Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Web Strength

When I think about my web, I think that I want it to be strong. I am aware that my web seems to be strong and that it conveys a positive message of myself and my reliability. However, everything can use work, and it can always be bettered. So, what makes a strong web, and what can make somewhat strong web even stronger.

Throughout Work Place Writing Class, the words image and narrative have been thrown around because they are very important to the likes of people, businesses, organizations, associations, and just about every entity in this world that can be judged or interpreted. Without the proper narrative, the proper image cannot be portrayed. Without the proper narrative and image, there cannot be a strong web. So, what creates a strong narrative and image, while in turn creating a strong web.

I believe that ethics plays an extremely large role in the answer to this question. Ethics create a sort of base to which actions we take or are taken by groups. An example of the importance of ethics can be displayed in the current situation with our economy. Many banks were in need of a bailout from the government in order to survive in this time of recession. Why would this be? Many of these banks loaned out money to people who were truly not qualified in order to expand the business and possibly profits. However, what was gained. Yes, maybe for a short period of time, it seemed as if this was doing their company good; however, this short term of success brought very little good to their companies. Had these companies been ethically conscience, they could have not only saved themselves this trouble, but they could have also saved their customers the trouble as well, because both are now losing. I would not feel comfortable continuing business with a company that allowed me to put myself in a risky position. Banks, Credit Unions, and organizations as such should be helping people, but should also be informing them if the help they may want is right for them at that point in their life and within the means of their life at that time. If I am not stable enough to handle a home loan, then I want to be informed of this, and I would want to be told that it is not in my best interest. It seems to me that these companies were not thinking ethically at all because they had no care for the customer or their own future. This not only ruins the image of the company but also the narrative; thus, creating a weak web for all involved. The same, I believe goes for the major car makes that are too asking for help from our government.

Ethics, whether they be positive goals and values alone or a combination of these and one's own personal ethics from religion or moral integrity combined, help create a strong web, and with a strong web, it too creates a strong narrative and image.

It is unfortunate to find, through my scholarship report study that ethics is only spoken about shortly in business classes and classes such as this one. Furthermore, there is no one curriculum for the teaching of ethics; in other words, every campus teaches their own idea on ethics, so when each and every person goes out into the world and the work force, they have learned a completely different ethical approach that may not mesh with those that they are going to work with. This can be a major problem. So the question here is whether a set curriculum should be taught on ethics in colleges through an entire ethics course, or should the job locations teach and convey one for all its workers to follow.

With this in mind, every person has their own personal ethical and moral approach. We have either learned it from our upbringing or we've created a combination of what we've learned from our upbrining and our own ideas from our life as we journey through adulthood, but either way, we all have some sort of foundation. Our foundations, however, will never be the same as anothers. They may have similarities, but never exactly the same, which is why I believe that there should be a specified ethics class and that businesses should have an ethical practice. This ethical practice that businesses have should be taught to every employee and there should be continuing education for it every year, so that employees are on top of this standard.

Ethics are important to our webs. So maybe we should think of what kind of ethics we follow and whether we need to add more to our list to create a stronger web for ourselves and/or our business/organization.

Think about it.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

What is this world wide web of words...

I am sure when one reads this phrase, word wide web of words, the first thought that comes to mind may be the world wide web itself, or the Internet. The Internet has plenty of words, right? So, why wouldn't that fit?

When I say world wide web of words, I am speaking of the words that we use every day to convey our messages, thoughts, ideas, or opinions. The words that we use create a web, and this web is a representation of all that we are. More than likely, we are remembered by something that we said, and quite often, the negative things are remembered before the positive things. Therefore, it is important to create a strong web, much like a spider would, in order to catch the attention of those that are significant to the happenings our daily life, whether it be home or work.

This is especially true in the workplace and/or business world. Our webs create our agency, and if we have small weak webs, we have little to no agency. If we have big strong webs, our agency can be used and we can relay our narrative, image, and message in a more powerful way.

If we have a strong web, we show that we have a strong self-awareness because we display that we understand and firmly stand by our attitudes, values, beliefs, strengths and weaknesses. Furthermore, a strong web conveys good self-esteem. With a solid self-awareness and strong self-esteem creating a strong web, our communication will create a welcoming and positive perception of ourselves that those we communicate with will distinguish.

Our web establishes our credibility. Therefore, we must be more conscience of our webs and their importance to how we are perceived.

Final thought: Think about your web and how it falls into these ideas.