Our Choices Define Us

I am in the process of job searching/interviewing, and it’s a job in itself.  As I enter countless interviews, I am beginning to realize that I will have to make some big decisions in the coming months.  I think I want to go into some sort of consulting, but as of now, everything is up in the air. 

As I’ve become more familiar with the job market and what companies “look for” in a candidate, I’ve come to a few realizations.  An ideal candidate is “well-rounded” and has a good school-extracurrircular-social life balance. I had a hunch that this would be something companies would be interested in, so I became very good at managing my time early on in my college career.  I spread myself across various activities, whether it be through my sorority, the Society of Women in Business, volunteering at the food pantry or various honor societies, in order to insure that companies know that I am driven and can juggle many things at once.  Not only is it important to have extracurricular activities, but it is also important to have meaningful activities that can be somewhat applicable to your future.  Almost every organization that I’ve partaken in throughout my college career has helped me be successful in attaining internships and other work opportunities, and in times such as during behavioral interviews, it is crucial that you have experiences to pull from outside of the classroom. 

Besides outside involvement, I’ve self-insured myself through my academic performance.  I think that applying for jobs is very similar to applying to college; both evaluate not only extracurricular involvement, but also your grades.  Keeping a relatively high GPA throughout college has definitely been a reason why I have been swamped with interviews this fall.  I think that if my GPA had been lower, I would not have been as desirable of a candidate.

Choosing a college major was also an important decision that will impact my future.  Before applying to the University of Illinois, I was torn between applying as a political science major or an economics major.  Luckily, I realized that an economics would be a better investment (at that time I wanted to go to law school, which looking back upon, was ridiculous), and I decided to major in econ.  I added an additional major my sophomore year, Spanish, and I also believe that this was a good decision.  Majoring in Spanish has allowed me to be more qualitative, and in effect, balance out the quantitative qualities of my economics degree.  I think that the two degrees combined relay a “well-rounded” impression to employers.

Overall, I think my ability to be versatile and adapt has gotten me far in life.  This isn’t always a learned characteristic, but it is important when taking on the job market and figuring out what you want in life.  Versatility in addition to goal setting has allowed me to gain some sense of direction when it comes to my future.  I ultimately want to end up doing something that I actually enjoy, and I think that my choices in terms of majors and outside activities accurately reflect my interests and who I am as a person.  Thus far, I believe I've managed future risks well through various decisions that I've made in college, but only time will tell.  Then again if all else fails, I’m lucky to have an amazing family that will support me no matter what I decide to do with my life. 

Illinibucks: a Headache or a Time-Saver?

Illinibucks tie perfectly into transfer pricing.  The University would be setting a certain Illinibucks price for priority standing in certain conditions.  I think that ideal situations in which Illinibucks could be applied to would be waiting in line at the dining hall, class registration and, if possible through some sort of reciprocal agreement, bar entry.

I can imagine many students using their Illinibucks to cut the line at the dining hall.  My freshman year, I lived in Illini Tower (IT), so I didn’t have any issues waiting in line to eat since IT is private housing and doesn’t get very congested at meal times.  However, I know for a fact that many of the public housing dining halls are quite different.  I’ve only been to the Ikenberry Commons once to eat, but when I went, it was chaotic and stressful.  The line was extremely long, and we had to get to the dining hall about 25 minutes before opening for dinner to go wait in line.  Applying Illinibucks to this situation would drastically alter things.  Students could choose certain days to skip the line and use their Illinibucks as a sort of fast pass (like at Six Flags) to skip the line and get swiped into the dining hall wait-free.

Another situation in which Illinibucks could be applied to is class registration.  To my understanding, class registration is based on the number of credit hours a student has completed, and this means that younger students oftentimes get the short end of the stick when it comes to registering.  Since they normally have one of the last registration days, they don’t have as much choice when it comes to desirable class times or even desirable classes.  (However, this does not apply to various groups, such as James Scholars and athletes, because they receive priority when it comes to registration.)  Illinibucks could be used to change one’s registration date and/or time, and this would allow students to register earlier.  In the past, I definitely would have used my Illinibucks for this purpose because I’ve had many classes that I would’ve liked to take at a different time, but couldn’t because my ideal section choices were taken by the time my registration time ticket started.

A third situation that I could apply Illinibucks to on campus is bar entry.  Since one must be 19 to enter most of the bars at the University of Illinois, the lines are oftentimes long, and it is quite a hassle to wait in line when it’s snowing and 20 degrees outside.  Therefore, I think that many students would utilize Illinibucks to skip the line at various bars and receive immediate entry.  This would be similar to the use of Illinibucks at dining halls, and students could skip the line on any given night without pre-registering.

