Brett Millecam

Professor German Lopez

Business 1050
1 August 2015

Reflection on Business Foundations

How will the development of critical thinking impact business in our time? This was the first
question I encountered when I started my eight week journey into the world of business foundations
and critical thinking. Critical thinking is a skill, it isn't something you can learn overnight. As human
beings we have been shaped and molded to believe that things are black and white, there is no middle
ground. There are many factors that have deterred us from learning how to think critically. Some of
those include our parents, religion, media and the government. In some instances, you are reversing a
lifetime of habits when you begin to think critically. When you start to think critically, it can take you
to new and exciting places. It can be a very liberating process. It can include self-evaluation, selfimprovement, standing up for something you believe in and changing your perception on certain social
and political issues.
The next step in the process is taking our critical thinking skills and applying them towards
business. Our business foundations class allowed us to read different lectures regarding social, ethical
and political issues that relate to business. These lectures gave me an inside look at the struggles,
triumphs and decisions that people in the business world face every day. This essay will take a closer
look at three of those lectures and how they relate to business practices in our time.

Mike LeFevre, Steel Worker was a lecture written by Studs Terkel. It was an inside look into the
life of Mr. LeFevre, who was a steel worker that worked in a factory on the outskirts of Chicago. Mr.

LeFevre worked in the mass-production of steel. At 37 years old, he felt extremely tired and worn
down from his job at the steel mill. The problem was that Mr. LeFerve did not feel a sense of purpose
from working at his job. It's hard to take pride in a bridge you're never going to cross, in a door youre
never going to open. You're mass-producing things and you never see the end result of it, said Mr.
LeFerve (Terkel 1972). This is a problem that many people in the working industry deal with. If you
don't feel satisfaction in your work, or that youre having a positive impact on the world as a whole, it
can be very difficult to enjoy working. What was really heartbreaking about Mr. LeFevre's story was
the impact his job was having on his life outside of work. He mentioned several times that he was too
tired to even play with his kids on the weekend because his job was so physically taxing. LeFevre also
needed to go to the bar after work in order to unwind and release his frustrations. To me this just shows
how big of an impact your job can have on your life outside work. If you are not happy with your job, it
is extremely difficult to come home and be in a good mood and be a loving husband and father.
This is also a growing issues in today's economy. A report by the
Conference Board research group shows that in 2008, 55% of people in
American were not satisfied with their job (AP 2010). There are a few
macro reasons as to why workers are not happy, including incomes not
keeping up with inflation and rising health-care costs. But the biggest
concern, noted by the Conference Board was that people just didn't find
their jobs to be intellectually stimulating. Workers who find their jobs
interesting are more likely to be innovative and to take the calculated
risks and the initiative that drive productivity and contribute to economic
growth (AP 2010). "What's really disturbing about growing job
dissatisfaction is the way it can play into the competitive nature of the U.S.
work force down the road and on the growth of the U.S. economy all in
a negative way," says Lynn Franco, another author of the report and director of the Conference Board's

Consumer Research Center (AP 2010).

The Greening of Corporate America by Harvey Meyer is a lecture about the movement
companies are making towards being environmentally friendly in their business operations and the
positive effect going green has had on their companies. Many of the companies reported huge
savings just by reducing energy consumption, waste and pollution and increasing recycling. Examples
include: 3m has reported over $810 million in savings since 1976 by starting the Pollution Prevention
Pays initiative. DuPont has reportedly more than halved its landfill waste, saving hundreds of millions
of dollars. Finally, Boeing reports that its healthier building design strategy has shown productivity
gains of 15% (Meyer 2000). These were all examples of win-win situations, make more money and
save the environment. Other companies are providing even more benefits to going green. Evidence
suggests that superior environmental performance can enhance worker productivity and product
quality. In many cases environmentally responsible firms also boast superior financial performance.
This includes achieving better results in the stock market (Meyer 2000).
Customers are more conscious about the products they purchase and how they affect the
environment. People are willing to pay more money if it means they are supporting a green company or
purchasing a product that will help the environment. In 2013, a record-high 71 percent of Americans
consider the environment when they shop, up from 66 percent in 2008, according to research from
Cone Communication (Environmental Leader 2013).

