Blog I: Summer A

As you have read in Chapters 1 and 13, communication in a technical workplace is essential to productivity.   Suppose you were to start a technical company of your own.  What type of technical company would you start?  What qualities would look for in potential employees?  Name some of your rules in policies regarding company emails.  Would you terminate an employee because of an email outside of your policies?  How would you communicate an employee’s breach of your company’s polices?

To get full credit on this posting, you must create your own company and establish its purpose.  List the qualities you want in potential employers.  Then name a few of your disciplinary policies regarding inappropriate emails.  Finally, think of either a mission statement or goal unique to your company.  Remember, you are the brain of your organization.  Its success not only depends on your smarts, but also the dependability of your employees.   Good luck.

Difficult Presentations

(*Note) This blog is worth 25pts.  Turn to 448 in your textbook.  There you will find the story entitled, "The Coward," starring our intrepid heroine, Jennifer Sandman.  Apparently, Jennifer is about to give a presentation that does not sit comfortably with the town regulars.  They do not want a GrandMart in their little community.  In addition to all this, Jennifer thinks her boss is a coward.

Suppose you had to give a difficult speech in front of a hostile crowd.  How would you handle yourself? Would you risk your life to get your company's point across? Would you leave if the people got out of hand, and started to chuck stones in your direction? Though they probably would not put Jennifer's head on a pike, she could still be hurt by a hostile crowd. In the end, is it worth it?

BLOG IV &V (worth 20 points)

Turn to page 373 in your textbook and find the Alice Franklin case study. To briefly summarize the case study, Alice, a career-driven professional, lands a job at the Outreach Division, an organization that delivers medical supplies to Third-World Countries.  Zidga, a website development firm, is hired to redesign the Outreach Division’s website.  Their design is so good that it attracts the attention of deep-pocketed investors.  Soon the Outreach program collects over a million dollars worth of donations.  Before Alice can celebrate, she notices a disturbing trend:  the website attendance from South America and Africa has dropped.  Upon contacting Brazil, Alice learns that Zidga’s webpage has features incompatible with their web browsers.  To make matters worse, their out-dated computers crash from the updates.  Alice feels guilty because she the new website undermines the rhetoric of the company’s core values, yet it is drawing more money than ever before.

Suppose you were in a similar situation.   Would it bother you to leave out the website’s intended audience for big-money donators?  Do you think this primary audience change of the website is a good thing or a bad thing?  To receive full credit, you must write a well-reasoned response to this question.  I expect good answers from you.

One of the reasons people go to college is to receive better training for a certain occupation.  The end of the academic road presents as many problems as it does possibilities.   In today’s tough economy, finding a decent job right after college can be an arduous process.   However, whether you admit it or not, you have acquired analytical and verbal skills that can aid you in your quest for gainful employment. People often forget the college toolbox handed to them after their four years.  Nevertheless, it is there, waiting to be used.  For this blog, think about landing an interview for your dream job.   Explain what your dream job is, and how plan to get it.  Once you are there for the interview, answer these questions: (1) What is your greatest strength?  (2)What is your greatest weakness? (3)Why should we hire you?  To receive full credit for this blog, you must answer these questions in relation to your dream job.

Affairs of the Heart

Relationships at the workplace can cause problems.  For all the pleasure a warm, tender kiss brings, trouble tends to follow.  Nevertheless, the consequences of these actions have not deterred people from their unbridled passions.   Consider what you have read about the different types of ethics (personal and social) discussed in chapter five of your text.   Suppose you found yourself in a conflict of interest situation at work.   How would you handle your affairs as the tempestuous couple at work?

You have two choices for this assignment: (1) you can be against any sort of love breach at the job and describe the personal and social ethics of your resistance; (2) you can play devil’s advocate and welcome the affair, risking the loss of your job.  When you have decided your answer, turn to page 97 in your textbook and peruse the four concepts in bold (Rights, Justice, Utility, and Care).  Pick two that you would either adhere to or violate based on your choices.  Explain your reasons in detail.

Colossus:  The Forbin Project

Science-fiction writers have often depicted machines as living things.   Unfortunately, in such films like The Matrix, Fail Safe, and The Terminator, these machines overthrow their carbon-based creators, ruling the Earth in the process.  Similar to the short story I Have no Mouth and I Must Scream, the film Colossus: the Forbin Project features an antagonistic, self-aware computer enslaving humanity.  Though the film’s visuals appear dated, its message remains relevant: One day, despite all of our safety protocols, our technology will be our downfall.

For your first blog assignment, watch the last scene from the film Colossus: the Forbin Project found on this YouTube link—http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMst6sqRlMU&feature=related.  After viewing the finale, write on the following topic:  Suppose a Colossus-type commissioned you to write a technical manual on its inner-workings, so that future human slaves could update its components.  What would be the rhetorical context of your document?  How would you wrangle with the ethical, legal and political ramifications of these instructions?  Remember, you are under micro-chip rule, and the eyes of your circuited-oppressor are everywhere. 

You may also plan a written sabotage so future generations can escape Computer dominance.  If you choose this prompt, then also consider the political, legal, and ethical outcomes of your insubordination.   

I Need Someone to Protect Me from Myself

Without law and order, man has no freedom.  This statement represents a classic paradox.  Within all societies exists a code of ethics governing both professional and social situations.  Suppose, for a moment, that our government made all our decisions.  Big brother declares our actions, taking away our ability to choose.   For your next blog, think about what freedom really means.  Perhaps you may want to even check the US Constitution for some inspiration before answering this prompt.  Once you have thought deeply about true meaning of freedom, make a case for or against total government control.  You may even cite certain historical events in our own country or abroad. For example, the parental advisory stickers on music CDs started with the notion that the government decides what content can be heard.  Presently, there are countries that limit these freedoms we often take for granted.  However, some believe that these liberties lead to a decadent society.  Make your choice and argue your position.  This prompt will be worth two blogs.