult to deal with.
       This week in class we had some very interesting discussions, not only about rules of the class, but also about the structure of organizations, and the balance of powers between different employees within a certain company. I found the discussion about corporate America to be very interesting because I worked in an office that showed chain of command very well. Each person had their responsibilities, some people having more than others, and some people having more important responsibilities than others. That is how an organization is made to function fluently, and smoothly. There is a top tier level of employees (CEO, CFO, President, Vice President) then their is a middle tier of employees (Accounts Recievable, Sales, Controller, Marketing, etc.) and finally their are lower tier employees and interns. The difference in pay between each job title is different for every company, because some companies create more revenue than others, some companies are publicly traded, etc. I think that these types of real life business conversations will benefit all of the students in our class when we venture out into the corporate world. We touched on entrepreneurship for a little bit in class as well, and I am excited to look into that subject further as our class moves along.

Experiences with Organizations

     This class seemed rather interesting to me because I am an economics major, and it is my senior year at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. What that means is that I am working as hard as I possibly can to find a job once I graduate in May. Most of the companies that I have applied to, or the companies that I am looking to apply to, are large organizations. I think that by taking this course I will gain insight as to how exactly these large companies function, how they profit, etc. Basically, I think this class will show how an organization stays on top of every detail within the company, how each employee has a different task, or a different piece of the puzzle, and that when each employee is given incentives from the company, how well most employees respond, and function as one. 

     I wouldn't say I am overly experienced when it comes to knowing the process behind a successful organization, but for the past two summers I have interned at a pretty large publicly traded company. The company that I worked for is called CTI Industries, and I worked in the accounting unit at one of their branches in Lake Barrington, Illinois. I definitely gained some insight into the corporate world, because day in and day out I worked with the same people, and started to see how each one coincided with the next employee. While some employees are being paid more than others, and their position may be higher than someone else, I felt as if each person contributed in an orderly and even fashion. What I mean by this is that I saw a team of employees rather than a bunch of individuals. Every morning the controller and I did consolidations together, every afternoon accounts receivable was on the phone looking for payments, and at the same time the CFO was in meetings with future customers, etc. It was quite an enlightening experience, and I feel as if I really did learn a lot.

     When I was looking at the selection of economics courses for the spring semester, I tried to look at the classes that would most benefit me in my future. This class stood out over the rest, because I know I will be able to take what I learn and use it in my hunt for a job, and once I find a career. It will be very nice to get to know all of what happens within a company that most people never get to see. The part of the class that I look forward to most is the general idea of entrepreneurship, solely because my best friends father opened up a golf and fitness facility that is now very popular, and quite successful, and by doing so he has influenced me in the sense that I now see that opening a company is possible. What I am interested in is how do you create a company that is both productive, and profitable. There are so many questions that go along with my last sentence; What incentives should employees be given? Who can you trust to manage your company? How do you get people to gain interest in your company? I just added this class so I have yet to attend a lecture, but I look forward to our discussion come Tuesday.

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