These four courses have provided me with a multitude of outlets for personal reflection and growth. I determined that my core values are growth, purpose, respect, and joy. This journey has enriched my ethical decision making and life perspective through personality tests, strength finders, personal development plans, and associated reflection. By comparing the cultural and business etiquette of Czech, German, and American professional environments, I was able to grow in my cross-cultural awareness. We analyzed the ethics behind various critical decisions, specifically those surrounding sustainability and humanitarian efforts.
Personality Tests & Reflection
Prior to these courses, I have never taken serious personality test to find strengths, weaknesses, and thinking habits. Through the CliftonStrengths test, it was determined that my top five strengths, in order, are analytical, communication, futuristic, input, and learner. By combining four strategic thinking strengths and communication, I have become effective in conveying my methodical, observant, and innovative contributions in any collaborative team setting. While in my multicultural team comprised of Germans and Americans, I learned the importance of intellectual diversity. Our group was full of individuals with a grand majority of strategic thinking strengths. This led to over-thinking, lack of direction, and uncreative results. When building teams, it is important to include individuals with diverse thinking strategies, as this will lead to multi-perspectivity and creative idea generation.
Through the MBTI 16Personalities test, it was determined that I am an observant, extraverted Executive; I lead by example, demonstrate dedication and purposeful honesty, and live in a world of clear, verifiable facts. Through the Reframing Organization Orientation Self-Assessment, it confirmed my structural and political orientation but made evident of my perceived discrepancy in human resources. After reflection, I have noticed that I hyper-focus on efficiency and effectiveness when in leadership positions, disregarding the “importance of coaching, participation, motivation, and good interpersonal relations”. As Dr. Bocarro stated, "these tests are a zip code and not a house number". During reflection, it is important to understand that these tests are simply statistical and that leadership styles, interpersonal connection, and thinking methods are ever-growing. |
Cultural & Business Etiquette
Americans live to work and Europeans work to live, right? Through various case studies, research, and interactions I discovered this to be relatively true. Considering the long holidays, shorter work weeks, progressive governmental labor laws and benefits, Europeans emphasize separation of work and leisure.
Studying and living in Prague, CZ I quickly noticed that Czech people are more reserved and individualistic in public settings. The Czech Republic utilizes a serious yet indirect approach while The United States utilizes a relaxed yet direct approach. Any deviation from these standards is occasionally considered unprofessional and disrespectful. In order to conduct mutually beneficial business, it is important for professionals to understand, respect, and adapt to the cultural and business etiquette of their international business connections. We were fortunate enough to, confidentially, tour the Mercedes plant in Stuttgart, DE. With Mercedes being industry standard for quality, safety, and organization and through my personal experience in American corporate and engineering environments, I was able to find many similarities of leadership and team structure in German and American industry. Through collaboration with ESB German graduate students, I was easily able to find the merit behind separation of work and leisure. Though stereotypical, German work ethic is considerably more focused and structured than that of Americans. Germans have utilize direct communication, open confrontation, and solution based orientation to conduct efficient business and projects. As they are always searching for improvement and constructive criticism, I found it interesting when my teammate said that "nothing to complain about" is considered a praise for Germans. I plan on taking this constant improvement (Kaizen) ideology back to America through my future educational, professional, and social developments. |
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Ethical Application
The experience of studying the business and politics behind the Olympics at previous Olympic sites (Munich, DE and Innsbruck, AT) during the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics was enriching, to say the least. Through studying organizational leadership, we analyzed the ethical decision making behind these mega-sporting events and sustainability efforts.
The Olympics has formed to be a very controversial topic considering the economics, tourism, sustainability, and legacy involved. Many are advocating against their countries hosting the Olympics due to the extreme economic cost and abandoned sites that cities experience. The 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics destroyed sacred forests including 60,000+ trees to build the ski runs, even though there was a local ski resort that could, with renovations and minor development, satisfy the requirements. The Olympic site in Munich was converted to a public park, affordable housing, and a college campus. The development of the bullet train used for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics decreased the hospitality and tourism industry in various cities. All of these positive and negative legacy ramifications are constantly impacting the ethical, cross-cultural decision making behind the Olympics. |