Ryan Jamison

Management 201
Professor Landrum
4/30/16
Activity 1: Males vs. Females
In the first activity that we did as a class, the males vs. females
activity was a simple and creative way to showcase common
perceptions, stereotypes, and thoughts that pertained to each gender
and what each gender thought of each other. Perception may be
defined as the process by which individuals detect and interpret
environmental stimuli. We learned that errors in perception could come
from past experience, learning, and social media or just media in
general. Everyones first impressions and perceptions can differ
according to what their past experience has been with certain groups
of people and if it has had a positive or negative influence on them.
During the activity we divided into two groups, males on one side
of the room and females on the other half of the room. In these teams
we were able to make a long list of stereotypes of each gender. Since I
was on the male side, we made typical stereotypes that included
women doing housework, kitchen stuff, and knowing every sort of
business even if males didnt want them to. The female side also made
a long list that included men to be stubborn, the providers of the
family, sometimes, and to take on more of a leadership, alpha male
role. When we read the long lists out to each group, every person had
a different type of perspective and stereotype for guys and girls that I

hadnt even heard of or thought of before. It is important in a

responsible business to take these perspective and views of everyone
in your business seriously to maximize and to have a strong business
core that makes all feel comfortable.

Activity 2: My Friend Morgan (job recommendation)

This activity was given during the ethics chapter when were
learning about responsible businesses that manage for moral
excellence. Everyone has their own set of morals and some can be
different from others. In this activity we were given a story where we
just landed a job and promotion in that sense and one of our best
friends from high school that has known to cheat on tests and has had
a questionable past of making it through high school and their studies
without cheating or making a unethical decision. It stated that they
have recently changed their ways and it was up to us to make the
decision to tell our boss to either have this person in for an interview to
fill the void position. This situation is tough because we have to
determine where the line of friendship and bettering the business
exists. It would be easy for anyone to recommend their friend for a
position but if they knew that they could potentially hurt the company
or the other employees, then it is up to that person to draw the line
and not accept them.

This chapter dealt with individual, organizational, and economic

ethics and the study of all of them within a responsible business.
Business ethics also deal with moral dilemmas quite often when
situations arise just as the case of the friend Morgan. The situation
requires decision-making that is best for the company and even though
it might have repercussions with your friend, it is always for the
betterment of the business. Each business has its set of values and
morals and since the friend couldve disrupted those ideal goals and
beliefs within the company, they probably wouldnt have been a good
fit within the everyday work of the employees.

Activity 3: Lost at Sea

In this confusing at first but worthwhile activity, we were given a
scenario of being stranded at sea and we were to rank the importance
of objects that would help someone survive while stranded at sea. We
first had to rank the items individually and since I had done this
activity in the past I knew what was the most important and what was
the least important. The shaving mirror turned out to be the most
important item since someone could reflect the sun off the mirror to
planes and potentially call for rescue. Other important items were
clean water and food but the least important item was the sextant
since people stranded would have no sense of direction or where they
were at sea. Next we took our rankings and discussed and compared

them with another partner and once we got those rankings we got in
groups to also rank and discuss the importance of the items while
being stranded. Since I knew what went where I stepped back from the
discussion and looked to what others had to say because their opinion
and views are just as important in group work. Towards the end I gave
my two cents and told them that which ones were more important than
others and we then finally came to conclusions on our rankings.
In the group decision-making powerpoints it states that there are
six steps in order to make a decision. Recognizing the need for a
decision, generating alternatives, assessing alternatives, choosing
among alternatives, implementing the chosen alternative, and learning
from feedback are the six steps in making a decision. One of the most
important steps is the last one with learning from feedback because
that is where others have a voice and can help with the decision
making process. It is known that in group work, there are differences
between large and small groups. Sometimes smaller groups can
communicate more clearly than larger groups and sometimes larger
groups can generate better and more ideas to reach outcomes faster
than smaller groups. In responsible business it is important to come to
decisions in a well, thought out format rather than jumping to
conclusions, which could harm the overall impact of a business.