Dusty D Longoria
Wall Street Journal Extra Credit
BMGT 2382
Dusty Longoria
Organizational Behavior
April 15, 2014
SECTION 23501
Dusty D Longoria
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Tuesday, April 15, 2014. Brokers Who Fail Test Have Checkered Records,
Headline Articles
 The article suggests a link between multiple exam failures by potential
brokers to a higher than average “black mark” occurrence. Black marks /
red flag items include terminations, discipline, fraud charges, etc. It also
suggests making the scores public (whereas now they only show brokers
who have passed the test.) Front Page
Friday, April 11, 2014. Penny Pinched: Family Dollar to Close 370 Stores,
Lower Prices Marketplace
 Family Dollar, a low-income shopper focused business, has lost market
share amid growing competition and a floundering ‘on-again, off-again
discount strategy’ and, as a result, will be slowing growth this year, along
with cutting 10% in corporate jobs and reducing prices. While the chain
will close 370, overall, they will be expanding, with the additional of 525
new stores. B3
Wednesday, March 26, 2014. Is Your Phone the Right Size for You? Personal
Journal
 Nifty article about smart phone size, suggesting that if your phone doesn’t
fit your hand, it won’t be comfortable. Provided a tool by which to judge
your thumb size and how it relates to popular smart phones. While my
tiny thumbs (as determined by the article) might work just fine on my
iPhone 5 – someone with a larger thumb / grip, might prefer (and find
more comfortable) a larger phone. I’ll be keeping my iPhone 5. D1
Thursday, April 3, 2014. Green Bonds Catch On Money and Investing
 Specifically discusses Unilever’s (a popular supplier of several grocery
store brands) Green Bonds and how this bond, used to raise finance for
environmentally friendly projects, is catching on. Recently approved this
January, with a set of voluntary guidelines on how issuers should disclose
how bond proceeds are used. C4
Friday, March 21, 2014. What Turkish Users Are Doing to Evade the Twitter Ban
Tech News and Analysis
 This article discusses the various ways that the above average Twitter user
can do to get around the country-wide ban that has been put in place by
the Turkish government. A VPN (virtual private network) is the easiest
method, of course, but I suspect most users aren’t familiar with this
process. Simpler still, Text your tweet out via your cell phone. It proves
that while a country can inconvenience their people, they can’t prevent
them from engaging in behavior upon which they might frown.
Sunday, February 9, 2014. Holder Widens Rights for Gay Married Couples
Politics and Policy
 Justice department is widening the rights for same-sex couples on a
federal level (including Joint bankruptcy rights, Federal benefits, and 5th
amendment protections on testifying against one’s spouse). This step is in
response to the Supreme Court striking down key parts of the “Defense of
Marriage Act.” Critics view it as an overreach on States’ rights, while
supporter’s view it as a “logical” and “compassionate” step. A4
Dusty D Longoria
Activity One: Management: How to Guide
What drew me to this section was purely the simplicity of the title – and my love
of lists. I’m always eager to find new ways to engage my workforce, perfect my
management style and pick up ideas for changing the culture in my store. I’ve found,
over the course of the semester, the work goals I’ve set for the Business co-op class, have
gone a long way in alleviating some of the tedium that comes from doing my job day-today. The goals, along with attempting to personalize some of the items in this section,
have helped me view my career with new eyes, and find my personal opportunities for
growth.
I’ve spent a few weeks in this section, reading over several articles designed to
offer not only information, but to advise new managers or managers looking to change
their leadership style. While some of the information is a bit trite, and quite commonly
found in a number of articles (“The Difference between Management and Leadership” is
rife with common sense or ubiquitous information), several sections offered useful
information.
Although I’m not capable of changing many things at my level of management, I
find that while I can’t impact pay levels (beyond review level adjustments), I am able to
apply some of what I found in “How to reduce Employee Turnover” and help my
employees see not only the bigger picture of what we are trying to accomplish, but to be a
key point of focus in creating a positive work environment. I’ve taken some of this to
heart in the development of my service deli manager (How to Set Goals for Employees).
This has not only been rewarding for me, but as of two days ago, gotten support from my
operations manager on getting her promoted.
Blue Ocean Strategy is a book I discovered from reading “What is Blue Ocean
Strategy?” I love the outstanding idea of searching for alternatives in the “ocean” rather
than tearing down the competition or fighting them for a space to exist. In moving away
from competition (rising above it), we create an environment of innovation and new ideas
over straight pricing fights and location squabbles.
I realize much of this relates directly to my current business thanks to the
examples I’ve provided, but it is useful across multiple industries and can be applied
appropriately. I think in leadership we often get bogged down in the details and trap of
micromanagement and don’t allow ourselves the luxury of rising above the minutia.
That, I think is my ultimate takeaway from this activity.
Dusty D Longoria
Activity Two: Researching outside opinions and information regarding the Safeway
purchase.
I originally started by using WSJ’s search to find multiple articles about the recent
Safeway acquisition Albertsons made in the last couple of months. The ultimate goal
was to be more informed by both internal and external sources, about the purchase and to
be able to hold an informed and substantiated view on what the purchase could mean for
our company and ultimately my store. My store, and several Albertsons stores are in
direct competition with either a Safeway (outside of Texas) or Tom Thumb/Randalls
(Inside Texas / SW Region).
Instead, I ended up finding an article by Susan Faludi, written in 1990, that won a
Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Journalism, The Reckoning: Safeway LBO Yields Vast
Profits but Exacts a Heavy Human Toll. Wow. Firstly, I was really surprised that a
WSJ search would yield this gem (and then it turned out to be by a WSJ reporter), but
secondly, it was surprised by the toll that this type of buyout caused. I searched for
perspective on the Albertsons purchase of Safeway but hadn’t given much consideration
to the human toll of layoffs, furloughs etc.
My experience comes from the perspective of the successful end of a buyout – as
in being the company doing the buying. While I was a part of the Albertsons when it was
originally sold off by our parent company, I didn’t have much invested at the time and so
accordingly paid it little mind when it happened. This article casts new light on the
potential fall out for both my company and the stores we’ve purchased.
While I didn’t find much new information on the acquisition this way, I took the
opportunity to research Safeway and explore the brand first hand. I was unaware of the
structure of the business beyond the perspective as a competitor.
Assuming the acquisition is handled with more grace than the original exit
Safeway made from Texas (and in so doing dumped the union), I think there is a lot of
market share and profit to be found. While I didn’t like a lot of the information I found, I
also gained new perspective on hostile takeovers, sell offs, and the reasoning a lot of
companies make for culling off entire market segments.
In all honesty, I don’t have input on how this acquisition is handled, but I’d hope
in light of history, that whatever the fallout, we are able to handle it without the overall
casualties’ exemplified by Susann Faludi’s article. It will certainly mean I’ll be watching
what happens ahead more carefully and from a multitude of perspectives.