Applying the concept of Illinibucks to the University of Illinois would be difficult.  If the price were too low, students would overuse their Illinibucks.  On a given day, there would be tons of people skipping the line at a bar or in the dining hall if it was a good going out night or there was a good meal.  This would most likely cause congestion, and people would be waiting in yet another line for entry.  On the other hand, if the price of Illinibucks were too high, not enough people would utilize them and it would be a waste of a system.  (However, in terms of class registration it may be useful, but this could also create an influx of users simply for registration and for nothing else.) 

I think that this would create the need for individual night/meal pricing.  Skipping the line on a given day would be calculated based on various factors.  In the bar situation, these factors would include: temperature outside (more people would want to skip if it was colder), night of the week (Thursday-Saturday are the most popular nights to go out), drink deals/events at the bar (if these things are occurring, the turnout will be larger) and various other factors.  In terms of skipping the line on for a meal, factors that would need to be considered when pricing would include: specialty meals being served (some dining halls do themed nights, and these increase the turnout), night of the week (some nights are more popular to eat at dining halls than others), type of meal (more people would be present at dinner than at breakfast due to class schedules) and various other factors.

Overall, I think that Illinibucks is a good concept in theory, but it would be a headache to implement due to pricing issues.  The University would be putting a lot of effort in just so that students wouldn't have to wait in line.  After all, what's so horrible about lines?  Patience is a virtue, and lines teach you this, right?  

Many Hands Make Light Work

When I think of a “team,” the first thing that comes to mind is sports.  Therefore, I will be discussing the experience that I had in high school while playing club volleyball.  Club volleyball, otherwise known as traveling or competitive volleyball, is a high intensity team sport in which teammates heavily rely on one another to be successful.

For those of you who know nothing about volleyball, it is a sport in which teams of six players compete against each other by moving a ball over the net between two sides.  The objective is to force the ball onto the other team’s side and have it drop onto the ground, but each team only has three touches to get the ball over the net, and a single player cannot touch the ball twice in a row.  However, if one accomplishes this and the ball touches their opponent’s floor space, they receive a point.  To win a volleyball game, one must receive 25 points and win by at least 2 points (so if the score is 25-24, you would have to play another point and would win when the score is 26-24).  

Volleyball has various positions, but to simplify things, in my description we will group these players into three categories, back row players, front row players and the setter.  Back row players are often the first people to touch the ball and their objective is to get the ball to the setter.  The setter is usually the second person to touch the ball, and she places the ball so that the front row players can use their third touch to hit the ball onto the opponent’s side.  The setter is oftentimes called the “playmaker” because she acts as the connection between the front and back row, and she can also initiate various plays for the team to carry out in their three touches.  Nonetheless, communication between all team members is key.  It is crucial that players “call” the ball by saying the common phrase “mine” in order to avoid confusion as to who is performing a touch.  Additionally, everyone must know what is occurring on the court and how to react to their competitor in the back row, front row and setter positions.

I believe that a successful volleyball team is an all-channel network.  It demands that all team members communicate freely, effectively and efficiently, because oftentimes, a team does not have time to develop a thorough plan before executing its three touches.  Players must also communicate where they are moving to in order to aid the play.  This is crucial because without this communication players may run into each other and become confused as to where their position is located on the court.  Communication must also be open because sometimes, plays or touches don’t go as planned, and the said positions don’t touch the ball when they are normally supposed to.  This requires the team to adapt and work together to solve a complicated situation and send the ball to the other side.

A successful team is also an all-channel network because morale is characteristically high.  Volleyball teams oftentimes do cheers when they win a point and try to bring up their energy in order to intimidate their opponent.  A strong team will keep their spirits high and encourage one another throughout a game.

My club volleyball team met many of Katzenbach and Smith’s characteristics of high-functioning teams.  First off, my team had a common purpose that could be translated into specific goals.  Each year, our goal was to receive an invitation to compete in the USA National Volleyball Club tournament.  One could receive this invitation by winning so many tournaments in a season.  Each time we were successful at a tournament, we were able to see ourselves reaching our goal.  Besides this, my team was also “of manageable size.” There were only 15 girls on my team, so it was easy to communicate goals and organize ourselves.  Additionally, we accomplished Katzenbach and Smith’s fourth requirement because we each had distinct talents.  We were selected for the team based on our ability to play in the back row, front row and setter positions, so each player brought a specific skill set to the team.  Finally, we held each other accountable.  Coaches often say, “there’s no ‘I’ in team,” and we were a perfect example of this.  When someone was having a tough time on the court or a bad day, we picked each other up.  We took wins and losses together and realized that each game truly was a team effort and if we won, or lost, we did so together. 