I personally believe the key to making the world more environmentally friendly is through
education and opportunity. Companies need to inform us how to properly use and dispose of products.
One-third of people do not have access to disposal bins (Environmental Leader 2013). Free disposal
bins and an incentive based recycling program could have a huge overall impact on our country.
Another simple step would be grocery stores getting rid of paper and plastic bags and requiring
customers to bring their own Eco-friendly grocery bag. Nonetheless companies have made great strides
in the going green movement.
In 1989, Bill Moyers interviewed philosopher Jacob Needleman and asked him a series of
questions about money. Needleman stated that our culture is drenched in money and that we want
money more than anything else. He goes on to say, The things that we're supposed to buy no longer
bring us joy. Home, family, education, travel, art the pursuit of knowledge. All those aspects of human
life for which money was meant to serve as a means are more and more becoming drained of intrinsic
meaning, and the only thing left that has any meaning is the means itself. Being a philosopher and a
realist, Needleman understood the need for money, but also was searching for a way to understand
money, but not let it control their life or consume him.
Needleman was looking at money from a philosophical perspective. Looking at the meaning of
money from an employer or a business's perspective can be difficult. Most people think that making the

most money possible is all that matters to employees. Harvard Business Review (HBR) disagrees,
being happy at work matters to employees. In a recent study HBR interviewed thousands of people and
the majority of workers wanted three basic things:
1. A sense of purpose: People want to feel as if their work matters, and that their contributions
help to achieve something really important. And except for those at the tippy top, shareholder
value isnt a meaningful goal that excites and engages them. They want to know that they
and their organizations are doing something big that matters to other people (HBR 2014).
2.

A meaningful vision of the future: People want to be able to see the future and know how they
fit in. People also learn and change when they have a personal vision that is linked to an
organizational vision (HBR 2014).

3.

Great relationships: A dissonant relationship with ones boss is downright painful. So too are
bad relationships with colleagues. Leaders, managers, and employees have all told us that close,
trusting and supportive relationships are hugely important to their state of mind and their
willingness contribute to a team (HBR 2014).
I know from personal experience that making money is not the most important thing within a

job. Having a sense of purpose matters. Knowing that you are helping or contributing to something
important has real value. I see this fist hand at Salt Lake Community College (SLCC). I've had the
privilege of learning from professors who have real world experience. Doctors, Lawyers and Bank
executives are currently teaching in the business department at SLCC. I know for a fact they could be
making more money in their other professions but they chose teaching instead. There might be other
circumstances that I'm unaware of but I'd like to think they are teaching because they love what they
do. Helping people learn business and bettering students lives is a very powerful and rewarding
experience. I'm a better student and person for having learned from them.
My takeaway from the business foundations class is knowledge is power. The structure of this
class was different than most. Getting graded on your own thoughts and ability to think critically was

intimidating at first, but I am without a doubt a better student because of it. One constant theme when it
comes to critical thinking is; self-evaluation. When deciding which side of the fence you fall on
regarding certain issues you have to be completely honest with yourself. This type of honestly can
really help you grow as a person. Critical thinking also allows you learn more about yourself and your
peers. The group discussion is a safe place for people to express their feelings about certain issues and
allows for interactions that are mutually beneficial. Sometimes it can be scary or intimidating to voice
your opinion on a subject or to respectfully disagree with somebody but this forum allows for healthy,
thought provoking discussions. One thing I'll take away from this class is that there were quite a few
real world business issues that we all had to discuss and will most likely confront during our lifetime.
These are real issues and when we graduate college and head into the work field, we will face some of
these head on. I feel better prepared and look forward to the challenges that lie ahead of me.

Work Cited
Associated Press. (2010). American Job Satisfaction Falls To Record Low. NBC News.
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/34691428/#.Vb6wMflVhBc
Environmental Leader. (2013). 71% of Consumers Think Green When Purchasing.
http://www.environmentalleader.com/2013/04/03/71-of-consumers-think-green-whenpurchasing/?graph=full&id=1
Harvard Business Review. (2014). Being Happy At Work Matters.https://hbr.org/2014/11/beinghappy- at-work-matters
Meyer, Harvey. (2000). The Greening Of Corporate America. Critical Thinking: Readings From The
Literature Of Business And Society
Needleman, Jacob. (1989). Interview with Bill Moyers. Critical Thinking: Readings From The
Literature Of Business And Society
Terkel, Studs. (1972). Mike LeFvre, Steel Worker. Critical Thinking: Readings From The Literature Of
Business And Society