Opening Day for Shoppers Shows Divide

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/24/business/black-friday-sales-show-divide-between-shoppers.html?_r=1

Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, will always be one of the biggest shopping days of the year for stores. It is a day where consumers on a budget feel as though they get good savings and the wealthy don’t care what they pay. Chain stores, like Best Buy and Kohl’s slash prices to attract customers in to purchase their merchandise. High end stores like Neiman Marcus feel that they don’t have to do anything to attract customers. Their consumers will buy anything, regardless of the price.

Teamwork will have to take place between the consumer and the economy. The economy feeds off consumer purchases. So if stores have sales to attract the consumer, they will also purchase things that are not on sale, helping the store and thus stimulating the economy. Without the consumer willing to go out and purchase sales, the economy would stay stagnate. Many people are saying that sales from this Black Friday will be up 3 percent from last year with holiday sales growing 5.2 percent. Consumers are also showing strong spending patterns this year. This has to do with the economy being better from last year. Teamwork between the economy and the consumers is every strong and dependent on each other. Discount and chain stores will offer the best deals because they are the ones who feed off the teamwork of the consumers to increase their revenue. Fancy, high end stores, will have the rich buying at any time, regardless of the economy.

What do you think classmates - Is Black Friday important for our economy? Do you think that consumers and the economy teamwork together or is it not that important for there to be a good relationship there? What are some other big days of the economy that the consumer helps stimulate? Did you work with the economy and go shopping on Black Friday?

-Kristi Rudin

Leaders Today Are Having a Hard Time Leading

http://www.forbes.com/sites/work-in-progress/2011/11/18/why-arent-leaders-delivering-the-basics/

With the world changing faster than it has ever, leaders are having a tough time keeping up. Rapidly changing technology, global markets, and a diverse workforce is making it harder to lead today. It is almost as if leaders need to develop a new skill to lead employees, but this is the exact opposite of what they need to do. Leaders need to assess themselves to see if they are utilizing the basics of leaderships. In addition to adapting to new leadership traits, using the basics of leadership will help you become more effective. Treating employees with respect, demonstrate integrity, show trust in employees, provide an environment that fosters performance, and give employees autonomy are all ways leaders can become more effective. Whether someone is an effective leader or not can be the difference of whether a business succeeds or fails.

Leaders should show people-orientated leader behaviors. These types of behaviors show concern for employee feelings and treat employees with respect. People-orientated leader behaviors tend to leave employees more satisfied and react with positivity. Effective leaders should show integrity. A leader who demonstrates integrity acts ethically and honestly. Showing integrity gains employees' trust. Showing trust in your employees is also a way for them to gain trust in you. A leader who is achievement-orientated is leading in a way that fosters performance. They set goals for employees and encourage them to reach their goals. An effective leader gives employees autonomy when the situation calls for it. Using laissez-faire decision making is one way to give employees autonomy. This type of decision making occurs when leaders let employees make decisions on their own. The leader provides little to no guidance in the decision. Effective leaders have been linked to the traits of conscientiousness and extraversion of the Big 5 Personality Traits. Conscientiousness are people who are organized, take initiative, and demonstrate persistence. Extraversion is being outgoing, talkative, sociable, and enjoying social situations. Extraverts like interacting with others and show self-confidence.

Do you think people today are having a harder time leading? To be an effective leader today, do you think people need to develop a new skill to keep up with the changing world? Should leaders look back to the basics of leadership to become effective? Will the basics of leadership be enough to stay effective in the changing world?

-Steven Stanek