Sunday, February 10, 2008

Annual Mary Kay Seminar

Managing organizational culture?

30 comments:

Anonymous said...

On the day of the "Pizzeria" class activity, "effectiveness" and "efficiency" were mentioned. I heard 6 Sigma can improve both of the two. Where can I learn more about 6 Sigma? As a college student, should I also study more statistics in order to fully prepare to learn about 6 Sigma?

Tatsiana said...

Well, Six Sigma is a method that relies on customer feedback and objective data gathering and analysis techniques to drive process improvement. I have studied this approach in my managerial accounting class , so i don't think that Six Sigma relates particularly to statistics area of study. Perhaps it is the kind of technique that utilizes various study fields in order to produce the desirable outcome.Sometimes it is also called zero defects instead of Six Sigma and the actual inventor of it is General Electric, but now 3M also uses it extensively, who have all their employees undergo the process of training.
Tatsiana

Karup said...

This was a very interesting video professor, however I am still not sure of what they are doing in the slideshow...? The Power of Pink Seminar?

Lidija Stupar said...

The video was very interesting, but it was very intriguing to me that I never heard of the Mary Kay cosmetics before, so I went to their web site and read about them little bit. I like their philosophy and I guess their impact on lives of their employees. They suppose to have 1.7 million Independent Beauty Consultants in more than 30 markets worldwide, and sales in 2006 of $2.25 billion, which is pretty impressive. However, I am not a big fan of door to door sales, and I can't buy make up without trying it first (they also sell it on their web site), so I won't be dealing with Mary Key anytime soon. I don't get how cosmetics company can be successful in doing business this way, but apparently they are.

Deirdre said...

Welcome back Felix. I am more of a tomboy, so I do have to be honest and say that I cringed the whole way through the video. But hey, whatever floats their boat. Having a motivated team who feels connected to the company's mission is half the battle, right?

Anonymous said...

Real man wears pink.

Stefan Barone said...

I find Mary Kay's organizational culture to be consistent with the products and market it is trying to reach. I agree with Mary Kay's environment and feel that creating such a culture in a company would help stimulatea very productive work ethic. I believe such cultures give employess a sense of pride and being in the company, and not just feeling like they have meaningless jobs. One screw missing in a machine can eventually cause it to break down, and from the video, I get the sense that Mary Kay believes all jobs must exist for the company to function at full potential. I beleive more corporations that haven't taken this approach already should do so, and witness the potential that creating an organiztional culture can release.

Farrukh Hasanov said...

Hi professor. I think that the organizational culture in this company is terrific. There are companies that people hate working for. This is definitely a company that I picture many women dying to work for. When a company’s managers are taking their free time and devoting it to their employees, it inspires them to work harder than ever.
One thing that I do not understand is why did they exclude all males out of their slide show. Don’t you think that, this is somewhat of a concern? I personally think that they are sending the wrong message in that department.

Ying Dong said...

A good manager should not only manage thing well, but relationship with employees, and the manager should treat everyone equally.

GOLeaders said...

I must say that you walk the talk. Based on your recommendations of bveing a good manager, you defintely earned the respect of the class as well as you have an authority.

I am very glad to be a part of this class and learn these invaluable lessons from you.

Tai Yuen Lee said...

Well, since this blog is on the topic of corporate culture, I was wondering about the "a company not having an elevator" problem.

Is it possible that the company decided not to put an elevator because the company wanted its employees to walk more to burn calories? If put into that context, would that be a display of corporate culture?

I know I am bending the definition and reading a little too deeply into this problem. I am asking out of pure curiosity.

Stefan Barone said...

i also read deeply into that question concerning the elevators. I do hope you address this.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Carpe this... said...

This company sure seems to have a great corporate culture. It reminds me of my previous job at an advertising firm. Everyone working there were young, creative designers who knew how to have fun. We too had a "great corporate culture." I'm putting that in parenthesis because it definetly portrayed itself as the perfect company. We had softball tournaments, creative lunch presentations every month, a FANCY library, semi-annual holiday parties... The company offered a lot to its employees to foster a good working enviroment, but yet, almost everyone hated working there, and more so, disliked the president of the company. The turnover rate was ridiculous- for almost a year, there was someone being fired/ quitting every other week. (keep in mind, we only had 40 people) We were able to attract great employees, but couldn't keep them. So does constitute as having good corporate culture?

Anonymous said...

The first test was fair. I think you are a good professor and with a good intention of giving fair tests and examinations.

I did not want a modification on the grading in the beginning.

However, in between the choice of choosing either curving the grades on all tests or dropping the lowest test grade, or both (how much would this help anyway), I would choose only curving the test grades. Then again, it depends on what curving method and how the curve is look like.

I am afraid that since choosing having only one test and one final examination and with the curving, there would be be a change on the percentage weight of the final examination, and would no longer be the original 30% of the total weight. Even though you are a good professor, but since I can not predict the future or read your mind, I afraid the final examination would become more difficult than it was original planned to be, in order to make up the weight of the final grade.

Something has to give up in order to add the total sum of the grade to equal 100%. In economics, it is the opportunity cost.

Anonymous said...

I am a decider, not a divider.

I support freedom and the utility of the mass.

I do not want to be label as the Axis of Evil nor to let anyone to think I have WMD, therefore, I went with the utilitarian vote.

