Jordan Muzzillo Author

After reviewing the Hawthorne Studies video, for this week’s Class Discussion, what, if any, has been your experience with the Hawthorne effect on a job?   Answer this question and then choose one of the following to answer:

 

 

My experience with the Hawthorne effect comes from my current job working for my town’s local golf course. I am a grounds crew worker that deals with mowing the course, planting flowers, creating or racking bunkers, and going around with the cart service including snacks and drinks for golfers playing the course. My supervisor and I have a very healthy relationship as every day before I punch in, he tells me what needs to be completed around the course and asks me how things went the day prior and if I needed anything throughout the day that we either do not have or if there was something that was an inconvenience for me to work with. He allows me to speak my mind within reason and listens to me if I believe that I have found a more effective way to do a certain task and we talk about it. Lastly, if he has finished up all of his duties for the day and sees that I am working on a project, most of the time he will come out and help allowing for me to finish the job quicker and move on to the next or, if it is close to quitting time, he lets me go home for the day. With this being said, I enjoy going to work every day even if I am doing something that I do not necessarily enjoy because of the fact that I am respected, listened to and therefore feel important and cared for ultimately sky rocketing my daily production rate.

 

1) Describe a supervisor who inspired and motivated you — what were their characteristics or actions that made such a positive impact?

 

The supervisor that I think about when talking about who inspires and motivates me is my current one at the golf course I work for. As I had stated in the previous answer, his characteristics were quite contagious and enjoyable for me to come to my job every day and work with. The reason why he continues to make a positive impact on me is due to his attitude towards me. He always seems to have a short talk with me on things that are going on in my life that I am passionate about. For example, asking how school and sports are going and what my plans are in the future. I am rewarded for my hard work with time off as well as special deals around the course. He listens to my concerns and takes them into consideration for the future and most importantly installs a motivating drive in me by acknowledging the things that I did well and teaching me how to get better at the things that I struggle with. This goes for both on the clock work as well as any questions I have for him outside of the golf course as well.

I had found an article that talks about how skewed the Hawthorne effect can be because it is human nature to act different if they know they are part of an experiment of any kind, but it talks about how vital it is in the management field to be able to communicate and listen to your employees concerns or likes about the job in order to in return, maintain max production for the entire shift each and every day. Practicing this within your field will allow for management to have a better understanding on how to motivate each and every employee. This leads to may positive outcomes such as better attendance, better production, and better communication.

 

Sources:

“Hawthorne Effect.” Observation Bias. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 July 2019.

1. Research and find an alternative/opposing point of view to Climate Change as proposed in the Introduction.

After conducting some research, I came across an article published by Daniel K. Benjamin on some of the benefits that are occurring due to global warming. He states that because of the average heat rising yearly, this ultimately allows farmers a longer crop season leading to more food and more profit. Benjamin says that this could increase the value of agricultural land by nearly 30%! He claims that over the rest of the century, the temperatures are statistically supposed to raise about 5 degrees Fahrenheit leading to precipitation averaging 8 inches more yearly. With this fact being true as well as using data from our history, agricultural productivity within the United States is projected to raise a grand total of approximately 4%.

I had found another article as well that underlines the benefits of climate change. Some of these examples given by publisher Ross Pomeroy state that cold weather deaths have decreased due to the temperatures collectively rising worldwide. Another being that because of the heat, there is more CO2 in the air leading to the average amount of time it takes for ecosystems to fully recover from droughts to be increased, meaning that it takes less time. With this all being taken into consideration, no one will ever know the exact effects that climate change will have on our ecosystems and society until they are right in front of us.

 

 

1. What obligations do we have to future generations?

 

I believe that the obligations that we have for future generation is quite simple. In my opinion I do believe that global warming is indeed a problem because of the increasing CO2 levels as well as the chemicals and pesticides we use in our food products that result in many dangerous health conditions and concerning birth defects. We need to reduce the number of chemical products used on food that the human population consume. Taking steps in the right direction to reduce land spills and environmental pollution need to be at the forefront of our minds as well. Being humans, we should not want to allow our kids and our kids kids to live in an unhealthy ecosystem.

 

2. Does nature have value in itself?

 

I absolutely believe that nature had value in itself. Nature has proven to be self-sustaining meaning that it has been here long before human civilization has, and I believe will be here long after we are gone. Nature allows for countless amounts of living organisms to survive on an everyday basis and is able to reproduce many valuable needs for society as well as organisms to be able to flourish in this world. It also produces us with renewable resources that again, help us live here on this planet.

 

1.  Who should pay the cost for protecting the environment — those responsible for causing the pollution or those who stand to benefit from protection and restoration. Explain your position.

In my opinion I believe that those who are causing the problem and are responsible for the pollution should ultimately be the ones who are required to pay. I believe that is how are court systems are run and therefore how society is run. If you are the culprit, you are the one that has to suffer the consequences, in this case, pay the fine for polluting the environment. After that is done, you should be held to fixing the issue to ensure that it is to never happen again. It is unethical for the cooperation causing the problem to not pay the repercussions of their misdoings. With this being said, those who benefit from protection and restoration should also be at fault as well. If both parties help fix the problem, our ecosystem becomes much cleaner and therefore much safer for all living on earth. Think of it as a criminal case, if you are the one who murdered another human being, but your friend was the one who helped get you the gun and set it up, the shooter is not the only one at fault. Both should be punished and held to higher standards. This goes for helping reduce the negative impacts of climate change as well.

 

 

Words Cited:

 

Shaw, William H.  Business Ethics. 9th ed., Cengage Learning, 2017.

 

“The Benefits of Climate Change.” PERC. N.p., 12 Jan. 2018. Web. 04 July 2019.

 

“Do the Benefits of Climate Change Outweigh the Costs?” RealClearScience. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 July 2019.

After a bit of research, I had come across a teething tablet that is used for babies to help with the pain they are having due to their teeth coming in. This product was used at all hours of the day as well as night to ensure a more comfortable feeling for the newborn at this time in their lives. The reason for the FDA banned this product is because of the inconsistent amounts of belladonna alkaloids that were found in each product. Belladonna poses a serious health hazard for children as the effects of this chemical are wide ranged and quite uncertain. This is an example of mislabeling as they were putting an exact dosage on every product produced but failed to meet what each label was reading.

I believe the outcome was necessary and ethical because of the amount of uncertainty this teething tablet could impose on children who were using this product. This product was officially recalled in October of 2016 and was removed from the shelves of all stores selling this item. I believe this is unethical and egregious because this company was labeling their product with what the consumers thought were facts knowing completely that they had no idea how much of this chemical was used in the making of each and every one of these teething tablets. Although the CEO and chairman of Standard Homeopathic Company released a statement apologizing I still do not believe it is right because I feel they are only sorry because they were caught.

 

 

References:

 

Office of Regulatory Affairs. “Standard Homeopathic Company Issues Nationwide Recall of Hyland’s Baby Teething Tablets and Hyland’s Baby Nighttime Teething Tablets Due to Mislabeling.” U.S. Food and Drug Administration. FDA, n.d. Web. 29 June 2019.