Morals and Opportunism

Many of the organizations that I am in involved in, such as the Society of Women in business and my sorority, have anywhere from 100-200 members.  This makes it difficult for the executive board or other authoritative leadership role to check for attendance.  At many of these events, sign-in sheets are placed on a desk or table, and members are asked to sign in and participate in said event once they arrive.  In such a large group setting, it would be so easy to simply sign in and leave undetected.  However, I have never done this before.

One of my close friends recently “attended” the Career Fair by simply swiping in at the ARC, walking around the gym for three minutes and leaving.  They measure attendance at Career Fairs by swiping our I-Cards at the entrance of the fair, and employers receive information about attendance and as does the Career Center.  I understand why she did this; she wanted to receive credit for attending without actually having to talk to employers, but in the long run, I’d argue that her actions were not actually opportunistic.  Many students receive valuable information at the Career Fair by speaking with employers, and she did not receive this benefit.  Additionally, some students also receive interviews and job and internship offers due to Career Fair interactions, and she did not receive this benefit either.

In terms of opportunity costs within organizations, such as the Society of Women in Business and my sorority, signing in and leaving immediately afterwards would be opportunistic.  I would receive recognition for attending the event (since participation is not a factor and is not recorded) and I would be able to complete other coursework or participate in other activities during the event’s allotted time.  I suppose not acting opportunistically in these situations would make me “responsible,” as that is what we decided that the antonym to opportunism was in class on Thursday.

I would agree with the concept that responsibility is the opposite of opportunism.  Personally, I like to take ownership for my actions, and I participate in organizations because I enjoy the events that they hold and I genuinely like to be involved in these organizations.  I would feel as though I was cheating if I acted opportunistically and didn’t actually attend events.  It would be as if I received credit for something that I didn’t actually do, and I would feel a guilty feeling similar to one that I would have if I had cheated on a test or homework, which that wouldn’t sit well with me.  I like to hold myself to a higher standard, that is that I should act responsibly, honestly and kindly in my daily life, and frankly, acting opportunistically doesn’t align with my morals.

Therefore, I think one's ability to act opportunistically is somewhat a reflection on one's self.  I don't think it is possible for everyone to take advantage of opportunism.  Some people refuse to better themselves at the cost of others.  I'm sure that studies have been conducted asking individuals if they would cheat or lie if it resulted in personal benefit and no one would find out about it, and I'd be interested to see these results.

   

Organizational Change and Transaction Costs

I am, and have been, involved in many organizations, but very few of those have undergone any sort of structural/organizational change.  One small example of organizational change that I have witnessed is in the Society of Women in Business (SWB).  Traditionally, SWB has ten executive board members and a handful of committee chairs that have committees of 3-5 women.  In order to accommodate a growing member population, SWB added additional committee and chair positions to better regulate and facilitate their organization.  We now have ten committee chairs as opposed to around 7 in the past.  I believe that the additional leadership positions have greatly benefitted the members of SWB, because now, it is much more efficient and has more interesting and worthwhile events.

In terms of transaction costs in this example of organizational change, I believe that they were very low compared to the payoff that they created.  Though it did take extra time and effort to create new positions, hold interviews and elect members to these new positions, I believe that the organization and its members have benefitted from this extra work.  SWB doesn’t produce a product, however, it does provide a service, and by creating new positions, they increased efficiency and are now able to reach a greater population.



I believe that the greatest transaction costs in many of the RSO's on campus, including the Society of Women in Business, are the result of bargaining and policing and enforcing costs.  I define bargaining costs as any cost required to create an agreement between two parties, which, in this case, would be the member and the leadership of SWB.  In SWB, I believe that the membership agreement and requirements create a bargaining cost because this creates an understanding between both parties and creates expectations.  In SWB, the leadership (the executive board and committee chairs) must generate acceptable requirements for membership eligibility, while the member understands that by agreeing to such standards, she must attend said number of specific events.  


Similarly, I define policing and enforcing costs as any cost that the parties incur while making sure both parties stick to the contact.  There are very few costs to the members in this transaction cost area, but the leadership of SWB must pay attention to this concept.  Oftentimes, members do not keep track of the number of events or types of events they attend, and this causes a problem for the leadership.  In order to clear up any confusion, they created a system in which at every event, members sign in with their Net ID and name and this is then entered into a Googledoc containing member information.  This member information is accessible to members by means of the SWB website and makes it easy for the leadership and members to keep track of requirements.  Though this system requires more effort by the leadership committee of SWB, it helps the organization run smoothly, and I believe it is efficient.