Anonymous said...

After all, there is no ethic in individualism. Individualism does not count in utilitarian society. There is no individual in utilitarianism.

starcraft2 said...

To blogger, so you think that it's fair for just curving the test not dropping it. What I think is completely different from you, because for some students like me, I didn't understand the structure of the test at first (multiple mutilple choice questions) I thought it was just a regular multiple choice test. So I spent most of the time figuring out what i was missing. But in the end I just pick one answer for each question and the professor minus 18 points for my test when I supposed to get a better score because I think I understand the definition clearly. I would rather like to just drop 1 test than curve it. So I think curving and dropping is the best option.

Anonymous said...

The people at Mary Kay have a really good corporate culture. It looks like they have award ceremonies and tons of other events for their sales women. A company like this will have its employee’s love what they do, and in turn provide great service to their clients. Other companies could learn from Mary Kay and focus more on their employee’s, especially companies that perform customer services.

Breath Ezzey said...

my favorite Maxim is "the costumer is always right" i mean come on i worked in retail management for over 4 years and some costumers were just insane! what is even worse is the fact that every companies motto was that the costumer was always right....well i thin No enough is enough there are right costumers and there are defiantly wrong costumers i would never fire a hard, loyal worker over one costumer that couldn't be pleased. grrrrrrrrrrr

Anonymous said...

I heard Mary Kay 8 years ago when I was in my country Taiwan and my sister's friend who is a Mary Kay saleswoman introduced me this career opportunity. I believe by then Mary Kay had been developing their business in Taiwan for 5 years at least. I actually like it. Not so much about their products but their organizational culture. Their organizational culture is fun, energy, and very friendly. I could picture myself working for them and feel proud and happy to know that I can make other women to achieve their best potential both in their careers and appearances. However, I didn't have the extra time to put the effort when I already had a full time job then, so I didn't go into it. Their organizational culture is just as what you feel from the video and I believe it's the culture which makes more and more people want to join and work hard for it. Mary kay is truly a good example of how important a organizational culture is to the business.

Sudhir said...

This is an excellent video about communication between employee and management.I was not familiar with Mary Kay product before watching this video. However the video was interesting and i researched the company to get a general idea about their product and how they are being globalized.

Rick Smith said...

Despite personal distain of semi-cultish corporate culture, I can see many benefits. When one buys into the culture fully they are more likely to give that extra bit of effort to succeed.

However, where is the appropriate balance between getting that extra bit and alienating other quality employees?

Bola Kazeem said...

Marykay company is a have a great corporate culture. The company love there employee's and cares more about there consultants. As a Senior Independent Beauty consultant for Marykay, i have alway enjoy working for the company. They give out gifts, awards,promotions, and commitions to their consultants. It is a very wonderful company, which aim is to help both women and men to be independent and enjoy doing business. As a consultant, want you need is just to add little effort to your business and you will be suprise with the compersation for your effort.

Bola Kazeem said...

Mary Kay Company is a great corporate culture. The company love there employee's and cares more about there consultants. As a Senior Independent Beauty consultant for Mary Kay, I have always enjoyed working for the company. They give out gifts, awards, and promotions to their consultants. It is an amazing company, which aim is to help both women and men to be independent and enjoy doing business. As a consultant, what you need is just to add little effort to your business and you will be surprise with the compensation you will receive from the company for your effort. Also, we sell both male and female products and we are beauty consultant; people consult us on appropriate skin care and makeup accessories. We also teach people on what type of product, how to apply, and when to use the products sold to them for proper usage. All of the services that we Mary Kay consultant provides, most customers cannot get them from the beauty store they go to, to shop. Also, our main aim to establish our customers, build good relationship with them in order for them to patronize us later.

kazu27 said...

This Annual Mary Kay Seminar is really something.
I can see there had been a lot of preparation and that must have been really time consuming.
The cost wouldn't be small.
Does this worth these tradeoffs?
I certainly agree that this gives employees more sense of belonging and that creates more loyalty and pride in their work.
This could motivate them to work harder.
But it would be difficult to measure in number how much profit is a result of this.
I guess it is not only about making money and that gives me a sense of positive image for this company.

Yizhuo Chen said...

the video certainly gives people a good impression about the company, but I don't know if it is the only true purpose of the video as well.

Kevin said...

Wow you were right Porfessor when you said in class that Mary Kay in this video it seems like it's a cult. The sales people here though do look happy or drugged just kidding...maybe, or brainwashed. I dont't know I hope I'm wrong and Mary Kay is treating these women fairly and doing all the right things. If the workers at Mary Kay are truely happy for all the right reasons then the company is doing a great job enhancing the Quality of Work Life environment which higher satisfaction within the company produces higher performance and a step closer to satisfying organizational goals.

Dori said...

Lidija,

The whole philosophy of Mary Kay is that you have a facial in your home and try everything before you buy! We also have a 100% satisfaction guarantee. If you are unsatisfied for any reason, we will replace the product or refund your money. Give Mary Kay a try. You won't be sorry!

DORIS said...

This company's corporate culture instills goood values on its employees. Employees feel a sence of power and meaning and in return are often more productive and efficient. Employees are awarded for their work, which is a great incentive to work even harder.