Music Appreciation Sec 104 Dr. Matthew Luttrell Group Assign

Music Appreciation Sec 104dr Matthew Luttrellgroup Assi

MUSC 1033: Music Appreciation Sec. 104 Dr. Matthew Luttrell Group Assignment – Online Your Assignment Step One: Musicologists consistently argue over what should be considered a “classic” Rock n’ Roll song. Using the time periods of the 1970’s and 1980’s, choose ONE (1) song that you feel best represents what classic rock is. Be concise, do not plagiarize, and use your original thinking.

Step Two: Once you have completed this form, your information will be linked with another member of class. You are then required to compose a short rebuttal as to why YOUR selection is the most definitive representation of what classic rock is. I will assign the groups as required. Please fill out the following form with the requested information. Name of Song: Original Artist: Year: Synopsis of lyrics (two sentence overview): Reasoning why this is your definitive “classic” rock tune: Other student’s song: Original Artist: Year: Synopsis of lyrics (two sentence overview): REBUTTAL as to why your definitive “classic” rock tune is a superior selection: Background Given the importance of international business today, and the fact that more and more people work as expatriates in other countries, it’s vital we understand differences in management approaches and styles.

Many of the topics you’ll read about and explore in our course (e.g., motivation, decision making, teams, etc.) become even more important when working with those from different cultures. For example, a common motivation technique in the U.S. might involve creating a competition among groups for the best process improvement ideas. And, the winners might get a cash award or some other perk for their efforts. If you’re an American reading this, you might say “of course….this can be a good technique and I’ve experienced it myself.” But, this may not be the case in other cultures. Plus, what if you’re an American who’s managing Indonesian employees at your firm’s plant in that country?

If you use this competition approach to motivation it could fall flat on its face and end up being de-motivating instead. What might explain this difference? Why might such a technique not ‘travel’ across borders and cultures all that well? Let’s pursue the brief example above to illustrate. Research seems to show that Americans are more likely to be “individualists” – they are taught from childhood to stand out, take chances, and to showcase their abilities/self. (As a result, some have said they don’t work well in groups – if you’re a U.S. student, have you ever had the experience of people freeloading on group projects???).

Some Latin and Asian cultures, however, have different views on this issue. They may have been taught to have close ties with groups their whole life, to be highly respectful of them, and work hard to fit in. Contrast this traditional Japanese saying: “The nail that sticks out get hammered down” with a common U.S. saying that goes something like “The squeaky wheel gets the grease.” These quotes, indicative of deeply held values, could explain why a motivational technique that seems so “obvious” and commonplace in one culture may need to be tweaked or even altered significantly in another culture. Paper Topic: Conflict & Negotiation It’s said that there are two things in life you can count on: death and taxes.

But, some add a third item – conflict! While I don’t like these sorts of sweeping truisms, it’s hard to argue with this one. Leaving aside death and taxes, it certainly seems like we’re in conflict situations regularly, perhaps a lot more often than we like. Someone cuts us off on the interstate, undercuts us at work, or brings a complaint about a co-worker to you, the boss – all commonly experienced conflict situations. Of course, there are many other examples, most of which reflect much more consequential conflict (wars, strife among groups, etc.).

It turns out that some people are more comfortable with conflict than the rest of us. Yet, most everyone views it as annoying – an aberration or anomaly that’s best eliminated somehow….and as soon as possible. This view of conflict is inaccurate on several counts. For one, conflict is not an anomaly - it's ubiquitous. It happens every day to many of us.

Second, this sort of attribution about its cause leads some of us to not prepare for conflict. That’s a mistake. Conflict is actually common, replete, and... "natural." If so, we should understand it, expect it, and better manage for it. Third, it’s hard enough to handle conflict and to negotiate in your own culture, let alone another one.

So, for this paper, I’ll require you to focus on the topic of conflict and negotiation and how these topics are viewed and practiced across three cultures: the U.S., China, and India. I believe this topic is very important for business students of any nationality. The more one understands another market and culture, the better - and this is why I ask you to familiarize yourself with these three countries. They rank among the world’s top economies, so each is doing a lot of things well – including managing. But, that’s not to say any one is perfect or couldn’t improve - there are plenty of examples of failure to understand another culture by firms and businesspeople from each of these countries.

Americans are hardly immune from this problem. In fact, a fair number of people around the globe feel that Americans make little effort to understand their country or their business practices/management styles. A recent survey of nearly 5000 international business executives ranked the U.S. in the bottom 1/3 of a sample of 42 countries in knowledge and understanding of other cultures. You don’t have to go overseas to hear this viewpoint - some Americans also believe that their business focus can be myopic. So, everyone could learn and improve – possibly by looking elsewhere.

If you choose this option, you’ll research and study international differences in attitudes, styles, and business practices regarding conflict and negotiation. For this assignment, you’ll want to understand how business people commonly deal with conflict - and how they negotiate their way through it. How do people generally perceive and react to conflict in each of these three countries/cultures? Are there differences in styles, approaches, and business practices regarding conflict & negotiation? What are those differences, and what are the similarities?

Be sure to document any differences (or lack of) with empirical research (see Guideline #4 below for more detail). Finally, what lessons could managers of each country learn from the others? For example, what conflict/negotiation practices or views could U.S. (& other) business people successfully ‘import’ and why? What practices would not work well in a U.S. (or Chinese/Indian) business environment and why? Answer these and related questions using research in organizational behavior.